She Knits By The Seashore

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

Trying New Things -- Raw Chocolate Class

One of my goals for this year is to try new things. I have to remind myself that I won't necessarily fall in love with every experience, and that's OK. Learning in itself is fun, and I don't have to commit further to anything unless I really want to.

The raw chocolate class I took last Sunday afternoon is a perfect example. My yoga teacher is also a chef and health counselor, and from time to time she offers workshops on various aspects of wellness. Her chocolate class, held at a nearby inn, seemed like a perfect way to pursue my fledgling interest in cooking and nutrition. She is an advocate of the raw food diet, and uses entirely organic, preferably local ingredients in all her recipes.

At the beginning of class, my teacher explained why she included each ingredient in her recipe, and which varieties of that product were best. This was very useful; I didn't realize that oils readily absorb the chemicals from the plastic bottles they are usually sold in, and will try to buy only glass-bottled oils going forward. I also didn't know that you can buy vanilla in powder form, so as to avoid the alcohol base in the liquid version, and the difficulty of managing the beans in the pod version. After this introduction, she mixed the ingredients together, and this is where things got complicated.

 

I'm not much of a cook; I experiment with basic recipes, but don't have instincts of any sort when it comes to how much of each ingredient to include. Some people just seem to know the proportions, and, like my teacher, taste as they go rather than use measurements. It would have helped me if she'd given us a basic recipe to start, especially because I've never worked with most of the ingredients in this chocolate: cacao powder, cacao butter, tahini paste, coconut oil...I wrote down the names but knew I'd need to find a recipe on the internet, like this one. (Substitute local raw honey for agave).

Once the ingredients are mixed, all you need to do is to roll small amounts of chocolate into balls and refrigerate them. You can put a dash of sea salt or pepper on the outside to enhance the flavors too.

At the end of class, we tried samples of the chocolate, which was tasty and definitely different from the milk chocolate most of us know and love. The fact that it had such healthy ingredients made it even better! Unfortunately, some of these ingredients are hard to locate, even at natural foods stores. I tried to look up links for the vanilla powder and cacao butter for this post, but without the specific brand names, came up empty.

In my previous post, I shared that while I'm interested in the nutritional aspects of raw food and clean eating diets, the amount of time they would take to prepare doesn't work with my busy life. The class inspired me to make small changes, like glass-for-plastic bottles, but rather than make my own chocolate, I'll continue to enjoy the pre-made Endangered Species Chocolate available in the organic foods aisle of my regular grocery store.

What new things have you tried lately, and how are they working out?

How is Your 2012?

One month into the new year, and I'm thinking about how I'm doing so far with my hopes, dreams, and goals for 2012. Focusing on things that make me happy, rather than things I "should" do, is a lot more enjoyable. It's a little more guilt-free dessert, rather than all broccoli, all the time. :)

Keeping a Food Diary & Doing a Workout 3-5 times a week: just as I get into the groove with one, I lose momentum with the other. I think to just keep starting over and over again is the key; practice makes nearly perfect. Identifying healthy snacks is an interesting piece. All the things I am reading about clean eating and raw foods are challenging; I can see the benefits with these types of diets, but I'm not sure how easy they are to incorporate into a busy lifestyle. Frankly, there's a lot of kitchen time, and I'm just not willing to do that. What do you think about the clean eating/raw food movements?

Work: I have two new clients for my freelance business, and tomorrow I start a three-month temp job at our state capitol. Working a normal, 8:30am-5pm schedule is going to be a challenge, as I've had a flexible schedule for so long, but hopefully I'll make lots of new contacts. How is your job searching going?

 

Exploring New Things: 2012 feels like a year of transition to good things. After drifting for a bit -- and mourning the loss of some things in my life, like no longer working for my local animal shelter -- I decided it was time to be more open to change, check out some new options, and rediscover old ones. This goal is working out well!

