My odds-and-ends scarf
Here's the scarf that started as a way to keep my sanity while preparing for The Move. The lovely backdrop is my lap- I'm on Caltrain going home from work, and I'm just knitting away the time. The scarf is going to be nice and bulky, and more like a woven fabric than a woolly knitted scarf, simply because the rag-tag bits and pieces I am using are ribbons and random non-spun, flat-like-linguini type of things. I don't know if it will be finished in time to wear it this year, just because I don't know if I have enough matchy-matchy scrap yarn in my stash. But it will be a good thing to develop over time anyway.
breakfast with boxes and yarn
So on my first morning in the new house I had a cup of tea, which I put on the box I'm using as an end table till I find the real end table (actually I know where the end table is- under a stack of really heavy boxes that I am pretending not to see). I enjoyed my cup of tea, listened to the rooster(s) crowing that one of the neighbors keeps (yes, I said rooster, and no, I do not live in the country), and knitted a few more rows on the random scrap of yarn I started the other day. I think it will end up being an odds-and-ends scarf that will be a lovely souvenir of my move.
I am looking forward to getting my knitting room set up, but I think it will be about a week before I get there. The rest of the house- living room, dining area, den, bedroom, garage, and kitchen need to be mucked out and sorted first. But I do know where my needles and yarn and notions are so I can take a knitting-break here and there to keep my sanity.
And now I am going to run off to the grocery store to gather up something besides fast food for dinner. For the last few days I have been eating way more burgers and fries than I care to think about....
Almost done....
We've got all the stuff out of the old house and into the new one. And now I need to start unpacking...
only a little more to go
If you are tired of hearing about my move, believe me, you are not nearly as tired of it as I am. Tonight is my last night at this house, tomorrow with any luck at all I will be in the new place and ready to start nesting.
Today is not so bad
The move is starting to be ok. In just the last few hours things have suddenly jelled into an organized undertaking. It’s still chaotic, but not a nightmare anymore. Yeah! I even had time to knit 3 rows of a random scrap of yarn today, just to unwind a bit.
Gaaaahhhhh!!!!!!
This move is killing me. Everything I thought I wouldn't need is
packed, everything I thought I'd need is unpacked. Naturally I guessed
wrong.
Sheesh. At least I can find wine glasses and a corkscrew.
+kac
Rowan Vintage Style pattern book
Hey all, the second day of my Sally Melville classes was even better
than the first! I learned how to deal with every knitting disaster
imagineable, and I totally promise to post some tips and trick as soon
as my move is done. And boy will I be ready for it to be done!
I did finally get a copy of the Rowan Vintage Style pattern book. It
has some of the most deliciously feminine cardigans I've ever seen in
it. I wear a lot of cardi's instead of jackets to work, and I can't
always find something that isn't too maw-maw, too fussy, too manly, too
conservative, or that's the right color. It's $23.95, but there are 5
or 6 patterns I will knit out of it, so realistically speaking it is a
great investment. And one of my favorite things about it is it doesn't
spend any time teaching the reader how to knit, but has good
instructions for the stitches used.
Don't get me wrong, I think a well written and easy to understand
pattern is important. I just get irritated by the fact that so many
knitting books pitch themselves as the encyclopedia of
sweaters/afghans/whatever and then spend half the book teaching cast on,
bind off, knit, purl, and stockinette, but don't spend any time
demonstrating the more complex stitches used. To me it is analogous to
buying a cookbook that spends half the book teaching you how to boil
water and melt butter, but only has recipies for complicated pastries
with no help provided beyond a list of ingredients. (Rant over).
I gotta wrap this up so I can unload my dishwasher and closet into a
box. Did I mention that I can't wait till this move is over?
And yes, I am still using my crappy camera phone because the internet is
still broken at my house and there's no way to email a picture from my
nice new camera. My sincerest apologies. Comcast swears they will get
someone here right away, but I have been waiting since last Friday and I
will be out of here on Sunday.
+kac
Blogger problems
Well, the issue with the picture I mentioned earlier is some sort of
funky blogger issue that is part of a range of other goofy blogger
publishing things. Please pardon the dust while I work with the support
folks to get this situated...
+kac
Moving is a pain!
I'd rather be knitting than packing right now.
Boy am I having fun
I totally forgot to add in my last post that I'll be posting some good
tips from class today and tomorrow after my move is done. On top of all
the move related stuff I have to deal with, the internet is broken at my
old house and won't be installed at my new house till later this week.
