Resolution Steps

I just took one step on that financial goal and created a budget worksheet for my sons to use as they explore off-campus living options. It wouldn't be a bad idea for me to fill it out for myself!

And, on the house organization, we're looking for a piece of furniture to replace the table in our fireplace room. Just getting the stereo system (yes, we're behind the curve on technology, but as avid radio listeners, our old Sony system is still central to our lives) and all my knitting paraphernalia out of sight will make that room ever so much less messy. Does this look messy to you?




ON MY NEEDLES
To make it easier for me to blog more regularly, I'm going to only talk about one or two projects instead of trying to catalogue the whole backlog.

I made progress yesterday on my Slouchy Cardi while watching "It's a Wonderful Life" with Zeben. I'm one inch away from tackling the problematical sleeve cap shaping. I've got Ellen's notes (Purl Diva) and will review the Ravelry notes before diving in.

Zeben has also been making very good progress on his Cobblestone pullover. He may just make his goal of completing it before going back to college in two weeks!

Resolutions

Ah, the time of review and thinking about how to improve on...everything! My list of resolutions is always too long and daunting, and this year's is no different. Then I read Heloise's column in the paper this morning and she talked about setting goals instead of resolutions. Goals can be a bit broader and give you some leeway in your accomplishments, to my way of thinking. So, I'm setting goals instead of resolutions.

Knitting Goal: Work on those UFO's (unfinished objects for non-knitters). While I did request and receive yarn for Christmas (including a surprise gift of Sundara silk lace weight that thrilled me down to my toes!), my focus this year will be on finishing projects instead of starting new ones and using yarn I already own for anything new I do start.

Health Goal: Reduce anxiety. Or, at least manage it better - maybe with exercise? yoga on a regular basis?

Financial Goal: Maintain my financial sanity in the face of at least one son living off-campus next fall. Don't exactly know how this will play out, but will try not to be anxious about it (see above).

House Goal: Make real strides on reducing the "stuff" we have. More about that later, but it will involve a combination of getting rid of things and finding better ways to store what we keep.

Other Goals: Make quilts for Nate and my mother. Blog at least once a week (noting that my last blog entry was a year ago!). Make more effort to have a social life instead of hibernating when not at work or with family.

That seems like enough!

Overall, I find myself relieved to have 2009 in the past, though I hadn't been thinking that much about how true that would be. The last decade has had some significant rough spots in it for me and my family and I can see how it has all worn me down in some ways. Starting a new decade seems like an opportunity to start with a clean slate and I hope I can take advantage of that in some positive ways. And, how appropriate is it to have a blanket of fresh snow to make the world look tidy and clean.

ON/RECENTLY OFF MY NEEDLES:
I'm working on a Slouchy Cardi (from Knit Cafe) in Knit Picks Merino Style in Storm (a teal blue). The yarn was my birthday present, so I'm forcing myself to finish this before starting my Christmas yarn sweater. I've got the fronts and back done, am halfway up the sleeves (knitting both at once as there are some pattern issues and this will allow me to make them the same as I adjust the pattern), and then will have a hood to make. I'll need to seam it together, but there are no buttons or bands to add on, so it will be a quick finish.

I picked up a skein of Malabrigo Sock yarn in a denim-blue kettle dyed color at Thanksgiving and used it to make a pair of fingerless mitts (Delicato - I got the pattern from Dye Dreams at Spa Knit and Spin last spring along with some of their yarn and my aunt admired while I was knitting them) for my Aunt Alice. I actually got two pair done before Christmas and still have some left, from which I hope to get two "Cité" neckwarmers - Ann Hanson's latest KnitSpot pattern.

Cascade sock yarn in a dusky blue ended up in a prayer shawl for my friend Elisabeth using another Ann Hanson pattern "Cluaranach," and a scarf for my friend Lizzie, "Tudor Grace," another KnitSpot pattern. Ann's blog is one I follow regularly too -- that woman is an incredibly productive designer and it is an inspiration to follow her progress.

On Christmas Day I cast on for a pair of fingerless mitts for Don in the Knitty "Dashing" pattern and then knit a hat to match from the "Hurricane Hat" pattern that was one of the holiday links on Purl Diva's page. I used purple tweed Galway yarn. On New Year's Eve I knit another hat in blue tweed for Zeben from the same pattern. Maybe I'll make him a pair of mitts sometime too. But the leftovers will also make good mittens for next year's Mitten Tree at church. After knitting with sock and lace weight yarn for so much of the past year, knitting something in worsted weight goes so fast!

