We have had a busy, busy couple of days since mom arrived, what with running around having a good time with mom, keeping the house in tip-top-shape for the soon to be here holiday, and working my way through an inordinately large pile of work, very unusual for Christmas as most of our clients seem to have holiday brains and work in late December is frequently slow. I take that back, at least partially, if there is going to be a crisis with the US government or NY state concerning any tax issues it usually seems to occur the week before Christmas or days before. And so true to form, this year it is NY State plaguing my week. The issue is resolved, if there was a problem to begin with because it looks like a typing error to me (and not mine) but the whole issue added a bit of bitch and grumble to my otherwise perfectly happy pre-holiday days.
Here is a corner of the tree, with far too many presents, as usual. It is hard to believe we are only 5 this year, and all of us adults. None of us are usually that commerce-driven but somehow Christmas ideas get the better of us.
Yesterday looked like a pretty free day so Mom and I headed off to Great Barrington, MA to check it out and spend the day. We had a nice drive up the Taconic Parkway. It was gray and cloudy, very definitely a winter scene with a winter sky, and in about an hour and fifteen minutes we were there.
Although the plan was mostly for antiquing, we passed a yarn shop and inevitably went in for a look-see. We ended up staying some time and coming home with purchases: The store is named Wonderful Things and it was a warren of rooms filled with wonderful yarns. It would be hard not to just spend the day there.
I got this wonderful Manos for a hat:
and this great cotton yarn in the sale closet: It is Millefili Fine by Filatura Di Crosa, one of my favorite cotton yarns:
While I am on the subject of my mom and knitting GRUMPERINA posed a question:
How about you? Who knows about your knitting and your knitting blog, and what are your reasons for revealing (or not) its existence to these folks? Don’t just leave me a comment – rather consider this a meme and answer on your own blog ;). addressing who we as bloggers inform of our blogs and this has lead me to think.
My mom does know about my blog because I initially started it with the idea of keeping her up to date about my fiberly activities. At that time I really didn’t know much about blogs or anything about the world of knitting blogs, so I was kind of jumping in blind. I know my mom told some family members about the blog and I told some friends, most of whom weren’t interested. I don’t think my family reads the blog, or if so they don’t comment, which would probably be like most of them. Initially I told a couple of friends, who could care less and think it is something kind of silly, as does my DH, so I stopped bothering.
Once I got started blogging I also discovered all the other blogs out there, so many wonderful ones with great information and inspiring projects, and I felt I could never live up to that kind of precedent. I was a little intimidated but I was also very definitely encouraged to try new things. Blogging has helped my knitting, and it has also helped with my own feelings about my fiber-related crafts and my skills and interest. I know very few people who actually knit or sew or do any needlework type of crafty activity so having a place to write about knitting has been very cathartic for me.
So I keep blogging and I love having to write and also keeping a record of what I am working on, something that I have not excelled at in the past. It thrills me when I do get a comment, or I see I have a new subscriber (I can still count them on one hand) and that aspect of blogging really surprised me. I knew that what I wrote would be accessible to others and that didn’t bother me. I am not sure that anything ever said, or written down, is completely private and I just don’t write anything I don’t want the world to know. I learned that lesson when I went away to college and left my old journal buried somewhere at home. When I came home at Christmas my parents had moved (big surprise there – I didn’t even know where home was when I landed at the airport) and my youngest brother told me that they had found my journal and my mom had read it to him. He thought it was quite funny. In typical 18-year-old fashion I was mortified. But I learned my lesson.
Oddly enough I am far more comfortable with the idea of people I don’t know finding things I write than I am with actually telling people I know about my blog-related activities. If they happen to find it so be it; that doesn’t bother me. Self-promotion; well that is a problem for me.
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