Resolutions for the New Year

New Year Knitting Resolutions:

1. Be prolific.
2. Be creative.
3. Be financially responsible.

There. It's open to interpretation, but I just need some loose guidelines for making changes I want to see happen! Some of these span more than just my knitting goals, but then, that's a given.

Before I wax too philosophical, I want to pass on one of my all-time favorite jokes. Let this set the tenor for my new year....;-p

Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the sea, the ships were always in danger of being attacked by pirates.

One day, a certain captain and his crew saw that a pirate ship was approaching. The crew became worried, but the Captain was calm.

He bellowed to his First Mate, "Bring me my red shirt!"

The First Mate quickly got the Captain's red shirt, which the captain put on. Then he led his crew into fierce battle against the pirates. Although there were some casualties among the crew, the pirates were defeated.

Later that day, the lookout shouted that there were two pirate vessels approaching their ship. The crew was nervous, but the Captain, calm as ever, bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt!" And once again the battle was on!

The Captain and his crew bravely fought off the pirates, though this time more casualties occurred.

Weary from the battles, the men sat around on deck that night recounting the day's events when an ensign looked at the Captain and asked, "Sir, why do you call for your red shirt before the battle?"

The Captain explained, "If I am wounded in battle, the red shirt does not show the blood, so you men will continue to fight unafraid." The men sat in silence. They were amazed at the courage of such a man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted more pirate ships, 10 of them, drawing close. Terror struck the crew; the men became silent and looked to the Captain, their leader, for his usual command.

The Captain, bellowed, 'Bring me my brown pants!!!'

Hope you liked this joke. Hee hee hee o.O

And now, to some knitting:
Look at this interesting site, this woman dyes her yarns from botanicals she collects in the woods, mostly mushrooms!!! Is this not gorgeous?! Look at some of the colors she gets, wow. I am so impressed. She is a very inspiring read, I think I will be following her blog carefully!

And, I have another scarf project in mind: check this out! It is so pretty, I would love a scarf like this! I am very tempted to try to figure that one out based on the photos. She states it is made in one piece, and I think I know how that's done.... :)

And here is a link to lots of info about Japanese knitting patterns, for my future reference if not yours!

Okay, time to knit some more. I am on round 72 of the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Many more to go, but that's okay. I have the whole winter looming ahead of me. We are snowed in, with heaps of snow everywhere. I love it! We have had such stinky snow-stingey winters in the past decade, I'm excited to have some deep snow!!!

Oh, one last comment: LOOK AT WHERE THIS WOMAN LIVES!!!!! (Scroll to previous/next posts on her blog for other beautiful photos of her home.)
How come I live in such a topographically challenged area, when there are places like this around?!"
Wow. Almost makes me want to revise my plans to move to the south pacific.....(I said almost!) I love her photography, it puts me right there.

I will enjoy visiting with all of you in 2008--thanks everyone for making blogging such a joy to a newbie like me! I now have 9 months of blogging under my belt--woo hoo!
Happy 2008!