And, Nate requested a pair of socks last summer and I found a self-patterning sock yarn in reds, orange, maroon, and brown and finished them two days ago. I basically knit them twice as the first time through they were too big. I was working on them a lot over Thanksgiving because I had his feet readily available to test them on. I finally got the sizing worked out and finished one of them while sitting at the repair shop the other day, getting new tires on the car.

So, the only projects really on my needles at the moment are the neckwarmer and the Slouchy. I need to cast on another neckwarmer to use up some mink and cashmere yarn I got before Christmas. I managed to knit a neckwarmer for my Mom in time for Christmas but think I can get another one out of the skein. This is yarn that comes from a small company in East Orleans, MA called Great Northern Yarns. They shear the mink once a year and blend it with cashmere for a lovely soft yarn. It wasn't as impressive as I thought it would be when I took it out of the package (though I was very impressed with the hand-written thank you note the owner included!), but when I soaked it and blocked it, it "bloomed" and was just luscious!

On to a new year and decade!

On the Subject of Resolutions

I've just come from reading my sister's blog where she outlined her New Year's Resolutions and came up with a nifty theme for the year: "Walk, then Run to 41." Guess who turned 40 last year?

I've tossed around the idea of resolutions this year and have not come up with a laundry list. Mostly I just haven't had any down time yet this year to think about it. I worked over the break between Christmas and New Years -- typically a ho-hum quiet time in the office when one can take a lot of time off or lazily attack the professional reading pile on one's desk, with a snooze or two when it gets boring. This year, however, we're launching a big program I've been working on since last June and the three days the office were open during the holiday week were frantic and it hasn't slowed down any since. Anyway, more about that in another blog entry.

Pretty much my resolutions have come down to two. First, I'm going to keep better track of my knitting, quilting, etc. projects by using my Moleskine to record every project I start and go back and add the date when I finish, along with other details such as the brand of yarn I used. As you'll see below, I've already cast on three projects since Christmas and am actually making good progress.

My second resolution comes from reading my other sister's copy of "You on a Diet." I'm just not able to jump whole hog into the diet thing at the moment, but I am making every effort to follow one piece of advice from the book: walk 30 minutes every day -- no excuses! I'm trying to walk three days a week during my lunch hour (I'm taking a mini-course during our January term on quilting -- more on that later) and on the days I can't go at lunch, I'm meeting my husband at the high school and walking on the treadmill in the fitness center that is his third home (after our home and his classroom respectively). The AD asked me if using the fitness center was my NYRes and I laughed and said it was Don's resolution that I would use it! Oh, and this part got a laugh out of my son, Nate -- I bought a mini-tramp to "walk" or "jog" on when I couldn't do either of my usual walking opportunities.

So far, so good. I like the treadmill as it has a programmed 30 minute walk that builds in some faster portions and 5 "hills" during the walk. I've progressed to level 3. And, it gives me a chance to listen to my podcasts, especially Cast-On, in which I'm now up to podcast 54, on my way to catching up with the present at episode 70 or so.

While I'm not able/willing to diet, we have put our cats on one. And they are not happy about it -- especially Lydia (who is the one that actually needed the diet, according to the vet). When she gets hungry, she certainly lets us know.

ON MY NEEDLES
One of my gifts to myself for the holidays was Harrisville Shetland on cones from Halcyon Yarns in Bath, ME. I'm using it to knit up the Kimono pattern from Vivian Hoxbro's Shadow Knitting (Damn, why can't you cut and past a web address into this system? -- just look it up on Amazon, folks).

And, one of the gifts from Don was a skein of Jojoland cashmere (yummm!) in pink, along with a lace and cable scarf pattern. I'm about half-way through it and hardly want it to end as the yarn is so wonderfully soft to handle. But, I'll also like wearing it.

I'm still working on the Norwegian Woods Shawl in cream-colored Silky Alpaca Lace. I'm up to the part where there are over 400 stitches (405 to be exact at the moment) in each row. It can take an hour just to do 4 rows! But, the end is in sight. I'll post before and after blocking photos.

OFF MY NEEDLES
I've just finished a baby sweater that was an impulse purchase. My LYS had a basket with these balls of slubby yarn called, I think, Cotton Kisses. Each ball was enough to make a baby sweater using the pattern on the ball band and tucked into the center of the ball were the buttons needed for the completed sweater. One of my former students just had her first baby, so I couldn't resist knitting a little cardigan up in a mixed combination of cotton candy colors and white. Darling. I'll post a photo when I get the buttons on.

My mother's lace shrug is completed, blocked, and the cuffs sewn together. Did I remember to give it to my son to take to her yesterday? Oops, no.