There are two local social groups, one all women and one mixed group, that I have joined (the latter with Chris). I'm attending CT Votes for Animals meetings, which I've known about for some time, but never made the time to go. There is also a local writer's group I want to try, and there are some art history classes in March at the Florence Griswold Museum that sound fascinating. What new things are you trying this year?

Knitting: I'm discovering that many of the sweater patterns I've wanted to knit no longer appeal to me. When I cleaned out my closet last month, I took out two things I'd made that I had to admit had not aged well. My Fantine bolero got way too fuzzy, and I never wear the felted wool jacket.  As I think about what I'd like to make next (still struggling with the flowers for the Rose scarf), I'm not excited by anything in my queue. Has this happened to you -- your taste has moved on, but you're not sure to what?

One of the interesting things I've realized is that the whole New Year's Resolution concept starts off with one huge disadvantage for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere. We are encouraged to think "fresh start" at the coldest, darkest, shortest-days time of the year! If you think about it, it's a real uphill battle, trying to be motivated to exercise before or after work when it's dark and cold outside, and where I live, usually too snowy and icy to walk, run, or bike. The weather makes us want to eat more carbs rather than less, and filling foods rather than the cool and crisp fruit and salads that are not in season yet! We don't want to go out and network or take classes; at the end of a workday we want to get inside our warm homes as soon as we can and curl up with a book or favorite TV program. So...if you are struggling to stick with some of your goals just one month in, realize that it might be the weather, cut yourself some slack, and focus on how much happier you'll be if you can hang on and persevere to March. That's what I'm trying to do!

On a totally different topic, have you been watching Downton Abbey? Amazing show, and I read that they are already planning for season three. Lots of great TV knitting time!

2011: A Look Back

I'm a little behind in posting a review of last year's resolutions, and a look at this year's goals. This list is mostly for my own record-keeping, but I'd love to hear how you did with your 2011 goals and what you're thinking about for 2012! Knitting UFOs? New booklist?  Here we go...

1. Ride my bike 4-5 times a week, to lose some weight and also to increase my average speed so I can join the weekly group rides near my house. I also like to walk, so I'll do some indoor walking DVDs until it's warm enough for me to go outside.

I started a cycling fitness plan, and did well until the third week in when I developed bursitis in my hip. I've been struggling with that on and off most of the year, but the yoga is helping a lot. I do my walking DVDs on and off, and got new ones for Christmas.

2. Try a yoga class. My muscles are tight and I worry about flexibility. I bought this DVD to try too.

I started a class in the spring, took the summer off due to a scheduling conflict, and started back up in October. I love it! It makes me feel terrific, mentally and physically.

3. Finish knitting UFOs: I don't have many, but they have been sitting around for a long time. The beaded seashore scarf, the slippers from Cocoknits, the pink skirt, and the purple sweater are going to get done or else. Wisp, a stole knitted with threadlike yarn, may have to wait for a while.

I finished the beaded seashore scarf, the purple sweater, and the skirt (except for the finishing -- that crochet edge is killing me). I didn't touch the Cocoknits slippers; I'm not sure if I even like them anymore.

4. Knit projects for which I already have pattern, yarn, and needles. At least one of the Noni bags.

I didn't do so well here; the Rose scarf -- almost done but for blocking and finishing -- is the only stash project I knitted. I finished the Summer Flies shawl, but that was from new yarn, not stash yarn.

5. Read books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages.

Twelve books made the list, and of those, I read two, both at the beginning of the year. Perhaps this year I should pick up where I left off?

6. Try to write at least a little, five days a week. Every author's website advises some version of this.

7. Work on my art/drawing at least once a week.

8. Clean out my email inbox.

Not even close on these three.

9. Spend more time with friends. Stay in better contact. Blog more often.

Slowly getting better.

10. Set better boundaries. I try to be helpful and flexible and accommodating with various people in my life, and sometimes I bend too far in their direction, at my own peril.

Had a difficult experience with this early on in the year, which helped me to stay true to this goal afterwards.

