Ain't it Great?? It's 2008!!

I text messaged "Happy New Year" to everyone I knew with a cell phone this morning. And I actually heard back from several of them!! No, kiddies, I did NOT do it at one minute past midnight. Yeah, I was up listening to John Grisham's,"Steet Lawyer" on the computer while I caught up on tons of unread emails. And I admit I played a little Super Bounce Out too. I had beer in the fridge & vodka in the cupboard so I could've partied. The BT & I decided it was too cold to sit outside & drink in the New Year as we did last year & neither of us wanted to sleep on the other's couch afterwards. So, we yakked on the phone, sent happy text messages at midnight & went to bed in our own beds. Ain't we the exciting couple??? We DID talk about spending NEXT New Year's someplace warm & nice, with a beach & happy natives willing to bring food & drink. Hopefully it'll happen in THIS lifetime . . . .


I spent some of my holiday time knitting on Arvik. I've got about 8 inches of the top done so far. I've even added a row of purl stitches to the stockinette every 5 rows just because. And I added some extra stitches to the fronts not including the 7 sts for the seed button band. I intend to pick up the stitches around the neck & knit a hood but that's only tentative right now. I'll also put a seed stitch band on the bottom instead of ribbing. I'm trying NOT to poke my nose into any other project until this one is done.

And then, I've got the 'Ginny' to finish as well. 'Ginny' is down to the side triangles of the hip shaping & I'm tempted to just pick up all the stitches & knit a decorative border instead. The pattern is designed to dip deeply in the front & back but the sides are picked up & knit in a triangle to match the front & back dip & give a level hem. It's knit in a comfortable discontinued yarn that I've loved for years. I knit several sweaters out of this yarn years ago & wore them to death. I grew out of one of them & the lace panel started to unravel on the second so I pulled them both apart & let the yarn "age" for a few years until I needed a new comfy sweater. Maybe, I should just finish 'Ginny' first since its much closer to being finished & then go back to Arvik.

Oh, there's also sweater #3 in the basket!! I'd almost forgotten about it! I have this ratty old fuchsia acrylic sweater that I knit for myself about 12 years ago. I had a client who insisted on gifting me with money one birthday ONLY if I spent it on something personal for ME. I promised. So I went out & bought this wonderful fuchsia yarn & knit up the Moss Stitch Blazer from Big Knits by Dawn French & Sylvie Soudan. My client & I were both thrilled with it! I'm still wearing it although it's no longer fit to wear in public. The cat fights me for it every time she finds it laying somewhere & it's full of pulls - but I love the color! For several years, I've been buying the Dalesman Fuchsia wool from Birkeland Brothers every time I'm in the neighborhood. I've got about a dozen hanks now so I started knitting the Moss Stitch Blazer in Wool this time. I love the color - it's exactly the same shade as the acrylic yarn I loved so much. I've got the back finished & part of one front done too. I'd also like to wear this sweater some time soon.

The clematis is a reminder of summer when my trellises were covered with red bean flowers, white something-or-other that climbed & these gorgeous clematis flowers. They were the size of bread & butter plates!! And, now that Christmas is over, my RANT button is put away for another year. In my humble opinion, Christmas should become a family holiday again with candles, dinners, good fellowship, tempting smells & kindness for all. Eliminate the ads, Fire the PC police, Ban Boxing Week, Erase the guilt, bring back the fun, legislate SNOW & neighborhood sledding.