Christmas Eve Cast on - is that really a thing?

This is the picture I have been keeping in my head as I go through my holiday knitting this year - and there is precious little time for that, what with work.  Not that I don't sneak a few hours in here and there once the workday is over. More about this later.

This year, we're not doing a whole lot.  We didn't send out cards, though we love receiving them - every year we are blessed to receive cards from family and friends and we cherish each and every one of them. In fact, as family sends out picture cards, we hang them up on a special board and those pictures stay up all year 'round!  This year sending our own just got away from us. 

This corner of the den is where we have our little Christmas tree.  In past years, we'd alternate between a large fake tree and a real one.  Over time, the real trees seemed wasteful and given what we've seen in the news in recent years, downright dangerous. I like this little tree.  It's just the right size and little people don't run into it, LOL:)

Because three of our adult children are residing with us this year, their preparations for the holidays have been a delight to see.  Packages are arriving from various locations throughout the week - and I confess to having one or two on the way for the DH.  Though John and I are believers, albeit of different denominations, most of our six adult children would tell you, if asked, that they generally range in the agnostic/atheist point of view.  A couple of them have some sort of religious faith, but for the most part, Christmas is not a particularly religious holiday for them. That being said, in many ways they keep the holiday traditions in a way that is meaningful for them.  They give to others less fortunate, they give and share with their siblings and friends.  They have big hearts and they express this in the way they care for members of their community.  So, as I have often said, despite my best efforts, they have turned out well and I am proud of each and every one of them. Christmas, different in meaning for each of us, remains a family tradition and one which I am hopeful we all still enjoy.

I'm hoping to sing with the St. Pete's choir this Christmas Eve for the late service though I've missed several practices for a variety of reasons. This would get me home in time to enjoy an hour or two before bed just relaxing with a glass of red and my knitting.   I've been following a lot of the knitting podcasts on YouTube (I know, I know, such an exciting life I lead -but hey, it's a nice break from the news cycle!!).  A good number of the "regulars" I watch are doing something called "Vlogmas" where they do shorter podcasts every day from Nov. 30 through Christmas, basically giving a glimpse into their daily activities.  Needless to say, I have never done anything like that for two reasons: (1) about 50 percent of my day is not available to the public for reasons of confidentiality and (2) I have the proverbial perfect face for radio...  As a result, I really admire the work of these podcasters.  Paula Emmons-Fuessle, who hosts the Knitting Pipeline podcast, once told me that producing an hour-long podcast per week takes a good eight hours to accomplish.  The time and effort to do even a 10-minute podcast daily must be quite an energy drain! And hey, speaking of dear Paula, who is Prairie Piper on Ravelry, please send a few good vibes/thoughts/prayers her way.  She's had a recurrence of ovarian cancer that plagued her throughout this year and she's participating in a new treatment protocol. If you are so moved, contributions to her doctor's study would be wonderful, too! I am a great admirer of Paula - she is such a kind and decent human being with an indomitable spirit!

Anyway, Vlogmas... One thing I've noticed is that some knitters who celebrate Christmas tend to do something called a Christmas Eve cast-on. Hence the picture at the top of this post.  I was thinking I'd knit a pair of self-striping knee socks.  Cloverhill Yarns in Catonsville, MD is having a really great sale on Opal sock yarns from the German Zwerger Yarn Company. 45% off - could not resist.  I saw the two skeins above and thought they'd make great Christmas socks and therefore a wonderful Christmas Eve cast-on. 

Do any of you knitters out there do a Christmas Eve cast-on? If so, what kind of projects do you start? For my friends of the Jewish faith, do you do something similar for the evenings of the Eight Days of Hanukkah? Looks like it's late this year:)!

Back soon I hope.  God be with you 'til we meet again+