Well, another year has come and gone. One of my 2006 resolutions was to keep more of my knitting for myself. Let’s see how I did:

• Seven pairs of socks, three of which I kept for myself. (My November socks were finished, have been worn and photographed, but remain unposted.)
• A scarf for Mum, the first I’ve made since that first fall of knitting, aka Christmas present #2. (Photos of this and a couple of the other projects to come in a few days.)
• A shawl for me, using yarn originally bought for someone else, that perfectly matched a dress I found for a wedding. Nothing justifies selfish knitting like perfect coordination of colors. Unfortunately, peach mohair does not look spiffy on a dark blue suit, so Rudi might wish I’d given this away after all.
• A tank top for me that slides down in front to reveal my bra. I need to pull it apart and shorten the straps so I can wear it again.
• A darling little hat for my cousin’s baby and a grown-up hat for a friend. Plus, a roll-brim hat for me (my favorite knitted item regardless of its simplicity), made out of pinky-purply Woolarina merino.
• A tiny baby sweater for my friend’s son.
• Several cotton chenille washcloths, all of which were gifts, although not all have been sent to their recipients. (Bad me!)
• A purse for me that still needs sewing up. How sad….
• Christmas present #1, which I have yet to give to its recipient. What could it be?

I think that’s it….

I also bought a ton of yarn and a cabinet in which to keep said yarn and was given a swift by Rudi’s mom and a ball-winder by Mum. I learned how to turn heels, pick up stitches, make button-holes, knit cables, and identify several yarns by sight and feel (this last one was accidental, I assure you).

I joined the Knitting Olympics and the Knitting World Cup. I participated in some yarn swaps. And I made some new knitting friends.

What’s on the sticks for next year? I’m thinking of winding up the yarn and then swatching for my cardigan next. And finishing the reknit of the hat I made Dad (which didn’t fit) back in 2005. And more socks with all that lovely sock yarn I bought. And ….

Pardon me, I’ve got to get busy knitting!

Happy New Year, folks!

I think this may have been the first year of my entire life that I have attended enough concerts to not only have a top ten list but also to reject some in favor of others. May this trend continue.

My top ten list: (more…)

Three beautiful things from the last Christmassy week:

1. Short lines (or none at all) when you’re frazzled and behind in your pre-Christmas shopping.

2. Because we did the extended family Christmas on the third weekend of Advent, Christmas day itself was totally mellow. Christmas morning stretched well into Christmas afternoon. I didn’t change out of my pj’s until nearly 4. We left dishes on the dining room table while we relaxed for a while. Christmas calls were made and answered, but no one stressed over them. It was nerve-wracking to have to do Christmases two weekends in a row, but the calm second one almost justified the angst of the first.

3. Sleep. 13+ hours last night. I feel surprisingly awake and clear-headed today.

I hope those of you who celebrate Christmas have a very merry holiday. I send you my best wishes for you and your families.

We’ve had a nice holiday overflowing with presents, food, and loved ones. We’ll be heading home tomorrow evening after Boxing Day dinner so expect more regular updates to resume midweek.

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. When I got on the Metro Tuesday morning, I noticed a woman standing with her two children, a boy and girl who looked to be about 5 or so. At the stop between where I get on and where I get off, I moved over to stand next to them so as not to block the exit. As I did, the little girl looked up at me, smiled, and took my hand, which she held until I got off the train. They both chattered away at me, asking my name and telling me theirs. The little boy told me that his name was Buzz Lightyear and I told him I’d seen him on tv. When his sister assured me that he was not, in fact, the famed superhero, the boy quickly revised his story to say that he had the movie with him and pulled off his Sponge Bob backpack to show me.

2. My cousin Lally had six inches of iPod cozy knit when she left my folks’ house Saturday night. She and Gramma and I retired to Gramma’s sitting room to have a crash-course in knitting basics, and Lally took off like a bullet. (Thanks, Sarah, for all the help in finding the right pattern for an inaugural project.)

3. As I mentioned yesterday, I took cookies to work yesterday for a party. The containers were licked clean when they made their way back to me. And that was okay, because although each and every Eskimo cookie I made had been in one of the tins, the one that contained the fudge hadn’t been quite big enough to fit all that I’d made. So Rudi and I have a little fudge stash at home for when we need a chocolate pick-me-up.

I must be making some progress on the holiday front, but it sure doesn’t feel like it.

I did make some cookies (Di‘s fudge and Mum’s eskimo cookies, both of which went over very well at the office holiday potluck), but not all I need to bake.

I’ve written some cards, but I’m not quite done yet. (This currently stands as my most-likely-to-imminently-finish task.)

I’ve done a bunch of shopping, but not necessarily for the key people who need presents by a certain date (like Monday). Admittedly, my lack of e-shopping, my tendency to do lots of browsing, and my desire to patronize local businesses may have played some role in there not being an awful lot done. Or, at least, like my feeling that I haven’t done a lot.

Knitting is progressing. Christmas gift #1 was finished back in November. Christmas gift #2 experienced some major hiccups until I eventually admitted defeat with the original yarn I bought for the project and bought a different kind instead. As predicted, Christmas gifts #3 and 4 will not be completed prior to Monday. I’m okay with that.

Wrapping. Ha! Ha! Ha! (Imagine dramatic pauses in between each of those.) Maybe tonight. Or tomorrow. And, if not, Mum bought a lot of bags that I can dip into in Connecticut. But I’d prefer to get at least some of it done before we head north.

