13 Netflix Christmas Movies

It is Thanksgiving here in the U.S. (and I have the week off, so my subbing stories have been saved for next week), and I have been trying to think of a good topic for today's list. (This is a Thursday 13.) Then it hit me. Tomorrow is Black Friday and the start of the holiday buying season. Why not a Christmas theme? 

So, today, I went on Netflix, searched "Christmas" and listed the first 13 movies to pop up. Descriptions by IMDb. Snark by me. (Believe it or not, I really do like some of these types of movies. But I can't take some of these descriptions seriously.) 

1. Jingle Bell Heist 

At the height of the holiday season, two strangers team up to rob one of London's most famous department stores while accidentally falling in love. It really worries me that this is the first thing that pops up for my search. What does Netflix know about me? Why would they think this is what I'd enjoy?

2. My Secret Santa 

Taylor disguises as Santa at a resort to fund her daughter's ski lessons. Working with the charming manager Matthew, she finds holiday cheer and a chance at love amidst challenges. I do not think I'd enjoy this one. I can just see this being all sorts of awkward. 

3. The Night my Dad Saved Christmas 2

When Santa vanishes during a chaotic Christmas, a quirky actor tries to replace him. A father, his teen son and special friends must rescue Santa to save Christmas. Two? You mean to tell me that this is a sequel? They made one already and it was popular enough to justify a second installment? 

4. Champagne Problems

An executive travels to France to secure the acquisition of a renowned champagne brand before Christmas, but her plans are upended when she falls into a whirlwind romance with a charming Parisian - only to discover he's the founder's son. The roommates watched this one the other day. I made dinner in the kitchen while it was on. I think I've seen enough.

5. Last Christmas

Kate is a young woman subscribed to bad decisions. Working as an elf in a year-round Christmas store is not good for the wannabe singer. However, she meets Tom there. Her life takes a new turn--that seems too good to be true. Not a bad premise. Maybe this would be a good one to knit to.

6. Christmas with the Kranks

With their daughter Blair away in Peru, Luther and Nora Krank decide to skip Christmas altogether until she decides to come home, causing an uproar when they must celebrate it at the last minute. Ah, finally one I recognize. I haven't seen it, but this one has been around for a while (starring people you know). 

7. A Merry Little Ex-Mas

A separated couple tries celebrating one last Christmas together with their kids before their divorce. However, the husband's new girlfriend joins the festivities, causing tension and chaos during the holidays. Oh no, I know exactly how this one is going to go, and I haven't seen a bit of it.

8. The Christmas Chronicles

The story of sister and brother, Kate and Teddy Pierce, whose Christmas Eve plan to catch Santa Claus on camera turns into an unexpected journey that most kids could only dream about. With Kurt Russel as Santa. Maybe...

9. A Sprinkle of Christmas

Libby, an up-and-coming baker, has opened up her storefront business just in time for the Christmas season. Trying to get everything off the ground, she finds herself in a heated anonymous online feud with Peter, an A-List actor, after (hiding his real identity) he gives the bakery a scathing review. At the same time, in real life, Libby takes on a game-changing side-gig: catering cake and confections for Peter's brother's high profile holiday engagement party. Neither realize they're already in a fight with each other. I worry when IMDb doesn't have it's own description for this. 

10. No Sleep 'Til Christmas

A bartender and a businesswoman find that they have only one thing in common: insomnia. Oh no. Interesting title, and the description is interesting... But I think I should stay far away from this one. 

11. Marry Christmas

After finding love, the Wright Brothers (Joey and Matthew Lawrence) unwittingly schedule weddings for the same day. A sibling rivalry ensues for the right to wed their brides on Christmas. That title is making me cringe. 

12. Klaus

A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions. Animated. Maybe. Doesn't look terrible. 

13. Our Little Secret

Two resentful exes must awkwardly spend Christmas together after they learn that their new partners are siblings. Interesting setup. Could be okay. But I doubt I'm going to risk it. 

Finished Christmas Gift

Yes, I got last week's project...

...finished...

...in time for Christmas. It's a pillow:

This is the same yarn I used to make her afghan/blanket that I gave to her for her birthday (three months late). The buttons are so the case can be removed to wash.

I think it turned out rather well, especially considering how I got it done in about a week. 

And now I am once again between projects. Sigh.

The Christmas List

Merry Christmas. I doubt I'll be around, so rather than a post, I'm linking to my favorite Christmas movie (although, I haven't previewed this, so I have no idea of the quality. I doubt anyone is going to click through and watch the whole thing anyway. I'm sure you all have better things to do). 

