 December 31, 2008, at 5:46 pm 
As the year comes to a close, it’s common to look back on what has happened; the good, the bad, the mistakes, the victories. I prefer to look forward. Forward to my plans for the new year, and to what I hope will transpire. Here in the U.S. we have a new president, so I’m sure we’ll be seeing quite a few changes in the next year. I will be getting a new job (I WILL!) and hopefully doing some travel, seeing new places.
So I’d like to make a toast,
To new beginnings,
To new escapades with old friends,
And to new friends we have not yet met,
May the best of your past be the worst of your future.
Welcome 2009!
December 29, 2008, at 8:47 pm 
I’ve had a headache all day. I woke up with it this morning, but it went a way for a little bit and came back with a vengeance after breakfast. Two Advil and three glasses of water later, I was on the couch under a blanket trying to shield my eyes from the light that was shooting pain through my eyeballs and out the back of my head. Every movement increased the intensity and made me feel just a little more nauseous. Suffice to say the last thing I was thinking about was taking my photo of the day.
This evening, after a bit more water and two Tylenol, I started to feel a bit better. I knew I still wanted to get that photo, and as I lay on the couch, still in pain, I noticed that I could see the guitars and the Christmas tree through the open shelf in the coffee table. I got my camera and laid back down with my head right at the edge of the couch, and took a few shots until I got one that I really liked. And I’m very happy with it.
If I hadn’t had this headache, I would have gotten a lot done. I would have headed out into the world and looked for a great photo to represent the day. I would have looked through the world as I usually do and sought for the right image, and then taken that shot from a variety of angles until I was happy with one of them. But the lesson I was reminded of today is that I need to start from a new perspective, rather than trying to find one after I’ve already chosen my subject. It’s a lesson I know from the rest of my life, “beginner’s mind”, “looking through new eyes”, etc. But it’s a lesson that I constantly need reminding of. Sometimes a headache is a blessing in disguise.
December 28, 2008, at 7:26 pm I’m beginning to update the site for 2009. It will be receiving a complete facelift as I go from using a fixed blog template to one that I’ve configured specifically for this site (yay!) so please bear with me between now and the end of the year as I get the configuration up and running and work out the bugs.
Thanks!
UPDATE: The main template is up! I’ll be making a few more updates in the next few days, including the “About” page, so please stay tuned. Thanks!
December 24, 2008, at 5:28 pm 
The gifts are purchased, the groceries are bought, we have a log on the fire, a beautifully decorated tree and Christmas specials on the television. Tonight we plan a nice dinner and some Christmas gift wrapping, mixed with some eggnog and hot cocoa.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!
December 17, 2008, at 6:38 pm 
I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this here before, but I love wool. I really think it’s the best fiber on the planet. And the best sheep, of course, are the merino sheep. There wool is so soft, and so warm when it needs to be and so not warm when it’s hot out, and it resists odor amazingly well. I wear wool every day in the winter, and most of that wool is merino. Merino long underwear, merino knee high socks, wool sweaters layered over wool t-shirts, and wool pants to work (er, well, I did when I was working, anyway). Most of my coats and hats are wool too.
So it occurred to me a about a month ago that it was silly that I didn’t know how to knit. Shouldn’t a wool junkie know how to make the good stuff into sweaters, scarves and socks? What if the second great depression hit and it was up to me to clothe the family? How would I keep us warm though the long, cold nights?
Well, okay, we’re a long way away from that (I hope!) but it still seems like knitting is something I ought to know how to do, and it could be a fun task to keep me busy through the long, cold nights of the Minnesota winter. So, following the advice of the always-helpful women of the TE forums, I bought a book, Stitch and Bitch, and then hit up my local yarn store. The wonderful woman that helped me at the LYS recommended that I go with a light-colored yarn so that I could see my stitches better, and she recommend wool (of course) as the best fiber to learn to knit with. So I picked out a yummy pink yarn from Debbie Bliss and some bamboo knitting needles and was on my way.
I followed the book to learn to cast on stitches, and then learned to knit and purl in the continental style of knitting. I picked the continental style as I’m left-handed, and in this style the left hand holds the yarn. One I got the stitching down I got started on my first project, a pretty pink scarf.
The scarf pattern that I’m using came from my mom. You cast on however many stitches you want as long as they are a multiple of four, and then you add one more. Then you knit two, then purl two throughout the row. When you get to the end you knit one and then start the next row. It makes a more wavy pattern than regular ribbing. I have a scarf in this pattern that my mom made for me, and I love the look and feel of it, so it was an easy pick. It’s a bit challenging for a first project because you’re knitting and purling, and also because you’re not always knitting the knits and purling the purls, but I think (hope) I can pull it off. So far so good. I’m a knitter!
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