I'm posting via my Sidekick till then. Daily, I hope....
Here's a random pile of stuff in my den. Don't you wish you were me?
+kac
My class today
Sally Melville's class today was great. I learned a lot, not the least
of which is that I am a slow knitter. I was always behind. I also
learned that a 3 hour class is about 1.5 hours longer than my attention
span. But that said, I learned some great pick-up-and-knit tricks that
are going to come in handy for finishing my Daring Diva Halter top. I
wanted to wear it for a holiday party but I was mystefied by how I was
supposed to "pick up and knit 170 stitches all the way around." There
is a huge number of BO and short row stitches, and stairsteps are the
order of the day on this top.
+kac
Trapped
I really wanted to go to stitch n bitch today but never quite made it.
I made the mistake of turning on the TV while I was getting dressed and
got sucked into Newlyweds on MTV. By the time I managed to work my
escape it was too late to get to Santa Cruz before social knitting was
over. I took myself to Barnes and Noble and did my knitting class
homework there. Odd place to knit, I know. I just had to get out of
the house and there was no place to park at the coffeeshop down the
street.
It's a good thing I didn't turn on VH1. I'd have been trapped by I Love
The 90's and I'd have probably never left the house.
Twiddling my thumbs
Don't you just hate it when you unexpectedly have to wait 20 minutes for an appointment and you didn't bring your project bag with you? Sigh. Definitely bad planning on my part. I'm at the beauty shop and can you believe there isn't so much as a People magazine circa August 2002 to read? I thought there was a law requiring that... Oh well. At least I have my T-Mobile Sidekick to keep me company.
And no, my Sidekick is not covered in pink crystals like Paris Hilton's, in case you're wondering about that.
Today's progress
Two somewhat unusual things happened today. One is that when I got to work the building was being evacuated for a fire alarm. When they let us back in the alarm went off again, but this time they didn't make us go back out.
The other thing is that a huge anti-Bush demonstration was taking place outside my building when I left for the day. By huge I mean hundreds of folks. There's always some protest or other going on outside my building or just down the block (I work in a state building in San Francisco, next door to City Hall), but those are usually little clusters of 20 or 30 people on the steps. This event took up the whole park out front, and there were more sparkly/spangly/feathery outfits there than in a Las Vegas revue. The subway was also full of costumed revellers heading to the festivities. I'm not voicing an opinion on anything political here- this is a knitting blog after all. I just thought it was interesting. I've never seen a costume-party themed demonstration before. Other than the usual "statement" costumes, that is.
And now for something totally different.
On the train to the city this morning I worked on one of the swatches that is my homework assignment for the two classes I am taking at my
yarn shop this weekend. There's nothing particularly exciting about it, but what the heck. This is the kind of mundane daily-doing that is the stuff blogs are made of, right?
I also thought I'd post a picture of the poncho. Not a lot there at the moment, as you can see. It probably won't be much bigger than this till after my move is over on Feb 1.
Speaking of moving, this is the last night my present home will in a livable state (while I am here anyway). Tomorrow we start packing and the whole house will begin to look like the contents were stirred with a stick. I'll be glad when the next two weeks are over!
Oh, in case you were wondering, yesterday's yarn snarl is still festering. It may not get solved till after the move either.
What a mess!
Holy cow I've got a disaster on my hands. Somehow this skein of yarn I was trying to wind into a ball exploded on me. I now have a huge rat's nest where I used to have a pefectly useable skein of yarn. Sheesh! It's 12:40am now. I'll worry about this tomorrow.
Hat Pattern
First here's a public service announcement: A stitch 'n bitch group in my neck of the woods (not one I go to, but whose yahoo group I belong to) is knitting beanies for Marines. Apparently it's kosher for Marines to wear all black knit caps, a discovery made courtesy of one of the gal's relatives who is a real live Marine. The stitch 'n bitch is shipping them all off to the relative, who's then doling them out to anyone that wants one. The pattern most of them are using is in Stitch 'n Bitch, but any pattern will do as long as it is solid black. If you were looking for a way to support the troops besides just a bumper sticker you might want to get in touch with the knitter that's organizing the effort. Trot on over to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/stitchnbitchsjsu/ and see what you think.
And now on to the hat pattern, since we're on the topic of hats and beanies. Here's the hat pattern I've been meaning to post up here for just ever. The pattern is just after the pictures.