NOT YET ON MY NEEDLES
I need to start another pair of socks. The pink ones were well-received by my sister at Christmas. Now I need to knit a pair for the other sister. One of my resolutions from last year is to always have a pair of socks going -- they are such an easy thing to carry with you for odd moments of knitting.

OTHER PROJECTS
I'm taking advantage of a quilting opportunity this month. I work with the woman who advises the Quilting Club on campus. 6 of us are working on a fun scrap quilt (though most of mine is not out of actual scraps -- I bought a lot of fabric new for this project). I'm making mine for Zeben who requested (over a year ago) a blue and white quilt (inspired by Blue Willow plates) for his bed at college. He and I picked out a toille (pronounced "twall") backing fabric in the right colors and now I'm putting the top together. It really is going to be pretty and is going together quite quickly. Right now it is all in random pieces, but I'll post a photo when I start to lay it out. My mother has requested a quilt, and now my other son, Nate, has expressed an interest in one in greens and browns. Go figure.

WHAT I'M READING
I'm working my way through all of my Yarn Harlot books. They do make me laugh.

And, I just broke down and subscribed to Piecework Magazine, which I've wanted to do for a long time but wouldn't allow myself to do until I let something else go. Sorry, Martha Stewart Living.

Longest Night

I have a fairly severe reaction to the dark part of the year. I have an inclination to hibernate. On many evenings, by 7:30 at the latest, I'm yawning and ready to climb into bed. I can easily sleep 9 - 10 hours a night and still be tired the next day. This always eases as the days lengthen. Usually I see a change once I am able to leave the office and find it isn't completely dark already.

But, for the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, I fight back. Dating from when my sons were very young, after we'd moved into this house where we've lived for over 20 years, I started a tradition of listening to the Paul Winter Consort's Winter Solstice Concert on public radio and wrapping gifts, therefore staying up waaay past my usual (and certainly way past my winter unusual) bedtime. I visited St. John the Divine Cathedral a few years ago, and saw a Paul Winter Consort concert here in Waterville one time, so can easily picture what the Winter Solstice concert is like.

I think there have been son-related activities and events preventing this observance in the past couple of years, but tonight I fought back my urge to go to bed early and am nearly done wrapping gifts. My sons are home from their first semester at college, but both are out with friends. Don helped me mix up a batch of English fruitcake but headed to bed while I baked it off. That's OK. The longest night almost begs for solitude. But, I'm not really alone. Lydia, the youngest cat, likes to be close by, so I have good company. And, I have longer daylight to look forward to tomorrow. The first step toward summer!

ON MY NEEDLES
I am about to start the decrease for the wrist of the lace shrug I'm making for my mother. I can just about knit the pattern with my eyes closed now.

The pink socks need to have the toes grafted, but otherwise are done.

The Norwegian Woods shawl, in cream-colored Silky Alpaca Lace, is going agonizingly slowly at this point. I'm in the first repeat of the last of the three main sections. Now there are 357 stitches per row, and I can usually only get through two rows at a sitting as it takes so long now. But, it is beautifully soft and will be absolutely gorgeous when it is done. My first full shawl!

And, what will definitely be a late gift for Don, a nightcap made of purple (eggplant, really) cotton from the Franklin Habit pattern in Knitty. It is a little hard on my hands -- the cotton yarn and the #0 needles. But I love the pattern.

NOT YET ON MY NEEDLES
I have a $50 Visa gift card that I got for filling out a health assessment online through work and haven't yet spent it. I think I'm going to use it to buy yarn to make a Vivian Hoxbro Nihon Japanese Kimono sweater from her book, Shadow Knitting, in the purple/blue colorway. It looks like it will be more affordable if I buy the Harrisville Shetland yarn on cones rather than in skeins. If that is true, I think it will be my Christmas present to myself, with yarn purchased from Halcyon Yarns -- maybe on the way home from dropping my son off at the airport on Saturday (he's going back early to go to Florida on a training trip with his diving/swim team -- we are not feeling sorry for him).

Wall Street Ought to Take Up Knitting

Knitting is a calming, productive way to manage stress. Personally, I'm tired of hearing about the hysteria on Wall Street and Main Street over the financial crisis. I work with people who check the market several (that's putting it mildly) times a day and worry about every few points it drops and bewail the losses. I, however, take much pleasure in imagining all those suits in NYC calming themselves down by picking up their pointy sticks and some yarn. Don't you think that could improve things? I've lived through these down cycles before and my meager financial investments always have rebounded. There isn't anything I can do about the situation, so I think I'll just knit. Luckily, my stash is deep enough that I can keep busy until the market recovers. And, if necessary, I can wait a long time because I also have a deep stash of quilting fabric. I'm golden.

