On With It.

Well hello there, 2012.  Glad you’re here – 2011 and I weren’t exactly the best of friends.  Looking forward to a better relationship with you.  No, I don’t expect you to do all the work.  Here’s what I plan to contribute:

• Continue to reconnect with old friends (Facebook, I love you for this), and go visit them.  Cathy and Nancy, I’m lookin’ right at you;
• Continue to volunteer at my favorite organization, and try to volunteer more at my daughter’s school;
• Connect with more local fiber artists and groups, and share their stories here;
• Knit for charity, knit for family, knit for friends, knit… for profit?  Look into it.
• At the end of each day, be able to honestly say to myself, “I did my best work today, and I can do it again tomorrow.”

I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful holiday season.  Now let’s move on…

FARM SHOW FARM SHOW FARM SHOW FARM SHOW!!!!

You already know that I’m live-blogging the Fleece and Sheep To Shawl contests at the 2012 PA Farm Show (on Jan. 11th.  At 10 am and 3 pm.  In the Sale Arena.  But you knew all that already.).  Maybe it’s because I didn’t cover these events last year, but I’m so unbelievably excited for the show this year… and this is from a hard-core, born-and-bred city girl.  Besides spending the one whole day there, I’ll be back with my husband and daughter on a different day for our annual family visit, when we buy locally-produced honey and maple syrup, meet a few of the 6,000 farm animals being shown, meet the Dairy Princess (which ought to be my daughter, given the amount of dairy products bought and consumed in our household), and eat.  The Farm Show’s food court is somewhat reminiscent of the Roman Coliseum – part combat sport, part entertainment – but oh so worth it.  Milkshake, anyone?

Coming real soon:  random Farm Show news, and a highly-anticipated interview with the Sugar Valley Shepherds, a Fleece To Shawl team from Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, in Loganton, PA.  This team consists of students in Abigail Schrack’s Social Studies class, where learning about Civics, Government, and History combine seamlessly with carding, spinning, and weaving.  Interest piqued yet?  Keep reading…

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back.

I’m making slow progress on the Lace Jacket.

20 rows. *Sigh*

 

Never mind that the pattern is really challenging.  Never mind that I’m not a fast knitter even on easy patterns.  But it doesn’t help when you spend 30 minutes on a row, just to have to un-knit it and do it again.

Half of the "diamond pattern motif". No matter how many times I look at this, all I see is... a bat.

 

Yes yes yes, I know that I’m supposed to weave a lifeline in there somewhere to make the inevitable mistakes a lot easier to deal with.  But actually, un-knitting (aka tinking) isn’t all that scary to me.  It just takes careful attention… and time.  And for lace projects, it takes even more careful attention… and even more time.  That being said, it should be forgiven that over a period of 3 days, I’ve completed… 4 rows.  Four… whole… rows.  Again with the four whole rows.  I think I have to rethink this project as a Christmas gift, and make it more like… a Mother’s Day gift.  Oy.

On A Completely Different Note…

Among all the roles I play, one of my favorites is the role of “volunteer”.  For the past 7 years, I’ve been honored and humbled to count myself among the many, many Highmark Caring Place volunteers.  I’ve met a lot of amazing people through this program, and maybe I’ve even provided some support to those who attended the sessions… at least I hope I have, even in some small way.  Supporting grieving children and their families certainly can be daunting, although I can honestly say that we spend more time laughing than crying when we’re all together.

Tomorrow is Children’s Grief Awareness Day, always held on the Thursday before Thanksgiving – a day to help raise awareness of the need for support of children grieving the death of a loved one, and to let these children know they’re not alone.  My family and I will be wearing blue to commemorate the day… I hope you’ll join us.