2011: Year in Review
31 Dec 2011 1 Comment
in Deep Thoughts, L'il Ole Me, Notes to Myself
1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
I learned to weave. We planted a garden in our yard, with mixed success. I explored Kansas and posted for 31 days straight. I fell in love with electronic books and had a renewed affair with local libraries. I opened my own craft shop. I survived things I never thought I could survive.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t know if I wrote any resolutions for 2011. Looking back on the blog it doesn’t appear that I did.
My resolutions for 2012:
* Cherish the time I spend with my friends and family.
* Whip my debt into shape.
* Knit and spin from the stash and stop buying like it’s going out of style.
* Read more.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A friend from California had a baby boy and I knit a handspun baby surprise jacket. A local friend had a beautiful baby girl and I dyed some yarn with Koolaid and knit a beautiful baby blanket.
It looks like 2012 is going to be a banner year for babies. I already have half a dozen baby gifts lined up to knit!
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Yes. Our world was shaken this year when we lost my brother in law James. We will never be the same again.
5. What countries did you visit?
None.
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A vacation. We couldn’t get away this year.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
April 17, 2011, the day my brother in law died.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
This year our family went through one of the toughest things a family can ever go through. And in these cases families can either splinter, or come together and become closer than ever. I’m proud to say that we have done the latter.
And I suppose I should also count finishing our wedding afghan (around our 3rd anniversary!).
9. What was your biggest failure?
Have you seen my craft room? We could talk about my out of control spending or the lack of organization. And no one ever accused me of keeping my house spotless or cooking well.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing that I can think of. And we went an entire year without a trip to the ER!
11. What was the best thing you bought?
For us, a Canon T3i camera – it’s been so much fun for us both to learn how to use it and become better photographers. For Wes, a remote controlled helicopter. He LOVES that thing. For me, I’m grooving on my Kindle Fire.
12. Where did most of your money go?
The mortgage, paying off the new siding on the house. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you at all that my discretionary “fun money” went to yarn and fiber.
13. What did you get really excited about?
Belinda visiting for a few days this fall. Getting to go home for Thanksgiving. Reading books and getting to discuss them with my knitting group. Buying some new dresses for a wedding in the spring.
14. What song will always remind you of 2011?
Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? About the same.
– thinner or fatter? About the same.
– richer or poorer? About the same.
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish we’d spent more time out of doors, working in our yard and adventuring.
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I’d spent less time worrying: worrying about money, about how things were going to turn out and just lived in the moment.
18. How did you spend Christmas?
We had our first Christmas in our house. We got a live tree (which will soon be planted in the yard) and stockings and spent the whole weekend in the house playing games, cooking and enjoying each other’s company. I wouldn’t change anything.
19. What was your favorite TV program?
As a couple, our favorite is easily Big Bang Theory. This year I was mostly disappointed that the series that I have been following were less compelling: The Good Wife, Castle and even Bones just didn’t measure up. We still love NCIS and I confess that I fell in love with watching Friday Night Lights on Netflix. The weirdest watch of the year has to be American Horror Story.
20. What were your favorite books of the year?
The Help was hands down my favorite. Others are here.
21. What was your favorite music from this year?
Listening to our local band, Flannigan’s Right Hook. Not music, but rediscovering NPR and listening to it on the way to and from work every day.
22. What were your favorite films of the year?
We didn’t spend much time in the theatres this year. We managed to see the final Harry Potter. At home the highlights were The King’s Speech, Black Swan and, surprisingly, The Hangover.
23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We went for our annual dinner at Piropos. We took my mother in law and her boyfriend with us, and celebrated my 33rd year.
24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having us all together at the end of the year.
25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Hah. I normally mock myself as “what not to wear.” Of course this year I could say it’s the year of the handknit sweater, eh?
26. What kept you sane?
Wes. My fabulous family and group of friends, both online and local. My knitting/book group. My crafting.
27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.
Always cherish every moment you can with those around you. Keep them close to your heart because you never know what is around the corner.
The Holiday Spirit
16 Dec 2011 1 Comment
Yesterday, December 15, I finally decided it was time to turn on the Christmas music. I went to Pandora and back to my holiday station which is filled with Mannheim Steamroller and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and others.
***
This morning I came into work and received a call from our security team. Apparently last night when leaving work I lost a hubcap. Someone found it, and took it to the security desk. The on duty officer reviewed the Institute footage and figured out who’s car it was. This morning another officer went out and put the hubcap back on my car. BEFORE they called and told me. I was flabbergasted and so thankful.
