12th Day of Sock Yarn

On the 12th Day of Sock Yarn, Simply Sock Yarn gave to me...

a skein of Pigeonroof Studio's Siren Two Sport sock yarn!

To enter to win this delicious merino/cashmere/nylon yarn (coming to the store in a few weeks- get our newsletter to find out when), simply answer the following question in the comments below:

What's your favorite thing about this time of year?

My favorite thing about this time of year is how it seems to make everything more special.  Spending time with family & friends, making and eating food, knitting and gifting, decorating the home- all these things are made more special by the time of year and the traditions that we incorporate into our lives.

I wish for each of you a wonderful holiday season, and very happy 2010, and many hours of knitting.  From the Van Zandt family to you, may you have a very Happy Holiday!

Comments

[Donna]

Snow..days slowly getting longer..no yard work for a little while..time to read...time to knit. I have favorite things for each season of the year. Now it's also red cardinals against the snow.

[kris]

My job, though I love it, is particularly gruesome during many parts of the year. This time of year, however, it allows me TIME OFF to knit!

[Diane]

It's the only time of the year when you can hear Christmas hymns and carols centered around Jesus and no one calls you "politically incorrect" for singing them, listening to them on the radio station they play at work, in public or for talking about their content. It's a time to reflect on what is really important and to be thankful for it.

[Pamela]

Christmas music and having my son home from college.

[Nancy]

My favorite thing about this time of year is spending time with family. I make most of the presents that we give and it is really fun to see how everyone likes what I have spent my time knitting, cross stitching, and scrapbooking. The snow in Virginia is bad either.

[Andy]

I like the opportunity to suprise family and friends and the anticipation.

[Vivian]

It is a time of family gatherings. Not so much gift receiving but gift giving as well.

[Deborah Fillmer]

Time off to spend with my family and my knitting!

[Tammy Edwards]

My favorite aspect of Christmas is the renewal of traditions; baking with my Mom and sister, decorating the tree as I walk down memory lane hanging each ornament, decorating my house, my Mom's sour cream coffeecake for Christmas breakfast, and deciding which of my husband's gifts will be his night-time ones. As a Christian, I rejoice in the Hope of Christmas that is the deepest meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas to all!

[Kaidy]

Spending time with family and pulling out a new jigsaw puzzle to work on together throughout the holiday.

[babyface]

Spending time with my family. The decorations inside and out make everything
beautiful and I love to see the little
faces when they think Santa is coming or
he's been there.

[Morgan]

The smell of new snow, those days when the ground is white but the roads are clear (they don't happen often, but when they do it's awesome!), finding/making the perfect gifts for each recipient and seeing their faces when they open them, and getting a month off from school to rest, knit, read for pleasure, and catch up on my tv shows!

[JulieZ]

I enjoy the baking, decorating and buying gifts for my family.

[Bertha]

My favorite thing about this time of year is seeing all the Christmas lights lighting up the houses when I drive home from work in the evening. I also love to see our daughter's excitement around Christmas now that she's old enough to know what it is.

[Marianna]

Our two boys are home from college at the same time and for a week or so we are together as a family.

[Debby]

Definitely getting to see family members that we only see at Christmas because they live too far away. That and I love Christmas music. Merry Christmas!

[susan]

Like many other people it will be family. This year it's our first Christmas with our nearly 2 year old Grandson, so it's extra special.

It's hard to believe we did not know he existed a few months ago.

Yes this year will be extra special.

[Mary A]

My husband loves our Christmas tree. Seeing that and listening to Holiday Pops misic is great.

[Abby]

I always save a few vacation days for the end of the year. Once the xmas rush is over, this gives me a little time to rest and reflect and plan for the coming year. Oh, yeah, and the family thing. ;-)

[Susan]

Extra time off from work! :)

[Nancy N]

My favorite thing about Christmas is the family and friends gathering together. Choosing gifts, deciding what to cook, planning activities together, it all gives us the chance to think about the individual qualities of each special person.

