I thought I missed it!

I looked at the calendar today and thought my blogiversary slipped by, but no.....it is still coming up on the 16th. That will make two years in the blogging world, two years writing about knitting, of Ravelry, two years of spinning and two years of friends, family and new readers who have shared this adventure with me. It is still a week (give or take a day or two) away, so help me celebrate by reading through the archives and let me know what you still want to hear about.

There have been a few postings by other bloggers that blogs are "so yesterday" and no longer relevant, but how else can I track my life chronologically with words and photos and share it with you at the same time. How else can I focus on the good stuff (mostly) in my life, and have a perfect escape from the stress and anxieties of life? Are you reading blogs as regularly, are you posting in your own with the same frequency? Leave me a comment between now and the 17th and share a few thoughts on the matter. A prize awaits ( undecided at the moment) for a random poster or two. Thanks in advance for sharing in my world!

My First Blogiversary!!!

It has been one year since I began this journey with you, my readers. I have also been a member of Ravelry for one year as well. These two adventures, as well as all my knitting, spinning, friends, family, and travel have been the most joyous and positive things in my life, and I have tried to keep my blog upbeat and personal as far as I felt comfortable.

That being said, I am so glad 2008 is over...done....kaput...finished. All the above mentioned joys served to keep me sane in the most stressful year of my life. Well, almost sane, most of the time. I thought 2007 was bad enough with the loss of 83 year old father and my sister-in-law Maggie. I suffered dearly with those losses to be sure and miss them every day.

But 2008 began in January with stress at work (personality conflict with the boss) and I felt the guillotine hovering over my head every moment until late August when the axe fell. Unemployed at age 58 after a 12 year career with a company I love, I sunk deeply. I relied on my positives to keep me keeping on all year. Here is a recap of the good things in my life over the last year:

Family: My two daughters are grown-ups now and taking adult responsibilities seriously. We talk frequently thanks to Verizon in network calling and they give me much joy. They live far away are self supporting with their own benefits (yay) and I was able to spend time with each this year and I am extremely grateful for this. Sometimes I can hardly believe that these two beautiful young women are mine. Yes, I see little girls and am reminded of how much I miss MY little girls, but am also glad that we are done with adolescence and the hating Mom stage.

My Mom is healthy, strong, still living on her own with a vast network of friends and activities. She is even posting online to meet some new friends (read: men) for companionship! You Go Girl!!! I helped her upload this photo to the chosen site and we looked over the male candidates. Her only comment was that they were all too young for her (late 60's-70's). The funniest part of that is we fibbed slightly about her age and probably most of the men did as well! My husband is healthy and active at home with the fix-it chores and outdoor duties. I can always count on him being home and he supports my fiber craziness and indulges it (he bought me my first Golding Spindle and ignores the fluff that invades every room of the house!) My brother seems to be getting along well, as does my niece who is graduating high school this year and has been accepted into the same college where her mother went. Their loss is unimaginable and I keep them in my thoughts all the time.

Friends: I have very good friends who have been a terrific support to me, both old and new. Through Ravelry, I have made many friends, some of whom I have met in person, like Iron Needles and Peaceful Knitter. Through knitting locally, I made a good friend, Stacy (SSKStacy on Ravelry), and we have knit together in and out of classes and have taken some very fun "field trips". Those include going to Estes Park for the Sheep and Wool Festival, Boulder to check out Spindles, Shuttles and Skeins and to the Black Forest in Colorado Springs to check out Table Rock Llama's shop. I also have many non-knitting friends who have been a great support as well.

Knitting and Spinning: I have become an adventurous knitter

and I have learned to spin with a spindle.

I look through my projects on my Ravelry page to know how busy I have been this year. I included projects primarily begun this year

and I am very proud of the posted results. You can read through my blog for the progess reports on most of them. I learned to spindle spin with confidence and I have made everything from thick and thin "art yarn" at the beginning to 3 ply sock-weight yarn. My spindle collection now numbers 6 and my stash grows in many ways. I may be itching for a Spinning Wheel, but I need to wait till the finances allow it.

I visited with the Yarn Harlot, for the second time, and this time I got a photo! She is holding my sock (yet to be finished) and I am holding hers which I am sure she has finished by now! My Nantucket Jacket is from 2007, but the photo is this year.

Travel: As stressful as the year was, I had several blessed escapes. In April, I traveled for my annual reunion with college buddies to Carmel, California.

Three weeks later, my Mom and I, went on a river cruise in Europe. Then, in October, I traveled to NY and CT for my High School Reunion,

to visit family,

friends,

and Rhinebeck for the Sheep and Wool Festival.

Luckily, this trip had been mostly prepaid in advance. All the trips were wonderful, a time to relax and soak in good stuff with people I love. Again, finances will dictate when I am able to travel again.

