It has almost been 5 months since my last blog post. Five very long months that included me traveling back to Michigan to see my kids, some more knitting for a friend, some personal knitting for myself, some Christmas knitting, and a little tiny bit of Beginning Spinning teaching at my LYS.

Many things to fill the days and none of them having much to do with writing or blogging, which feels very much like failure when I look at my blog. I like to think that the process of blogging activates my brain and encourages me to write creatively. Sad that I so easily let this fall by the wayside.

The New Year came with no list of resolutions for me, at least nothing specific or defined – a purposeful decision on my part. No resolution, no failure – a simple, yet very motivating factor. Rather, my goals this year are simple – Be Healthy, Be Happy, Read More, and Learn More.

The first months of the New Year found success in all categories with the exception of “Be Healthy” as, even though I got the flu shot this year, I found myself with the flu for a good portion of February. Yes, apparently getting older causes one to recover more slowly. Nevertheless, aside from this small inconvenience I am happy to enjoy success in all the other categories. There has been More Happy, More Reading, and More Learning as January and February unfolded.

I have been teaching some Beginning Spinning classes at my LYS – both Drop Spindle and Spinning Wheel lessons. Now,  while I am by no means a Spinning Expert – I approached teaching a bit differently – I put together information that I wished had been shared with me when I began and I spent some time looking closely at my own spinning – why do I do things the way I do. I also took some classes with some of my favorite spinners to get back to the basics. This helped me in multiple ways – my drafting got better, my spinning got better, and my plying got better. It also helped me go back to the very beginning – the basics – which helped ease me into teaching. I have found that I am very adept at figuring out how different (to me) wheels work and, more importantly, how to help the new spinner with that process. I am fortunate that there are such wonderful resources for spinners today – especially the things that were not there when I started spinning.

I have also been taking a wonderful on-line class from Amy Herzog about her Customfit Make Wear Love sweater construction. I have embraced swatching on a completely new level – oh, the wonder of a swatch is an incredible thing. I am feeling ever so positive about knitting a sweater that actually fits and fits well during this class. Amy is an incredible teacher and I would strongly encourage you to take her class should you have the opportunity! As you can see, the back of my sweater is complete, I absolutely am in love with the yarn which I got from Briar Rose Fibers – it is called Joyful (and it truly makes me joyful when I knit with it!) and it is 100% Polwarth. Truly yummy stuff and no one dyes like Chris does!

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Then, about a month and a half ago, my darling daughter shared some incredible news with me – she was about 13 weeks pregnant with my very first grandbaby! I am very excited to be starting on this new chapter in my life – no longer just a “mom” but soon a “nana” too! My queue on Ravelry has grown exponentially with baby things to make and I am going to spin to knit this darling sweater from my new granddaughter. I am sure this child will lack for little – at least in the woolen department! This little one will have the most amazing mother ever, and we all are excited for this new addition to arrive at the end of July.

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March has been very lionish in her beginning, and I hope that this means she will be like a gentle lamb as she exits. One thing is certain – I surely like that the days are just a bit longer and that the sun has been more visible than not! I am so excited for the arrival of spring this year, I have been plotting, and planning what my garden shall grow this year. We have been enjoying the preserved fruits of the summer on these long winter days. It makes the meal just a bit tastier knowing that what we are eating is something we grew – add to that, our decision to eat local as much as possible and you can see why “be happy” has not been difficult at all.

Warmer weather will be most appreciated by Sherman though who has such an aversion to cold and snow that he can stop all bodily functions for 36 hours (yes, we timed it!) when there is an abundance of snow and the temperature falls below 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside!

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I want be more purposeful in my blogging and much less accidental so you can expect to hear from me again very soon.

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