New Year’s eve is like every other night; there is no pause in the march of the universe, no breathless moment of silence among created things that the passage of another twelve months may be noted; and yet no man has quite the same thoughts this evening that come with the coming of darkness on other nights. ~Hamilton Wright Mabie
I said this about last year, but I can’t believe I’m already looking back on 2009. It was another fast year and another year full of knitting.
I finished a sweater this year:
Sadly, I haven’t worn it because the yarn grew a lot and it’s just too big. At some point I plan on ripping it out and using the yarn for a different sweater. (I adore this shade of green.)
I knit a blanket for a friend’s baby:
I knit a dog walking hat for a friend’s husband:
2009 was mostly the year of socks. I spent the first half of the year unemployed and I spent most of that time (when I wasn’t job hunting) knitting socks:
I have more socks on the needles.
This pair is almost finished:
I’m anxious to finish these socks because I love the color:
I’m also anxious to finish these socks because I love this pattern and this yarn:
I started this scarf and hope to finish it by next winter (I’m back to being obsessed with socks so it’s taken a back seat):
I started out the new year with my 365 project and the intent to document the year by posting one picture every day. I lasted 139 days before my camera broke. When the camera was repaired I had lost interest in the project. So, 2009 taught me that I’m not as interested in photography as I thought I was. I do like to take pictures, but (if forced to make a choice) I would rather do other things.
When I did my end-of-the-year post on 12/31/08, I had one big wish for 2009: to get through the year without any of my pets dying. I’m happy to say that my wish came true.
Sadie has lost 18 lbs. since I adopted her and has discovered that she loves to run:
Kishka spent a lot of time this year doing the things that she loves most.
Rolling in the grass:
Keeping the tennis ball away from Sadie:
And digging holes (note the dirty nose):
What did Romeo do this year? He bossed around his sisters and surveyed his kingdom.
I’ll end this post (and this year) with one of my very favorite pictures. It was taken in the car on the way home from the dog park. They were both exhausted.
A sprint to the finish.
Back in May, I cast on a baby blanket for a close friend of mine.
Two weekends ago, the blanket looked like this:
This was also just seven days before her baby shower.
Ack!
All that week I came home from work and knit the evening away. On Saturday (the day before the shower), I knit all day and far into the night. I took a four hour break to sleep and continued knitting on Sunday morning. 30 minutes before I had to leave for the shower, I finished the blanket:
The mother loved it and it was a big hit at the shower.
I tend to procrastinate, but I’ve never cut a knitting deadline this close. I still can’t believe I finished it.
Details are on my Ravelry page.
I haven’t knit since I cast off this blanket, but I’ve been eyeing all the socks I have in progress.
I think the sock bug is about to bite me.
Never let the demands of tomorrow interfere with the pleasures and excitement of today. ~ Meredith Willson, The Music Man
My camera arrived home last week and I immediately broke in the new lens by (what else?) taking pictures of the dogs:
Shortly after the camera returned the dogs and I went hiking. Here are my favorite pictures (and video) from that trip:
Have you ever tried to pose a dog in front of a waterfall? It’s quite amusing (“Sit. Stay. Look pretty. Good girl. No, stay. Don’t look at the waterfall. Good girl. Stay there. Look at me. Good girl”).
The entire photo/video set is here.
I have been on a sock knitting kick for months now and lately I’ve stopped being monogamous and have been spreading my sock love around. (I guess you could say I’m a sock knitting hussy.)
These three pairs of socks are being knit from yarn that I dyed:
This pair is from a sock blank I received in a swap:
I am test knitting this pattern for the designer (isn’t it fantastic?):
I also have a blanket freshly on the needles:
I was absolutely overwhelmed and a little gobsmacked at the comments and emails that encouraged me to continue with my photo-a-day project. Thank you so much for your kind words and the inspiration to continue. I really appreciate it and you almost talked me into continuing the project. However, I have decided not to continue the project.
I enjoyed taking a lot of photos and I did learn a lot in the short time that I took a picture every day. However, the bottom line is that the commitment the project required ended up sucking a lot of fun out of both blogging and photography. I had many days where I happily snapped a ton of pictures. But, I also had more than a few days where I absolutely didn’t feel like taking a single picture and did not enjoy the process at all.
The project did teach me something, though. Before the project I always had pictures I wanted to toss up on the blog, but I felt like if I posted a picture I needed to do a whole blog post about it and sometimes I just don’t feel like talking (seriously). This project taught me that I can just post a picture and people will find it interesting.
So, moving forward I will sometimes do a ‘proper’ blog post and sometimes I’ll just post pictures that I’ve taken.