Thank you, readers, for your comments, support and good wishes throughout my first year of blogging. Your support was felt intensely and the blog provided me with the respite I needed when I needed it. I hope to continue on as before with mostly upbeat and positive postings because everyone's lives are stressful in many different ways and catching up with friends on their blogs should not be a downer all the time. I am now employed. It is a job, not a career and I continue to search for that career I need to work for the next several years until a real retirement. Everyone is feeling the economy intensely and I know I am not alone. As we continue in the new year of 2009, with a new President, hope remains for better things for everyone.

I love you all. Happy New Year.

PS: Don't forget to check out yesterday's post for details about my Blogiversary contest and prizes. Can't wait to hear from lots of you.

I am a winner- again!

What a great way to cap off a great knitting/spinning week! I just received an e-mail from Phyllis at SpinKnitandlife that I won her blog contest and will be receiving some luscious fiber she calls a ditty batt to spin up and I cannot wait for it to arrive so I can give it a spin. Other than the blog award nomination from Needles of Iron , and some of her fabulous iris she sent me late in summer, this is the only other thing I have won.

On Thursday, I joined my knitting buddy for lunch at the new Corner Bakery restaurant in Highlands Ranch. It was a gorgeous Indian Summer day and we sat out on the patio catching up. By the way, they have some of the most delicious Rugalach I have had in the Denver area. I was very impressed and happy. I make it myself sometimes, but it is so labor intensive that I don't make it too often. Now I have a great place to satisfy my craving for this delicacy. The link takes you to a recipe (not mine) but but looks good as well.

Anyway, after lunch, we went to Tattered Cover to knit and enjoy sharing our WIP's. I brought most of my purchases from Rhinebeck to show her and I enjoyed seeing her progress on her Nantucket Jacket. Stacy has such a calm voice and mellow personality, that I really enjoy spending time with her to keep me sane in an insane world.

On Saturday, I was had the opportunity to meet Becky if Iron Needles fame in person for the first time. She had driven to Denver to have lunch with a college friend and we met after that at the Lamb Shoppe in Denver. That was a great experience to meet in person and I think we hit it off famously. What is interesting is that I felt immediately comfortable with her as if I had known her for years, and we were sharing things that are too difficult to get into with the blog. I am sure we will meet again next time we have a chance. Too bad we didn't know each other while the girls were at CSU, since she lives in Ft Collins.

I have been working at cleaning out and organizing all my WIP's that are scattered about the house. I finished spinning the last singles from my louet Northern Lights fiber, and have decided to make a Clapotis with it. There will be 4 balls of 3-ply fiber when I finish plying the last group of singles. I started and finished the first sock of my new Monkey Socks using the Regia Galaxy that I took to the east coast, but I never got around it it while traveling. On the second sock, I just started the pattern after the cuff. Look at my new sock blockers, size medium from Fiber Trends. I had been thinking about these for a while, but since I was hanging out for a few hours at a new LYS, I splurged and bought them there.

I wound the Misti Alpaca lace weight into a ball to begin a scarf using the pattern "Simple Vine" by Ruth Hirsiger. I picked up this pattern at Rhinebeck from Windy Valley Muskox. The pattern calls for Qiviut fiber, but I couldn't afford that. I cast on using size 6 needles, but I didn't like the way that looked, so I will begin again using 4's. .................to be continued.

Interesting Statistics

Many of you may not have noticed, but several months ago I added a "counter" to my blog which counts the number of visits. It is off to the right and just tallies "hits." One interesting thing I have learned from looking at it regularly, is that several search terms have come up more often than others.

1. "Booby Socks". I purchased this kit in January, started it right away, and then put it away for awhile after the "ladders" at the needles got too overwhelming. I had turned the heel and started on the foot, but realized that the laddering would make me crazy and I wouldn't wear the socks as is, and certainly couldn't give them away as a gift in that condition. I frogged back about 4 inches, and need to pick up again, especially since so many people are looking at my blog for the progress. To be continued......

2. "Feather and Fan" lace shawl. This one I did finish in time to take with me on my Europe vacation in May, but I realize now that I never took a final photograph of it. I owe it to my readers and I will soon. I will be taking it with me to my 40th High School Reunion in October, but I will try to post a photo sooner than that.

3. "Souvenirs from Paris." This title to one of my blog entries was somewhat facetious as what I was referring to was the severe bronchitis both Mom and I had after our return. Paris was the last stop and Mom started feeling badly there. I wonder what visitors to my blog thought when they pulled up that page. Were they looking for miniature Eiffel Towers?


I have now had over 1050 hits since I installed it and most of them have come from my active participation on the Ravelry Forums. If you are a knitter and have not yet discovered Ravelry, sign up and get involved. Warning: It WILL cut into your knitting time and TV time and possibly your work time. It has been an invaluable source of information and help both in figuring out patterns, spinning and getting excited about events, yarns, and the world of fiber.

And lastly, I am utterly amazed with the international readership the blog has attracted. In many cases, I think it may be ex-pat Americans, but there have been hits from Europe, Asia, all over the US, Canada, and the Middle East. Australia, New Zealand, and Scandanavia have been represented. WOW, it is one big knitting world. And I am glad to be part of it all!