She Knits By The Seashore

Seven Years

Next month, it will be seven years since I started this blog.

Over those years, obviously, there have been lots of changes: moving house, losing my job, starting my business, and finding a new job. Volunteering for a cat shelter, doing charity rides, and now volunteering for animal political advocacy. We've lost two sweet cats, adopted three, and have one who is still going strong at fourteen years old.

Hard to believe that Lexy's been with us a whole year already!

The one constant throughout these years has been my knitting. I've knitted at bike races, while visiting in hospitals, and for charity. I've knit alone, at weekly knit nights, or with friends over coffee. It has been a tremendous pleasure for me; at least, it has been as long as I'm not ripping out rows. :) 

Sadly, in my opinion, the knitting community has changed. When I first started my blog, I could hardly keep up with all the other knitbloggers, the fun contests like The Amazing Race, and the swaps. I looked forward every morning to reading about other knitters' projects, and hearing about new patterns. I couldn't wait to compare notes on the new issues of magazines or new yarns.

This community has all but disappeared. I know many knitters abandoned their blogs to Ravelry, and I understand their reasoning. Blogging is time-consuming, and posting projects not only on your own blog, but also on Ravelry, takes a lot of free time that you could spend on knitting itself. While I do have a Ravelry account, I've never felt the same bond there that we had through blogging. Additionally, a lot of knitters have switched their focus to sewing, embroidery, or cooking, and many have also gotten married and started families and have no more time to knit or craft.

For at least two years I've been debating about the future of my own blog, and I think it's finally time to close the door. I haven't posted in several months, between my new job and a gift project that is taking so much longer than I ever thought it would to complete. I see that Google reader is shutting down now too. So, though it pains me, I wanted to say goodbye to anyone who may still subscribe, and to let you know that you can find me occasionally on Ravelry, Twitter, Polyvore, and Pinterest as knitseashore, or at www.shorelinewriting.com if you are looking for writing and editing assistance. My business is Shoreline Writing Services on FB and ShorelineWrite on Twitter.

Elizabeth Zimmerman said, "Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises," and I have done that these past seven years, alone and with friends, through finished objects good and bad. I intend to keep doing that -- to knit through all joys too -- and I hope you will as well. Please keep in touch.

A Good Start to a New Year

For Christmas, Chris gave me a painting by the yoga teacher who taught the summer class on the beach I attended when we were in Cape Cod.

It was amazing to do yoga on the beach, digging my hands into the sand and feeling the sunshine in my face and hearing the seagulls overhead. This pose, five-pointed star, was particularly memorable. I had not encountered it before in my class back home. I took the yoga on the beach class during a vacation that was happening in the middle of a family member's extended hospital stay, when I was severely overtired and needed some restoration. When we got to the pose, and I stood in the sunshine with my arms outstretched towards it, it was like vowing to the world and to myself, "I'm here, and I'm embracing this crazy stressful time that has been dealt to us, and I'm going to survive."

Our family stayed strong, and did well, and after it was over, I had to focus on job searching once again. I didn't feel the light or the determination of the five-pointed star then. And that was before the hurricane and other stresses of the autumn and early winter.

But tomorrow, I will start a new full-time job, working for someone I really respect. I'm excited to start a new phase of my life, to challenge my mind, and to have a whole new library of things to learn. It seems like it has been such a long time coming, but I agree with people who say that things happen when they are meant to be. Now is the right time.

Chris and I are talking about plans for this year's summer vacation, which will definitely include another yoga on the beach class for me. I want to do the five-pointed star again, face to the sun, happy in knowing that a year later, we not only survived the challenges of 2012, but that blessings also came our way.

 

Happy 2013!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family, and are looking forward to a new start in 2013.

2012 was a challenging year. Workwise, things are still not completely settled, and I won't know for another month or two how a recent development will turn out. My family members had some health issues, though at this time, they are looking and feeling a lot better. Chris and I had a tough week after Hurricane Sandy, and then the Newtown tragedy occurred, from which we are all still trying to heal.

Lexy learns how to pose for knitting photos. She is showing great restraint by not going after the hanging yarns.

In the happy column, our cat Lexy adopted us last March, and she has turned out to be a wonderful companion: sweet, funny, and very athletic with her toy mice. I was invited to join the board of Connecticut Votes for Animals in August, and have found some like-minded, hardworking, passionate people who want to improve lives for our state's animals. I've also joined CAPA, and am getting to know some funny, wise, and inspiring authors. My business is growing steadily.

Typically, this is the space where I should review last year's knitting projects, and talk about this year's goals, knitting and otherwise. But in a very-unlike-me decison, I've decided not to do a long list of goals this year. I have only one resolution: to take better care of myself.

It's very easy to put self-care last when you have a long list of chores and responsibilities to do. But this year, I want to put the sleep and the exercise and the good food choices first, as well as the yoga and time for myself to read a good book and just be. Whatever else I accomplish will be great, but this must come first. If I feel good, then I'll be more motivated to do all the other things.

After I finish a secret knitting project, I want to pick up my pink skirt again and finish it. Then I'll decide what else I want to make. I have so many projects with pattern & yarn all set to go, but I'm not going to pressure myself. This, for me, is going to be a great challenge.

What if any goals or resolutions have you set for yourself? What will you do differently this year? What is one fun thing you want to do this year?

Chris and I at The Griswold Inn for New Year's Eve dinner