It’s the little things, right? A nice cup of tea, a yarn with silk or cashmere, a few extra minutes to read in bed–sometimes the little luxuries are the things we forget to give ourselves, even though we’ll readily give these things to others. In the name of looking after oneself, I present to you my Christmas gift to me, and a tip for a really great nights sleep:

I knit myself selfish, straightforward, fall-off-the-needles, DK weight socks in a beautiful variegated yarn called ‘Tartan‘ from Tanis Fiber Arts. They are thick and smooshy and the colourful yarn made them a pleasure to knit. 2 days to complete. Yep, 2 day socks.

Now, you don’t need handmade socks for the next bit (though they certainly do help):

Before I go to bed, I try to remember to do this one simple thing for myself (I succeed about once a month, but I’m trying to improve that). I moisturize my feet with something rich, like the Hemp Foot Protector from the Body Shop and then I sprinkle on a few drops of lavender oil. Then I pull my socks on.

I don’t know what it is that does the trick, the moisturizer, the relaxing result of a short foot massage, the oil, the socks or even just the 5 minutes I took to do something totally hedonistic before bed, but I will go on to sleep like a log. Normally I’m a very light sleeper, but this knocks me right out and leaves me feeling refreshed in the morning.

Give it a try, even just for the relaxing results :)