One of the most powerful things I've learned this year was about the concept of happiness, in The Happiness Project. I've made so many lists of resolutions, things I should do, and while most are certainly things I want to do, once they're on a list they become the equivalent of eating spinach or taking your vitamins or slogging it out at the gym: they're good for you, but you don't enjoy them very much. They don't bring you happiness when they become a burden.

In that spirit, I'm looking at my goals for 2012 in a new light: not what I "should" do, but what would make me happy? Some of those goals might be the same, but if I look at them in terms of bringing happiness, rather than as an onerous to-do list, I'll be more enthusiastic about them. Who doesn't want to do things that will bring them happiness?

Stay tuned for the next posts, and I'll share what things I believe will help me to find greater happiness in 2012! One of those is an almost finished scarf!

It Might Be Spring

even though it still feels like winter, because bike racing season has started.

 

Chris is at right, and his teammmate L is in front of him. Chris is wearing a neckwarmer, gloves, and shoe covers, but it still doesn't seem warm enough to race.

Chris and our friends have been spending Sundays in the freezing cold wind at the Bethel Spring Series. I try to walk around the course when I can, but it's been more windy than not. I've only been outside once this year to ride my bike, but I hope to get outside more often when the temperatures decide to stay at least 50F.

With the new season, I thought I should check in on my list of New Year's goals hopes and dreams. This list is mostly for me, but I hope it inspires you toward your dreams too.

1. Ride my bike 4-5 times a week, to lose some weight and also to increase my average speed so I can join the weekly group rides near my house. I also like to walk, so I'll do some indoor walking DVDs until it's warm enough for me to go outside.

In January, I did really well with this, and then in February, my hip and foot took turns acting up. Things seem better again, and the weather is slightly improving (at least the snow is gone!) so hopefully I can start riding outdoors more.

2. Try a yoga class. My muscles are tight and I worry about flexibility. I bought this DVD to try too.

Done! I've been to yoga three or four times, and I love it.

3. Finish knitting UFOs: I don't have many, but they have been sitting around for a long time. The beaded seashore scarf, the slippers from Cocoknits, the pink skirt, and the purple sweater are going to get done or else. Wisp, a stole knitted with threadlike yarn, may have to wait for a while.

The scarf is done, and the purple sweater is almost done. Working on sleeve #2 now. Then I want to finish my pink skirt so I can wear it!
 

4. Knit projects for which I already have pattern, yarn, and needles. At least one of the Noni bags.

I'm not going to start something new until I finish the skirt, though I'm thinking of giving Paloma another try, just on principle. Knitting monogamy is working for me.

 

I've been wondering; I don't know if I will actually use the Noni bags like this that I want to make. I'm not sure how they'd fit into my wardrobe,  but I can't resist the challenge of knitting them. If you've knit felted bags, do you use them?

5. Read books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages.

Finished Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, the first book on my list, which I'll review in an upcoming post, and have started on one of the Modern Library Gardening books, Old Herbaceous by Reginald Arkell.

6. Try to write at least a little, five days a week. Every author's website advises some version of this.

Eek.

7. Work on my art/drawing at least once a week.

Double Eek.

8. Clean out my email inbox.

You don't want to know.

9. Spend more time with friends. Stay in better contact. Blog more often.

I think I'm getting better at this. For a girl who grew up with a phone attached to her ear, I'm not so good at calling friends, now that we have email. It seems less intrusive, less insistent than a ringing phone: "You must drop what you are doing and talk to me Now!" I totally don't mind when friends call me though. Weird.

10. Set better boundaries. I try to be helpful and flexible and accommodating with various people in my life, and sometimes I bend too far in their direction, at my own peril.

This is somewhat of a personal goal, but I can at least share here that I'm getting better about knowing my limits with all the things that need doing for the cat shelter where I volunteer. I am practicing a "do one thing" each day philosophy, whether it's hanging a poster, writing a newspaper blurb for cat-of-the-week, or my actual volunteer shift. Once I do my one thing for the cats, I can do other things and not feel guilty or obsess about the things still undone. At least, I'm trying.