The empty nest is beginning to feel more comfortable. I still have a regular crying jag on Saturday mornings, usually after Don has left to do his Saturday things. Silly things set it off, but it doesn't last long. I think it may have as much to do with how tired I am by the end of the work week as it has to do with anything else. Maybe this will be the first weekend it won't happen.

Instead of knitting, however, I'm finding myself to be on a cleaning out binge. First, I cleaned Zeben's room over the summer, with another cleaning needed after he was home for a week before going to college. Then, I cleaned Nate's room. Dust was thick on the bookshelves and books and junk on the shelves. Trash was in the closet and on the floor. I opened a big trunk he keeps in his room and it had a full load of dirty socks in it -- pee-uuw! The floors in both room have been washed, the beds made, and I can get to the windows for the first time in a long time. The linen closet in Nate's room is now organized so I can find things (now that I can actually get to the closet). Now, though, I need to get busy and, finally, paint the woodwork and wallpaper or paint the walls. That should keep me busy this winter.

This past weekend, I cleaned out a cupboard and the pantry shelves on our cellar stairwell wall. The impetus was an infestation of flour moths but the result was a lot of old stuff thrown out and a much-easier-to-find-things-in cupboard and pantry. One more cupboard to go, this weekend.

Now to organize and clean out the basement, garage, sewing room, porch, files & records, photos, recipe files, and..... yarn!

ON MY NEEDLES
Norwegian Woods Shawl #2 in Classic Elite Silky Alpaca Lace in off-white. This one I'll make in the bigger version.

Lace shrug for my mother -- Knit Picks lace weight in blue & gray variegated. This is my second shrug from the Gathering of Lace pattern by Meg Swanson. No errata for this pattern!

A friend gave me two cones of purple pearl cotton and I found a lace bag in Gathering of Lace that called for pearl cotton. It has a series of hearts down the center of each side. I'm hoping to have two done by Christmas to give the daughters of our friends who are also twins and also freshmen in college. So far I'm about half way through the first one.

The pink socks turned out to have problems. To begin with, I forgot to make the second size instead of the smallest size. Also, somehow I lost some stitches and wanted to do a different heel than the one in the pattern. I ended up pulling them both out and starting again. I'll be happier with them in the end.

WHAT I'M READING
I just started The Mezzo Wore Mink by Mark Schweizer. This is the 6th in a series of hilarious novels in which the main character is both the Chief of Police for a small North Carolina town and the Episcopal Church organist. He's also a fan of Raymond Chandler and attempts to write his own mystery stories. Each one of these books has at least one belly laugh out loud episode (involving pirates, clowns, helium filled naked women balloons, competing "living creche" scenes with collapsing sets, a massage parlor called the "Upper Womb," an escaped gorilla, and really loony Episcopal priests and religious education directors), which makes them very therapeutic to read. Our church choir has invested in the full set and has happily shared them. A new member of our choir, a retired priest, is currently working her way through the first couple of books -- she decided she'd better read them after we regaled her with our desire to put on a Pirate Eucharist based on one of the books.

Music (and Knitting): Good for the Soul

Yesterday we got a last minute invitation to a barn concert at a friend's farm in Skowhegan. We were en route to UNH to visit our son (and take him a few necessary items, such as a sweatshirt, as it is starting to get cold in the evenings here in New England) when we got a call from DH's friend's wife -- apparently the invitation was to be delivered earlier in the week but Don's friend forgot. Any-who, we were planning to be back early anyway, so were able to get to the party right on time.

These friends live outside of Skowhegan on a dirt road. We wound our way along in the dark until we got to a field where everyone was directed to park. We then walked about 100 yards further down the road to the barn. There were torches burning around the barnyard and the barn doors were open, revealing the 3-person bluegrass band that was the evening's entertainment. The horses were in their stalls behind the band and seemed not to care that anything unusual was taking place.

A table had been set up for the pot-luck dinner/snacks that everyone brought. There was a fire burning in a fire-ring a bit further into the woods and people were setting up lawn chairs in front of the barn and by the fire. It was a thoroughly charming and warm group of people and such a cozy, neighborly setting. We even ran into someone we knew from home (about 20 miles away).

At various points through the evening people were inspired to dance. At the band's break, there was even a limbo going on, followed by the Twist. All we needed was someone to call a square dance, but no one 'fessed up to knowing how. DH and I danced a few times, chatted with old and new friends, and had a long discussion with an enthusiastic student of history and political science at UMaine (our hosts' son and daughter are both students at UMO and had brought friends)about medieval history and African politics.

When we finally decided to head home, we used moonlight to help us find our way back to the field where we had parked. What a lovely evening.

