(Happy Christmas Kyoko, Happy Christmas Julian )
And so this is Christmas and what have you done?
Another year over and a new one just begun.

And so this is Christmas, I hope you had fun.
The near and the dear one, the old and the young.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one, without any fear.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono

And so to get the year rolling I've been tagged for the following meme. Don't blame me, Amy did it.

1. What new knitting techniques did you learn this year? This may come as a shock to some of you but contrary to what you may have heard, I do not know all there is to know in matters concerning knitting. (but just in matters concerning knitting, the rest I have pretty much have covered) This old knitting wizard is still learning new tricks, no, really, it's true. This year I learned three new ways to cast on. From Sally Melville I learned that you can cast onto the needle using the crochet method and not just crochet a chain and then pick up the stitches from the chain. Likewise, I learned from Annie Modesitt how to do an I-Cord cast on that doesn't involve making an I-cord and then picking up the stitches from the cord. The third method was the German Twisted Cast On ( and not the Twisted German Cast On) from Meg Swansen. I also just recently learned that there is another casting on method called the Moebius Cast On that I'm an ichin' to try.
2. Which completed project from the last 12 months are you most proud of? Uhm, let's see, I guess I'll go with the Pink Ribbon Scarf that I knit for a friend fighting breast cancer, though I'm pretty happy with the Swatch Your Step socks I made for Kati.
3. What was your biggest knitting disaster of the last year? I'm sorry, I don't understand the question. I tried to wind a skein of linen yarn by laying the skein flat on the floor in a circle and only managed to make a mangled tangle of the whole thing, but that had less to do with knitting and more to do with being a knidiot. I knit something to donate for disaster relief, does that count?
4. Who or what has been the biggest influence on your knitting in 2005? Biggest influence? For the what, I'd say the lack of a yarn budget and having to make do with what I have on hand, no, no don't cry for me, really, I have yarn a plenty. The trick is to find a project that works with the yardage of the yarn I have, this is a bit trickier but I rather relish a good challenge.
occasionally I will go back through old issues of my knitting magazines, my favorite being Interweave Knits. This last time as I perused the pages I noted that the patterns that catch my attention each time I go through them were from the same few designers, so for the who, I'm going to say Annie Modesitt, Veronik Avery, Kristin Nicholas, Ivy Bigelow and Teva Durham.
5. What knit craze grabbed you this year? I'm sure I don't know what you mean. As a rule I'm generally two years behind the current trends, no, wait, or maybe it's that I'm always two years AHEAD of the times, Ahhah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's it. Yep, that's me out there, on the edge, ahead of the curve, leading the way; Ooo look at me, all like trailblazery and stuff. I put the point in point man, I am the pointiest of all point men, heck, I am the point and I'm not even a man. I'm a leader, not a follower, I tell you. Or maybe not, (Okay, well maybe I gave Rogue a shot, but I didn't finish it, One Skein Wonders, though I didn't make one, and Annie Modesitt's silk corset though I haven't made that either. I also made a poncho but not Martha's and before Martha was released from prison, see what I mean? Fashion forward.) I stand by my first statement, I don't understand what you mean.
New Year's resolutions: Can't think of any, I'll entertain suggestions.
In 2006 I will knit: Finish Caren's Fair Isle Sweater, knit a pair or two, or three of Latvian Mittens as a fund raiser for my daughter's Orchestra group, Ani's socks, A Pooling Colors scarf, a Jo Sharp Sweater for my sister, Scarf Dresser socks and Jaywalker socks, The Cherry Blossom shawl and a felted cat bed or two for starters.
I will learn to: not over think my knitting.
To become a better knitter, I will: learn to not over think my knitting. Have I said that before? I did. I thought so.

And so in return I tag:Tipper, Shelley, Dyann, Andrea, Renee. None of which will know of it because I'm pretty sure everyone has given up on reading my blog seeing I haven't updated in like forever.

And so this is Christmas (war is over)

For weak and for strong (if you want it)

For rich and the poor ones (war is over)

The world is so wrong (if you want it)

And so happy Christmas (war is over)

For black and for white (if you want it)

For yellow and red ones (war is over)

Let's stop all the fight (now)

A very Merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear.

You know, I started this list of questions at the beginning of October and I'm still answering them, I really should think a little more before I start rattling off a list of topics because I couldn't think of anything to post about. Okay, so where did I leave off?

Boy, have I been remiss in my blogging of late. It's already December and haven't made any entries in regards to my knitting since the end of October, this is very wrong of me. I plan to rectify this straight away but first I have a little old business to attend to and then I promise it will be back to regularly scheduled programming, read- more stuff about knitting.