There are some other things I hope to work on, too, painting and gardening projects, another Pedal for Paws bike ride, and more employment. I was recently hired as a part-time freelance editor, but I still need either an additional job or more freelance projects to make up my former income. If you know of anyone seeking a freelance editor, writer, or consultant/tutor, I hope you will keep me in mind. My website is here.

So far, we've painted two rooms in the house, and I'm ready to start cleaning up our lawn and garden if the weather ever gets warm. I'm working on Pedal for Paws 2011, though it's still early days yet. And the job situation...I don't like to complain or be negative in my posts, but honestly, I am more discouraged than ever. My freelance job lost funding, and may not start again until July, and promising jobs have been posted and applied for, only for me to receive notice that the company changed its mind about filling positions. What I really need is a career coach, to figure out what the next smartest move should be, but without work, I can't afford one. I'm so uncomfortable with the "wandering around aimlessly" feeling. I hope to attend a "women in business" seminar soon, and maybe that will help.

On a happier note, the spring issue of Twist Collective is up. I love the Trousseau shawl. What designs do you want to add to your queue?

2011 Reading Challenge

Last Saturday, Chris, Dorothy, Hobgoblin and I went to a local used book barn, and some other stores as well.

 

The over $5 barn

 

The under $5 barn

Thankfully, I came out with only one book. It's a study of Agatha Christie's notebooks, which she used to plot her mysteries. From a writer's as well as a reader's perspective, it should be fascinating.

 

Dorothy's TBR challenge inspired me to take a look at the books that have been sitting on my shelves a long time, unread, and read them this year. To keep this doable and fun, I'm going to choose only twelve. Here is my list:

1) A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I started it before Christmas, and need to pick it up again.

2) My Garden by Mary Russell Mitford, 1787-1855. Mitford was the author of Our Village and a good friend of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  This book is a collection of her letters to Browning and other friends about her garden. I bought this before I got married, which is to say, a very long time ago!

 

3) At least one book from the Modern Library Gardening series. Michael Pollan, of The Omnivore's Dilemma fame, edited a collection of eight out-of-print gardening titles that I desperately wanted -- you know how that goes! I've read the Eleanor Perenyi volume, Green Thoughts, and started My Summer in a Garden, and then the wheel fell off the wheelbarrow, so to speak.

 

The vintage volume, The Gardener's Bed-Book, was already on my shelves, so I don't have the M.L. edition.

4) A Light from Heaven. I've read all the previous volumes in the Mitford series, but because this one was the last one, I wanted to "save" it. It's now 5 years old. Argh.

 

5)The Parish Papers by George MacDonald. MacDonald (1824-1905) was a predecessor or mentor to C.S. Lewis, and a friend of Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain. This is nearly as old as #2.

 

6) Maisie Dobbs. I love mysteries, so why do I keep picking up every other one but this? Probably because it takes place during WWII, and thanks to Chris, I'm inundated with WWII era music and history already.

7) A Historical Mystery. I've collected and not read: Silent in the Grave, Consequences of Sin, The Conjurer, And Only to Deceive...all great recommendations from Danielle's blog, and all series to follow if I like these first volumes.

8) Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose.

9) Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Without Tears.

10) One of my creative writing books: The Write to Write, If You Want to Write, and a few others.

11) One of the fiction novels I've gotten from the used bookstores, like Hotel du Lac or Decline and Fall or With Violets.

12) Bella Tuscany by Frances Mayer.

One I'm not going to add to the list, because it's brand new to me, may be the most important book for me to read this year: The Friends We Keep.

Now that I've posted this list, I hope that will keep me accountable! What books are you dying to read this year? If you've put a list on your blog, please let me know that in the comments and I will check it out. I'm on Goodreads, and if you are too, I'd love to share books with you there as well.

Next post: the first finished object of 2011!!!

