Mary's Excellent Adventure - Part 4: The Spoils

"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered.
An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered."
- G.K. Chesterton

This is the final chapter of my excellent adventure, where I share "long-awaited" (ha!) pictures of my MS&W 2007 loot, for those who might be interested.

Without further ado, here we go:

MS&W merchandise
(like I need another t-shirt or tote bag)
*

Typewriter key earrings -- my initials
(next year I'll buy a "K" - for my middle initial and nickname)
*

yarn, needles and patterns
(as usual - a predominance of blue-green yarns)
*

More details on the yarns:

70/30% Merino/Angora handspun
from Jamie Harmon, Jericho, VT
incredibly soft, blooms gorgeously when knit
*

Ellyn Cooper's Yarn Sonnets
"Homespun" -- 50/50% Wool/Silk
&
"Fantasia" -- 75/25% Cotton/Nylon
both in her new "Aquatide" colorway
*

Also purchased at Ellyn Cooper's booth:

cute Umahlinda U.S. size 10 straight knitting needles
(I hardly knit with straights anymore, so these will be for decor)
*

[Edited to add: they also sell gorgeous buttons at the Ellyn Cooper booth. Last year I bought some, and didn't even work my way inside the booth to look at her yarns, silly me.]

Malabrigo aquarella in Solis (09)
purchased from Uncommon Threads' booth
*

4-ply (DK weight) 100% cashmere in baby colors
purchased from:

I'm seriously considering joining their Square of the Month club:

to ultimately make one of these:

Great American Aran Afghans
in 4-, 8- and 12-ply cashmere
*

They have no website, apparently, so if interested in their club, email them at huntvalleycashmere@yahoo.com.

The two patterns I purchased are Vermont Fiber Designs Cable & Garter Stitch Turtleneck from The Mannings' booth, and a cabled scarf and fingerless mitts pattern called "Creme Freche", from Uncommon Threads. That pattern calls for Snuggle, (an alpaca/wool/acrylic blend), but I've got some Misti Alpaca chunky in the stash that I think will substitute nicely.

And that is all!

As I walked around the fairgrounds this weekend, I had plenty of time to contemplate my yarn-buying habits versus what I actually end up knitting. As you can plainly see, I continue to be drawn to yarns in blue-green colorways, because I love those colors the absolute most. And yet I rarely seem to finish or even start projects for myself, before the ever-present Knitting Projects For Others, whether they be family or charity, jump to the front of the queue. And so, all the pretty yarns I buy for myself end up marinating in the stash. And that's perfectly fine, for now.

There are 25 people in my family -- including my parents, my siblings, their spouses, and a dozen nieces and nephews. I want to knit everyone at least one thing, so that no one feels slighted, and then after that, I'm promising myself that 2008 will be all about me. All. About. Me. Socks for me, a sweater for me, mitts for me, and perhaps finishing the dozen other UFOs I've already started for me.

There is, however, a plus-side to the knitting-for-others. I tend to pick small items and worsted or heavier yarns for those projects, and so they're finished relatively quickly and this slow knitter gets a fairly instantaneous feeling of accomplishment. Apparently, there's a good deal of product knitter within my process-knitting heart.

I've been a knitter for 20 months now, so I still consider myself new at this hobby. I'm evolving, my tastes are changing, my skills are (hopefully) improving, and I hope my knitting journey will continue for my entire (hopefully long) life.

So, I'm not going to fret (at least for now) about the contradiction between the stash I own (and love) versus the projects that are actually getting knit right now.

I do wish I had a yarn room, though, where I could easily view and be inspired by all the pretty skeins. Definitely in my next house....

***

Finally, I just had to report that I think these guys are going to fledge sometime this week:

*

Hats R Us

(what I wouldn't give to be able to make that R up there ^ appear backwards!)