(In spite of the fact that I have a swanky new camera I am still a crap photographer- sorry! I'm working on it! )
Side:
Top:
Materials:
- 1 ball of yarn for primary color (PC)
- 1 ball of yarn for secondary color (SC)
- 1 ball of green yarn for leaves.
As far as yardage estimates go, I'd say I used about half of a random ball of red I got at a garage sale for $.25, and about a third of the random pink one I got for the same price. No labels on the balls so I am guessing it's a wool and acrylic blend of some sort for the red and full on acrylic for the pink. The green is about 15 yards of some green fuzzy eyelashy stuff from my mom's poncho project. This was a made-up-as-I-went-along pattern, so pardon my lack of specifics. I did make a few notes about increases and row counts for the stripes so that will be pretty accurate.
Size
One size fits a 23" head like mine very comfortably.
Needles:
Size 8, 24" or 29" circular needles
Size I crochet hook
Gauge
24 stitches + 32 rows= 4" square
Stitches Used
- Stockinette (st st)
- Knit 2 together (k2tog)
- Single crochet (sc)
- Double crochet (dc)
Instructions
Hat body: Cast on 104 stitches in PC. Work st st for 10 rows. Switch to SC. Work 1 row st st. Change to PC, st st 9 rows. Change to SC, st st 2 rows. Change to PC, st st 8 rows. Change to SC, st st 3 rows. Change to PC, st st 7 rows. Change to SC, st st 4 rows. Change to PC, st st 6 rows. Change to SC st st 1 row.
Crown shaping:
Row 1 In SC. *k4, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 2 Purl all wrong side rows.
Row 3 *k3, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 5 *k3, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 6 Change to PC, purl wrong side row.
Row 7 *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 9 *k1, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 11 *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 13 Change to SC. *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 15 *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 17 *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 19 *k2, k2tog repeat from * to end.
Row 20 *k2tog repeat from * to end.
Leaving a long tail, cut the yarn. Using a tapestry needle or large blunt needle pull the tail through all the stitches on the needle. Stitch the tail down and seam the two sides of the fabric together. I used invisible weaving with a 1 stitch seam allowance myself, but whatever works for you is fine. I also left a 1' hole along the seam to pull my ponytail through. This isn't a requirement so skip it if you don't like it.
Flower
Petals: Use SC. Make 3 petals, all worked in st st.
- Petal one is 32 stitches wide by 8 rows long.
- Petal two is 24 stitches wide by 8 rows long.
- Petal 3 is 16 stitches wide by 8 rows long.
To finish each flower, leave a long tail, cut the yarn. Using a tapestry needle or large blunt needle pull the tail through all the stitches on the needle. Fit the petals together in a pleasing arrangement (deciding what was pleasing took me longer than the hat itself!), and stitch together.
Leaves: Make 2 (or more if it makes you happy) leaves.
Leaf 1: using green yarn, make a chain 15 sc long. Using chain as the centerline of the leaf, freeform sc and dc to make a pleasing leaf shape. The furry yarn I used filled in nicely, and makes a nice contrast to the smoother PC and SC yarns.
Leaf 2: make a chain 8 sc long. Using the chain as the centerline of the leaf, freeform sc and dc to make a pleasing smaller leaf shape.
Stitch leaf and flowers onto desired location on the hat. I put mine over the seam, hiding the ponytail hole.
Enjoy!
Poncho Update
I got so excited about the knitting room I forgot to mention how the poncho re-work is going. I shifted from size 13 to size 10.5 and it's going a little better. The yarn is still problematic, but overall it's not all that bad. I'll get a little further along and post a picture of it. Which, as I recall is exactly where I left things with my original post about this poncho a couple of weeks ago or so....
My own knitting room
My roommate and I are moving to a new place in a couple of weeks. There is an extra room in our new abode that is going to become my kntting room. I'm so excited! I've never had a room that was just dedicated to crafty stuff before. I've always had to setup shop at the kitchen table and then run to another room to find another notion, piece of equipment, ball of yarn, spool of thread, or whatever. The best part is that when non-crafty people come over I can just close the door on the mess. And when crafty friends do drop by we can hole up in the to-be-named room with our projects and visit and work. The only supplies we'll need to leave the room for will be those in the kitchen (wine, snacks, coffee, etc)!