2011 Hopes and Dreams

That sounds much better than "goals" or "resolutions," doesn't it?

I clipped last year's list from an old post, and it's not exciting. I more or less did, or didn't, accomplish these things:

2010: New Goals and Projects

I want to keep it simple this year, and fun. Here are a few areas in my life where I hope to spend more time:

• Riding my bike regularly, on the indoor trainer until spring
• Continuing to look for a job, and working on my little business
• Continuing to write, and submitting essays to magazines
• Planning and completing more home decorating and gardening projects
• Reading, especially the wonderful non-mystery books I've collected
• Knitting, especially the new yarns I've collected this fall

I did, however, accomplish two big things not on this list: Pedal for Paws, the shelter charity ride I organized with Chris, and becoming a vegetarian.

Taking advantage of a new year and a clean slate works best for me when I choose specific things I'd like to do, rather than the vague ideas above. Here are some of my hopes and dreams for 2011:

1. Ride my bike 4-5 times a week, to lose some weight and also to increase my average speed so I can join the weekly group rides near my house. I also like to walk, so I'll do some indoor walking DVDs until it's warm enough for me to go outside.

2. Try a yoga class. My muscles are tight and I worry about flexibility. I bought this DVD to try too.

3. Finish knitting UFOs: I don't have many, but they have been sitting around for a long time. The beaded seashore scarf, the slippers from Cocoknits, the pink skirt, and the purple sweater are going to get done or else. Wisp, a stole knitted with threadlike yarn, may have to wait for a while.

 
The scarf is much longer now than in the photo, but still not done. It *will* be finished by the spring.

 

This photo was taken two years ago this month. I have two soles knitted, but still no slippers. Oh, the shame.

4. Knit projects for which I already have pattern, yarn, and needles. At least one of the Noni bags.

 
I even have the hardware for this project. Just need to make the time.

5. Read books that have been sitting on my shelves for ages. More about this next post!

6. Try to write at least a little, five days a week. Every author's website advises some version of this.

7. Work on my art/drawing at least once a week.

8. Clean out my email inbox.

9. Spend more time with friends. Stay in better contact. Blog more often.

10. Set better boundaries. I try to be helpful and flexible and accommodating with various people in my life, and sometimes I bend too far in their direction, at my own peril.

There are some other things I hope to work on, too, painting and gardening projects, another Pedal for Paws bike ride, and more employment. I was recently hired as a part-time freelance editor, but I still need either an additional job or more freelance projects to make up my former income. If you know of anyone seeking a freelance editor, writer, or consultant/tutor, I hope you will keep me in mind. My website is here.

While this list is mostly for me, I hope something here might inspire you too. Maybe you have projects to finish, or something new you want to try. If so, I'd love to hear about it! One of the many things I've learned over the past few years is how important friends are to keep us motivated with any and all things we hope to accomplish. Here's to a more hopeful and exciting ride for all of us in 2011.

2010: New Year, New Goals

On Saturday, Chris and I woke up with the crescent moon and crept over in the dark to the train station. We were whisked off on the local commuter train to meet up with our friends Dorothy and Hobgoblin, who live a number of cities west. The four of us, now under a cold but bright winter sun, traveled on another train to New York City to see the Morgan Library's exhibit on Jane Austen.

Having read Pride and Prejudice only once, I was anxious to learn more about Jane and her world, and what makes her so popular that the spin-off books and movies continue to fill the shelves at the Big Bookstores. If her letters displayed at the Morgan are any indication, she is much more feisty and witty than perhaps I have given her credit for, similar to the Louisa May Alcott portrayed in the recent documentary. I'm not going to be able to do the exhibit or the library justice, so I recommend a visit to Dorothy's blog for a more informed description. I have one more chapter of my Agatha Christie to finish, and then I'm going to immerse myself in P&P!