If you care to comment just to say you stopped by, let me know what your favorite Christmas movie is. (If you don't have a favorite, pick a winter movie you like.)

A Ticking Clock

Last week I mentioned that I have one more Christmas present to complete. As of Sunday afternoon:

It's more than halfway knit, but then I have some finishing to do. Fingers crossed I finish it in time.

(Our celebration got pushed to Christmas Eve, so I've got even less time. Sigh.) 

I'll explain once I have finished pictures. No need to guess what this is. I'll reveal all next week. Now, I'd best get back to knitting. Time's a-wasting.

Completed Present

Last week:

This week:

I'm rather proud of this progress. And while I would have liked to complete more than three, three is what SIL is getting for Christmas as I have to get this in the mail today if I want it to arrive before the holiday. 

Nothing like a deadline to get me focused.

These are fun to do. (The pattern for Autonomy is here if you're tempted to try it. It is a very easy knit. I recommend it.) 

Next up, another Christmas knit, but for someone local, so I have until the 25th to finish it. Wish me luck.

Christmas Cards

Thursday. Third period. Marketing. 

It was a career and technical education class where the teacher was in the connected room next door (that we could see through those windows in the above picture) getting training on a laser engraver that she got for the school. Since Ms. M was doing the training, she couldn't really run her classes like she normally did, but she could give them the assignment and then go back to her training. 

I've had way harder days. 

Before they got to the ethics in marketing assignment, Ms. M had a little project for them to complete. She wanted them to make Christmas cards. 

She explained to the class that one of her students, who is now a senior, had spent a year and a half out of school as he battled cancer. (He's well now.) He had been at CHOC (Children's Hospital of Orange County), which is a local children's hospital. And he suggested the project of giving all the kids who were there at the holidays cards. 

So, Ms. M gave them the assignment of making cards in class. 

She put on a drawing video. This was the front of the card. Then they were to write a message inside for the kids who would get the cards. Some did really well at writing something nice. And some just said "Merry Christmas". 

I thought it was a lovely idea. And some of them really got into it. 

Others weren't too happy with having to draw. They didn't like how their drawings were coming out. As it was supposed to be handcrafted, that made it way more personal. But teens. They can be such perfectionists.

I've mentioned these drawing videos on the blog before, but I thought I'd share one of the ones they used this day. Because it was so cute:

I would stop the video at certain points so they could catch up. And replay other points if they asked. I thought it was a great thing to do at this time of year. 

Christmas in August

Not quite the same ring as "Christmas in July", but it's very Christmassy here with me finally finishing the string lights...

I took the strand outside to give it a different background for the final photos. 

All the "lights" are sewn onto the "cord". I finished it up on Saturday. (This is the pattern if you want to make one of your own.)

I probably should have taken more shots like the one above, where you can see the closeup of the "light". Maybe next week. With school in session, I may not have anything else to blog about next Monday, yarn-wise.

I attempted to do a panoramic shot, but it didn't quite come out as I would have liked. I would have spent more time playing with that, but in choosing what to spend my time on right now, I have to use some of it for work prep. Sigh.

So, finished. Finally. Considering that I started this back in October of last year, I've been working on it for a while. But, not seven and a half years, so not too bad, really.

The string lights crochet saga:

• Scrolling
• Lit Up
• String Lights
• More Lights
• Crochet the Rainbow
• Almost There
• Assembling
• More Assembling

Almost There

One day this past week, Thursday, I think, I pulled out the eyes and contemplated working on the sweater. And that's as far as it got.

I am feeling better, more like myself. But I'm still a bit stuffy. And it's been rather warm. 

On Saturday, I was out. I brought my take-along project with me. The string lights...

Well, at least I did something.

Here's a picture of what I've got complete as of now:

On Saturday I completed one green, two teal, and I got that yellow one started. I'm going to finish that yellow one, do another yellow one, and then I'm calling it (for this strand, at least). 

Hopefully I'll have something from the eye sweater to show next week. But I'm not holding my breath.

The string lights thus far:

• Scrolling
• Lit Up
• String Lights
• More Lights
• Crochet the Rainbow
  

Crochet the Rainbow

I think I have a plan.

And if I talk about the plan, it's sure to change. But here goes... I'm going to make two "lights" for every color of the rainbow (plus pink). Then I'll make a "string" long enough for all of them to fit. 

After that, I can decide if I want to make another.

So far...

I have two pink, multiple red, two orange, two yellow, one blue, and one violet. I still haven't made a green, but I have located green yarn. And maybe I should do a darker purple, too? 

So, that's four, maybe six, more bulbs to make. Am I missing any colors? (Besides green and a darker purple.)