Also on the musical front, church choir has been back in practice the past two Thursdays and we sang at our first service of the season this morning. It really does make a difference in the mood of the service to have an enthusiastic choir. Our interim priest seems to be very appreciative too, which is nice.

Then, at coffee hour my friend brought a project she's been working on to show me. She is studying for the priesthood and has a friend from the seminary who is about to be ordained as a Congregational minister. She has been knitting her friend a stole and I've been able to watch the entire creative process unfold. She bought the yarn on one of our knitting boondoggles to Webs last spring. I've oohed and aahed over swatches and been consulted for some problem solving. It is nearly done and is quite beautiful. It was a lovely treat to look at and kept me from the calorie laden treat table on the other side of the room.

All of these things are tangible reminders of how very fortunate my family and I are in this life we lead. I feel nourished and renewed -- isn't that what a weekend should do?

ON MY NEEDLES
I got up early this morning and put a few rows in on my yoga mat bag -- I'm nearly to the the point of putting a bottom and then the strap on it.

Braids cardigan -- haven't touched it since the trip to take Nate to college.

Norwegian Woods Shawl. I'm doing this pattern again, but this time in cream wool and silk yarn and will do the larger size -- truly a shawl and not a scarf.

Mom's Shrug. I'm making a shrug for my mother from the same pattern I made one for my sister from. It has been a treat to go back to this pattern -- my hands remember it and it is going very smoothly. As a side benefit, I asked a friend at church if I could borrow her copy of the book the pattern came from as I wanted to re-photocopy the pattern and enlarge it (these eyes just don't work as well as they used to and I need to get my prescription updated). By the time she brought it to me, I'd already found another copy to look at, but she said she'd been given another copy and so was giving me her extra copy! Now I'm slobbering over a number of other lace projects -- all of which just have to wait until I get a few other things done.

WHAT I'M READING
Zeben gave me a book about the Mitford novels as an early birthday present and I'm working my way through that at night.

And, I downloaded the second Amelia Peabody mystery and we started listening to it on our way home from NH yesterday.

All Gone, But Not Forgotten

Dropping son #2 at college was actually more difficult than we'd imagined -- especially for my husband. A few miles from campus he asked me how I felt. I replied, "sad," and he didn't say anything, but a few minutes later (I was driving) I looked over and he was raining tears. And we couldn't find any tissues.

We went and spent the night at my sister's house, and went to my parents' house for a barbecue the next day, so didn't get home to our empty house until Sunday night. We watched an episode of Northern Exposure (we're working our way through the quirky series we were avid fans of in the late 80's) and went to bed -- exhausted.

On Wednesday evening, I finally stepped into Nate's room and got the urge to start cleaning. Today, Saturday, I spent most of the morning in there -- throwing several bags of trash away. Both boys' rooms will be cleaned out by the time they come home again, though I doubt we'll get to do the painting and wallpapering that those rooms desperately need before they come home for fall or even winter break. But, I feel a sense of accomplishment, just being able to walk through the rooms without impediment.

I actually really love both the thought of being organized and the act of cleaning out rooms, closets, boxes, etc. For some reason, though, I'm not as good at keeping things organized once I've cleaned them. That is especially true of my knitting stuff. I haven't settled on a happy way to store needles, for example -- especially round needles and the bamboo flexi-needles that are so much gentler on my wrists. And, my yarn stash needs more space than I currently cram it into. My plans for cleaning out our house involve a kind of complex domino set up. Cleaning out the boys' rooms will give me room to overflow into as I clean out and organize other rooms. Besides yarn, I have lots of books to organize.

So, I'm thinking about my boys a lot as I sift through the detritis left behind in the rooms they've occupied nearly their entire lives so far. No surprises yet, just lots of trash and good memories.

ON MY NEEDLES
I started a shrug for my Mom, using the lace shrug pattern from A Gathering of Lace. I made one for my sister some time ago so I'm absolutely sure there are no mistakes in this pattern! I'm using a Knit Picks variegated yarn in blues that they no longer sell. I bought three batches of the yarn when it was on close-out and hope to make, eventually, a third one of these for myself at some point.

Pink socks are coming along. I've decided to ignore the pattern directions and use the heel I like from another pattern. I may have made them too small, but we'll see how they turn out.

Braids Cardigan -- I worked on it on the way to NH. Hopefully I'll have enough yarn to complete it and won't have to rip it out to make it shorter.

Other stuff -- I just downloaded the Knitting Daily pattern for Vivian Hoxbro's potholder and made a square out of some scrap yarn. I figured that the only way I'd understand the pattern would be to actually do it step by step. Fun!

Being back to work and the activity of the beginning of the school year makes for much less knitting time!