Yay, you're in MT! I can put you in my bloglines list now, although I come to your blog almost every day anyway. If you need any design help however small lemme know.

You're prob'ly going thru the holiday blues. Just ride it, drink some good wine, and knit when you have to. It's okay to slow down!

Well, then, as far as the julias are concerned, it's unanimous. No to the hose. And you know how I feel about Christmas this year. I am going through the motions, however, and the cookies helped. I have the tree up and some of the presents wrapped, and still nothing knit for anyone yet, although I am 1 sock into a pair for the 12 year old Diva. Hang in there. Bush is why we're bummed. There's no Christmas spirit to spare when the most powerful man in the world is a dunce willing to sell the whole shooting match to the highest bidder.

It must be an epidemic this year of very little to no christmas spirit thing going on. I had the christmas spirit about 2 weeks ago, for about an hour, and then poof! I agree with molly about it being a really tough time of the year.
All my sympathy to you. Please try and get some rest. Things really will look a little better after you do.

Well, writing in from NYC and lemme tell you don't feel like xmas to me here. Hubby does the gift thinking and buying, I just think about the food and cook. We (thats my family) don't send presents around the globe, that's just silly. This year is particularly bad. I hear it's December, but it sure doesn't feel like it. Must be the overkill of "festivity".

After this post, I am less convinced that the Kilt Hose are a good idea for you. I've come to understand that you thrive on pressure, but you really, really need to sleep at night. Break it down and finish off one thing at a time. If you scatter yourself like this you'll go nuts. No decision on the Kilt Hose until other projects are finished. Period. Your loving knit mother, J

Sleep, we don't need no stinking sleep! Really though, sorry that your having a rough week :( I'll be thinking about you and wishing good things for your computer.

hang in there kate. i know what you mean and how you feel as i am up at 4:40 on a sat morning(so much for sleeping in on the weekend) trying to figure out how i could make the most of this time. don't feel like knitting(shocking) and i guess its too early to vacuum, hehe. take care! maybe a little bit of snow will get us in the christmas spirit (and i mean a little or so much that we don't have to haul it to work) have a great weekend!

Oh, Kate! I'm so sorry! Insomnia is terrible. And unproductive insomnia is the PITS.

The temperature hovers around freezing here all day every day and yet it still feels distinctly un-Christmassy. Not even the lights and the endless loops of carols and Christmas tunes on loudspeakers can convince me. But there's still time! Sometimes Christmas can surprise you in the little things, and it can even come from inside. I'm not sure if that means experiencing the Christmas spirit (or not) is a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I like the idea that it's to some extent in our power to feel it. Does that make sense? It's past midnight here and I should be in bed, too. But instead I'm fiddling with a sweater pattern that isn't going anywhere... and now being a completely useless philosopher!

Anyway, here's to hoping that all will be much better for you once the sun comes up! I hope you and the Frog have a lovely weekend, my dear!

Ugh. Sorry 'bout the sleeping, and thanks for taking some of your not-sleeping time to post an idea for my chenille. I'm a web geek, so if you need help with Movable Type templates, let me know.

Hang in there with the Christmas problem. There isn't too much Christmas spirit here in Japan either, even though there is music playing in the stores and stupid decorations everywhere. Just try to enjoy yourself whatever happens--I'll try to send some American-spirited Christmas vibes your way!!

Sleep is important - I'm not a fan of pills generally, but it can be one of those downward-spiral kind of things for me sometimes, where I get more anxious and tired and my mood goes down, and it gets harder to sleep. Benadryl is good, very benign really. It dries out your nose, though.

I'm a single mom of a very sweet 10 year old boy, and that's why we have some decorations up. It's been a tough year for me, and I would just hibernate if not for him. But we got a little fake tinsel tree, a very old-fashioned, tarnished-looking thing, and put on bead garland and Pooh ornaments and little balls and stuff. It's a hard time of the year for lots of people.

I've been enjoying your blog, and love the bunnies! Is there a way to buy the pattern without paypal?

Hi Kate,
no real Christmas spirit here either - my hubby is a real bahumbug. If it wasn't for me putting up our tree (our apartment is too small for a real tree, too) it would seem the Grinch lives here. ;) I don't even expect a present by the bahumbug, should I get one the surprise will make me drop dead on the spot. And I have a CD for him - he doesn't buy them himself and, frankly, I don't know my way around the PC stuff he usually goes for. Oh, and our families are on a totally different continent, too!

I am sorry that you can't sleep, that almost never happens to me, and I don't have any good tips to remedy it. As someone mentioned, don't put yourself on the spot with the socks, much too stressful! Take care,
Mona

As the almost-doctor knitter in the blogging world, I will put in a little plug for helping you get to sleep: sleeping pills. Really, you will feel so much better, and will likely only need them for a little while until you can get a regular sleep pattern. And if you feel weird about taking a sleeping pill, just take some benadryl - it's the same compound. We love your knitting and blogging, but we want you to stay healthy! Love, Dr. Goldenneedle

Hey, I lost my dad this year, so I can relate to staying up at night with things on your mind, too. And I don't have much Christmas spirit, either. Posting to your fans and friends IS "being productive", BTW.
No, it would not be quick and easy to make up a pattern and whip off 4 knee-high, Aran-patterned socks with a turn-down cuff. However, everyone here can tell that you really want to do them. This is because you are an intelligent, creative person. Please don't be hard on yourself.

kilt hose, yes.

and yeah, they are a major time investment. sadly.

P.S. I just bought your bunny pattern - WHEE!!!

Of course you can knit the socks, but I agree with Becca that none of us, even the fastest, could whip them out. The length + cabling = time. You can do it, but I have deluded myself about things like this before and only been more upset when they weren't done right away...

Try not to stress. I wish I could send you more than just good vibes to help you out.

I do that "must get out of bed and get something done" thing too -- then I sit and blog-surf for 90 minutes or so. The cat loves it, but it doesn't help with the endless list.

Don't harbor any illusions about socks being something you can "whip out." Especially not those knee-length, cable-y, deep-cuffed things ...

Want some snow? :-) got that...and still, feels a bit not Christmasy here, too. So I bought a little tree in a pot from the grocery store and put lights on it. A bit better. But being without family is weird and makes holidays feel not holiday-ish.

Sorry to hear (and see) you're having blogging woes...and nighttime worries...I so relate to the whole laundry list of stuff that keeps you up at night.

Time to go back up an entire hard drive cause I know my laptop is about to blow a gasket...hang in there, honey...

bisoux :-)

Well, I didn't expect to see this...good luck getting things up and running.

Your husband buys his family gifts? That's great. I agree it doesn't seem like Christmas around here... except for a couple of little trees and some lights. It's just not that festive.