A Page A Day

I don't do New Year's Resolutions, as a thing. They last for a week and then it's guilt city, and who needs that hassle? I have enough self-inflicted hassles already, thankyouverymuch. 

That said, I think that the end of the year is a good time to look back at how the year balanced out. Work is work - do the work and get paid for the work - but were there more satisfying or stressful days? Was time spent volunteering rewarding or frustrating? Did I spend time on social media spinning the scroll bar, or use social sites to stay in touch with friends and family, learn new things, or be inspired by the creativity of others? What did we do to connect as a family? What did I do to further my own ideas, dreams, goals? 

Some years, though, all that analysis is just waaay too much. 2022 was like that. Old friends lost to distance, time, or the Reaper, unrealized ideas, plans, goals, everything. So, New Year's 2023 was a day of looking forward, not back. 

A (not-lost!) old friend writes a blog about the books he reads, and it's fun and interesting to see his thoughts, especially about books I've also read. Taking his consistent focus as inspiration, I set a tiny goal of reading a bit of a non-digital book each day, and along with that, to do something creative daily. 

One page, one knitted row or other small crafty thing, less than five minutes, take a photo to track progress. I could do that. 

I was consistent for a couple of months, then got distracted by other things for a bit, but then went back into book-world later in the year, and the end result (according to the tracking tag in GoodReads) was 52 books for the year. Not all hardcopy, and not all first-reads, but an average of a book each week for the year? I'll take it. 

And Fourteen Years Later....

 ...here we are. 

This post has been lounging in drafts since 2020, and it's finally time to get back into writing. (So says the squirrel-brain, for today, at least...)

2020 was the weirdest year - pandemic shutdowns, work from home, then in the fall, back into the office but in a new position, busy busy. Fortunately, the kids were old enough to manage virtual learning, we all stayed healthy, and I loved working from home this time around. (My first wfh experience was after many years of being on Uncle Sam's schedule, and with a three-year-old in the house at that time, work-life balance was...well. Let's just say, it wasn't.)

2020 was also the beginning of a new decade of good things happening. Graduations, flying the nest, new positions, life changes. Young adults starting on their own journeys. 

And now, in 2024, the young adults are still young adulting, and we're making adjustments around the house to reflect our new normal. 

I've started curating some longstanding collections and moving along the things I don't need to keep around anymore, to free up breathing space, both literally and metaphorically. It's time to switch off the autopilot mindset of continuing on well-trodden paths just because they're familiar, relook my goals and priorities, and step forward in a more intentional way.  

E. A. G. M. A. 2010

EAGMA is a slightly unwieldy acronym for a bunch of neat folks - the Eastern Angora Goat and Mohair Association They held their annual show and sale this weekend in Frederick (MD). This is a new location for the show and the temps were in the very high 90's, so I don't think the attendance was all that great, but K and I really enjoyed ourselves and plan to go again next year. The vendors were set up under cover (shade, yay!) at the county fairgrounds. No big crowds, no problems with parking, no admission fee, and the ice cream man showed up just as we were leaving - it was a great outing even on a hot afternoon.

K fed a baby cashmere goat from Harley Farm, and learned that cashmere goats have coats just like Bob-dog's... 

These guys were (I think) from Painted Shadow Farm. 

K thought it was funny that their 'bangs' were longer than hers! 

We bought a raffle ticket and won a keychain. K was excited to pick the next winning ticket out of the jar.

Marlene of Marlene's Felting Madness showed K how to felt roving by hand. She loved it, and we bought a little ball of roving to try at home.

We enjoyed talking to the different vendors and learning about their specialties. All of the vendors were excited about their products even on such a hot day, and were happy to answer questions, which says quite a lot about their enthusiasm for their work. We especially enjoyed talking to Cozy Rabbit Farm, Wolles Yarn Creations, Flying Goat Farm, Puff the Magic Rabbit, and Colleen from Giant Cricket Farm. Can't wait to go again next year!

Gotta Start Someplace!

I know how to knit. Or I should say, I was taught how to knit many years ago by my Great-Aunt Ruth. (She also taught me how to tie my shoes and make bread, but that's a post for another day.) I really never got further than the basic knit stitch, and after suffering through knitting a hat in 4H, I decided that I was more comfortable with crochet and just left knitting alone. I do still have the hat, though - can't get rid of it after all that work! So that's my knitting history. (Bor-ing.) A few years back, my friend M found herself in the world of cashmere goats, and she currently has 18 of them on her hillside in Southern Vermont. In an interesting-to-me-but-not-very-useful-to-her attempt to be supportive, I found myself poking around on fiber sites, which led to blogs, which led to Ravelry (for the scrapbookers, it's a lot like 2peas, a huge time-sink). Along the way I discovered some really creative, interesting, and very funny crafters, and learned all about Google Reader (my new favorite gadget). I also learned that cashmere goats are very entertaining and sometimes downright silly creatures!

Oh, wait. That's Apa. He's a bison. Sortof.

Here they are! During our visit, as soon as the boys started down the driveway ('racing' the car to the road), the goats thought they were going to the path up to the yurt where the hay is stored, and ran right along behind them, which was very exciting for everyone involved. When the boys didn't head up the path to the yurt, there was great goat-confusion (seen here). They stared at M for a minute, and then continued their dash up the hill to the yurt. They had apparently decided that she was the the one who would get them a snack, since the shorter people turned out to be useless. I wish I'd had time for video - the whole scene was hilarious to watch! So after all that - goats, ravelry, yarn stores, fiber festival, etc - here I am, wanting to make mittens and socks and lacy wraps. But straight knit stitch is like single crochet; it's useful and practical, but not always the best fit for a project. I figured I'd better start with something truly easy to get the hang of things, and then move on to other stitches. I'll get lots of practice (and can use up some stash), and (insert optimism here) everyone will get scarves for Christmas next year!  I finished this 'review the basics' scarf yesterday, and I'm pretty pleased that it is more-or-less even. The yarn is pleasantly forgiving, and you can't get much simpler than this - big needles, fuzzy yarn, knit all the stitches.

Size 13 needles, 16 stitches, knit the whole skein. Mine is a nice size for an inside-the-coat-scarf (5.75"Wx37"L). If you started with 10 or 12 stitches I think you'd gain enough length to tie or loop the scarf instead of tucking it inside your coat. Enjoy! Yarn and pattern details here: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/LynneinMD/easy-first-knitted-scarf