Here comes 2007

My tradition is to make resolutions but not call them resolutions. Let's just say I agree in principle with the first four ideas, but I am not going to obsess about them.

1. 2007 - Year of Creativity
I mentioned to Sand a few weeks ago how I wanted to incorporate more kinds of art into my life. Specifically, I had been reading about sketchbooks and illustrated journals. I love them.

Anyway, Sand pounced on the idea and declared 2007 the Year of Creativity. This sounds much nicer than last year's declaration of "The Year of Crappy Doodles." The idea is to do something creative every day. Write, draw, paint, knit - heck, arrange flowers as long as you do it with a creative spirit.

This is the perfect opportunity to use up some of those Moleskines that are so enticing.

2. Knit From the Stash
Wendy got the knitbloggers all fired up with her plans not to buy yarn for several months, and only knit with yarn she already has.

I know myself well enough to recognize that I would chafe under such restrictions. I have quite enough nice yarn to see me through the year, though, so I had better have a darned good reason for buying any more yarn for awhile.

3. Sock Marathon
The esteemed Lime & Violet are sponsoring a three-month challenge to knit with sock yarn. The rules are pretty flexible, just the way I like them.

I have gobs of sock yarn. I need to knit some of it. Now. Two of the three projects on the needles are past the halfway point. My first new project will be knitting two socks on two circs. I have never tried this technique, so it also qualifies as...

4. Try Something Different
My corollary to the first three items is to try some things I haven't done before. Painting, yoga, fair isle knitting, salsa dancing - whatever. Revisiting things I have tried but sort of forgotten, like spinning or playing the guitar, is also acceptable.

The goal is to try one new thing each month. I was late ordering my Fever Dreams calendar this year, but as soon as I get it, I will use it to record the cool things I try.

The Knitwits have agreed to join me as needed if I say, "Hey, let's go to the pottery-painting place!"

5. Run a 5K
This is the "Holy crap, what was I thinking, and I wasn't even drunk" item. The Knitwits went out for dinner tonight. One minute we were discussing what yarn we liked, and the next minute we were shaking hands on a solemn agreement to do Race For The Cure in October.

No, I'm not a runner. None of us are. But we said we will do it, and I think we will.

At least it will qualify for the "Try something different" category.

Nice Knitting

I couldn't wait to try out the Malabrigo, so Thursday morning, I wound one skein into a ball and cast on.


The colorway is Water Garden, which Margie and Kim picked out for me. I would never have picked mint green - in fact, I don't even remember seeing it on the rack. But why not? I have a green coat, so it will probably look okay with that.

I'm using the Yarn Harlot's One-row Handspun Scarf pattern, which is magnificently simple, but more entertaining than plain ribbing.

The needles are Lantern Moon rosewood and ebony, which I purchased at a deep discount from a yarn shop that is closing. I started out on metal needles, but they were too slippery for the yarn. I would have bought Brittanys, but they didn't have the size I needed. Sad, isn't it, that I once again was forced into buying the jaw-droppingly beautiful Lantern Moons?


Katie gives the scarf her seal of approval - briefly, until I rescue it. She also loves watching the long straight needles flap around as I knit.

Coming tomorrow: my non-resolutions for the new year.

Mmmmalabrigo!

A few days ago, I got a postcard announcing that Personal Threads in Omaha had a sale beginning December 27. In a remarkable coincidence, several of the Knitwits were off work on the 27th. So we all piled into Amy's van early this morning and headed west.

Once there, we ran into the world-famous Miss Violet of Lime & Violet podcast fame and her friend Alcariel. Storytelling and yarn enabling ensued. Much Malabrigo left the store. Four of the skeins were mine, plus a skein of Schaeffer Andrea silk laceweight.


After finishing our shopping, we went for coffee and visited a while longer, and laughed and laughed. Thanks, ladies for showing us a good time in your fair city.

I've been knitting on the two socks I don't hate. Today on the trip, I picked up the heel flap stitches on the Opal Zebra sock and the Cherry Tree Hill Fish Scales sock. When I get to that point, the end is in sight.

While I have not completely subscribed to the "Knit From Your Stash" rules that are swirling about the blogosphere, I certainly agree that I have plenty of lovely yarn on hand to keep me busy for a good long while. However, I told myself I could not start any more socks until these two were done. I have Socks That Rock in my stash, people. I have Artyarns and Schaeffer Anne and Mountain Colors, and I can't even remember what else. I need to get these socks finished so I can try out some of the other yummies.

Case in point

I decided I wanted to make a pecan pie for Christmas. Specifically, I wanted to make my mom's pecan pie, which was much admired.

I looked in her recipe box. No pecan pie.

I looked in my recipe box. No pecan pie.

Mom was not the type to keep her special recipes secret, and I knew she would never let me grow to adulthood without telling me how to make her pecan pie.

Then, I saw this sitting on the shelf.


Her Betty Crocker cookbook from 1961, so well used that it is held together with duct tape. In desperation, I turned to the pie section. Et voila!


Pecan pie! And more importantly, it had an X penciled next to it.