I suppose it's a good thing I haven't yet documented any lofty Knitterly Resolutions For 2007, nor have I created a knitter's almanac for myself for this year. I've had plenty of ideas swimmin' around my pumpkin-sized noggin, but haven't felt compelled to document anything firmly In Writing, as of yet -- I guess I was seeing where the year would take me before committing to anything.

But, in the past week, even though I just completed two hats, I continue to add more and more hats to my mental checklist of Things I Must Knit In The Near Future, so I thought I'd better write myself a list, to keep track of them here.

However, there is some danger in list-making, at least where I am concerned. Once a list has been made, the items on it start looking less like joyful gift-knitting to delight the process knitter, and more like duty-bound obligations which take the fun out of my knitting process. Which is why I promptly forgot about the Christmas list I made for myself last year, and ended up only knitting what I knew in my heart I could comfortably finish by the holiday deadline.

But I do really want to knit each and every item on the first list below, and I don't want to forget anything, so I will formalize my mental checklist here:

Things I really, really want to knit in the next two months:

1. Snowman hat for my sister-in-law
2. Snowman hat for my sister
3. Redskins-colors birthday beanie for nephew (got the yarn at Unraveled yesterday!)
   
4. Birthday hat for my younger brother
   
5. Baby hat for someone I know who is pregnant....
6. Baby (boy) hat for friend's grandchild

Things I'd really like to knit in the next two months:

1. Snowman hat for myself
2. Hat(s) for Afghans For Afghans (details about local collection
here - deadline 3/7/07)

3. Flip-flop socks for my sister's birthday in late April

Things I'd really like to knit sometime this year:

1. Something warm for my hands (mittens or fingerless mitts)
2. Bobble & Braid hat
3. Blue Heron Rayon Metallic shawl (I started ages ago and frogged more recently - a story for another day's blog post)
4. Socks for myself
5. Sweater for myself (something simple -- a loose pullover, or maybe a cardigan if I'm ambitious)
6. A lace project [I was recently given
Victorian Lace Today, (thanks Rita!), and have recently purchased Artic Lace, so I have lots of inspiration!]
7. A beginner fair-isle project (which will probably be,
you guessed it, a hat)
8. A shadow-knitting project
9. Knitted Christmas ornaments for my dozen nieces & nephews. I started this last year, but didn't finish. So, I might finish all 12 stockings, or maybe I'll knit 12 mini-sweaters, or perhaps give a combination of the two ....
10. Linen dishcloths. So. Help. Me. God.
    

There are more things that I may add to that third list as I remember them, but I don't want to get too crazy with it, or I'll just overwhelm myself. Of course, if items rollover from that list to a Things I'd Like to Knit in 2008 list, it's all well and good. That's the beauty of a hobby. Or a labor of love, as I recently told my brother.

He and I were instant-messaging one day about something or other, (I think it was about the virtues of Windows Movie Maker for editing videos taken with the digital camera before uploading them to YouTube), and I mentioned my recent knitting retreat. His response was, "perhaps it's about time you start looking into making some money off of this hobby". I told him that, in reality, unless one owns a yarn shop, (and Richmond has five -- I think the market is saturated), one can't really earn a living from this hobby, and besides, I don't have the skills (or desire) to do something in this field professionally. So, any efforts I make in it are purely for fun and are a labor of love, and I actually prefer it that way. You add money to the mix, and the joy of this hobby would be lost for me, I think. But that's just me, a pure process knitter.

Okay, I guess I'll knit some more on the snowman hat I started last night....

Later!

Processing.... Processing....

***

Okay, I lied. I promised "stuff" pictures today. I will post those tomorrow, Blogger-, schedule- and God-willing. Or maybe not until this weekend. Saturday is our extended-family Thanksgiving, so that day is shot as far as getting other stuff done. So the next post may not be until Sunday. And then, by God, I will shut the hell up about the KR Retreat. Or not.

Today's post is really long and wordy, with no pictures, and so you have my permission to skim it or just skip it altogether. Seems that when I finally find my words, I really find them. You may be wishing I'd lose them again.

