Do you believe that 2009 is done?!? Me neither. Where did it go? When I look back at the year all I see is a blur. I am pleased to see the long list of Finished 2009 items over there on the left. I didn't finish all the projects that were OTN (on the needles) at the start of the year but enough of them got done that I feel a tiny glow of satisfaction somewhere deep inside. I'm hoping (see? not really definitely committing; always like to have an out) to stop buying yarn in 2010, no matter how good a deal it is, until I get a bunch of the stash knitted/crocheted into usable items. No more buying those 2 skeins of clearance yarn just in case I want to knit a hat out of it. No more getting hooked by pretty colors or soft fibers with no place to go with them. The sky won't fall if I let the JoAnn's and Michael's coupons that come in the Sunday paper expire unredeemed. Really. I have at least one of every size of needle--straight, double-points, and circular--and a whole row of crochet hooks; there's no need to buy any of those. I'm resourceful, I can make do.
I was sorting through a basket and ran across a Brangelina Hat that I started a month or so back. It was the perfect no-thought-needed project to work on while all the kids were home, so that's done, and yesterday I cast on (and knit the cuff twice) the coordinating gloves and almost have the first one done. I'm using one strand each of Patons Classic Wool in Mercury and Bernat Alpaca in Stone for them and I'm loving the color and feel. This is a great glove pattern. It's free (always good) and it uses bulky yarn and 10.5 needles for a warm and fast knit.
I also finished (I think) my 
extemporaneous hexagon scarf yesterday. I might put more fringe on it, in fact, I definitely will, but I like it. It's warm and soft and doesn't look like anyone else's scarf.
And I spent a couple hours knitting at Dusty's on Tuesday (I invited myself over because she said on Facebook that she had baked pumpkin bread) and turned the heel of Reef Sock 2. I'll be working down the gusset later tonight and then I'll be zoomin
g down the foot to the toe. Okay, maybe zooming is a bit optimistic given my usual knitting speed, but it won't take as long as the leg; I'm sure of that.
Happy New Year's Eve! Isn't it appropriate that the last post of 2009 should be #2000? I think so. I hope your year was a success, not totally, I'm not a complete Pollyanna, but I trust you can look back on the past 365 days with satisfaction, for the most part anyway.
December 31--Ilya Ivanovich Mashkov, Still Life of Fruit. I want to plunge into this painting with its lush late summer fruits. Look at the colors--purple, red, and pear green. Don't you love them? Don't you want to immerse yourself in their richness? Imagine how it smells when you lean over the table. The perfumes of earth and sky, the sweetness of rain rises to tease your nose. The promise of the sugar made by sun and heat and rain makes my mouth water. This is not what I want to write about. I want to weave a story about someone looking at this fruity bounty, write of the room where the table sits, tell about the hum of bees in the garden outside the window of the room. But instead I am caught with my own hand reaching out to pluck a grape or savor a plum with the rich golden juice of it on my chin.
Well. That was the perfect way to finish a year, I think. I'm trying to let go of my rigid ideas about the way things "should" be and let them flow, so a bit of writing going its own way is a good way to be. Right?
Here's to an interesting and satisfying 2010 for all of us.
--Barbara
It took me a while, but I made Fish Hats for my "kids." They're not really kids, they're not kids at all, but they are my children and their partners, and they deserve goofy hats. I had fun picking out the yarn and the colors for each one, and I enjoyed knitting them. I made my fishes live by using bright yellow buttons for the pupils. I just couldn't bring myself to embroider a big black X on the white felt 
circle to make them dead fish. Just couldn't do it. (I forgot to take a portrait of Fish Hat 4, so Anne if you read this, please 
lay it out, take its picture, and send it to me. Thanks.)
Durwood doesn't knit, he plays wi
th wood, so he built birdhouses for the kids for Christmas that he finished on Christmas morning. I painted them--after Christmas, but the kids liked them and the birdies will love them. I hope he makes more for me to hang in the back yard. *hint, hint*
Sunday 
morning it was foggy and cold, so the fog droplets froze onto the naked trees. For just a few 
minutes after the fog burned off or all froze to the trees, this is what it looked like. I'm very impressed that I managed to get pictures before it melted away.
I love it when it's bright and sunny in the winter but that also usually means that it's bitter cold, so it's a trade-off. What do I want--moderate temps or sunshine? I'll take sunshine every time.December 29--African, Kwele initiation mask from the Congo. Laht shivered even though the night was hot. The sound of the men murmuring as they stood just outside the ring of firelight reminded him of his part in the night's ritual. Laht stood alone in the dark trees on the outskirts of the village. He was naked except for the white painted mask tied onto his head with hide strings. He had been the best of his age-mates when Papa Heinrich had gathered them together in front of his hut to teach them the songs and dances, stories and legends they needed to learn in order to be men. Laht had always been a show-off, loud and boisterous, and he learned fast, so he had been the best at dancing the patterns in the dry yellow dust of Papa's courtyard. But now he didn't feel like dancing. He wanted to be back tucked behind his mother in the safety of the women's circle. He fingered his manhood as he stood there. It was important that it look big, look fierce when he danced into the light, and the longer he stood there in the dark the smaller it got. The beat of the singing sped up and the men's voices got deeper and louder, soon his moment would come. A cramp shot deep into his bowels and he nearly turned and ran but he caught the high sweet song of Nyra, the prettiest girl in the village, calling him and he straightened, his hands came up in the correct pose, and he ran into the light, knees pumping and his manhood proud as he played his part to become a man.
I like it. I can see it in my head; I hope you can too. Only 3 more days and 2009 will be over. Did you get some things accomplished in '09? Are you better, or just older? Make 2010 even better. I know you will.
--Barbara
This morning before the sun rose, both of our children and their partners drove/flew away back to their homes. The gifts are put in their proper places and the extra beds are put away. We have to figure out what to eat from the leftovers and climb laboriously back onto the healthy eating and exercising bandwagons. A week of eating salty and sweet snacks is plenty and I miss getting up in the early morning and dancing around the living room with my Wii Fit. Now it's time to reflect on the accomplishments of 2009 and contemplate the adventures coming in 2010. I don't believe in resolutions (probably because my innerHitler is such a nag), so I plan adventures and make short-term promises like working out daily for one month. Anyone can do something for a month; that's no time at all, right? What are you looking forward to in the new year?
December 28--Indian School, Swing Festival. Lush and green, the garden steamed in the midday heat, while the women played as if they were children. The Swing Festival took them back to their carefree days, letting them pretend for a moment that they were young and their whole lives were yet to come. The favored wives and the concubines sang and laughed together for this one day, their petty squabbles put aside. Overlooking the garden, their lord sat reclined on silken pillows, his arm holding that day's favorite close as he smiled down at his women. He thought they looked like flowers waving in the breeze and he decided that there should be a festival once a week so he could feast his eyes on their smooth bodies in the sun.
Eh. Not crazy about the art today, and no inspired by any part of it. Tomorrow will be better. I also need to go get next year's Art calendar so I'll have something to write about next year. I'm liking using a picture rather than a word or sentence.
--Barbara
extemporaneous hexagon scarf yesterday. I might put more fringe on it, in fact, I definitely will, but I like it. It's warm and soft and doesn't look like anyone else's scarf.
g down the foot to the toe. Okay, maybe zooming is a bit optimistic given my usual knitting speed, but it won't take as long as the leg; I'm sure of that.