Mom loved collecting recipes, and I suggested one time that she should mark the important ones, the ones the family considered the "real" version. Over the next few years, she did just that, so I knew I had found the king of the pecan pie recipes.

Incidentally, the secret is to use light corn syrup, not dark, and try to forget for a few days that you even used the now-vilified corn syrup in anything. Also, the pie crust must be in one piece, without any patches or tears. The filling will seep right through a patch, and then you have an unholy mess.

Terry just called Starbucks and found out that they are open until 4:00 PM. I guess we are headed out for a holiday Frapuccino.

Merry Christmas!

Making stuff

I've been an orphan for three years now.

Three years ago today, after having ominous reports from the nursing home and hospice, T and I moved up our vacation and made the eight-hour drive to Kansas. We went straight to the nursing home, where the nurse told me, "She's been waiting for you." Mom had been unconscious all day, but we held her hand, talked to her, and said a prayer. We left to go get a sandwich and check into the motel. Less than an hour later, Mom died.

Almost immediately upon hearing the news, I realized that there was now a huge gap in my life. She was the one who remembered all of the stories about the past, her past and my own. She would remember stories I had told her about my life long after I had forgotten them.

She did leave me with a legacy, though. She taught me how to make stuff. She was a homemaker. She liked doing all of those homemaker things, and she taught me as many of them as I could bear to learn. Thus, I can cook and sew, knit and crochet, quilt and embroider. I don't do them all now, at least not regularly, but if I have to, I can do them all.

Today, I knit.

I am determined to get these socks finished so I can knit something else for awhile. I just started the heel flap on the first one. I am a few rows away from the heel flap on the second one. The third one - oh, dear. I just have a horrible time feeling the love for this sock. I don't know why. I will be SO glad when it is finished... in 2008, at this rate.

I'm a cat

You Are: 20% Dog, 80% Cat

You are are almost exactly like a cat. You're intelligent, independent, and set on getting your way. And there's no way you're going to fetch a paper for anyone!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

Katie, I'm sure, will be insulted to know this. Maybe I should wake her up to tell her?

One click for healthy chicks

You've seen the things where you click on a link and provide funding for some project or the other? This one funds free mammograms for women who can't afford them. Just click the pretty pink button to go to the site.

Getting a mammogram is just an annual inconvenience for some of us. For others, it can be a fiscal nightmare to get a lump checked out. Here's one way you can give them a hand.

/PSA

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my cold added the disconcerting elements of fever and chest pain over the weekend, so I ended up at the walk-in clinic Sunday. Bronchitis, said the doc. I'm now enjoying a whole new set of meds - but feeling better. My voice is still a mess. You should have heard me singing the Hallelujah Chorus along with the radio tonight. Then again, maybe not.

I felt well enough to knit tonight, and put a couple of rows on the neglected 3xChic sweater. I assume we will get true winter weather someday (not this week, they tell me), and I need to be ready.

The crud

Since last week, I have had some combination of headache, sore throat, cough, and congestion. At work, everyone downstairs tells me, "Oh, you have that thing that's been going around down here." You know the one - more than a cold, less than the flu, and nothing you can do but wait it out, sometimes for weeks.

What really ticks me off is that most of the multi-symptom cold medicines, like Tylenol Cold and Dayquil, have replaced pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine. Phenylephrine, to be blunt, Does Not Work for me. Fine, if they want to keep all of the Sudafed behind the pharmacy counter. Just sell me something that will take care of all of my symptoms so I don't have to tote four different medicines everywhere I go and mix my own. Sheesh.

I'll write again when I feel better - I hope.

Duh, what?

You scored as Judge. You are a Judge Empath, one who is a "truthsayer". You can tell truth from lies, good from evil. You do not tolerate wrong doing. You are a defender of the good and the innocent. You are kind and merciful but do not play foolish games. (from "The Book of Storms" by Jad Alexander.) Judge 80% Artist 65% Fallen Angel 50% Universal 35% Precog 35% Shaman 30% Traveler 20% Healer 15% What Kind of Empath Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

I'm not sure what the heck a "Judge Empath" would be, but the description sounds about right, especially with a heaping serving of Artist on the side. No idea what the Fallen Angel is all about. Thanks to Lydia for sharing this, albeit ages ago.

I did it!

With a day to spare, no less. Gloating to follow. Right now, I'm off to celebrate.

Double dose of me

I'm in the Piker Press twice this week. Once with a poem, and once with my debut as a cartoonist. Sand has mucked up her wrist, and was going to rerun old Fever Dreams cartoons, but I offered to send her one. Actually, I sent two, so I may be there again in a week or two.

We've been having weird weather here. It's been in the 50s and 60s for several days. I noticed this weekend that my lilacs have some buds, and the rose has some new leaves. It's supposed to snow in a couple of days, though, so the plants are going to be in for a rude surprise.

The last ten percent

I passed the 45K mark today. Monday and Tuesday are not good word count days because of other obligations (real life - phooey!), but I am off Wednesday and hope to finish then, a day early. That would be a huge accomplishment for me.