This week I've been reminded of when I was house-hunting twelve-thirteen years ago, (wow - I've lived here a long time). I was a first-time homebuyer, and it took me 18 months and three real estate agents before I found the house I eventually bought and in which I currently reside. Early in the hunt, I found a "perfect" house after just a couple of months, but my first agent screwed up that deal and the seller backed out. He was no longer my agent after that. The second agent was really no better than the first, but I struck gold on the third. Lesson learned: there is definite merit in a word-of-mouth reputation. Trust the advice and experiences of those you respect. And when someone you respect recommends a real estate agent, a hairdresser, or a doctor, listen to them and heed their advice. I'm a relatively intelligent and independent person, but I don't (and can't) know it all. It took me awhile to realize that. I chalk that up to the ignorance and arrogance of youth.

But I digress.

When I was house-hunting, after an agent would show me a house, they'd want instantaneous feedback from me on what I thought of the place -- thumbs up or thumbs down, and why I did or didn't like it. If the house was "almost" but "not quite" what I wanted, I found that processing my gut reaction and moving that reaction up to my cerebral cortex and then out through my mouth was especially difficult to do. I walked through many, MANY houses, and there were more than several that met nine-tenths of my requirements and therefore should have been on the short list for making an offer, but something held me back, and I couldn't quite articulate why. There was obviously something not quite right with those "almost" homes, something significant enough to be a deal-breaker, but I had such a hard time being able to quickly pinpoint what that was. Looking back, I think I needed time to process everything I saw at the house, (and the ten others I saw that same day), and make a mental (and perhaps physical) checklist to determine if I could see myself living in that place. But, 100% of the time, when my gut wasn't thrilled with the house, I didn't make an offer on it. And 100% of the time, when the house was right for me, I knew it immediately - often as soon as, or even before, I walked through the front door. The adage "you'll know the house that's right for you when you see it" really is true.

I tell this to try and describe what I think is some kind of mental defect I've struggled with all of my life -- my inability to instantaneously understand and articulate my reaction to certain overwhelming situations. It's like still having a 386 processor when the world requires a 2.2 Ghz Pentium-4 cpu and 2 GB of RAM. Clearly, I need a brain upgrade.

Take, for example, this past weekend at the KR Retreat. My poor little head is still processing all that happened there. And even after reading Clara's thorough report of the weekend, the event still hasn't become "mine" for me. The pictures I've posted are just a small fraction of the experience. In my head, much of it is still a globular jumble of people and knitting and new friends and spinning and yarn and food and beautiful countryside and silence and noise and laughter. Therefore, I'm going to write a play-by-play trip diary, and see if that sorts it all out for me.

So here goes.


Friday, 11/10/06

• 6:00 am: Woke too early, but too excited to sleep anymore. Showered, finished packing.
• 8:15 am: Groome Transportation arrives to take me to the airport. I love these guys. If you live in the Richmond area, they are hands-down the best way to get to and from RIC. I've used them so frequently that many of the drivers know me (and my address) upon sight.
• 8:45 am: After checking my bags, I meet up with Lou and Beth in lobby area, before we go through security. No issues.
• 10:00-ish am: Our flight departs. I'm too excited to knit or do anything except look out the window.
  