As it's time to make these string lights posts a series, I am once again including a link to the pattern, and following are links to the previous posts:

• Scrolling
• Lit Up
• String Lights
• More Lights

String Lights

Saturday. I needed a take-along project, but what did I have to work on? Nothing, really.

And then I saw a picture flash by of someone wearing a necklace that looked like string lights...

String lights... That starts with an S. Perfect.

Regular readers may recall last year that I found some patterns via Pinterest for Christmas. I started this crochet pattern for string lights. But then I got sucked in by a Christmas tree, and the lights fell by the wayside. 

Now's the perfect time to pick this back up. I finally got all the red bulbs that I had made attached to "sockets":

And I made a bulb in pink (and also attached the "socket"):

Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to hang this (during the Christmas season, naturally). That will help me determine how many bulbs I want to make. That's the major reason this project hasn't gone anywhere. 

Because once all the bulbs are made, I then make a long string/wire, and then I attach the bulbs to it. But how long do I want the string? How many bulbs will I need? Until I know those answers, I'm kind of spinning wheels when it comes to making bulbs.

Then again, each bulb doesn't take too much yarn. I can use scraps for this. So, if I have too many bulbs, I can make another string light project for somewhere else. 

And then where does it end? Hence why I've been a bit flummoxed by what to do with these. 

These are questions for another time. Or, at least until the answer presents itself to me.

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter

Merry Christmas

Nothing new to show off today. I managed to send off the dragon afghan, and it arrived at its destination on Thursday. And I found myself once again between projects. I have some ideas, but before I could get anything started, I got a sore throat and the sniffles. So, I'm resting up with the hopes that I'm not repeating last year. 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

That Was Easy

The tree is done.

Thanksgiving

Once I got started, it went pretty quickly.

Monday

I took it to school with me. While the kiddos were working on their assignments, I had time to crochet.

Tuesday

I photographed them after each day. (Well, every other day. I took a picture of what was on the cone, then added what I finished that day and took a second picture.)

Wednesday

Then, I realized I was again running out of yarn. But, I had just gotten it, so I went back to the yarn store, and I bought a second skein.

Thursday

And I continued on. I mean, I started class off with announcements. I answered questions. I graded some papers (the instructional aide graded the majority of the work). I entered scores into the gradebook. It wasn't like I wasn't working.

Friday

As I worked my way up, each little band got smaller and smaller. So, the longer I worked, the quicker it went.

Saturday

And then it was done. And I absolutely love it. Isn't it cute?

Tree posts:

• Just Started
• Starting Over

Starting Over

When I started crocheting the Ruffle Tree, I had an idea. I could take a picture each day after I finished bands for the tree, thereby documenting my progress. (I took pics of the first two bands, but not in place, a couple weeks ago.) 

Those first two bands: 

I had this idea after I had completed two more bands. So, I took the first picture, and then I placed the second two bands and took this second picture: 

You'd think me taking the two pictures in the same sitting would make the pictures look similar, but no. Sigh.

I took the project to work. I have one of those assignments where I have a lot of sit around and watch the kiddos work time, so I needed to keep my hands busy. The great thing about bringing crochet projects to work is that I can drop them in a second and help a student when they need it. Then I can pick the project right back up.

I was able to complete two bands a day. That's great progress.

Then, the Friday before Thanksgiving break, I took a look at the last band I completed, and I realized something. I made a mistake. 

(I omitted a round. In each band. Because rounds 2 and 3 are the same, somehow in my head I didn't realize I had to do it twice. I think I might have gotten it right initially, but by band 5, I was just omitting that one round as a matter of course. Until I stopped and looked at the pattern. Sigh.)

And, I decided that I was going to have to start over. 

It wasn't just the error that caused the decision. Missing that one round isn't terrible, although having that round does make the tree look better. (I've since this done them correctly, and I can see the difference.) As I was working those bands, I realized a couple other things.

First, I realized that there was a better way to cast on each band. Rather than using the usual chain and then doing a round of single crochet, foundation single crochet would work perfectly here. It's stretchier. And it makes it neater. (Although that round isn't really seen.) 

Once I discovered the mistake, I thought it would help me not make that mistake again. I was wrong.

Then, the other reason starting over was necessary, was that I was going to run out of yarn. The yarn I was using was vintage. And I could tell that I was going to run out of yarn before I could finish the project. There are ways to introduce a different yarn...

But, if I wanted to remake the cast on anyway, and I had so many that I had done wrong, I might as well start fresh.

So, I did.

I anticipate this not taking all that long to complete. I started my second try on Thanksgiving Day. And other than forgetting that one round (again!) it went pretty well. (My first try was practice. Kind of like swatching.) 

