Well, it just goes to show you...

... you can't know what your yarn is going to look like. I thought the skein I bought was beautiful, and yes, I still loudly proclaim its softy goodness. I finished the FakeIsle hat that I was saving for the 2007 UFO knitting, because once you start this pattern, it's really hard to stop. Each round is so engaging. I made the smallest size, while my friend Arleta made the larger. I do believe, thanks to the tricky, misrepresenting yarn, that my hat is significantly larger than hers. I say 'my' hat with only the proprietary sense of - I don't know whom I'm giving it to yet. Who has a larger head than mine? That's the household question going on. The yarn colors ended up being darker, less contrasting with my deep green that I was using for the contrasting yarn, so the knitted pattern isn't as clear as I would like. It's a very pretty hat, I know, but oddly disappointing as I watched the colors come off the skein. Yet I kept knitting, because I knew it was still going to be pretty, if not what I had imagined at the beginning. Some people rip, but not I. It is, after all, just a hat.





I have finished my Christmas knitting, and I have a weird feeling of incompleteness. I know it's because I'm so used to the energy and stress that last-minute knitting requires. Surely something has been forgotten! This year has been wierd, since I finished my shopping so early, then my knitting four days before Christmas. I do believe I've lost some of the magic the holiday normally gives. Next year I'll have to procrastinate to get things back to normal. Today I'll wrap presents and try to keep the kids spirits up. They're sick, and will be missing our third Christmas party today. And I have no oven yet, so no, I can't bake treats to distract them. Perhaps some fudge will do the trick.

To the neighbors, we delivered cookie mixes which my kids put together and decorated with fabric and a Christmas card label. This is something we have done for four years in a row, not necessarily mixes, but cookies or homemade candy. (See above for why it was a mix this year) It's funny, because the neighbors are still completely floored when we come over with the gift. HeeHee. They'll get used to us some day. It's the sort of neighborhood where no one brought us cookies when we moved in, and I had to actually stalk them by peeking out the window at all hours until I found them outside, then I quick grabbed the baby and went for a walk so I could meet them. I used to live in the country, and the neighbors were always great friends, lots of visiting. Then we moved to a suburb in Minnesota, and the stalking began. People just weren't that interested in meeting their neighbors. Then we moved here, back to the country, and I'm sorry to say the isolated feeling has followed us. I know it's a crazy world, but it seems we should fight that by meeting our neighbors, not pretending they don't exist. You! Reading this! This summer take a book outside and look open to conversation. (Unless you live in a dangerous place) I'm really nervous about all the badness in the world, but the people I meet are generally very good. That helps me fight the Go-live-on-a-mountain mood watching the news puts me in. I've met some great people in the blogging community, so that's been a really fun avenue for me. Good job, peoples! Thanks for being nice knitters!

There. That's my theme for 2006, and 2007, too, because it's a good theme. Put goodness into the world! It needs it, it can only help, and hey, it feels good, too. And seriously, the people who aren't pleasant to be around? They're definitely hurting themselves. Don't let them hurt you, also. Ignore them, feel sorry for them, pray for them if you can. That actually helps me not feel so angry or hoping for a dark street and no witnesses. See? I'm a dichotomy. I get angry. It's not easy for me to follow my own advice, but I'm working on living it, because it's the right thing to do. And it's working. Very slowly, I admit, but it is working.

Happy Holidays, all, and may you find much goodness in the world, and help bring peace to others. Merry Christmas!