Here's a couple of pictures I took this morning. Yes, it's just a wall and part of closet, but there's not much else to see at the moment. The floor was finished this weekend, and the closet doors will be put up next week when they get here. It's about 10x10, so it's kind of cozy, and it has a big window down one side- lots of natural light and a view of the garden too!
Wild blue yonder
Today was the day of my stitch 'n bitch meeting but the opportunity for adventure presented itself. I played hooky from knitting and I went flying with my roommate instead. Kregg has a open cockpit bi-plane, kind of like those old-timey airplanes you see on TV and in the movies sometimes. He's had it for ages and flies it all the time, but I didn't have enough courage/chutzpah/moxie to go for a ride in it till today. And here we are, just after we got back to the hanger. I'm in front, Kregg is in back.
And now I'm off to work on my mom's poncho for the rest of the evening. G'night ya'll!
Gosh, but I'm tired.
My laptop is deader than a doornail. I had to get a new one today, and I spent most of the day getting is loaded with data and files and so forth. Sigh. And I haven't yet knitted so much as a stitch today. I don't think it is going to happen. I'm probably going to see what TiVo found for me to watch and go to bed in very short order. How boring is that? Life shouldn't be about computers! It should be about yarn and needles and patterns!
Before I sign off for the evening, here's the output from my new camera. It's a close-up of the stitching in one of my projects that needs 911 to come help. Yes there are a couple hundred squirrelly stitches there. The overall waviness of the fabric is attributable to the fact that it is draped over a lumpy throw pillow for lack of a better staging idea. The detail you can see with this camera is pretty cool I think.
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Today has been one heck of a day, that is for sure. The good is that
Sally Melville is teaching a class at the
yarn shop I live by and I was able to get into a couple of the classes (buttonholes and borders and emergency measures). The bad is that work was a nightmare. The ugly is that the harddrive on my laptop died this evening and my room looks like a pc swap meet. It's awash with spare parts, tools, cds, old computers, and random other junk related to the unsuccessful attempt at CPR. I will have to go to Fry's tomorrow to get a new harddrive. I'm using my mp3 server to do this, and the keyboard is laid out a little differently than my laptop. This means it is taking me 2-3 times longer than usual to type. Oh well. At least I am not dead in the water, and I do have a back up of all my data (except for my email!).
My camera works really well, and I was planning to put a picture here today to show how well, but this computer doesn't have any editing software on it, and it has no room to install it because it has all my music on it. And the pictures are all coming out at 6 feet by 34 feet, and I'd have to read instructions, which I don't do very well, and well, I am tired and I will figure it out tomorrow.
Finally, a new camera!
I got a new digital camera just about 30 minutes ago. I checked out a ton of cameras on the internet and in the stores today, asked a lot of folks their opinions, and in the end I went with the Canon PowerShot A75. The reason? The good people at Canon used a close-up shot of the stitch pattern in a crocheted dog bone for a sample image.
http://consumer.usa.canon.com/ir/controller?act=ModelFeaturesAct&fcategoryid=145&modelid=9828#f0 That's exactly the functionality that I wanted and fortunately it was within the price range I'd set as my limit (One cent under my limit actually, but under the limit is under the limit!).
I haven't taken it out of the box yet, but I will be doing that as soon as I have eaten some dinner and put my toes up for a bit. I've had a long day!
Rip rip rip...
I've been really displeased about how my mom's poncho is turning out. In spite of my great idea for doing warm-up knitting and the fact that it is all stockinette stitch, it just didn't look good . I can't tell you exactly what I didn't like though. I think part of it is that the yarn I'm using (Crystal Palace Deco-Ribbon) wrinkles, bunches, and twists really easily. The result is that some stitches look like they are knit with a finer yarn than others.
Another part of my dissatisfaction is related to the fact that the purl side of the fabric just looked awful. I'm one of those silly people that likes the wrong-side of my garments -knitted, sewn, crocheted, whatever- to look just as good as the outside. I'm even more particular about it when it's something I made for someone else. I'm not a perfectionist or anything. Far from it. I just really take pride in that little extra bit of craftswomanship.
Long story short: I've been so unhappy with this project that I unraveled the whole thing, about 3 balls of yarn worth. I'm going to start again with smaller needles and see if that makes a difference in my happiness.