Best Laid Plans

Right around Halloween, I started thinking about Christmas. Planning. I even found some yarny things that sparked my interest. 

And I started my Christmas shopping. 

(I used to do way more making of Christmas gifts, and that'll happen again in the future, but for the last couple years I just haven't wanted to.) 

For the most part, it's not hard to keep things a surprise. I do most of my shopping online. Shipping things to me is not an issue.

The only time I need to be cautious is when I am ordering things for my roommates. 

I don't have to be cautious, per se. I tend to be the one that picks up the mail. And when packages are dropped at our front door, I get them unopened. 

I decided this year I'd get them pajamas. (I think the major influence on this was a pajamas sale I saw at one of my regular online shopping haunts. I gave them pajamas a couple years ago for Christmas, and they were a hit.) 

I put in the order. I even got myself something so I could show it off as what came in the package. (Not that they were likely to question it, but I was being especially sneaky.) 

I watched the online tracking, and I knew when the package would arrive. (The tracking said Tuesday, but it hit the L.A. area Sunday night, so I knew it would arrive Monday.)

I got home from work on Monday evening, and I did my usual. After getting inside, one of the first things I do is get the leash and take the roommate's dog for a walk. As Buttercup and I were heading out, I saw my package right outside. I tossed it inside as me and the dog continued on our way.

Usually Luisa is not home yet, but she had stayed home sick. The other roommate is usually home (she's retired) as she was at that time. 

When Buttercup and I returned from the walk, my roommate admitted to an oops. And it was the last oops I wanted to hear.

Luisa had opened my package. 

Naturally.

The one time it made a difference.

The other roommate had asked Luisa if she was expecting something. She was. No one bothered to look at the name on the package. Mine. 

Sigh.

As soon as Luisa realized it wasn't what she was expecting, the package was put in my room. And considering how clothes are folded and packaged, I doubt that either of them even paid attention to what was inside.

So, I tried to hide my horror and hope that they didn't catch on. They didn't seem to, but we'll see. 

I mean, this is not usually an issue. Ever. The one time...

I just had to share this with someone. Because I can't tell them, at least until we exchange gifts. Then it'll be a funny story. 

Lit Up

Last week I talked about a couple patterns I found online. I managed to start playing with one of them:

I only finished one of the bulbs as I had been out and about, so I didn't want to take a lot of stuff with me (like the fiberfill). When I got home, I finished one:

It's a little lopsided. Ah well. And I'm not sure if I like this yarn for the "wire". But it's a start.

I may have found a home for the completed tree, so now I can start that. Although, with the way I've been working on projects (like, not at all), we'll see if I actually do any of it. 

I totally missed my window to do anything Halloween, but I haven't missed Christmas. Yet. We'll see if I manage to complete anything this year.

Do you have any fun plans for Halloween? (I don't.)

Scrolling

Ever since Twitter started dying, I've been looking for social media to scroll for those moments when I just want to scroll on my phone and I don't want to do too much thinking. 

(At some point, I really need to update my online avatar. My current picture is over five years old. But I just can't bring myself to take any selfies. I'm working on it.)

I got a Threads profile working, and I was offered a code to join Bluesky, and those work pretty well. I'm still building a list of people to follow on both (you can follow me on Threads here or Bluesky here or search my username which is @ZiziRho), so it isn't quite what it was before, but it's something.

But, with all the changes, I found myself scrolling through Pinterest again. (It's ZiziRhoDesigns on Pinterest.) And I was drawn to some Christmas pins (because I won't get anything done in time for Halloween right now). 

I haven't actually done any knitting or crochet this past week. But these ideas are tempting me:

Scrap-Buster Holiday Light Garland

The pattern is a free download off of Ravelry. Since it's scrap yarn, all I have to do is go through my stash. 

Mini Christmas Stocking

This would be cute, too. Also small, so also scrap yarns. 

Ruffle Fir Trees

And then I found this pin that I'd pinned a couple years ago. I went in search of the pattern only to find that all the links in Pinterest did not work. I found a link to a link, and that link was to the actual pattern, only to lead to a 404 Website Not Found error. Sigh.

But now I was on a mission. Somehow, I stumbled on a video on YouTube. (And now I get the gist of how this is done.) There was supposedly a link to the pattern, but that gave me another 404 error. A little more Google magic, and I found the pattern! (It's the link on the picture caption.) 

Will I do any of these? Probably not. But I have the patterns printed out, so that's more than I can say for some of my ideas.

So, light garland or trees? Which one do you think I should do? 

Covid Update

Currently it is almost 1 PM on January 1st. As is my habit, I write my blog posts ahead and schedule them for the upcoming week. 