After our museum visit, we braved the frigid temperatures to do a bookstore crawl. Chris and I had never been to The Strand, and I was dying to explore a place where you can buy books "by the foot," as one decorating magazine advertised. While I find that sacrilegious, it did capture my attention! The Strand does not disappoint. Unfortunately, it was so crowded that I got a little light-headed, and couldn't look way up or way down on the giant shelving. Believe it or not, I didn't buy a single book there!

Our next stops were a mystery bookstore, Partners & Crime, where Dorothy tempted me into a Ngaio Marsh (Artists in Crime), and Three Lives, which had an excellent selection of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We had hoped to go to the Housing Works Used Books & Cafe, but it was closed for a special event when we arrived at its front doors. There is always next time! I am proud of myself for only adding one new book to my shelves -- I still have so many to read from our book trips this past fall, and Christmas! Which brings me to...

2010: New Goals and Projects

I want to keep it simple this year, and fun. Here are a few areas in my life where I hope to spend more time:

• Riding my bike regularly, on the indoor trainer until spring
• Continuing to look for a job, and working on my little business
• Continuing to write, and submitting essays to magazines
• Planning and completing more home decorating and gardening projects
• Reading, especially the wonderful non-mystery books I've collected
• Knitting, especially the new yarns I've collected this fall

My Coral Reef poppy seeds and seed starting tray have already arrived, but it will be a few more months yet before I can do any large tasks in the garden. For now, I'm looking forward to more time in front of the fire with Chris, our cats, books, and knitting projects that need finishing. The first wristwarmer is almost bound off, and I promise a photo soon!

2009 Goals: A Review

When I looked back to last year, I didn't have many specific goals so much as new directions I wanted to take.  Here's a quick summary:

1. The Artist's Way

My main goal was to spend more time nurturing creativity, primarily through the Artist's Way program. I completed the book and the exercises during the summer, and continue to journal three pages at a time, though not every day as I did when following the program. I haven't kept up with the artist's dates (a two hour block of time you schedule once a week to do something by yourself) in any formal fashion, but since I'm home alone most days I do have a lot of time to think and plan and be inspired.

The Artist's Way was one of the most wonderful things I've done for myself in a long time; not only did it help me to see how important creative pursuits are to my happiness, and force me to make time for them, it also put me back on the path to writing. I took writing classes during the summer, sent some essays off to magazines, and completed NaNoWriMo in November, goals I didn't even have at the beginning of the year, which is pretty amazing.

2. Employment

The second goal was to find a new job. I thought by now I'd be employed again, but full-time jobs in the publishing and library fields are pretty scarce, at least where I live. Partly as a result of #1, I am going to try to start my own business as a writing coach, while I'm continuing to look for work. I'll share more about this in a future post.

3. Painting the hallway -- yes! done!

4. Reading more print books -- not nearly as many as I would have liked to!

5. Genealogy research

I did some things, but I haven't had any major discoveries like I did the first year. I've sent letters off this fall to the villages in Italy where my family was from, but haven't received any replies to my requests for records.

6. Knitting to the next level

I did finish Fantine and Breton Girl, but I can't say that I developed any new skills with those or any other projects. I am experimenting with top-down sweaters -- Paloma was a frustrating experience; Mr. Greenjeans is much better -- but I knit them to the directions. My seashore scarf, started last winter at this time but still not finished, is my first beaded project beyond the Christmas ornaments. I haven't read the Elizabeth Zimmerman book much past the first few pages yet, which I thought would help motivate me to start altering patterns to my own measurements.

Because of the deliberate shift I made to focus on introverted things in 2009, rather than the extroverted craziness of 2008, it was a positive light in an otherwise tough year. Losing my job and not finding another left me feeling down for a good part of the year, and supporting my family through my father's chemotherapy treatment was tough as well. Frankly, I am glad to see 2009 go, and start with a clean slate.

What's up for 2010? Stay tuned...

Live Your Best Life

At the grocery store last week, I saw the headline on the new issue of Oprah's magazine: Live Your Best Life. As I loaded groceries on the conveyor belt, I asked myself: "What is a "best life?" What is my "best life?"