• 11:15-ish am: Our plane begins its descent. I am lucky enough to be on the left side of the plane, so I have a fantastic view of Manhattan (for picture-taking!) as we approach LaGuardia.
• 11:30 am: We de-plane, get our bags, hop on the Avis shuttle and pick up the rental car.
• Noon-ish: We get two different sets of directions from Avis people. Girl inside Avis says to take the Deegan. Mike at the booth as we drive away says, don't take the Deegan -- go to the GW Bridge to Palisades Parkway. We agree that Mike's way is better -- he swears it will cut an hour off of our commute.
• Noon-thirty-ish: Before heading on our way, we drive across the street to the gas station that sells hot food and soup and sandwiches. We have a decent lunch and then head out.
• 1 pm: We're on our way. Boy, there seems to be a back-up to the approach to the GW Bridge. Could it be because there seems to be 20 lanes of traffic coming from all directions and trying to merge into two lanes?
• 1:30 pm: Whoops -- we miss our exit. Maybe this nice toll-taker can help. He can -- he gets us back on our way, along the Harlem River. Hey -- there's Yankee Stadium! Take a picture! See -- there's benefits to getting lost!
• 2:00 pm: At last we're on the beautiful Palisades Parkway -- who knew New Jersey and New York were so pretty?
• 2:30 pm: Navigator Beth notices on the map that we're driving through Orange County. THE Orange County of Orange County Choppers. We discover we have a mutual love for the show American Chopper and decide that we'll have to stop by there on our way out on Sunday.
• 3:00-ish pm: We arrive at Jeronimo's resort. Clara is outside when we pull up -- it's my first time meeting her. She's so cute and nice! Oh, and there's Bess, who runs down the hill and gives us all a big hug. What a nice welcome! We go inside, meet "Marfa" who registers us, and are then given keys and shown the location of our rooms. We lug our bags to our rooms, unpack and emerge to socialize with everyone already there. I meet my cabin "neighbors" Cindy and Mindy, who are so nice and welcoming. We hang out on their front porch until it gets too dark and cold, and decide to move down to one of the main buildings.
• 4:30-ish: I run into Bess again at the lodge building, and she talks me into picking up a few things from the swap room. Heh heh. Boy, people have de-stashed some really nice stuff. Their loss, my gain!
  
• 5:00-ish: In the other main building, I meet my roommate, Meg, who already has her spinning wheel up and spinning. I sit with her, take out some knitting, and we chat until dinnertime. I'm relieved that she's very laid back and cool -- definitely my type of person.
• 6:30 pm: Dinner. If I remember correctly, the menu was chicken and sausage 'n peppers. Dessert is apple pie ala mode. The food at every meal was fresh, hot, homemade, tasty and filling. The dining room is too small to seat 80 people, but we all manage.
• 8:00 pm: The weekend officially begins, and we go around the room introducing ourselves, where we're from, who taught us to knit, and show our greatest success and worst failure. I brought my "butt-ugly scarf" (failure) and my felted Plymouth Sinsation scarf (success). I was staggered by the variety of beautiful things people brought to share -- lovely lace shawls; fantastic aran, fair isle and intarsia sweaters; gorgeous blankets -- just amazing stuff. The evening was very long and painful for me, as I was extremely sleep-deprived and was sitting on a rock-hard wooden bench for four hours. But it was definitely worth it -- I loved being introduced to everyone that way and seeing what they brought to share. It really was a lot of fun.
  
• Midnight: I go back to my room, post some pictures to the blog and fall asleep around 1 am. Sometime in the middle of the night I wake up freezing. I need to put on socks or something, but don't want to wake up Meg. I lay in bed and try to warm up, marveling at the dead silence of the place. So different from my own noisy city neighborhood. I fall back asleep 'til morning.