Your twenty year old son is given a truck from his grandfather. It's a straight stick shift and he needs someone to teach him to drive it. Now what? Well, It's gonna have to be me, of course. Having his Dad try to teach him is a recipe for disaster. Putting the two of them in such a confined space would not be pretty. So, I'll teach him; I'm a better driver anyway. My husband would take umbrage at that statement, but it's true despite what he may think, just ask Ani. The only problem now is finding a time when my son's and my schedule will allow said training. So far it hasn't been working out too well, However, he's going to be working the third shift soon so I think we'll be able to schedule more driving time, perhaps in the mornings.

Your daughter's Chamber Orchestra wants to make a trip to Florida and you're having trouble just coming up with funds to get her the instruments she needs. Now what? Well, then you fund raise, of course. You saw that coming, did you knot?
Anne's violin teacher, Caren Simon, ( yes, the Caren for which I am knitting the Winter Sunset Cardigan, see here and here), has founded a new non profit organization: Artistic Youth Ensembles of Minnesota, or AYEM ( pronounced as aim, as in aiming for harmony.)

Caren, unable to suppress the pride and joy she felt in the music that these young musicians in the Uptown Chamber Orchestra were playing, shared her feelings with a fellow friend and director of hers Jonathan May who directs the Florida Young Artists Orchestra in Orlando Florida. AYEM has accepted an invitation by Jonathan May to Caren and the Uptown Chamber Orchestra to come to Florida and perform for and together with his orchestra in January.

In order to make this happen for the members of the who are unable to fund the trip on their own, ( read: my daughter) the members of the Uptown Chamber Orchestra and their families have been pooling their creative efforts to raise the money toward that end. AYEM has set up a fundraiser through Elegant Impressions. A portion of the cost for each note card, calendar or print will goes to AYEM to provide financial aid to it's members. I encourage you to look it over and see if perhaps there is something of interest to you.

Your seven year old daughter thinks she should be rich because she believes she saw God on the bus. Now what?
I have two daughters. Two of the most brilliant, beauteous, and wondrous girls you could ever hope to meet. Each of them brimming over with sugar and spice and everything nice and clearly quite mad. Seriously, they are nuts, Nutters, I tell you. Don't believe me?
One Sunday, Kati came to me while I was out walking the perimeter* and stated that she thought she should be rich.

Me: Why is that?
Her: Because I saw God on the Bus.
Me: You did? Did God talk to you?
Her: No, well it was more like the light of God that I
saw.
Me: I see. Why do you think that now you should be
rich?
Her: Because I was the only who saw Him.
Me: Oh.

I'm thinking I should consider knitting the sleeves on her jackets a lot longer so it'll make it easier to tie in the back. As to her older sister, I will let you decide. Ani: in her own words.

*I've already explain this in an earlier post but for those of you who didn't read it; I often will walk around the edges of my yard. I do this for many reasons really but mostly it's a comforting device. I never said that the girls didn't come to their craziness honestly.

Your sixteen year old daughter is miserably sobbing her heart out in the corner of her room. Now what? I don't have an Ipod. If I did I would include the song, Happy Girl by Beth Nielson Chapman on my playlist. In the lyrics of the chorus she sings, " everybody knows that the sweetest thing that you've ever seen in the whole wide world is a happy girl." Conversely a young girl miserably sobbing in the corner of her room will break your heart, take it from me.
The beginning of the school year was not going well for Ani. She was struggling with her journalism class. Now understand, Ani is a good writer. I'm not alone in this opinion, which is why I encouraged her to try journalism. Apparently journalism was not the way to go, for she hated it. She felt like everyone was getting it, except her. She was floundering in the deep end of the ocean and the sharks were circling. This is very upsetting for a girl who rarely, if ever, has had any trouble with any class before, especially a writing course.( On a side note, Ani was not the only one having trouble adjusting to the new school year. Perhaps not for the same reasons per say but from reading other blogs of her peers, the start of the school year wasn't going all that smoothly. Just sayin') The solution to the problem would require two things of her. First: admitting that she needed help and second: asking for that help. Neither concept of which she had much experience with but which, I am happy to report, that after her tearful meltdown did and has managed to turn it around. Yay, for Ani. I asked her the other day after talking about her writing if she has changed her opinion of journalism and she said no. She still enjoys writing but journalism just isn't her cup of tea. Kati just wants to know what gerbalism is anyway.