The quick and obvious answers are: good health, good relationships, and good finances. We all work on those. But best life strikes me as so much more than that. It is, I think, about filling your soul.

Filling your soul can mean growing and practicing your faith, and that is on my list of New Year's Goals too. But I think it also means taking those hard looks at your life, in its quietest moments, and finding the dissonance. What do you want your life to look like, and what does it actually look like? What parts of your life make you unhappy, and how could they be better? Or even best?

I hope you don't mind my introspection (and I promise this will touch on knitting eventually!). In trying to create my list for 2009, this whole best life concept has been nagging at me, beyond the new job, beyond the need to paint our hallway, beyond whether or not I have the energy to consider training for a cycling century. In 2007, I put down "call the real estate agent" as a New Year's goal, because we were not living our best lives in a small old house that needed a lot of work on a busy street with no privacy. Had I not written down "call the real estate agent," I would not be writing this now in a larger house that is much easier to maintain, a newer house on a less busy street with a blissful acre of land between us and the rest of civilization. A house that is near several wonderful yarn shops, the cat shelter where we found Rainy and where I volunteer, The Loop where I can cycle by The Ocean and breathe in that salt air. That was a huge step toward a best life!

 

Rainy, living her best life with her Teddy

In 2008, I did a lot of group-oriented things, like volunteer work at the animal shelter, a few animal transports, a ton of meetings, local campaigns in October. Last summer, Chris and I did the GYGIG fundraiser and I ran the Tour de France KAL with Meg. Life got out of balance very fast. I am an introverted person by nature, and doing so many extroverted things at once -- though I believe in the causes and love the work -- was killing me. I had little solitude during these months to daydream, read, knit, draw, or write in my journal or process any of what was going on, and I was miserable.

From this insight, I am going to make my list of goals for 2009. Along with the above-mentioned job and hallway painting, I plan to feed my soul and discover my best life by doing the following:

1. Read my one page a day devotional book and write in my journal every day. Or most days.

2. Continue reading the Artist's Way, and pursue the creative exercises recommended by the author: 1) to do Morning Pages (write three journal pages per day) and 2) to have an Artist's Date, a two-hour-a- week date that you keep for yourself to take a walk, visit a museum or yarn store, do your hobby/craft, listen to music, etc. 

3. Read more print books.  For last year's goal, I tried audiobooks, and discovered I do prefer print-book-in-the-hand.

4. Plan house and garden projects. In some ways, the house and garden are like giant art projects, deciding what colors to paint the rooms, or what plants to add and replace in the garden.

5. Continue genealogy research. Last year at this time, I began the journey of researching my family history. What an adventure! We discovered past relatives in semi-local cemeteries I didn't know were there. We found living relatives in Switzerland. The detective work helps me to understand a whole history and culture and family in a way I never have before, and is bringing a new richness to my life. 

6. Knit to the Next Level. Last year, my knitting goal was to knit sweaters. I did finish Caroline the felted jacket, and the Dream in Color Shrug. I started the TdF KAL sweater, Breton Girl, and also Fantine. I'll finish those this year, but instead of concentrating on a specific type of project, I want to increase my skills.

My best knitting life is to not be dependent on the pattern-as-written, but to make those modifications in size or style that others do for better fit or personal preference (three-quarter sleeves drive me crazy!). I had a little experience doing this with the picot camisole, but it wasn't intentional. I'd like to become more comfortable with substituting yarns and the wonky gauges that result. I've heard that Elizabeth Zimmerman is great for this, and I received her book Knitting without Tears for Christmas. This is more of an ongoing process than a a specific goal I can attain, but if by the end of the year, I can point to one or two projects where I felt confident changing the pattern with a minimum of LYS assistance, I'll consider it a success.

This is a partial list, but some of the most important components for me. What are you doing in 2009, whether it be something big, or something small, to pursue your best life?