Before winter break, I put together the blog posts for last week, this week, and next week, leaving Mondays open for whatever I happened to knit or crochet. As last Sunday was Christmas, I wrote my Monday post on Friday, and I showed off my Calash scarf that was so close to complete I just knew it would be done by today. 

And then Christmas Day I tested positive for Covid. 

Deep sigh.

As of right now, I am still Covid positive. I felt terrible for a couple days. I felt pretty normal for a couple days. Today, my sinuses are a bit stuffed up. But school doesn't start up for over a week, so I should be back to normal by then. Hopefully. 

I haven't really been of a mood to knit the last week, so no progress on the scarf. When I do pull it out again (today? tomorrow? this week? next week?), it'll probably be a sitting or two to complete. It's that close. 

Until then, I figured I should give the illness update. 

I did get some goodies for Christmas: 

These are some great little yarn-y accessories. The cassette tape thingie is a needle gauge. The other is a keychain with small crochet hooks on it. It's the perfect size to bring along for projects as if one drops a stitch, those crochet hooks come in handy. (They wouldn't be great for a project, but they're perfect in a pinch.) 

And the rest are stitch markers. You can never have too many stitch markers.

I've been around the blogosphere. I will be again this week. I mean, I do have a full week's worth of posts already scheduled, so it's just the visiting. I'm not so sick that I can't sit up and read and type on the computer. 

I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Take care. And may you avoid the dread plague. I'll see you around.

Tie Breaker

As I was perusing the calendar for December, I noticed that the last day before our winter break is a minimum day. And while there is a chance that the district could hire a teacher before the break, it's unlikely, so I've been planning things through December for the class. 

I decided that we should have a party.

On the day I mentioned this to the class, the party day was two and a half weeks out. But they're adults (young adults ages 18-21). The program is a transition program, readying the developmentally disabled for the "real world" by teaching them skills to enable them to be more independent. 

I figure having them help in the planning for said party is curricular. I mean, I could write a lesson plan justifying my choices if needed. So, I wanted to give them plenty of time to come up with things and help in the getting it all set up. 

I suggested that we should do a gift exchange. For a holiday party, the two I know of are White Elephant and Secret Santa. I left it up to them to choose which one they wanted to do. 

I explained what they were. Sydney was familiar with White Elephant, so she explained it to the group. They were kind of familiar with Secret Santa already. Then I put it to a vote. 

There are nine students in the class. We got five for Secret Santa; then we got five for White Elephant. Logan voted twice. 

We explained to Logan that he could only vote once. I took the vote again. Four for each. Logan abstained. 

I was not going to break the tie. It had to be up to them. I encouraged the class to argue their sides to Logan, but no one took me up on it. 

After a second round of explanations, Logan finally decided.

We're going to do a White Elephant exchange. It should be interesting.

A Finished Penguin

I've been hinting at the penguin for a couple weeks now. I managed to finish him on Saturday: 

I'm not 100% satisfied, however. If it wasn't already December, I'd totally made another one, fixing the little things that I'm not quite completely happy with. 

But as of now, I can get all of the stuff together and get it mailed off this week. And basically my Christmas presents are all complete. 

The pattern is another One Dog Woof creation (and you can find the blog post with the pattern here). She's the one who designed the jellyfish and the unicorn gift card holder and the shark. 

When eldest nephew requested a penguin for Christmas, I went online looking for penguins. I found seven patterns I thought came out cute. I sent him the pictures. He picked this one. And it wasn't until he had picked it that I looked more closely at whose pattern it was. 

Weird coincidence? Who knows. But now it's all done but for the wrapping and mailing and gifting.

How are your holiday preparations coming along? 

Completed

And now it's all over but for the wrapping and mailing (and gifting).

The red octopus is finished.

Which leaves me with a grand total of three octopuses for three nephews.

(I only made two of the hat holder thingies. I didn't realize that one day I'd need three.) 

I'm going to hold off mailing them until I finish eldest nephew's gift, assuming that only takes a couple more days. (I've already started it.) 

I've just about finished all of my Christmas shopping/crafting. Besides the year I made everyone scarves (and started in January), this may be the earliest I've ever finished. Maybe. Probably. Considering many years I've been sending Christmas gifts out in March, we can go with probably.

The octopuses were made using a wonderful pattern that you can find here. In case you want to try for yourself. I would consider making and selling these via request, but it appears that the going rate would turn off potential customers. (And I absolutely would charge just as much. I've now made three of these. The labor involved justifies the price.) 

How's your Christmas prep going (assuming you celebrate)? What color would you want your octopus hat to be?