Although it's been 6 months since I last posted, I haven't died, or stopped knitting. I've just been battling anemia, busy with my class (much nicer this year, and smaller in size as well), and doing some major cleaning and reorganizing. I've also been trying to do more real cooking, as opposed to either skipping dinner or heating up a frozen dinner. I used to cook a lot, and loved it, but that was when it wasn't just me to cook for. Now, I struggle to cook for one, or even two with leftovers. All my old recipes feed 6 or more, and I truly don't want to make something and have 5 days of leftovers. So, I've been adapting old receipes, not all successfully, and trying to find new ones. I keep hearing that Singles are a large minority, but there are very few cookbooks or cooking sites that recognize that. And frankly, one can't be giving dinner parties every night, you know?
At any rate, I'm still here. Taking stock of my self and my life as the New Year approaches. I'm not making Resolutions, however. I think they are greatly overrated. I mean, the gym is packed in January, and empty in February. I'm taking some time to really think things over, and decide what, if any, changes should be made. This might be the year I move out of this place I'm in. Old building, no amenities of any kind, (not even a garbage disposal!), and a noisy, busy street out front. And with my arthritis (knees) getting worse, I'm thinking maybe a first floor place is better for me. (Although I count my trips up and down the stairs as exercise, which I should be doing more of).
So, knitting. I am doing some, especially since my Winter break didn't start until the 24th this year, and I don't go back to work until Jan. 9th. I seem to have time on my hands, a luxury for me. I've been working on a sweater, my own design, using a stitch pattern I found in one of Barbara Walker's books. I screwed up a row the other day, and I just put it aside for a few days. I know that won't fix it, but I needed a time out as much as it did. Cast on for a cowl, because it's been bloody cold here already, and our winter hasn't started. I woke up to the low 30s for more than a week, which is about 20 degrees colder than normal around here. I leave home before 7 am, and often have playground duty before 8, so a cowl or two will be very welcome. If it was that cold in November and early December, then January and February, our real winter months, promise to be much more winter-like than usual. Cowls and fingerless mitts. Living in SoCal, I never really thought I'd need them, but climate change knows no boundaries, I guess.
As this last day of 2011 draws to a close, I wish all of you a terrific and satisfying 2012. May it hold everything you need and desire. And may it bring a level of sanity and civility to those who lost those things in 2011.
