2006, We Hardly Knew Ya

Another year gone; why do they seem to fly by so much faster now that I'm older? I thought that by increasing the sheer number and types of events in my life I would somehow make the year appear to last longer. It has not made the year longer; more importantly, it has made the year fuller and more vital.

Some contributing factors to making 2006 the year it was:
More knitting and more complex knitting
Developing friendships
Making new friends (always a bit hairy for me)
Married life rocks!
Fabulous pets!
Loss of some of our fabulous pets.
Volunteering at THS
Burning Man #5
Vacation in France
Rediscovering a band I used to love, still making music
Fabulous family
Cute Overload and Dances With Wool (Finnish blog)
Mosh pit of November 29
Change of perspective, infecting everything I do (infect is indeed the word I mean to use!)
Heady anticipation of 2007

I am planning our next two vacations, one to a place we've been many times before, and one to a place we've never been, but where I've been wanting to go for 20 years. I'm learning a new language and have no fewer than six largish knitting projects scheduled for the next two months, enjoying the bittersweet experience of volunteering at the Humane Society and entertaining thoughts of living in Europe one day. I am more open to possibility now than I was at nineteen. And I am scaring my husband with all of this.

I'm also STILL knitting Xmas presents! I ran out of yarn for Juan's scarf, so poor Juan got a nicely wrapped gift of half-done, basketweave stitch, moss green alpaca scarf, still on the needles, which he had to give back to me. Todd's slippers -- well, Michael is picking the yarn up for those today, and we'll call them a birthday present next week since Michael's gotten him something else in the meantime.

Below, Juan's scarf, three-quarters done:

Also in this picture, a little slice of my life at work.
Computer #3 (I manage to destroy one every couple of years, but I scored a flatscreen this time), my little stuffed mouse buddy on top of the computer, work in progress on computer screen, Quark bible to the right of computer, frog toy from Oregon that Mike said made him think of me (???).
K.I.T. sign -- Bowfinger reference, essential for my sanity in the next four months, dancing Anime rabbit/bat creature sticker, new language label (I am putting these all over my life to increase my vocabulary), stuffed lamb toy from Laura C., drink vessels denoting drinks of choice at work (coffee and Perrier).
And just at the extreme right, cut off, my snowglobe with photos of Michael and I on our extreme temperature vacations. The side visible is us at the kissing booth at Burning Man, while the other side is us at the Ice Hotel in Quebec.

Well, I'm feeling all misty now. Time for more coffee.

Today's Earworm: Battle of One, by 30 Seconds To Mars

Quickie

Update. Not the fun kind of quickie. I am at work, you know...

I finished the baby bolero for my hair stylist while in the chair at the salon, minutes before she came over; she is going on maternity leave next week and I really squeaked under the wire this time. However, she did seem pleased, and I was pleased for the most part with it (I'm never pleased with my finishing skills).

No pics of this one as I forgot my camera at work on Friday before heading out to Jingle Bell Rock at Union Station (tonnes of fun were had by all, including unsuspecting commuters).

Specs for the baby bolero, from One Skein:

• Yarn was the recommended Blue Sky Cotton, in colour 628 Azul (a greeny ice blue)
• Needles used were U.S. #8 and #9 (5 mm and 5.5 mm) circulars
• No modifications to the pattern by moi -- shock of all shocks. I even remembered to include washing instructions.

Work resumes on Juan's Xmas scarf (we're on take #4 now as I've been unhappy with how the yarn's knitting up and the patterns I've chosen, and probably I'll rip it back another couple of times), and I've also got to get going on some felted clogs for my friend Todd. My darling twined Von lies hungry for human contact on the coffee table... Wait for me, O Twined Von, I shall soon be with you again!

Today's Earworm: Change (in the House of Flies), by the Deftones

Still kicking...

Alive and, that is.

Poor little blog, I've been too busy to write. Well, I have no photos and I guess that's the main reason I've been absent; I always think I've got to have photos.

I've got lots of stuff on the go, and will report tomorrow, but in the meantime, check out the progress bars to see what I've been working on.

Today's Earworm: Jeg Kjenner Ingen Fremtid, by Morten Harket (note: Yes, I can actually understand some of it!)