Saturday, 11/11/06

• 7 am: Woke too early (are you sensing a theme here?). Showered and got ready for the day.
• 8:30 am: Breakfast -- eggs, bacon, pancakes. Yum. I try to sit with different people at each meal, so I can meet more folks. There are lots of what we southerners call "Yankees" (New Yorkers, New Jersey-ites, New Englanders, etc.) at this retreat. I love Yankees. They say it like it is. So refreshing.
• 9:15 am: Group picture outside. A necessary evil. ;-)
• 9:30 am: Classes begin. I'm taking the Moebius class from Cat Bordhi. The cast-on seems mysterious but eventually, with Cat's and other knitters' help, becomes easy-as-pie. I am a slow learner but once I get it, it all makes sense. I'm set back a bit because the connector for my Denise needle cables has separated, ruining my first cast-on. I start over after Amy generously loans me one of her KnitPicks Options circular needles -- a bonus, since I now know what they're like to knit with, and my review is: Not Bad! A definite competitor w/ Addi Turbos. No matter what needles you use, though, knitting the first round of a moebius is a lesson in patience over frustration. Cat is really a good teacher -- funny, sweet, gentle and patient, and although her method of explanation may seem simplistic to some, it really helped me. I'm kicking myself for not buying Cat's book before I came, so she could sign it. No luck later in the day -- none of the vendors have it. I ended up buying it from Amazon when I come home. Across the hall, folks are taking a class from Teva Durham (of Loop-d-Loop) on Short Rows. As I'm not yet a garment knitter, I'll learn that technique on some future date. By lunchtime, I've got the hang of moebius knitting with my practice yarn, and am ready to start with the Fiesta LaBoheme I brought specificially for the project.
• 12:30 pm: Lunch. Something yummy -- can't remember what, but I enjoyed it.
• 2:00 pm: The vendors are here! The vendors are here! I spent a good deal of time perusing the wares of Katonah Yarn, Morehouse Merino and SpiritTrail Fiberworks. From Katonah I buy two hanks of Handmaiden SeaSilk, a 40" US size 9 Addi Turbo for my moebius, and a 40" pink (!) cable for my Denise set. The girl from Katonah Yarn recognizes me by the pin I'm wearing which she saw on my blog -- she's a lurker! How thrilling is that?! You just never know who reads these things. At the Morehouse "booth", I fell in love with their Cider Jacket, but not the color they have in the kit, so I vow to buy the pattern with perhaps different yarn, from their website. I spend a looooong time mulling things over in the Spirit Trail booth, before finally deciding to buy some silk roving. I was inspired after reading Robin H.'s experiences knitting with silk caps, so I thought the roving should work, too. I just need to figure out what to use it for. Perhaps as part of a moebius. I tell ya, I love the moebius. I love the design possibilities there. As Cat says, it's a wonderful "playmate", leading you into new knitting adventures. But I digress. Where were we? Oh yes -- shopping. I bought one more thing -- a book called Knitting Memories: Reflections on the Knitter's Life, which is a collection of essays from various people such as Lela Nargi (editor), Clara Parkes, Teva Durham, and Lily Chin. Lela, Clara and Teva were all there to sign my copy. I'll have to remember to bring it if I ever think I'll run into any of the other famous knitters in the book.
• 4:00-ish: After I dumped my recent stash enhancements in my room and freshened up, I met up with my cabin neighbors Mindy and Cindy again, and we watched the day wane on their porch while knitting, chatting and sipping wine. I think those quiet porch experiences were some of my favorites of the weekend.
• 6:00-ish: It's gotten chilly and dark outside, so we move down to the lodge in anticipation of dinner. It's already crowded and noisy with knitters scattered around on various couches and in chairs and at the bar.
• 6:30 pm: Dinner. Lasagna - yum! Dessert is cheesecake - yum again! Happy-happy tummy.
• 8:00 pm: We gather in the other building for an informal evening of knitting and spinning. A few folks are given drop-spindle and wheel lessons. I work on my moebius. One of the attendees, Elaine, is the new editorial director at the company who publishes the books for Vogue Knitting, and she brings a couple of new, yet-to-be released books. We have fun being the first ones to flip through them.
• 11:15-ish: I go back to my room, post more pictures to the blog, and fall asleep around midnight.

