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!

I’m so delighted today, I can barely contain my joy. This post will be an honorary Favorite Things Monday post, because I’m just ooozing favorite things.

1) Hooray Massachusetts. How I love thee! Thanks for allowing me to legally harass on a daily basis legally stay married to the woman I love.

2) Your comments.  Truly. Wonderful. Heartfelt. Appreciated.

3) As I mentioned about a year ago, I’m a professional fundraiser, and one of my clients is the primary force behind this victory. Simply stated: I raised a lot of money so that Arline Isaacson could eat/sleep/breath gay marriage lobbying. So this feels like a professional victory too, one that I’m very proud of. This picture (stolen from the Globe site) makes me weak with joy.

No matter what you may read, these two women are the power behind this victory. Arline Isaacson (the one who’s weeping) is the co-Director of the Massachusetts Gay & Lesbian Political Caucus, and Norma Shapiro is the lobbyist for the Massachusetts ACLU. They’ve been lobbying on this issue together for years. In addition to the current-day consulting I’m doing, I worked very closely with them professionally about six years ago, so I know first-hand how hard they work, how powerful they are, and how much this means to them. The Globe wrote about the power of everyone who called, emailed and visited their legislators, and clearly, that won the day.  Thanks to MassEquality for that!  But I happen to know that Arline & Norma played a huge role in this victory and that they’re too humble to highlight their own impact. So I say — Thank you and Congratulations!! I’ll be calling donors tonight, and I plan to ask a particularly helpful donor to buy Arline a weekend at a spa. She really needs a weekend away.

4) In celebration, I got a wee present for myself. Additional background: I was supposed to start teaching again in 10 days, but my class was cancelled for under-enrollment. Yet, I’m teaching another summer class that starts in late July, so I have a small window of freedom. Yippee! A little freedom + a historic gay marriage decision + Little Man’s need for a quilt + my guilt about ignoring said need for a year = a little of this

a little of that,

a little of this,

and a heaping pile of that,

which will also become pj pants for me. I’ve been absolutely lusting over this Hippie Bus fabric for months.

5) Hello Yarn Adrian’s Ireland vacation photos. I’m mere moments (and a sugar mama) away from buying three plane tickets to Ireland. In the meantime … does anyone know if Ireland has a right-of-return policy*? You know … just in case another Republican wins the Presidency?

*[it does, but I miss it by one generation. hrumpf.]

6) Soulemama’s newest creation. I really want those little green trees and the plump green apples. Must find that fabric, despite it being sold out on Superbuzzy.

7) Kat’s amazing photo of the Boston Public Garden. The delight of waiting for Kate Gilbert’s Marina Piccola sock pattern, which I intend to make for my SockPal using Sophie’s Toes in the Fresh Air colorway.

See? I told you I was bursting with joy.  Have a great weekend y’all!

Due to a massive re-organization of my craft room, I’ve actually been working again, with missionary zeal. So far I’ve scored two converts — my fantastic teenaged SIL, who was helping cut green flannel with white stars for some PJ pants for me. Next lesson — PJ pants for herself.

Convert #2: Little Man, who actually pinned pieces and he helped with the sewing!

Here’s the finished project.

We used stashed cotton flannel from Hancock Fabrics with Sesame Street characters on tropical islands, and Simplicity 5874, a kids pajama pattern with several options. I intended to make only pants, but he insisted that we make a matching shirt, the little slave driver.

For the record, I used the size 4 pattern for the top, size 3 for the bottoms and both pieces came out really wide. When I use this pattern again, I’ll adjust the pattern even more.

Back in October, someone blogged about the Holiday 2006 partnership between Target and Tord Boontje, a name I’d never heard before. But I was intrigued by the images that were posted: intricate paper cuts of deer, rabbits, snowflakes, stars, and stark winter branches. My little pagan heart warmed.

Then I read accounts of folks dashing to Target stores across the U.S. to snatch the best pieces as soon as they hit the shelves, other bloggers mourning missed opportunities, and blogger gifts of Tord collection bits. I longed for that garland. Small. Simple. White garland. But that was one of the first products to disappear.

Then I bought a house. And I ripped up floors. And fixed ceilings. And my Tord fetish slipped into the back of my mind.

Until my Mom came to visit. My Mom - the woman who brings out my inner consumer - requested a trip to Target. While there, we dug into the deep recesses of the holiday sale shelves, and found the window clings for 50% off (score!). Ms. 1890 reallys like them, but my camera - not so much. Have you ever tried taking a decent photo of a window cling? See … even the brilliant photographer SouleMama struggled with it.

Anyway … after strolling around the store and digging through the bins, I started to look upward, at the beautiful designs hanging from the ceiling. Then I strolled up to the Customer Service desk and asked:

“What happens to those beautiful holiday decorations after Christmas?”
“We throw them in the trash.”
“Can I have them?”
“Ummmm … sure, I guess. Well … let me make sure. I have to call our sign person. Can you wait here?”

I waited.

And after some logistical negotiation, it was decided that if I called every day to remind Melissa (my uber customer service chick), and arrived very early in the morning on the Thursday after Christmas, I could have whatever I wanted. I requested two strings of stars/snowflakes and two of the large panels.

Cat for scale

Dansko for scale

I’m not sure what to do with the big panels — probably cut them up(?). Adornments for wrapping paper? Mobiles? Tracing them to make stencils? Freezer paper t-shirts [nina]?

After all that excitement and inpsiration, I came home and made stockings for my Mom and MafiaBro so they had some visual love when they awoke in my house on Christmas morning.

Now Mom and MafiaBro will have stockings whenever they come for a Christmas visit, and I have yards of Tord paper cuts to play with. Peace and Joy.