But, before we move forward, I’m going to look back for a moment. I went through all of my photos of the day and these are my favorites:
Don’t take life too seriously. You’ll never get out of it alive. ~ Elbert Hubbard
Wow. Long time, no blog.
I am very overdue in thanking all of you who emailed and/or commented your condolences on the loss of my sweet Samantha. Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know that you care. Every time I lose a pet (much too often lately) I’m always amazed at the wonderful people who take the time to contact me and let me know that they understand my pain.
As I told many of you: while the loss of Samantha was awful, it was easier to deal with than the loss of Max. Samantha lived a full life (13 years is a long life for a large dog) and her degenerative myelopathy never impacted the quality of her life. For that, I am so very grateful.
I am also grateful that I adopted Sadie when I did. I never would have if I had known how little time I had left with Sam, but Sadie continues to be the perfect addition to the family. It’s also comforting to me that Samantha gave Sadie her stamp of approval.
Speaking of Sadie….
So far, she has lost 2 lbs. That’s not much, but at least the scale is moving in the right direction!
One of the most charming things I’ve discovered about Miss Sadie is her love of sleeping on her back:
She also loves water:
Kishka continues to accept her new sister completely.
She’s even figured out that she’s the dominant dog now and she likes to boss Sadie around.
She also likes to get into mischief with Sadie. Here they are checking out a bird’s nest:
Thankfully, Sadie can’t get her large butt over the fence and Kishka obeyed me when I told her to not even think about it.
Brace yourselves, I have actually have knitting content.
I’ve finished two washcloths and started a third for Warm The World:
I’ve even started a new blanket:
Details for all projects are on my Ravelry page.
Speaking of Ravelry…..
My love for the Ravelry forums has plummeted in the last few months. When the forums first started I loved them because they were so different than all the other knitting forums that are out there on the internet. I never post on any other knitting forum because they seem to be populated by whiny knitters who take themselves way too seriously.
Sadly, that is now my opinion of most of the Ravelry forums. For example: there are many knitters losing their shit (on multiple threads) over this article. I thought the article was pretty funny, but that’s not my point.
I am absolutely amazed at all the people who have whipped themselves up into a frenzy over what someone else (and a stranger to boot) thinks of their hobby. Are people really this insecure and/or that much of an egomaniac?
It’s knitting, people. It’s not life or death. Get over yourselves.
Yesterday I was a dog. Today I’m a dog. Tomorrow I’ll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There’s so little hope for advancement. ~ Charles M. Schulz (1922 – 2000), (Snoopy)
Thank you for all the wonderful comments on Sadie. I’m always amazed how many comments my dog related posts receive. It makes me feel better about my lack of knitting content.
Speaking of lack of knitting content, I’m afraid it’s going to continue for the foreseeable future. I just don’t have much time to knit anymore. I usually have only an hour or two to knit each week, sometimes less.
My Central Park Hoodie has been frogged back again. Kishka sums up my current feelings about this project:
I do have a plan in place to fix this sweater but since spring is here, I’m just hoping to finish it by next winter.
When I have been knitting, I’ve been knitting on my third Log Cabin Blanket:
Sadie continues to settle into my furry family.
Some might even say she’s already spoiled:
I’m discovering new Sadie quirks almost every day. She likes to sleep like this:
Then when I call her name I get this face:
Her visit to the vet revealed that she weights 116 lbs. She should weigh around 80 lbs. Needless to say, we are doing a lot of walking.
The walking is followed by a lot of water drinking:
I caught Kishka sitting like this the other night:
It looks like all she needs is a beer and the remote control.
Feel the fear and do it anyway. ~ Susan Jeffers
Lately, I’ve been quite fond of garter stitch.
Here’s a new scarf:
I’ve also picked up a project that’s hasn’t been seen in almost a year:
Romeo loves his cave:
Kishka was very cooperative during a photo shoot earlier today:
Until she got bored:
Sadly, there has been another murder around here. And this time, there was a witness:
Is there anything lovelier than a summer afternoon?:
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be. ~ Douglas Adams (1952 – 2001)
The Felted Bag From Hell is settled into its new home:
I’m making progress on the Summer of Scraps blanket. I have a feeling the finished blanket will either be gorgeous, or it will look like a gaggle of clowns threw up:
Another blanket has come off the needles:
A Gem of a Blanket
What: A Gem of a Blanket
Yarn: 3.5 skeins of Red Heart Soft in the color Gem
Needles: size 11
Pattern: Diagonal Baby Blanket
Date started: 6/24/07
Date finished: 8/21/07
Size: 33″ x 35″, 48″ diagonal
Lesson Learned: None. A quick, easy, enjoyable knit.
