Finished, finished, back on the needles, finished

   So,  I actually finished a bunch of stuff.  A little hat that goes with the sweater I knit my Great Niece Annalise last Christmas ( 2008).  All the holiday gifts, including the guy sweater, which nearly got sewn together, but upon a final fitting was dis-membered, again, 2.5" added to the already orangutan length sleeves, reblocked, and  is about to be shipped off to Ohio with all the other forgotten stuff.  The mittens, scarf, socks for almost everyone, and a couple of odd things plus a lovely Multnomah shawl.  Yep, all done.  And spinning as well, I am about to Navajo ply 3 full bobbins of Three Waters Farm BFL.

                                                                           And what else has been happening around Chez Foster?

Well, having the Kid and his girlfriend here for weeks and weeks was wonderful and a real diversion from my daily routine.  Amanda learned to knit and is already on her third project.  She's a natural, and I am sure once she returns to school in NYC she will find lots of knitting diversions. Snow has been happening and as a result of the snow I have been skiing and snowshoeing.  Daily snowshoeing is really fun, challenging and invigorating.  We have new trails this year, miles and miles of trails, all cleared and pretty well marked.  And of course I can't get lost because I have my two trusty corgis along for the ride and they know the way through the woods perfectly.  And Riva does not bushwhack.  She always sticks to the marked trails.  But even if I got lost they are all  carefully plotted on the GPS.  Of course I would have to actually bring the GPS and figure out how it works if it is to be of any real help.
  As a further diversion I have been working my way through all 7 seasons of "Northern Exposure".   I remember when we first started watching the show back when we lived in Colorado.  We thought that the whole thing was pretty interesting  since we were living in a particularly rural part of Colorado.  Little did we know that in a few short years we would be heading to the Last Frontier ourselves where Mike would be doing exactly what Joel was doing on TV.  I just started the 4th season and I have to say that I am really enjoying the whole thing.  I am not a big fan of commercial TV, and until the last couple of months I have totally avoided watching anything on the Networks.  That has changed because I now have a DVR and can tape and watch stuff at my convenience (without commercials!!).  I have been watching "Accidentally on Purpose" and "Modern Family"  Both have their high and low points and neither can really compete with either "Northern Exposure" or "Dharma and Greg"  which are the only two shows I have really watched consistently over the last 20 years.  Well, I admit to a slight BBC addiction, Monarch of the Glenn, Father Ted, My Family, Ballykissangel, and of course Trailer Park Boys, yep, I watched that one faithfully and then got it again on Netflix. But now BBC has fallen victim to Gordon Ramsay mania and I don't watch it any more.
  So anything new on the needles?  One looooong lost project, the Swirl Shawl in Jojoland Melody.  I am half way through the 3rd row, meaning I am exactly half way through the shawl.  It is infinitely fiddly and tedious, but I am sure it will be gorgeous if I ever get it done.  I am not really a huge fan of Modular knitting, but I think I liked the Koigu Log Cabin Vest a bit more that the swirl shawl.  I just swatched for the Tea Leaves Cardigan and actually got gauge with the recommended needles. ( and I even washed and blocked the swatch!)

Once in a Blue Moon

   So, that's about all I am managing to write lately.  I envisioned the Blue Moon of last night, the first New Year's Blue Moon since 1990 to be really auspicious; to be the harbinger of better times ahead, to be the end of war, global warming, religious intolerance, and narrowmindedness.  Sorry, wrong Universe.  Well, I am hopeful that better times really are on the way.
   Resolutions; why bother.  I have never really made resolutions. I guess the closest I got was a couple of years ago I did the "Year of knitting from your stash"  Since purchasing sock yarn was exempt , I survived the year, barely.  I may actually change the focus of my knitting this year and lean a bit toward larger projects, sweaters, a couple of vests, some felted projects.  Part of this is related to my wrist issues, and my desire to knit at a slightly larger gauge.  Of course part of it is everyone I know has enough socks, hats, gloves and scarfs to each clothe a small country, so small projects are somewhat undesireable.  My second focus has to be to knit more of my handspun. Now that I am learning to purchase, or to dye more fleece or roving, I have enough of each yarn to make things larger than fingerless gloves.  I have several bags of more than a pound of each batch of wool, so I guess I need to get on to those spinning/knitting projects. And Weaving.  Yikes, I dunno about that one.  I am  not a good weaver.  It is a bit fiddly, mathematical and easy to screw up for my taste.  I am going to sell one loom, for sure, and probably keep the Harrisville 36" and make an attempt to actually weave something that is not just, well, awful.
  Anything else, personal, social issues?  Will I loose 20 pounds, journal every day, cut back on beer and coffee, drive for Meals on Wheels, accept the 100 Mile Challenge and become a locavore.  I doubt it.  All good ideas, but realistically I seem to be barely able to keep my head above water following  what I have done the past few years.  Oh, I know I'll read more Library books and spend less money at Borders.  There , I feel better. Happy New Year!