Over at the NaNoWriMo forums, a user called Migratory has created some icons here and here. This one was spoke to me because it is true:

That's right. 45,114 words in, and I still don't have a title.

Google Spreadsheets - just playing around

Allegedly, when you click here, you will be able to see my personal NaNoWriMo chart as stored in Google Docs and Spreadsheets.

The good - heck, amazing - news is that I have ended every day ahead of where I should be for that day.

Time to give thanks

Today is Thanksgiving. T and I had a potluck with a couple of the KnitWits, which was nice and easygoing. I'm from a small family, and we didn't live near our extended families, so four people for dinner seems just about right to me.

As always, I am thankful that I have everything I need, and a few of the things I want, and good people to share my life with. This year, I am also thankful for the doctors of Iowa Health System, who told me several times during the year, "This should fix you right up." So far, they have been correct. *knock wood*

My wish for you is that you will also find reasons to be thankful, today and every day.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have 1667 words to write.

A bunch of cat photos and not much content

You've been warned.

Katie secures the perimeter from ladybugs and spiders--

Katie patrols the printers--

See down in the corner? I really have been writing.

Katie the newshound--


Today is mid-point of the NaNoWriMo month, and I should have at least 25,000 words to be on schedule. I am on vacation today, so I should be able to get to 25K before lunch. Then I can use the rest of the day, and tonight's write in, to build up my cushion again. And shop. After trying to write in a noisy coffee shop Monday night, I really want some noise-dampening headphones.

Cast your bread upon the waters

Last month, I surprised my friend Sand with a hat and wrist warmers.

Today she surprised me with a cartoon - the Knitting Kninjas. She drew this even though she is nursing a bum wrist and doing NaNoWriMo and wrangling the Piker Press.

Thanks, my friend.

NaNoWriMo Day 11

What I predicted would happen yesterday? Happened yesterday. I completely squandered my word count cushion. But I got to visit with some regular people (in other words, non-Wrimos) and do some knitting.

Today, though, I was invited to a jet-pack write-in, where the goal is to write hard for a long time. and build up your word count. Hello - I left the coffeeshop with more than 3300 words, and my total word count just inched past 20,000.

The coffeeshop was next door to a yarn shop. My deal with myself was that I would write until I hit 2000, and then I could go look at yarn. It didn't work. I kept writing right past their closing time.

20K is huge for me. I've always been a slow starter in NaNoWriMo. Prior to today, the earliest I ever hit 20K was 11/18. Two of the four years, I didn't even get to 16K.

The most important things I have been doing this year are:
1. Writing every day. EVERY day. The chart above says that I didn't write last Tuesday, but I did. I just got busy watching the election returns and didn't post my word count until after midnight.
2. Whenever possible, exceed the minimum words (1667 words x 30 days = 50010) needed. There have been just two days where I fell short, but I stayed ahead on total word count because of the cushion I had from previous days.
3. Write with people. It's easier to stay BIC HOK (butt in chair, hands on keyboard) when others are doing the same.
4. The Fetching Gloves of Noveling Doom rock.

There is another jet-pack tomorrow. Some of the writers are hoping to have 25,000 before Monday. That seems a little unlikely for me. but anything over 2,000 will be fine with me.

I have a really short excerpt of my story here. On the right side of the page, click Turn to see the next page. Then, on the right side, Click To Load.

Snow and Stars

I've been busy with NaNoWriMo, and not much else. The writing is going well. Thanks to our fabulous local group and many write-ins, I have been staying ahead of schedule. It's probably going to blow my cushion, but tonight I plan to knit first, write later. After all, if I don't stay in touch with humanity, what am I going to write about?

We had snow today! It was the best kind - fluffy and pretty in the air, and melted immediately from the streets.

Last weekend, Terry finally received his Messier Club certificate and pin, which he earned last spring. He had to observe the 110 items on the Messier list of deep sky objects, and could not use computer guidance on the telescope to find them.

Katie's new favorite hobby is killing the phone book.

I found this picture from a few months ago while I was looking for the snow picture on the pda.

Doesn't everyone deserve a personal watermelon?

The battery is recharged...

...and I now have pictures of the Lucky Fetching Gloves of Noveling Doom.

(ETA that instead of the picot bind off, I did an i-cord bind off. I know Amy hates attached i-cord, but I thought it was easy and made a nice finish at the top.)

I wore them to the write-in tonight, and I am now at 2168 words. I'm also hopped up on iced tea, so I may still write a bit more before I go to bed.

I still don't hate the story, and I don't think this heroine is going to be wimpy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

One finished, one started...

...and technology is my enemy.

I finished my own pair of Fetching gloves today. I took two pictures, and the camera battery died before I could upload the photos. So you'll have to wait for that.

NaNoWriMo started today, and I have hit the ground, not exactly running, but at least sauntering steadily. Because the site is overwhelmed and horribly slow, the word count widgets are balky as well. At this posting, I am at 1060 words, and on my way to a write-in, so I should easily make my word count today. So far, I don't hate any of my characters. I'm still struggling with including enough stuff to make a scene last long enough, though.