Tuesday, December 27, 2005

New Year's Resolutions?

We had a very white Christmas. It snowed for two days and that caused a short power failure. Luckily it did not last long but again it was a good remainder of how dependent we are on electricity. Candles are nice as long as you know you can switch on the light if needed. But wouldn't be surprised it there would be more failures since the power lines are burdened with snow and lie guite down close to ground.

But the amount of snow kept us all inside and happy. New books and lots of chocolate...and no need to go anywhere. On Boxing Day we had friends for glögg.

My knitting spot got upgraded! I received a nice, bright spot light. I have enjoyed sitting and knitting under it. Children won't be going back to school until January 9th and with teenagers that means late nights. They go to bed well after midnight but then again nobody gets up before noon... the dogs and the cat will wake me up and keep me on the schedule (I don't mind) and I get lots of nice and quiet knitting time in the mornings before anyone gets up.

Hálfskák is done. She is being dressed at the moment and these pictures were taken before. It was a good piece of knitting. The first pattern was garter stitch lace and I first thought that I might not like it because I don't like garter stitch so much. But the lace is very airy and very soft. The edging is 'knit on the right side and purl on the back side' and you are not supposed to block the edging so it will stay frilled. Very nice. All in all it was easy to do and did not take ages to finish.

My shawl won't be as big as in the book, it will be about 60 cm long in the centre. The white Shetland was little thicker than the other three colors but I decided that it wouldn't matter because the other colors were used only for the frill.


I'm pleased with it.

With my short history of spinning and only few projects knit with handspun I'm most happy with the singles I have spun for lace. One of the reasons to buy a wheel was to get z-spun yarn for twined knitting and maybe I should try to focus on that again... But I did order new parts for my Louet to get thin lace yarn easier.

The year is coming to an end. Even though I have seen this happen so many times I feel that something ought to change... or new goals ought to be set, at least in knitting... what about promises, should I make some? Or at least set some kind of guidelines to myself. Abandon blue altogether?!! Use only green? Or is that too close to blue, should I go for orange?

Then again, when I started blogging I made a very serious promise to knit only useful items. See what happened... I have knit three lacy shawls in a row --- so much for practicality.

Do you make any resolutions?

PS. The question about mosquitoes... I'd rather not think about them yet. If I say there are lots of them after Midsummer it is an understatement.

And wolves. I have seen wolf's tracks by the photo shoot spot three winters ago. The wolf had come over from the other side of the lake and had gone back almost the same route. Am happy we did not meet.

8 comments:

  1. Hi Lene!
    Happy Holidays to you!
    I had to find a quiet computer and take a peek at your blog while we are still on holiday.
    I just love the Santa Bear!
    What did you use to make his beard?
    The Grandma Kitty is soooo sweet and you know she does resemble your cat.
    Your kitty looks like he is purring and is so content
    with his Grandma visiting.
    What a beautiful shawl you just finished knitting and so fast.
    It looks like a cloud of soft wool that you could just cuddle up in. I really like the look of the garter stitch pattern and the waves of color in the ruffles.
    I am so happy you got a bright knitting lamp for Christmas so you can see your knitting by so we can continue to see into your world.
    For Christmas I received some really silly knitting patterns and yarns that I normally wouldn't buy for myself and I have been having so much fun playing around with them.
    So now I have decided that I am going to make my New Years Knitting Resolution:
    To play more with my knitting and knit things that are fun for me in the colors and fibers that I like and that make me happy, not just the plain, practical items that my family wants, although I do know I will still be knitting those things too.
    But for this year, I want to knit more for my own amusement.

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  2. Anonymous00:18

    Your shawl looks beautiful, and no it is not totally impractical to knit three shawls in a row, especially in your climate... As for new resolutions, it is always good to make them... even if you break them eventually.

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  3. Anonymous04:35

    Happy almost New Year! I think your shawl is lovely. Perhaps you should knit a wolf--he could be a kindly grandfather wolf, wearing a sweater...

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  4. Anonymous12:10

    Such beautiful photos, Lene, and your shawl looks gorgeous! I like your blog very much, your life is so different from mine... Have a happy new year!

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  5. Anonymous16:26

    It sounds like you had a lovely Christmas :-) Our little snow is almost all melted now.
    I am amazed at how much you accomplish with your knitting and spinning in what seems to be a short time ~~ your new shawl is just lovely!!
    Wishing you happy knitting and spinning under your new light ~~ and, a very happy New Year!!'
    janeen >^..^<

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  6. Anonymous17:48

    Hello Lene,

    It is good to see a post from you again. Hopefully your electricity will not have more significant outages so you can enjoy your new knitting lamp uniterrupted.

    Amelia is enjoying several new games, and Nathan is learning to navigate a new remote control truck. (The cat likes to watch from above). Rick has a new winter coat and I'm enjoying a new blouse I had been coveting from my favorite catalog. The family is anticipating seeing a few baseball games this summer with our beloved baseball team.

    On Christmas Eve we each set some goals for the upcoming year -- school goals, saving money goals, reading goals, weight loss goals, exercise goals. We write them down and put them in an envelope taped to the inside of the refrigerator ( so it is never lost).I would like to teach Nathan to read this year and he seems he will be ready in another 6 months or so. Sometimes he tries to sound out words, but only when HE is willing. Next Dec. 24th we will review together to see how we did. In the mean time it is handy so I can check my progress. Progress checks happen often in the first few months then dwindle considerably!

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  7. Lene - congratulations on being mentioned as a nominee on Queer Joe's best knit blog awards!

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  8. Anonymous22:33

    I can't believe you actually have mosquitos there!!! I live in Georgia and we have so many here in the summer that it feels like a swamp. We can't wait to move further north to get away from some of the bugginess here. I love all you knitting! My promises every year are to just knit more, regardless of its practicality. The idea is just to knit more in general :)

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