Sunday, 11/12/06

• 7 am: Up too early again. Shower, get ready, and pack.
• 8:30 am: Breakfast. Great, as usual.
• 9:30 am: Everyone meets in the other building for our "New Beginnings" session. First, we write a letter to ourselves about what our knitting goals will be for the coming year. My letter starts to look like a New Year's Resolution list, and that's okay. It's always good to have goals. If I don't meet all of them next year, perhaps some future year. I turn in my letter to Clara, who promises to hand them back to us at the next retreat, or else mail them to us if we don't attend the next retreat. Next, we cast on for our "New Beginnings" project -- something that is to be for ourselves and is to be more challenging than what we usually knit. I brought the Fiber Trends "Bobble and Braid" hat pattern which has lots of cables in it. I hadn't bothered to read the pattern or swatch for it prior to the weekend, so am very unprepared. The nice older lady sitting next to me, who is an admitted cable expert, helps me figure out the pattern and how to swatch for it. I begin my swatch. I end up doing more visiting than knitting, and don't get very far on my swatch. I decide that it's okay to not get very far on it today, as long as I try and finish up within the next year. As I have much Christmas knitting ahead of me, it will have to wait until after the holidays.
• 12:30: Lunch. This was one of the best meals of the weekend -- homemade chicken noodle soup -- some of the best I've ever had. Sandwiches on homemade bread. Perfect meal for a rainy day.
• 1:30 pm: Jennifer of Spirit Trail opens up her trailer for an end-of-retreat sale. I buy a skein of the merino laceweight that I fondled for an hour but resisted the previous day. I fondle it today for a half-hour before succumbing to yarn pressure. Resistance is apparently futile.
• 2:00 pm: Beth, Lou and I pack up the car and head back to LaGuardia. On our way, we find Orange County Choppers' retail shop and have a blast running around the store. I buy a couple of things, which I'll show here in a day or so. We secretly hope that the Teutuls show up, but no such luck.
• 3:00 pm: We get a little lost on our way back to NYC. The map we got from Avis wasn't entirely accurate. A few helpful strangers get us back on the right track.
• 3:30 pm: We stop at Target so that Beth and Lou can each pick up a duffel to store all the yarn they got over the weekend.
• 5:00 pm: We're approaching the GW Bridge, and traffic is slow. It's starting to get dark and is raining harder.
• 6:00 pm: It took us another hour to find our way to the airport amidst slow traffic, confusing signs, and an intimate relationship with the Triboro bridge. At one point we even got on the Long Island Expressway by accident. (At least all those roads we'd only heard about on Seinfeld and Sex and the City are now very real to us.) We finally make our way to Avis, and jump on the waiting shuttle bus. Beth and Lou madly re-pack their bags and re-distribute the yarn wealth to their new duffels. There is some question as to whether they'll make it to their gate in time. I learn the next day that their flight got cancelled.
• 6:30 pm: I check in, pick up some airport dinner, and head to my gate.
• 11:00 pm: My 8 pm flight finally takes off after numerous delays due to weather. I knit on my moebius the entire time I was at the gate, and my hands ache by the end of the night. I remember why I don't like fatter metal (inflexible) needles. I need to switch back to my plastic (flexible) Denises at some point.
• 1 am: Home Sweet Home.

Whew -- that was a lot of typing. And now that I've captured the details of the weekend, I'm still not sure if I've captured the essence of it. I think Clara may have done a better job in that. Perhaps that's why she makes a living at writing.

I think I would like to go to this retreat again next year, but am old enough to know that it may not work out, for whatever reason, so I'll just be cautiously hopeful. But if I do go, I'd like to take the Thursday extension, as well -- I think that might give me a little more time to take it all in.

I will now end this lengthy post. You may breathe a sigh of relief, that is, if you made it this far!


(Note: For pictures and additional posts about the retreat weekend, go here, here, here, here and here.)

***

YIKES!

***

Panic mode has officially set in.

I just realized that November is just days away. Meaning, Christmas is just weeks away.

YIKES!

So I just did some mental calculations and am wondering if I'll meet my holiday knitting deadlines.