***
My friend Tim posted a link to this article this morning.
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My good friend Kippi posted a link to this video yesterday:
***
Wherever you are, whatever you are doing this holiday season please be grateful for your family and friends, for the beautiful season. Do what warms your heart – listen to music, eat good food, laugh a lot. And if you can spare it, pay it forward, be it with kindness or resources at your disposal.
Etymology
17 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in Deep Thoughts, Uncategorized
I find words fascinating. I am by no means a linguist, but I have always enjoyed learning new words and understanding how they came to be. Of particular interest are words that once were associated with a particular meaning and have evolved over time to become slang for something inflammatory.
This actually came up the other night at knitting as I was contemplating the border for my shawl. See I was looking at the stitch pattern, and I was sure I recognized it, but I didn’t want to say what I thought it was. See if you can guess why?
Traditional faggot stitches consist of one row of increases and decreases that’s repeated each row for the pattern; this Garter Stitch Faggot adds a row of knitting to bring more texture to the knitting.
Um yeah. I bet you didn’t have any trouble with that one. Curious what it looks like? The knitting photos don’t show it so clearly, but I found a sewing one that does:
Anyway, at home last night I was relating this experience to Wes. I was telling him how I don’t understand how words that mean one thing get appropriated to become totally inappropriate. He then told me what faggot originally meant. I went and looked it up this morning and guess what I found?
faggot or esp ( US ) fagot 1 (ˈfæɡət) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://sp.dictionary.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) |
|
| — n | |
| 1. | a bundle of sticks or twigs, esp when bound together and used as fuel |
| 2. | a bundle of iron bars, esp a box formed by four pieces of wrought iron and filled with scrap to be forged into wrought iron |
| 3. | a ball of chopped meat, usually pork liver, bound with herbs and bread and eaten fried |
| 4. | a bundle of anything |
| — vb | |
| 5. | to collect into a bundle or bundles |
| 6. | needlework to do faggoting on (a garment, piece of cloth, etc) |
| [C14: from Old French, perhaps from Greek phakelos bundle] | |
So what words that are you uncomfortable using, even when you are using them in the most literal defined sense?
Okay
04 May 2011 2 Comments
in Deep Thoughts, Finding my Green Thumb
It has been two weeks and two days since our lives changed. I’m struck by the dichotomy of feelings. There are moments, moments where we are laughing and telling stories and loving and it seems like we will all be okay. And then there are moments, other moments where the world doesn’t make sense any more and it feels like we will never be okay.
Going back to work has been both wonderful and terrible. I am grateful for the routine, the normalcy, the tasks to keep me busy. And yet I’m equally horrified that life is continuing on, much as it did before.
Many years ago I noticed something odd. Often, I would go to the movies or the theatre. Sometimes, when the production was particularly moving, I would emerge from the theatre feeling like some part of me had been fundamentally changed and that anyone who hadn’t seen what I had seen couldn’t possibly be seeing the world the same way I did. Usually the feeling only lasted a few hours or days, and then I felt like I returned to “normal.” I see the parallels now; the world doesn’t look quite the same to me and we have to try and find a new normal.
But we must move on, whether we like it or not. As I’ve been wondering how to do so, and more specifically what I could come back and post about that wouldn’t feel too trivial, too hollow, I was struck by it tonight. Tonight we borrowed a tiller from some friends and tilled our vegetable bed. We’ve been meaning to do it for weeks, but the weather has thwarted us. Tonight, before dinner, while it was still light out, we took time out to start preparing our garden. It’s a new beginning for us – neither of us has ever planted a vegetable garden before. And it feels like a metaphor to me – we’re starting anew and trying to move forward. And that’s okay.
Wordless.
28 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in A Picture's Worth 1000 Words, Deep Thoughts, Off the Needles, Spinning a Yarn
Lately I’m not such a fan of the words. So I’ll give you more pictures:
100% Handspun Hat:
Learning to Navajo ply on my spindle:
And, completely unrelated, a conversation today brought to mind the inimitable Victor Borge. Oh how I miss his punctuation.
Three Things.
07 May 2010 1 Comment
Last night, as I lay in bed awake, anxiety building, I was going over and over in my head the things that I would like to improve about myself. I’d like to have a cleaner house, I’d like to exercise more, I’d like to lose a few pounds, I’d like to spend less and save more.
And as I lay there, overwhelmed by my own thoughts I was reminding of an organizational seminar I took a few years ago. During the course of it, one of the things that stuck with me is that, without sitting down and making lists, the human brain can only concentrate on three things at any given time. Meaning, if you start thinking about a to-do list, you can only easily remember three things later on.
