Happy New Year!

A new year. I’m filled with anticipation and hope that this year will bring the things that have been so elusive in past years. Things like good health for me and all of my family, a job for my husband that will keep him closer to home, and time. Lots of time. Time for quiet and reflection, and quietly reflecting upon quiet reflection.

Even with the undeniable time restraint of 31,536,000 seconds (or if it’s easier to deal with - 525,600 minutes) that 2006 will consist of, I’m hoping to defy time and create some extra moments here and there. Moments to take a bath, or listen to Prairie Home Companion without interruption, or to spin, or to just sit and watch the clouds on a summer afternoon. I’m determined to find an extra second or two each day to just enjoy life.

So, naturally, today being the first day of this new year, I started right away, by doing what? By doing nothing for the entire morning. Nothing but sitting and surfing the Internet for podcasts (which I have immediately become addicted to – do you know how cool these things are? I can put NPR podcasts on my daughters i-Pod and listen to them whenever I want – AND there are about a billion and a half different podcasts out there to choose from. FREE!). I listened to Prairie Home Companion online (which, of course, was interrupted by both of my children for drastically important questions like, “Can I go outside?” and “Can I finish the crumbs of potato chips left in the bag?” and “Should I let the dog in? She’s scratching at the door.” The good thing about listening to a program on the Internet is that I can rewind it! But that is like having to reread the same line in a book when you are interrupted.) When my head finally cleared from the frenzy of podcasts and Prairie Home Companion, I searched for Mediterranean Cruise rates (always good to start planning ahead. In this case it’s probably 18 years ahead!), and I began planning my blog entry. I went back and skimmed through my 2005 blog year to and began to take note of all of my finished projects. I had forgotten about a few of them! Here is my knitting review for 2005. I made:

A felted cap for DH
Latvian mittens for me!
A pair of socks for my mom.
A baby sweater for a friend
Three helmet caps (two for my daughters and one for my niece)
One complete baby sweater set (a sweater, jumper, bonnet, mittens and booties) for my cousin in Germany
One sweater, a baby cap and booties for my friend in New Zealand
A Harry Potter scarf for my niece
A pair of mitten-gloves for my husband

Notice that there is only one item that I knit for myself? Yeah, I noticed that too. During those spare moments that I’m planning to create in 2006, I’ll have to knit some more things for myself – like a pair of socks! I’ve always wanted a pair, but have given away every single finished pair to others. No more!

Here is the final FO for 2005

Gloves






Start date: 12/26/05
Finish date: 12/30/05
Material: Lion’s brand Wool-Ease in Chestnut Heather (179) and Natural Heather (098) 1 skein of each
Pattern: Urban Necessity from MagKnits with embellishments to make them “folksy” for my DH.

You will notice the strand of yarn in one of the pictures. That was how much I had left of the Chestnut. It came awfully close – 37 inches (Yes, John. I actually measured the thing!) Knitters will understand my frenzy as the skein came to an end. I thought that if I knit more quickly, I could fool the yarn into lasting longer and I would be able to finish the project. It worked!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday break, and enjoy every moment that you create for yourself this year!