Getting into the spirit of Christmas, sorta

I thought I was fully into the spirit of Christmas about two weeks ago when I found myself madly Christmas shopping and wrapping gifts.

Then things came to a screeching halt. I have no idea why.

I did force myself to spend about an hour yesterday putting ribbons, bows, and tags on wrapped gifts, but I soon tired of that and promised myself I'd continue the task today.

But I haven't. Yet. And it's 2:30 p.m. already, so I probably won't today.

I haven't even thought about putting up the tree.

And Christmas cards? Haven't addressed a single one, although I do have the cards and stamps on hand.

What I have been doing is knitting doll clothes. When our niece Violet visited a couple of weeks ago, I realized how much she loves clothes for her dolls. That's what she bought, a dress for Haley, when we went to the craft show. Nothing else there, and there were plenty of things there, interested her. It was an outfit for Haley that she badly needed.

Although Haley isn't an official American Girl doll, she is an 18" doll, so that's what matters. I began looking on the internet for knitting patterns for 18" dolls and hit the jackpot.

Elaine Baker's free, easy patterns for 18" dolls are just the ticket, as far as I'm concerned.

I've knitted a blue button-up vest, which was supposed to be a sweater but I ran out of yarn. (This particular pattern is not by Elaine Baker but from Classic Elite Yarns.)

Back to the Baker designs. I've completed a pale beige dress to go under the blue vest and have started a pale green dress to go with the yellow cardigan.

Today I added a little blue flower to the skirt of the beige dress so the outfit would look a bit more "coordinated." One's doll must wear coordinating outfits, for heaven's sake.

And at the same time, my little collection of animals has grown by three but decreased by one. A second Pookie, in raspberry and purple, has joined the group, and two rhinos have also found their way to my house, but one of the baby bunnies, with nappy and blankie, has gone to Virginia to live with a little girl named Phoebe. Phoebe was due December 31 but decided to arrive November 27, much to her parents' and grandparents' surprise.

But what I really need to be doing is decorating the tree, wrapping gifts, and addressing cards. Yikes.