Happy New Year!

I haven’t been posting much lately (understatement!) partly because time to sit and reflect has been a bit scarce lately and partly because I just haven’t had a motivation to write. With the New Year I’ve a few things that I have been giving some thought to . . . new goals for 2006, both fiber and mundane; and Bess has just motivated me to reflect on the people who have influenced my knitting habits to date . . . and I have a few projects to take some pictures of and post . . .

One of the things that I’ve begun recently is that I have once again signed up for Flylady.net. I had tried it (without much enthusiasium) last year while I was pregnant but quickly became overwhelmed by the number of emails I was receiving and wound up leaving the group. Now I’ve decided to try again. I’ve added filters to my in box so that all the messages go directly into their own folder where I can check them or delete them as needed. The other thing I’ve realized is that they messages are mostly the same reminders repeated daily and only require reading the subject heading to know what the email is and to take that reminder without having to open the actual message. I’ve only been back to it for a week and I won’t say that I’m 100% on the routines yet, but it is helping and I do feel less overwhelmed by trying it this time. One of the things I really like is that she asks you to do things for 15 minutes. Generally speaking that is about as long as I get before I need to tend the baby again anyway so the 15 min. thing works really well for me! I’ll keep you posted on how that is going . . .

One of the things that Flylady has inspired me to do for this New Year is to make a list of goals for 2006. I had started with the ususal New Years Resolutions, lose weight, don’t buy yarn etc. After reading some of the messages from Flylady I’ve done 2 things. I’ve changed from Resolutions ot Goals and I’ve rewritten the list to be more inclusive of bigger concepts for 2006. Instead of trying to lose weight I’m going to try to live healthier, instead of trying not to buy yarn at all I’m going to think about what projects I have yarn for waiting in my stash and try to work on more of those first instead of buying more. Not that I won’t buy more for something specific, just I’ll try to think if there is something I already have (or can spin) that will do the job before I just buy new . . .

Here are my 2006 Goals (so far, subject to change over the next few weeks):

Take better care of myself – eat healthier, exercise, relaxation time.
Get organized. Stick to the daily routines and get rid of the “CHAOS”
Finish (or Frog) everything in my WIP basket.
Read more, watch less TV
Knit/Spin from the stash rather than buying more yarn.

Sounds good so far, right? Again, will keep you posted on how these go!

Fiber Reflections

As I do most days, I took a quick look at the active topics on Knitter’s Review this morning. Bess of likethequeen.blogspot.com had posted about her New Year’s reflection on the people who have influenced her knitting habits over the years. I love reading anything Bess writes so I hopped on over to her site and read her latest musings. Wonderful writing as always and she has inspired me to do a similar reflection. So here are the people that have influenced my knitting:

My Grandmother – When I was a child she tried to teach both me and my brother to knit. He managed a little bit but neither of us lasted long. When I finally did learn to knit I gave the first thing I did (a scarf in seed stitch and pale blue baby yarn) to my Grandmother. She loved it and still wears it. I’m currently working on a warm shawl for her to wear since she is always cold.

My MIL – a number of years ago now, when DH and I were still dating, I decided to ask MIL to teach me to knit. I did this partly because I really wanted to learn and I had seen her do a lot of knitting and partly because we didn’t have a whole lot in common and I thought this would be a good way for us to have something else to discuss. Little did she know just how hooked on knitting I’d become! And it has given us something in common which certainly can come in handy. We don’t knit the same way, or make the same things or even like the same yarns but it has given us a common language and topic of discussion that remains safe no matter what else is going on.

My DH – Over the years he has encouraged me in a number of ways. From helping me to find yarn shops when we travel, enduring many, many longwinded, often onesided conversations about knitting projects and even encouraging me to start my business, he has been a great supporter of my “habits”. Not to mention, he actually wears the things I make him! Even the slightly scratchy, very heavy sweater I made him from some of my earliest handspun efforts! Now there is love for ya!

Lucy – I first met her shopping for yarn when I was learning and didn’t know much. She was the first to show me how to spin (which I quickly became hooked on) and even sold me my first spindle and eventually my first wheel. She got me looking at fiber in a whole new way (and stashing in a whole new category!)

Mari – I first met her at the spinning group at Lucy’s and it didn’t take us long to figure out we had a lot in common! She has become a very good friend, like a sister and my little guy’s Godmother. She is one of the most prolific knitters I know, finishing dozens of projects each year. She also keeps up on everything happening with knitting and spinning, and I mean everything. I’ve been introduced to many a designer through her influcence and she has gotten me to look at even complicated designs in a whole new light. I’ve tried projects I wouldn’t have dreamed of before simply because of her influence! Oh, and she was a great travel partner for the KR Retreat a few years ago (and hopefully again this year?) Not to mention, the first time I dyed yarns with “real” dyes was with her help. See what you started ;)

Moxie – I first met her online and we decided to meet up in real life. This was the first time I’d met anyone from online and we’ve become great friend since. She is one of the most adventurous knitters I’ve met. Talk about thinking outside the box (or knitting the box ;) She come up with all sorts of interesting creations and inspires those who know her to look at knitting from a different and unique perspective.

PixieDust – My neighbor, now a teenager. She started hanging out with me years ago and when I started buying fleece she quickly became interested in learning about spinning and fiber prep. Always ready to help and full of questions, she has inspired me to learn how to teach. I’ve become a much more patient, careful teacher from working with her.

B – a former coworker. She wanted to learn to knit but was afraid to try. Her learning style was completely different from PixieDust and I learned a whole different teaching style by working with her.

Elizabeth Zimmerman – I love reading her books. She got me to stop thinking that everyting to do with design had to be complicated. And her advice has saved me on many occassions. I just finished another set of 3 mittens due to her influence.

Barbara Walker – LOVE, LOVE, LOVE knitting from the top down! Sweaters & Hats and being able to try on as you go! Her techinique has become my favorite way to knit!

Clara Parkes – For starting Knitter’s review. Between the reviews and the forum I just don’t know where I’d be without my daily KR fix!

Bess – I took her color workshop when I attended the KR Retreat a few years ago and it changed the way I looked at choosing colors! Huge influence both in my personal knitting choices and in the way I choose colors to dye yarns for my site!

Confession time
It actually took me 3 days to get to finish writing this post and I haven’t had a chance to take pictures of the projects yet but if I can later today I’ll add them . . .