Destination: Warm The World
Samantha’s favorite toy is a tennis ball. She was playing with one last night and when I walked down the hall I discovered that she’d stashed it in a safe place:
I don’t know why I’m so fascinated by vanity license plates, but here are two more I’ve seen this week:
Appetizer
Say there’s a book written about your life. Who would you want to narrate the audio version?
Katharine Hepburn. Yes, I know she’s dead, but having her reading the audio version of a book about me is about as likely a a book being written about me!
Soup
Take the letters from your favorite kind of nut and write a sentence. (Example: Perhaps every avenue needs understanding today.)
Stupid question. Next!
Salad
If you could go back in time and spend one week in another decade, which decade would you choose?
I’m a bit of a bonnethead, so I’d pick the 1860’s.
Main Course
Name a song that brings back memories for you.
The Boys of Summer. I love this song and have from the moment I first heard it: I was riding up a ski lift on a sunny, Saturday morning. I was listening to Casey Kasem‘s American Top 40 on my Walkman and the second the song started it mesmerized me. It still does
Dessert
Do you prefer to wash your hands in cold water or warm water?
Warm water.
Finally….Kishka naps:
In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. ~ Aristotle
Yesterday was the monthly meeting of Warm The World. You can read all about it here.
It was a gorgeous day for a drive. I saw Jordan:
I was almost home when a field of wildflowers caught my eye:
Since the great catastrophe of the felted bag, I’ve been licking my wounds with a variety of activities. Knitting on A Gem of a Blanket:
I’ve also been cleaning up a murder scene:
Making fun of Kishka, the lazy eater:
And taking pictures of Samantha:
Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. ~ Oscar Wilde
My to-be-felted bag was a very enjoyable knit and then I grafted the handles and tossed it in the washing machine.
How very quickly things can go so very wrong:
Felted Bag With No Name
What: Felted Bag With No Name
Yarn: 6 skeins of wool from stash
Needles: size 15
Pattern: My own.
Date started: 7/13/07
Date finished: 8/15/07
Lesson Learned: I’m an idiot.*
Destination: Place mats and coasters
* The most glaring defect to me is that the bag looks like a bra. I don’t know about you, but I don’t wish to carry a bag that looks like a bra. I don’t even like to wear the dang things and I don’t want a bag that looks like one!
*The bag shrunk in height: A LOT more than I anticipated. Still, I could have salvaged the bag except I grafted the handles incorrectly. I should have grafted the two handles on the same side of the bag, not the two handles on opposite side of the bag.
:: bonks self in head ::
What makes this so horrible is that I triple checked the handles before I started grafting to make sure I was grafting the correct handles.
Obviously, when I began grafting I had my head up my ass. And apparently it was up there so far I could have licked my own tonsils.
Ugh.
I will salvage what I can from this monstrosity. I plan to get out the scissors and cut the bag up into place mats (for the animal dishes) and coasters (for me, obviously).
Moving on….
There’s another FO in the house and I’m very happy with this one:
Angel Blanket #1
What: Angel Blanket #1*
Yarn: 1.85 skeins (3 oz. size) Caron Simply Soft in the color white
Needles: size 9
Pattern: Overlapping Waves from the Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns, page 209
Date started: 7/30/07
Date finished: 8/16/07
Size: 17.5″ x 18.5″
Lesson Learned: None. A quick, easy, enjoyable knit.
Destination: Warm The World
* Warm The World is partnering with a local funeral home to provide these blankets to families who have lost a baby to stillbirth or shortly after birth.
There is also a new blanket on the needles:
The summer of gorgeous weather continues here:
Samantha enjoys some outside time (again with her trusty tennis ball):
Kishka, a.k.a. Miss Priss, did not come outside and instead sat just inside the house:
Kish would rather sleep on my bed:
Finally, the very handsome Parker: surveying his kindgom:
Appetizer
Describe your laundry routine. Do you have a certain day when you do it all, or do you just wash whatever you need for the next day?
I do laundry when I run out of something. I usually wash a load or two a week.
Soup
In your opinion, what age will you be when you’ll consider yourself to truly be old?
85.
Salad
What is one of your goals? Is it short-term, long-term, or both?
Long term – keep up my walking routine with the dogs.
Main Course
Name something unbelievable you’ve seen or read lately.
The husband killing woman in Tennessee walked out of jail after serving just seven months. Seriously…what the hell is wrong with our justice system? If a man served that amount of time for killing his wife, this country would be an uproar. Why on earth is she catching a break? She didn’t kill him in self defense. Her ass should be in jail for the rest of her life.
Dessert
On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how happy are you today?
8.
Runs With Needles 