[Yvonne]

Working in retail makes this time of year rather difficult, especially as it gets closer to the Christmas holiday. My favorite thing about this time of year is listening to my favorite Christmas music and watching good holiday movies. Also with being able to knit I have enjoyed making gifts for a good friend of mine the last 3 years. I love the idea of giving of my time.

[tami]

exta time for knitting!
being able to wear those winter things I've knit.

[April]

My favorite thing about Christmas is being able to spend time with family and friends and show them how much I love and appreciate them.

[Jen]

getting together with family

[Julia]

I love how pretty the streets of the city look like this time of the year and I love to spend time with my friends during festivities.

[SusanB-knits]

My favorite is spending time with family. And I actually enjoy all the days before, preparing food, wrapping presents, singing carols, looking at lights, and I love to watch the snow fall (which won't be happening much in TX)
Happy Holidays to you!

[Jenn]

Spending time with family and friends! Oh! And the tree. I love the lights and all the ornaments my mom made. Its such a lovely way to lighten up a dark time of year.

[Peggy]

I enjoy all of the holiday lights and the holiday music.

[Vickie]

The lights! If it were up to me, we would have a law requiring Christmas lights all winter long. It is so nice to take the edge off the darkness.

[Colleen]

My favorite part of the season is all the time I usually get to spend with my friends and family. Specifically, I really enjoy all the time spent in the kitchen working on all of my family's traditions.

[mary]

Remembering all the happy Christmases when I was a child. Getting ice skates had to be the best! Appreciating them all the more now that I'm an adult and realize all my Mother put into making them happy for me.

[Lynne]

The reaffirmation of tradition. I love to see that my daughters still care about many of the holiday routines from their childhoods.

[Caroline]

Since I live in California, I like the colder weather so I can wear my knitted things - socks , sweaters, scarves and hats.

[Jennifer D]

my favorite part about the holidays is the extra time off to do things or nothing at all as the mood strikes.

[Dawn K-M]

There are so many great things about this time of year, traditions (old and new), seeing family, surprises, baking, snow :) I have always loved this time of year.

[Cindy W.]

Christmas music. Cookies.
Cindy W.

[Jennifer]

Spending time with family! That's an easy one! Some of my family I only get to see once a year when they come up for christmas! 2nd favorite would be all the goodies they cook/bring/bake. I really dislike commercialism, and even though I bought the yarn to make them each something this year, I feel like a hand knit gift is on a totally different level than a gift card I bought last minute at CVS.

[Betty]

The xmas lights!

[Joyce]

The joy on the faces of children

[rasa chambers]

I love everything about Christmas - from the religious to the secular celebrations and the many traditions that encompasses.

[Pamela]

I love all the lights! Lights on the trees, lights on the houses. Makes everything prettier. (Especially when we turn off all the house lights except for the tree, then you can't see how messy and dusty the house is!)

[Evie]

The Christmas Eve worship service at our church, with my family all around. Something so special about this night. Hope just seems stronger, for the world, for all of us.

[Linda B]

The favorite part is spending time with family and friends and, of course, all the foods and Christmas cookies!! Merry Christmas and Happy, Healthy New Year to all!

[Kate/Massachusetts]

It's the ultimate ending and beginning of this time of year that I love!! I love the "ending" festivities of the holidays as well as the "beginning" celebrations of the New Year and the chance to start anew. My birthday is New Year's Eve and my son's is January 12 so we get to doubly celebrate!

[Toby]

My favorite thing is when we actually reach Christmas day! Then I can relax. We try to keep things simple, but it always ends up being a stressful time of year for me.

[Carole]

My favorite thing about this time of year is having our friends over on Christmas Eve. Sure, I bitch about all the work and expense but it's still a wonderful way to spend the evening! Merry Christmas to all of you, Allison.

[Marianne C]

I like that most people are cheerful!

[Lana]

Cooking for people I love.

[Alyssa]

I love it all! I'm not religious, but the whole sense of friendliness and togetherness that this season embraces is wonderful. I love the baking and shopping and wrapping and singing and unwrapping and eating.