Here's what I want to try and knit by December 17th, (when we're having the big family Christmas):

• 9 mini-stocking ornaments - for my dozen nieces and nephews (3 already knit)
• 5 hats - one for niece's November birthday (yikes!); one each for mom & dad; one for family member whose name I've drawn (maybe); one for our knitting group's Barnes & Noble give-away (1/3 finished)
  
• 2 Mason-Dixon ballband washcloths - for family member whose name I've drawn
• 2 linen dish towels - for family member whose name I've drawn

I'd also somehow like to squeeze in a hat for Rabbitch's contest (due December 1st - yikes!) and a scarf for the Red Scarf Project (thankfully, not due until early next year).

I can do this, right? Right?

There's a good chance I won't meet my ambitious goals, but at least I'll try.

I need to get cracking and stop fiddling around with knits for myself. They'll have to wait until after the holidays, I guess.

Where did the time go?

YIKES!

***

Happy Knitiversary to Me!

***

One year and three days ago my sister-in-law Jenny gave me a birthday gift that changed my life. I had been begging her for weeks to teach me how to knit, and at my 40th birthday party, she gave me a beginner knitting book and kit, described here. Three days later, on her birthday, she sat down with me for 15-20 minutes and taught me the knit stitch. And created a monster. And there's been no turning back.


I never would have guessed how a simple craft could change my life.

In the last 365 days:

* I've knit approximately 25-30 items, (I never said I was fast!)

* I've started a knitting blog

* I've joined a knitting group and widened my local circle of friends

* I've attended two fiber festivals

* I've "met" countless other knitters, either virtually, in person, or both

This craft has opened up my world, enriched my life, and I'm still loving it and can't wait to start the next project and learn the next skill.

And speaking of knitting skills, since this is my Knitiversary and since it's also the approximate half-year mark since I made my Knitting Resolutions back in February, (in honor of Chinese New Year, and no, I'm not Chinese), I thought this might be an appropriate time to take a look at that list and see what goals, if any, I've accomplished thus far:

* Learn to knit socks: YES! - SoXperience 2006!

* Knit a clapotis: NOT YET

* Knit & felt a purse/bag/tote: NOT YET

* Knit a hat: NOT YET

* Learn at least one other "challenging" technique - (cables, intarsia, etc.): NOT YET

* Go to at least one fiber event: YES! - Two!: SFF and MSW!

* Take at least one knitting class: YES! - SoXperience 2006!

* Better organize yarn stash and knitting paraphernalia: Sorta! (still a work in progress, but better than it was in February. I now have a bin for my yarn and have recently destashed the crap yarn, so definitely a step in the right direction!)

And so, on this my 1-year Knitiversary, I've reached about half of my knitting goals for the calendar year, and I'm pretty happy with that! I look forward to what the rest of the calendar year and the next knitting year brings! More finished items, more fiber festivals, more knitting classes, more new knitting friends, more knitting skills, more knitting fellowship, more stash enhancement and organization.

The sky's the limit! .. :-)

***

Happy New Year!

***

Nope, I haven't finally lost all my marbles or lost track of time. We're in the middle of Chinese New Year, folks -- welcome to the Year of the Dog!

And in the spirit of new beginnings, and since the calendar year started off so crappy, I'm taking advantage of the new New Year to make some resolutions. (It's not because I procrastinated about making resolutions back in January - no siree, no way -- that's not it at all!)

And not just any resolutions. These are knitting resolutions. In my first New Year as a knitter, I resolve to try and do the following knitterly things before the end of the year:

1. Learn to knit socks
2. Knit a clapotis
3. Knit & felt a purse/bag/tote
4. Knit a hat
5. Learn at least one other "challenging" technique - (cables, intarsia, etc.)
6. Go to at least one fiber event (no problem there - Maryland here I come)
7. Take at least one knitting class (again, no problem - taking a class in March)
8. Better organize yarn stash and knitting paraphernalia

I'll be interested to see what I actually get accomplished by the end of the year. I hope when late December rolls around I'll remember to look at this list I made way back on February 7th!

(And now I gotta run and find some party hats and noisemakers...!)