FemiKnitMafia

In looking through my ‘07 resolutions, I didn’t do too poorly. Especially when you consider the two huge life changes that were unexpected and largely out of my control: the divorce and being recruited into a graduate program. Still, as I look at the list, I feel a twinge of guilt for not achieving everything I set out to do. It’s silly, I know. But I’m a striver like that.

However, this year I pledge to be a realist. Life is short. Relationships are unpredictable. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. Therefore, I intend to focus more on the present, less on the future, and way less on what other people are doing/accomplishing. Accordingly, my goals are:

Human
… pay attention and go with the flow
… continue to be mindful of my body, fitness and health
… continue to love my little boy with all of my heart, and make all decisions with his needs in mind
… regularly tell friends and family how much I appreciate them

Employee & Student
… focus. focus. focus. produce. produce. produce.
… imagine. envision. create.

Home-owner
… buy a mattress & box spring
… buy a couch
… make wise financial decisions

Creator
… look to the stash (both fabric and fiber) before buying anything new
… finish some WIPs
… have fun

In looking back, I realize that I finished more crafty projects in 2007 than I thought.

It’s funny how you can forget about things that are finished and gifted away, temporary, perpetually in progress, or outgrown. If you ignore all of those items, that leaves 2 pairs of socks, one washrag, a pair of mittens, a hat, and my first skein of handspun. No wonder I’m forgetting my accomplishments!
I fudged the definition a little to allow the Dale to make the cut. After all, I finished the whole body. That’s a finished object, right?

Note to self: try to take more photos of completely finished objects before using/gifting them.

In a moment of crazy youthful impulsiveness, and thanks to blogless Deanna’s tip, I convinced Cheryl to drive across the state to Northampton tonight to see an incredible New Year’s Eve show at the Calvin: Melissa Ferrick, Erin McKeown and Alix Olson, together! There’s also talk of additional surprise guests, and I bet Pamela Means will be one of them. I am so f-ing excited I can barely contain myself!!! Happy Dance. Happy. Happy. Happy. Dance. After the show, we’ll drive east in the wee hours, crash hard, and then go to Danielle’s for the afternoon. What a way to welcome the New Year! Hoooooray!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thanks to the excellent leadership (and postage money and pile of lace cookies) of Katie of The Dilettante Debutante, Team MIT sent off 20 (!) scarves for the Red Scarf Project. 15 of the scarves are pictured here. We also got a fabulous surprise visit from Suzanne, who added that beautiful bias stitch brown/orange/yellow scarf up near the top. Aren’t we awesome?

And here’s my finished Besotted. After blocking, it had such a nice drape that I decided against fringe. Oh yeah — and — I just didn’t feel like it.

Thanks to Danielle for modeling. And providing the camera. And for printing out the cute little gift tags and wrappers. And for bringing a bag that was big enough to fit both her scarf and my scarf on our walk across campus. And for carrying said bag. According to Chris, this makes Danielle my “work wife.” That’s fine with me; let’s just hope her husband doesn’t mind.

I’m heading off to Northampton tomorrow morning, so be prepared for booty from Valley Fabrics, Webs, and Cate. And since I got a gift certificate from Webs for Christmas, I won’t be breaking my Knit From Stash rules. Score!

lightweight Socks That Rock in Watermelon Tourmaline
Let’s talk about love. The love of one blogger for another blogger. Like … for instance … when one blogger enters a contest and doesn’t win. And another blogger sends Socks That Rock in the mail, unsolicited, for no apparent reason. Seriously. Love.

With all this love around, I ditched all prior knitting plans and commitments and wound balls and cast on for a new pair of socks for me! I’m so excited, I can barely stand myself. THANKS Frickmeister! You made my day, week, month, year!

don’t make fun of my polka dot socks + pin-striped pants.
it was 6am when I got dressed and clearly I wasn’t awake yet
Then I came home and bathed the Red Scarf. Wash #1: red water

Wash #2: red water

Wash #3: pink water; will this ever end?

Honestly, I was too bored to actually test the stamina of the dye. But … as a word of warning: do not wash KnitPicks Swish Superwash in Red Pepper with your silky white ’special set’ from VS.
[oh, the glory of a mental image ... ]

Back in November, Katie suggested that the MIT Stitch & Bitch do a mini-knit-along during IAP (aka January) to create scarves for the Red Scarf Project. Of course, the idea was a big hit, and lead to an official event in the IAP calendar. [clearly we're famous now]

Despite not posting about it, I’ve spent the last week knitting away at a Besotted Scarf in KnitPicks Swish Superwash in Red Pepper.

As of right now, the scarf is about 32″ long. I’m getting 15″ out of each ball, and since I only have three balls, this scarf will be 45″ with no fringe. I was hoping for a teeny bit of fringe, but it’s already fairly short, so I can’t spare the extra yarn. Oh well.

While I feel great about participating in this project, I also feel silly about walking around with cold hands because I refuse to 1) buy mittens or 2) stop the scarf and risk not finishing it in time, so I can make mittens for myself. Am I being totally ridiculous? Yeah, I thought so.

But if I slog through to the end of this scarf monogamously (despite the siren call of my Arwen and my cold hands), my reward will be to knit a pair of mittens (or a hat?) out of the most beautiful handspun that I got from the recent MIT SnB holidaze yankee swap (note to self: explain why I’ll never participate in another yankee swap). But I’ve also signed up for the Green Sock Along over at Knotty Bits because I have two skeins of the most incredible green sock yarn from my generous birthday presents and I can’t wait to cast on. But what about Wifey’s Icarus or Hag’s socks or Mom’s poncho or my Eris or Little Man’s cornflower sweater, you ask? Yeah … I should get back to those, huh?

Clearly monogamy is difficult for me. And clearly, I’ll have no problem knitting from stash until the end of September.

- Bruise update: it was measured, and it’s larger, and more colorful (eeewwww!). there’s a new photo, and the old photo has 69 views, which scares me a little.