Happy Holidays!

[Mallory]

Being together with family and eating too much!

[Stephane]

Special time spent with friends and family. I love the family gathering, dislike the frantic craziness that leads up to it.
As we get older, it feels that we only gather as big extended families/friends is at funerals. Christmas is a time to gather and reflect and just share each other.

[Jan]

I think my very favorite thing is the spirit of kindness that seems to invade people. The little things you will see people do for each other that they wouldn't think twice about doing the rest of the year. It is the thing I miss the most when it is all over. I wish that spirit would stay around longer.

[Jean]

My favorite thing is the lights. I love looking at lights at night all year long, but with Christmas, there is just so much more to see. I like the colors and the way they chase away the darkness.

[Sue]

Seasonal music! I love it all, from Messiah to Rudolph. I especially like to attend church on Christmas Eve and listen to the choir sing. I also appreciate the lights, from yard decorations to candles, these very long nights are brightened.

[Kirsten]

My children and their excitement, hands down. It's contagious!

[Deborah]

I live in the heart of San Francisco now, but when I used to live in the suburbs, every Christmas Eve our neighborhood would line the streets with luminaries and it was so beautiful...it's making me tear up just writing this. It was so neat that the whole neighborhood could join together for this spectacular event.

[Dani C.]

so many things are my favorite: snow, family get-togethers, the smells of baking, presents getting & receiving, christmas music which i start playing in Oct, the cookies....it truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

[Paulette]

My favorite things about Christmas are being with family and friends, our special Christmas Eve service at church, listening to a performance of The Messiah, all the good food!, knitting-type presents! Very special time~

[Carol]

I love the chance to go all out and decorate my house for Christmas. Over the years, I have knit many Christmas stockings, little sock decorations for the tree and Christmas pillows. We live in the Sierras in Northern California and we get alot of snow and I love the chance to wear my winter knitted sweaters, hats, mitten, and scarves. It's nice to see my family enjoying all the knitted things I make for them as well.
Merry Christmas to all!

[Nancy]

My favorite thing about this time of year is the ANTICIPATION, the expectant waiting and looking forward to Christmas. That feeling is full of optimism and promise.

[Molly Johnson]

hmmm..I am going to have to say watching my girls open their presents on Christmas morning...

[Nancy J]

Wow, isn't it hard to pick one thing?! Now that I am a grammy I would have to say it is seeing the Christmas tree lights reflecting in my grandchildren's eyes. Just seeing the wonder and amazement on their little faces makes it seem like there is hope for us all in this world.

[Jolene]

maybe this is obvious... but the FOOD!

good company, and good food :)

[Sharon]

Christmas music... I love this one Hark the herald angels sing glory to the newborn King...God and sinners reconciled. In the busyness of the season it's good to remember the greatest gift of all.

Merry Christmas & happy holidays to all of you!

[Beverly Shearon]

My favorite thing is singing all the Christmas carols. I just love Christmas music. I love going to my daughter's to watch her make the dishes I used to make and spending time with two grandchildren - a 3 yr. old and a 5 mon. old.

[Bobbi]

My favourite thing about Christmas is spending time with family and friends and even though it's a lot of work; all the baking, candy making, decorating, sewing, knitting etc. which are a traditional part of the season.
Merry Christmas Allison to you and your family and thanks for the wonderful business you have and the service you provide.

[Melissa]

Seeing my husband, now that the semester's ended and grades are in!

[Pat Martin]

since we have very little family and none in the area, we have made our traditions for the last 40 years of helping others - ringing bells for the Salvation Army (yes, they do have volunteers who do that), serving Christmas dinner at the homeless shelter where I serve on the Board and other ways to reaching out. One of my fellow Rotarians participated in the Rotar Angels program for the first time this year. The two kids they had took the extra money (after buying gifts for each other) and put it in the Salvation Army kettle - tears all around.

