Saying Goodbye

My blog will be especially quiet for a time while I deal with the loss of my grandmother who died on Saturday.

It's from her that I inherited my love for knitting. She was a talented knitter and even in the last weeks of her life taught her home nurse how to knit as she couldn't stand to see the woman sit around not doing anything with her hands!

I'm Angora

Angora – Soft and warm
“Angora has a warmth that rivals cashmere and softness that rivals qiviut. Best of all, it comes from cute little bunnies that look for all the world like furry footstools with ears.” –The Knitter’s Book of Yarn

Angoras are eager to please and are highly sensitive. Flexibility and adaptability are your strengths and sometimes your weakness, as well. You are essentially a warm and feeling person, and little escapes your impressionable mind. You are generous with others and strive for harmony in your relationships.

Am I the last to do this quiz? I usually am! Anyway, in case you want to see what fiber you are: Click Here

Snow Day

I've had cardinals, chick-a-dees and sparrows chirping outside my dining room windows today. They look so pretty among the snowy branches! I ventured out a few times with Saffy and Silas and while they were busy romping in the snow, snapped a pic of the bird bath.


I'm cooking Chicken Chasseur for dinner. It's the first time I've made it from this recipe and I've altered it a bit using boneless, skinless chicken, but it looks and smells great so far. Oh, I've also skipped the tarragon as I haven't got any and I added a splash of Worcestershire sauce.

Edited to add:
Picture of Chicken Chasseur!

Noni Progress

The Noni Bag is coming along. I've been weaving in yarn ends as I was finding it too difficult to neatly carry the doubled yarn up the edge that will be the opening of the bag. Tell me, am I going to have a disaster when I felt? Will the woven in ends be lumpy? I am very nervous about this! I've never felted (on purpose!), so I really don't know what to expect.

We've had some beautiful sunny days here this week and I've been out biking. On Monday, temps reached the 50's and I biked by these woolly guys.

My First YouTube Video!

Look what Cindy instigated with her Harki and Peri movie!

This was fun and now I'd like a better video camera!

Bandit

Bandit hasn't been featured on the blog in quite awhile, so I thought I'd better get a pic of him on here. He doesn't like the flash much, so it's tricky to get a shot of him with his face aimed toward the camera and not glowering at it too!

First New Project of '08

Debby and I have decided to start working on the Noni bags we've been intending to make for so long. The first step was winding all the skeins into balls.

Now, I'm ready to cast on! I'm don't feel like I completely understand the directions, so I'm hoping things will become clearer once I'm knitting. (They usually do.) My biggest concern with this project is making the edges look really neat as they form the opening of the bag. I'm not terribly good at my edges...hopefully the felting will cover some sins? The pattern says to carry the yarn up the edge, but I don't think I can make that look good enough for a visible edge. Hopefully it will be ok to break the yarn and weave in the ends some instead?

Jeff and I have been really into watching movies lately. There were a couple of romantic comedies on my list for some time that we finally got around to seeing: Kate & Leopold and The Wedding Date, both of which were pretty good!

These tea tins really bring out my Bowerbird tendencies. How pretty is this one? A new color, at least it's the first time I've seen it, and the tea smells and tastes just as good as the tin looks!

The December issue of Simply Knitting UK was only just put out on the shelves at the local bookstore, but already it has been replaced by the January issue. Something weird happened with the timing of the November issue and it wasn't available for the longest time, but it seems like we are on track again. Thankfully, I didn't miss any issues. I also got Country Living. I do love reading mags in the wintertime especially.

A Fresh Start

I hope everyone had wonderful New Year's Eve celebrations last night and aren't too tired today.

Jeff and I celebrated at home with the pets. We watched the rest of the episodes of My Hero Season 2, one of the shows we got for xmas. I am so bummed that there are no more seasons on DVD yet! Will they hurry up?!

We both used the new computers some and are still stunned by how fast cable high speed is! Later, we tuned into the broadcast from Times Square to see the ball drop.

We indulged in various nibbles, but the real treat was Chocolate Mousse for dessert.

Yes, it is so rich that you might be exposed to some calories just from looking at the picture!

So, on to the new beginnings...

First thing, my sharp new computer monitor allowed me to see that my profile photo was absolutely horrid. So, I've posted a new one that's at least slightly less awful!

I started on Ravelry last night! How fun that is, now that I have cable high speed. Feel free to comment with your identity here so I can make friends...mine is theknittinkitten.

I tend to 'start over' with things throughout the year anytime I feel like I've derailed, but I still like to make a few resolutions.

My crafting ones are:
-Finish things I started in 2007 (Hopefully that won't take all of '08!)
-Make more smaller things, so I have more FO's
-Make a sweater for Jeff
-Start 2008 xmas gifts earlier
-Sew, starting with projects from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts book

I'm still not worried about structuring myself too much. I'm going to permit myself to cast on things on a whim. (I'll count on my blog friends for an intervention if that gets out of hand, ok?!)

My general ones are:
-Eat healthfully and locally/seasonally when possible
-Keep on bicycling!
-Live in the moment and each day to the fullest!

Well, there you have it. I'm so amazed by all the truly inspiring posts people wrote to wrap up '07 and look ahead to '08. Happy New Year everyone and best of luck with your resolutions!