I did finally decide last night that I should put on a Christmas movie and I spent some time knitting, eating, and card writing during this year’s showing of Holiday Inn. I still have time for White Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life, but I’ll have to hope my folks have a copy of Miracle on 34th Street, because I don’t think we own it. But doing something that felt holidayish made for a nice change….

Two more days ’til we head north. And then two more days after that to finish up all the loose ends. I’d better get moving. I have a lot to do still!

There’s a meme floating around to see what the first sentence bloggers posted each month. I’m feeling like being a lazy blogger today, so I thought I’d see what mine said about my year. Then I discovered they were, with a couple of exceptions, boring. Apparently I can’t be that lazy, so I also offer you a haiku for each sentence. At least it offers variety….

January: “We rounded out the year 2005 with a quartet of movies over two days.”

Four movies were watched
during the last waning days
of the dying year.

February: “Parents in Williamson County, Tennessee, have been asked to sign an anonymous petition demanding that the classic To Kill a Mockingbird be removed.”

A classic challenged –
more parents unwilling to
let their children grow.

March: “February was a quiet book-buying month, coming on the heels as it did of the heavy book acquisitions of January (and frankly, the month was filled with Winter and Knitting Olympics — who has time to hit the bookstores properly?).”

Knitting booties and
watching sports on tv cuts
down on book buying.

April: “Happy April Fool’s Day!”

On the first day of
April would you expect a
different first line?

May: “The medals plaza has been disassembled.”

Eventually
even the lazy knitter
must finish her work.

June: “Karen took me bra shopping on Friday (this is how good a friend she is; she didn’t force me to stand under fluorescent lights in my underwear by myself).”

This sentence stands out
as being the only one
complete on its own.

July: “Several more books were finished during the second fortnight of June (the first half of the month’s reading is here), including one I acquired at the Orange County Airport.”

Vacations are a
great way to blow through a pile
of books to be read.

August: “Rudi and I are heading north on Amtrak in the morning to join friends Karen and Michael, Erica, and Erik (and maybe old college pal Mike) for An Evening with Harry, Carrie, and Garp.”

Who would miss out on
spending a sultry evening
with cool authors? Who?!

September: “The rain and wind have finally kicked in.”

Blustery weather
is a real treat. Too bad it
all came in month nine.

October: “I don’t normally root against the Mets, but I’d like to see them lose today.”

Please don’t ever ask
me to type those words again.
They pained me to say.

November: “Today marks Day 1 of NaNoWriMo.”

Thirty-five pages
is nothing to sniff at, but
just wait ’til next year.

December: “How long are candy canes good for?”

The general thought
was that candy canes may
outlast us all. Huh!

I’ve had a nice weekend in Connecticut in a pre-Christmas celebration with my brother, who is in from L.A., my uncle’s family, who will be in Oregon for Christmas, my folks, and my grandmother.

It was a nice visit and now I head back to D.C. to finish up some work, some shopping, and some baking (plus writing those aforementioned cards). I’m hoping to get lots done during the week so that next weekend can be spent visiting friends and my dad’s side of the family and doing relaxed Christmas-related activities. (That’s not my normal m.o. so only time will tell how successful I’ll be….)

Yarn-related projects progress. People who read the blog will benefit from my productivity, so the rest of you will just have to wait for photos until after the recipients open their presents.

If you haven’t received a Christmas/New Year/Hannukah/Solstice card from me yet and were expecting one, well, it’s because they’ve not yet been sent out.

But rest assured that the only thing that’s holding me up from sending them on their way to you is writing the cards and addressing the envelopes.

I want the card to mean something — and to be able to spend a few minutes thinking of you as I’m writing it. We don’t use an auto-pen or e-signature here in the Burrow.

So chalk it up to the fact that I have not had adequate time to spend thinking about you in a meaningful way — and that I will … soon.

In the meantime, accept my generic good wishes and love and appreciation and wishes for a happy holiday season for you and yours.

Three beautiful things from the last week:

1. Toddlers from a local nursery school are at the corner when I surface from the Metro this morning. I am not thinking clearly at first, but then realize their day care providers must have brought them down so they could see the whimsical Christmas window displays Macy’s has created for the season. I switch direction so I can witness their first peek.

2. Holiday decorations are up in the neighborhoods and I enjoy looking at them as I wander around the city doing my shopping. Many decorations are tasteful and restrained and totally fit the income bracket in which their owners reside. The more fun ones are ones that don’t. Two single-family fancy houses in upper Georgetown had lights that blink in time to tinny music. Another, around the corner from my house, is a 13-bedroom mansion (with carriage house) that went on the market last year for $8 million. They boast a plastic lit tree and manger scene in their front driveway. I love that Christmas sanctions breaking out of what society expects of us to celebrate in the ways that make us happiest.

3. The warm weather has contributed to the delusion that I have plenty of time until Christmas. But coming from New England, I refuse to look a gift horse in the mouth, and have been spending plenty of time outdoors. Tuesday, after my dental appointment, I stopped to have lunch at a local restaurant and convinced them to serve me outside. My waitress, who admittedly was wearing a flimsy short-sleeved outfit, wasn’t pleased with my decision, but I found it hard not to bask in the late morning sun like a cat.