[Jo]

The only thing I really like about winter is wearing all my knitted things to stay warm. My favorite thing about Christmas is going to visit my parents in California, where it is warm. :)

[Sue H]

I used to have the last week off to wind down the year but not anymore. So - it's just that the year is ending and hopefully next year will be better!

[Bev]

My favorite things about this time of year is watching how excited my kids and now my grandkids get. We have family gatherings that are always a lot of fun. This year we've added two new members, a grandson and a soon to be son-in-law. So much to be thankful for!! Happy Holidays everyone.

[Carmela Smythe]

christmas carols!!!

[Alison]

Spending time with family and all the great food and fun cooking that goes along with that. :)

[Syd]

Memories of loved ones at this time of year that are no longer with us in the flesh, with out a doubt with us in spirit! (And the egg nog!)

[Maureen]

My favorite thing would have to be Advent - spending the four weeks before December 25 remembering the real "reason for the season".

[Lynn]

My favorite thing about this time of year is the warmth that's all around, even as it becomes colder. Sappy, maybe, but I like it. :)

[Cat]

Honestly, semester break! I'm in college and I need a break by this time.

[Kathy]

My favorite thing about the holidays is spending time with family and friends.

[Stefanie]

Seeing my mom. She comes down from Canada to visit every Christmas and most years it is the only time I see her.

[Renee']

This time of year is so special because it makes you slow down and reflect on your life. Watching the grandkids and remembering what it was like when I was a child. When decorating the tree, different ornaments remind me of different people, times, etc. Recipes passed on from generation to generation. The music, decorations, all of it! Spending time with family and friends is primary. Christmas brings up lots of wonderful memories. May your holidays be a memory in the making!

[Kathryn]

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I love this time of year because I get to have my entire family around me! This year, I also get my twin grandaughters all to myself fo a week!

[Jaimi]

Christmas music. I really, really love Christmas music.

(Also, the new pajamas my mom bought me this year, even though I'm almost 31, are pretty awesome too.)

[BunnyQueen]

Winter in general - being able to bundle up in layers and in wool and not roast. Christmas specifically - family time, the decorations, and the fact that people seem to at least try to be nicer to each other.

[knitopia]

I like it being cold!

[Annie]

COOKIES!!!! (Also getting together with family and friends:)

[Julie]

Spending time with family and friends, and enjoying the joys of the season.

[MaryEllen]

My favorite part of this time of year is that it seems like everyone tries to be a little nicer to each other... even if it doesn't last past New Year's, it's a nice feeling :)

[Terri Brinegar]

I love cold snowy days this time of year and hibernating in the house with my family, lots of movies and knitting!

[MaryEllen]

My favorite part of this time of year is that it seems like everyone tries to be a little nicer to each other... even if it doesn't last past New Year's, it's a nice feeling :)

[Ann]

Seeing my brother!

[Versailles-rose]

My favorite thing about the Christmas season is watching childen's faces just glow with wonder.

Have a wonderful Christmas.

[ikkinlala]

My favourite thing is that the days are getting longer again now.

[marianne]

my favorite thing about this time of year is holiday food--gingerbread, eggnog and peppermint chocolate mochas.

[Anna Marie]

My favorite is the family getting together and seeing the kids so excited about Santa. We are so blessed to still have my dad here at 93 years old and he gets just as excited as the kids this time of year.

[Heather]

That's a hard one. I would have to say that my favourite is probably the Christmas tree.

[Lorise]

Days off from work, sleeping in & being with my husband and daughter. Oh, and Christmas music.

[Karen]

My favourite thing for this time of the year is all the family being together. Later this morning we will have four generations of the family all in the one house for Christmas Day. Three of the great-grandparents, the grandparents, children and grandchildren. The ages will range from 83years old to 9months. Everyone talking, laughing and playing. Great family time.
I would like to wish you and your family a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year. Thanks, Karen.

[Tara]

just hanging out with my family, enjoying good food and fun with them!

[Jean]

Enjoying being able to give handmade gifts to loved ones and spending time with family that live out of state.