No pictures today.

Just quiet contemplations.


I haven't done one stitch of knitting the entire time I've been off on holiday break, though. Since one of my resolutions for next year is to knit more, I like to think of this as a loading phase. I'm loading up my urge to knit so that it overflows and becomes too powerful to ignore in the new year. I have a crapton of yarn that needs knitting on (including two new purchases I will take pictures of tomorrow and post about then -- they are currently in the prophylactic de-mothing process). And I got gifted a pattern that needs, desperately, to be made manifest. It wants to be, and who am I to refuse?

I also, in the new year, want to stop sitting around and watching life, I want to start actually living it. I've been a spectator in my own life for far too long, and it's boring. I know that living my life means I will have to make tons of mistakes and look like an idiot and do all sorts of things I've been told are bad and wrong. But I'm so bored. And I don't think life is to be observed only.

Aside from knitting more and living life instead of watching it pass me by, I have only one more resolution: take a vacation. I'm thinking a daylight tour of Vegas, myself. It's warm, desert-ish, and I'm certain the daylight Vegas is more interesting than people assume.

I think I will enjoy that. And I'll be back with pictures, next time.

A week and a half to go!

Until the new year, that is. Everyone continues to heal up (blessed be), things are peaceful and quiet -- maybe a little too quiet.

Yes, in my family it is tradition to take good fortune as a harbinger of the bad. It's a screwed up way to live, and I wish I didn't do it, but there it is. Particularly after this past year, I'm a little frightened to have faith that life isn't about to stab me in the back.

I'm working hard on mom's mink neckwarmer. It's beautiful and soft as kittens, and I love it. She will enjoy it, too, I know. Plus, being an infinity scarf, she won't lose it. The benefits of felting an acrylic/mohair blend scarf by wearing it -- you get it replaced with mink.

I'm lining up my projects for next year, and I'm spoilt for choice. I've already decided to join my hermit's club's Ravellenics team -- Team Knit Alone. We don't officially register for the games, just knit along. I'm going to finish my Hue Shift Afghan because my colorway is the shockingly appropriate "Rainbow".

Look at the rainbow -- LOOK AT IT!!!!

I'm also thinking about working on my Double Cross scarf, because it has sparkles. Rainbows and sparkles? Oh, yeah.

Sparkly rainbows would be better, but I'm limited by my stock

 

I've been trying to narrow down my book list, but am not having much luck in figuring out which books to remove. Truman Capote will have to come off, sadly -- In Cold Blood is, technically, non-fiction. I think I may have to simply choose a book by an author who has several on the list as I come to the author on the list. I'd have to read two books a week, on average, to hit 100 books next year anyway, and that's not going to be feasible. I have a hard time mustering up enthusiasm for literature, anyway, not sure I could make it through two a week. That's like...eating peas every day for every meal. Urgh. I'll just have to see how many I can get through. Anything over three will be a major improvement for me.

 

I only have one more work day left before we close the office for the holidays. Wheee! I won't finish up mom's scarf in the next three days (unless I give up going to the bathroom in favor of sitting for the whole day in my chair, knitting like a fiend), but that's ok. I'm sure I'll get it done over the holiday break. Then I can maybe move on to another project, pick a book and get started on all my goals at once. 

 

But for now, I'm off to watch the first episode of season one of Sherlock. I need to watch them all over again before the third season starts up on the 19th. Possibly twice.  

2013, I will be glad to be quit of you!

On the one hand, you could say my family has had wretched luck this year. On the other, you could say, we've had terrific luck.

I mean, if his kidneys hadn't started failing, my father would be dead of a massive heart attack by now. If the angle of hit had been any degree different, my brother would be dead in a hit and run accident instead of recovering from surgery for a broken pelvis. If it had been a tumor instead of a stroke, my mother's cat would have no chance for recovery, instead of the 75% he's got (and she really, really, really needs her little furry friend right now).

I'm not sure what that adds up to, other than I'm really tired of this year and for what feels like the first time ever, I'm looking forward to next year. Hopefully it will be way, way better -- or at the very least, much more calm. We wouldn't have needed our fabulous luck if we hadn't had so much bollywoggle going on. So no bollywoggle for a little while, just enough time for me to get bored again...yeah. That's what I want for Christmas.

Do you think Santa can slide some peace and quiet under there?

I'm making progress on the one and only knitted Giftmas gift I am working on -- an eternity scarf for Mater Gloriosa made out of Lotus Yarns Mink. Mink. 

 

All your arguments are invalid at the word 'mink'. It's soft and squishy and I'm enjoying greatly working on this. Of course, I still have the green mink for myself that I'm going to be working with to look forward to in 2014.

Not sure what I'll make myself, but after this year, I should be knitting for myself in all mink. 

Although I think my first order of business is going to be scheduling a nice vacation for myself and a friend someplace warm. I'm thinking Vegas. Not the 'flashy-lighty, ringing-slot machine, screaming old ladies' Vegas, but the real Las Vegas. The daylight Vegas. They have museums and places of interest and national parks. And the sun shines there, and it's warm. 

I'm thinking I may have to find a week or two in February because if I wait too much longer, I may go spare and beat someone up with a stick. And no one wants that.

In other news, next year is going to be my "Year of The Novel". I have a list of 134 books that were considered by someone  to be great novels from the 20th century (before you ask, yes, I took all Ayn Rand's stuff off there -- the cat had a stroke, I don't want to have one, too). I'm not sure how to liquidate that down further, other than maybe choosing one novel by each author (some of them have as many as four books listed). I was actually even going to remove V. S. Naipaul from the list on the basis of I have no idea who he is, but then a quick Google search told me he and I share a birthday. So he must be awesome. I will have to read both of his books on the list.

And since I doubt my knit coven is going to buy the leftovers of another yarn shop next year, I'll maybe actually make progress on the destashing front. I hope so, my yarn stash is getting out of hand!

Let's hope next year goes half as well as I'd like it to -- peace and quiet and reading and knitting. I could use a little boring.