And three things doesn’t sound like that much. Especially if I make those three things about bettering myself and my environment each day.
So three things it is.
Today’s three things:
1. Create a spending tracking system.
2. Clean the mess of clothes and yarn in the bedroom.
3. Exercise for 20 minutes.
The path not taken.
06 May 2010 4 Comments
A few nights ago I had a dream where I was back in college. That in itself is not unusual since I still seem to have those “you failed out of one class and didn’t actually graduate” dreams every so often. But the interesting thing about the dream the other night was that I had only a few weeks to complete a final project for a class. And as the professor handed out the assignment I squealed with glee: the assignment was to knit a shawl of more than 1000 yards and then donate it to a charity for auction.
When I woke up I mulled this dream over, thinking how cool it would have been if that had actually been a possible final back when I was in school. And then I started thinking about what I actually pursued in school (and in grad school) and wondered if maybe I zigged when I should have zagged.
Do you ever contemplate the path(s) not taken in life? In general when I make decisions, I am confident that I make the best possible decision at THAT POINT IN TIME given the information that I have. But then there’s hindsight, and years of experience and external influence and so many other things that change the way I see things. What might my life have been like if instead I had pursued textiles and fiber arts? Might I have an MFA today? Might I be working in a career that I love, or struggling to find a job with a degree that doesn’t always have economic applications?
Who knows?
RIP
19 Mar 2010 1 Comment
My father sent me the video below. He noted that it was so sweet and reminded him of when I lost my carnival goldfish, Alberta, when I was 5 or 6 years old. We buried Alberta in the backyard too.
Lost and found.
04 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in Deep Thoughts, Fabulous Friends, Knitting Content Ahead, Uncategorized
Lost.
Last night, at knit night, the local yarn store owner announced that she is closing the shop at the end of April. For most of us this was both unsurprising, and a shock, all at the same time. It is bittersweet news for the owner, who is closing the shop so that she can spend more time with her family – especially her new little one. We all are delighted that she will be able to do what she wants to do most right now. And yet, I know that we all are feeling a sense of loss today.
The yarn store, “my” yarn store, is one of the first places I went when I moved to Kansas City just over two years ago. I was immediately welcomed by the owner and by a group of wonderful women whom I have now been knitting with every Wednesday night for the last two years. I have made most of my friends here in Kansas City at this shop. When I first moved here and didn’t have steady work, I can’t count the number of days I enjoyed the hospitality of the store, just stopping in and knitting on the couch for hours at a time. This store truly has been a home away from home and I will miss it terribly.
***
Found.
Over the years, I’ve often marveled at how friendships are formed, how they ebb and flow, and how people I thought I would always be friends with have drifted away and people I thought would just be passing ships have stuck close to me. I was particularly reminded of this when my college roommate told me two nights ago that she was offered a faculty position at a university less than four hours from me.
This is someone I lived with three out of the four years in college. We have spent the last ten years with almost 2000 miles between us; when I left college I returned home to Los Angeles and she continued on to graduate school in the Midwest. How could I know that two years ago I would move back to the Midwest? Or that a year ago she would move to Texas? Or that now we would be so close that we could eagerly plan weekend trips to visit each other?
To be clear, I never thought that our friendship would disappear. And yet for many years it waned while we pursued different paths. I am so thrilled that our paths cross again though. It makes me once again feel like I’ve found something precious.
The power of Knitters.
20 Jan 2010 Leave a Comment
in Deep Thoughts, Knitting Content Ahead
I’ve had several posts in mind of late, but this one clearly deserves to be written today.
On Tuesday, January 12 a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti.
On Wednesday, January 13, the Yarn Harlot, knitter and author, posted the Knit Signal asking Knitters all around the world to do what they could to help the people of Haiti by donating to Doctors Without Borders.
Also on Wednesday, January 13, one of the moderators of the Completely Pointless and Arbitrary Swap Group on Ravelry started an auction thread, where people could donate yarny items to be bid on with all the proceeds going to your favorite charity (American Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, The International Rescue Committee).
On Monday January 18, just 5 days after the Knit Signal went up, Knitters had donated over $234,000 to Doctors Without Borders. The emails and donations are still pouring in.
As of this morning, January 20, my group on Ravelry has raised over $17,500. Another group on Ravelry that I participate in has raised over $35,000.
That is the power of the knitting community and I am unspeakably proud to belong to such a wonderful group of people.