A "charm" bracelet
I always have problems finding my row counter once I take it off my needle, and I can't possibly knit with the counter actually on my needle, even if it's pushed right to the cap-end of the needle (is there a formal name for the non-pointy end of a needle?). It's just too distracting and too much of a problem catching my yarn or getting in the way. I work around that by running a piece of yarn through the middle and wearing it as a bracelet. It's probably not an original idea, but I figure if I've never seen it done, then someone else hasn't seen it either, and this post will be worth something to someone.
(Again, sorry for the poor resolution, but I am still out of town for work and haven't gotten a better camera yet. This week I will, I promise!)
Knitting in Sacramento
I had to go to Sacramento for work this evening. I'll be here till Tuesday. My hotel room (I'm at the Marriott in Rancho Cordova) has the best chair/ottoman/side table/ lamp setup for knitting!
Darn work!
I had to work today and didn't get to go to stitch 'n bitch. Dadgummit!
A skirt it is!
Thanks for the skirt idea,
Jennifer. I think I will make something similar to the skirt I made for a holiday party. I found the pattern in knit.1 magazine (Premier Issue), and it was just the fastest thing ever- it's knitted in the round on size 13 and 15 needles, mostly stockinette stitch and a tiny bit of ribbing at the waistline. It took about 4 hours to do, give or take (two round trips from San Jose to San Francisco on Caltrain. I think it would have been a tad faster if I worked on it in one or two big sittings). I tweaked the increases and decreases to match the ebb and flow of my own personal hips and thighs, but that's the beauty of knitting things for yourself, now isn't it? Here's a picture of the finished skirt:
(Sorry kids, I know the camera phone I am using just doesn't cut the mustard. I'm going to get a new one ASAP. In the mean time, I offer my sincerest apologies).
This skirt ends mid-knee and I was thinking that I would make a shorter version in the new silver yarn I got. Maybe add a slit in front, up one thigh. Or maybe one on each side. Hmmm. Well anyway, one thing is for sure, I can't wait to wear it whatever it is!
What should I make?
I got the coolest yarn! It's Lion Brand Fun Fur in silver. I've got no clue what I am going to to with it but I am now the proud owner of 6 balls of it. Maybe a groovy disco skirt or wrap or something?
A Tip and A Link
I keep meaning to get my hat pattern into this blog for everyone to try out, but I just haven't been able to get around to it yet. Maybe over the weekend I'll get it up here. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a tip and a link. Consider it my little gift to you on this Wednesday evening.
Here's the tip
Cotton, linen, ramie, and silk yarns make beautiful garments, but they don't have the elasticity of wools and acrylics. This lack of elasticity can cause sagging and bagging in the elbows, cuffs, and buttonholes of the project you put so much time and effort into. And it'll certainly put a sad droopy face on you! To predict how your final product will hold up to the challenges of everyday wear, work up a 6"x6" swatch instead of the usual 4"x4". Make one for the main stitch pattern and one for the ribbing. Wash and dry according to the label instructions and observe how the knitted fabric behaves. If it's droopier than you'd like, try adding another yarn with a more elastic character: wool, acrylic, or even lycra. This can add some body and bounce-back-ability to a swearter that may otherwise end up pushed to the back of your closet.
Here's the link
The Craft Yarn Council of America (CYCA) is the yarn industry's trade association. Their website has some great info if you are interested in becoming a certified knitting instructor, clubs and guilds, free patterns, and -wait for it- the 2005 Dog Days calendar, with 12 doggie sweaters to knit or crochet. I'm a big fan of the August look myself- a crocheted bikini for your 4-legged friend and a scarf for you. Turbo, my burrito sized (and shaped) miniature dachshund, would be drop-dead sexy in one of those I bet!
www.craftyarncouncil.com
Charity Knitting
Today I got back in the saddle and picked up my mom's poncho again. It's funny how you can get out of "knitting shape" in just a couple of days. I had problems with tension, problems with posture, problems with gage, the circular needles kept twisting on me, the yarn tangled, etc. All the problems of a beginner. It all wore off after about 10 or 15 minutes of steady knitting, but it was funny/frustrating when it was happening.
It got me to thinking that it might be a good idea to do a little warm-up exercise before I launch into my main project. And wouldn't that be a good way to incorporate a little charity knitting into my project bag? Hugs For Homeless Animals
http://www.h4ha.org/snuggles/ is just one of a number of groups looking for crafters to make and donate items for their beneficiaries. I'm thinking this will be a win-win situation: the critters will get a nice soft blanket every so often, and I get to warm up on a project that doesn't have to be 100% perfect. Other benefits for me besides doing something positive for the community: my big projects will look better, I can try out new stitches on these blankets and not feel like all I ever make is 4"x4" swatches. And I suppose I can make a patchwork blanket out of those pesky little squares hanging in my bag and hiding in my stash. Plus it will use up all those mismatched odds and ends that only have a couple dozen yards left.
