We’ve all been there. Watching the days tick down before the holiday period - acutely conscious that your pile of unfinished WIPs seems to be increasing as the big day approaches. Panic starts to set in as you realise that you have drastically over committed yourself and you start to send up fervent prayers to the Knitting Gods that next year, you promise you’ll start earlier. If only they could just grant you a few more hours of knitting time.

I have to confess that I abandoned the concept of gift knitting a few years ago. It helps that my children are older and no longer expect the elves to bring striped socks on Christmas Eve -also their feet are much bigger than mine. I knit for loved ones throughout the year and if it happens to coincide with a birthday or special event then so much the better. But I don’t place that pressure and weight of expectation on myself anymore. It feels like a way to be kinder to myself at what can be an extremely stressful time of year.

If you are gift knitting though and keeping a firm eye on the diminishing hours, may I present my firmly tongue in cheek suggestions to power through your gift knitting.

1. Knit faster. Yes, I know it’s blindingly obvious but for me I know that I can speed knit in short bursts if I need to or if a deadline looms. I remove all the distractions, leave my phone in another room and put on a tried and tested box set to watch. Setting myself a goal of solid knitting for 1 or 2 episodes of Schitts Creek for example is an excellent way I’ve found to really get some solid inches in.

2. Stop cooking. Drastic, yes but desperate times call for desperate measures. More than once I have suggested we have a ‘picky tea’ - which is generally an invitation to raid the fridge/cupboards/leftovers and compile a meal from the harvest. When the kids were small I would put a picnic blanket on the living room and call it an indoor picnic. Either way, it freed up precious knitting time.

3. Crying and stress eating - not recommended obviously but I’ve definitely done this in extremis. It doesn’t get the knitting done any faster though.

4. Give an IOU. This is obviously the one I have had most success with and the one that I recommend most heartily to you. Unless the recipients are very small (and their gifts are also correspondingly tiny) I recommend taking the pressure off yourself. All good things come to those who wait, after all. By all means take a photo of what the intended item will be - or gift wrap half a sock if it makes you feel better. Those who are truly knitworthy in your life will appreciate that good knitwear doesn’t just fall off trees. And if they aren’t truly knitworthy then you could save yourself the trouble and just buy them a box of chocs instead.

Whatever you choose to do, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a very happy and peaceful Christmas, however you are spending it and to say a sincere thank you for being here with me this year.