Winter might be cold and dreary but it also the time when people fill the streets with sparkling lights and disturbing ten-foot blow-up Santas. It’s the darkest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and yet we do our best to huddle together and bring a little colour and sparkle to an otherwise bland time.
Yes, I like winter. Especially now that I live in a country that has seasons beyond ‘wet’, ‘warm but damp’, and ‘cold and windy but at least a bit less wet’. We’ve only had one day of snow here in Southern Ontario so far and I’m okay with that, but the temperature is definitely dropping.
This weekend we went to cut down a tree and drag it inside our home. It’s now taking up slightly too much room and is draped with all sorts of delightful ornaments. Sparkle to keep the dark away: check.
The dog is enjoying the weather. In the heat it becomes too much for him to sprint around like a mad thing, fluffy as he is, but in this cool weather his energy is endless. He’s only two so he can run for days; I took him out for two hours and he still ran around like mad thing as we picked which tree to take home.
Luckily for him, he’s cute as hell (and photogenic).
Yes, I did have a treat in my hand when I took this photo; what was your first clue? (Right. He’s sitting still.)
Winter is also a time to crack out the many knitted items I own and one that I had forgotten about was a Noro hat I made a few months ago and stashed away. I used to dislike Noro but I’m a convert. It’s softer than it looks and the colours are delightful.
This has been my go-to had this year since I lost my green (store-bought) hat in a snow drift.
I didn’t feel like plastering my face all over the blog today so Luna very kindly let me pin her down and balance a hat on her long-suffering head. What? She’s much cuter than I am.
Though I’m not Christian, my favourite thing about winter is Christmas. I was, after all, brought up in a Christian country even if England is mostly full of sort-of-believers who turn up once a year to hear the choirs more than they care about the sermons. Christmas is not about religion for me, but I love it nonetheless.
Yes, it’s fun getting things. But it’s also fun buying things for those you love and knitting things when you have time (which I don’t this year).
It’s also a time that brings out the kindness of strangers. The other day I got home and I found a package in my mailbox which had a lovely colouring book inside. I was baffled; I couldn’t remember ordering one, though I have been colouring a lot lately.
All was revealed when I found the little note telling me it was from a relative stranger, another member of an Amanda Palmer fan group I joined earlier this year on Facebook. You can sign up to give and receive little gifts from kind strangers and I had forgotten about it.
Colouring was once a stressful pursuit for me; I wanted it to be perfect and it never was, but now I have realised that no one but me is ever going to see it unless I want them to, and even then they probably won’t care either way. That kind of freedom has me scribbling away whenever I feel anxiety taking hold.
If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it.
Winter is a strange old time, but it’s one where you can find a lot of warmth and light if you know where to look.
The Knitter Nerd 