Here are a couple of sites with charity crafting links and ideas. You can also google "charity knitting" (or whatever your preferred craft may be) for other sites.
Sewing Charity:
http://www.dotdigital.com/sewingcharity/location.html This site also has links to some good needlework how-to sites.
Bev's Country Cottage:
http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/charity-links.html Lots of free patterns for charity work.
Be sure a charity is legitimate:
www.give.org is the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.
There's probably some group or other that is looking for crafted items for tsunami victims too. Whatever cause you choose, they will probably be thrilled about your donation.
Christmas Ornament
This little ornament has been missing for a number of years, but was found again on Sunday. My grandmother made this for me in 1987.
It's made from a tiny little berry basket, about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide by 2 inches high. Gam-maw wound up a half-dozen little yarn balls in Christmas colors and hot glued them in the basket with a pair of nails to be the needles. She added a little trim and a sweet note on one side, along with the year. This would be a great little gift for the members of your knitting group. You could use a different type of basket, different colors of yarn and trim, and even paint the nails to match the color scheme. Heck, you could even add a magnet on one side and voila! Even the 'fridge door can do a little knitting!
No knitting today- how sad!
I didn't knit so much as a stitch today, because the first day back to work after the holidays was so hectic. And long! But I have high hopes for tomorrow.
My Mom's Poncho
I'm knitting a poncho for my mom. I just started it last night, and got a good bit of it done, surprisingly enough. For some reason my knitting is getting faster these days. I don't know what it is, but whatever the cause, I like it! The pattern I am using is
http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/lionbrand/index.fcgi?page=http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-mansPoncho.html
I'm actually using 7 colors of yarn, arranged in 8 stripes of 10 rows each (one of the colors is used twice). It'll be a bit shorter than the poncho shown in the pattern, but my mom isn't a tall woman. This pattern has a nice increase pattern on the shoulder to give it a little more shape than the typical two-rectangles-joined-together or the single-large-rectangle poncho. However, it isn't a difficult pattern, and I think someone with a scarf or two under her belt would be able to knit one of these easily. It's knitted in two halves, and joined along the stripes in the front and back- a great opportunity for someone to practice seaming knitted fabric. I'll post some pictures in a day or so when it's a little further along.
Santa Cruz stitch 'n bitch
I'm here at 120 Union, the coffee shop where my stitch n' bitch group meets. I've been knitting with them for about a month now and they are super folks. They're even pictured in Stitch 'n Bitch Nation (p 191, if my memory serves me right). As it turns out, I'm the only one here, but that's alright. I just started working on a poncho for my mom, and any time I can spend knitting is great. Plus the people watching at this particular coffee shop is phenomenal!
Earlier I did the beach cleanup, and I'm pleased to say there wasn't all that much trash. I'm guessing there were maybe 2 giant lawn- sized bags of trash and recyclables. Not bad for a stretch of beach that's a good 3/4 of a mile long. On the gross side of things, I did pick up a dead pelican, and it was huge! I bet it was at least 20 pounds. Poor thing- I always hate to see when any animal has died.
Welcome to 2005
Happy New Year! I hope 2005 is kind to everyone. I always like New Year's Day. I'm not so hot about New Years Eve, but January 1 is wonderful. It's a day full of promise and potential for great things to come. I always think of it as a hard stop to the old and a shotgun start to the new things I want in my life, almost like spring cleaning for the soul. For some reason on New Years Day I can much more easily let go of the baggage I'm carrying around with me than on any other day of the year. I don't know why January 1 is any different than June 1, but it is. Whatever it is, I woke up feeling rested, happy, and hopeful about things this morning. I wake up that way most days- I'm just a naturally happy person- but this morning it was almost palpable it was so intense. Almost like the feeling of coming home at the end of a long long day. I practically skipped down the hall to make myself a cup of tea.
And now I am going to go pick up trash on my beach with Surfrider, to keep it a hospitable place for both people and marine life. A plastic bag from Walgreen's is unsightly to me and deadly to dolphins, sunfish, and other critters that eat jellyfish. Everyone and everything should have a healthy and happy 2005!
