Hi Everyone

I hope that you were able to ring in the New Year in a manner which suited you.  For us, it was a quiet tolling of the bell at midnight.  J2 called it around 9:15, Steve made it until 10.  That left J1 & I.  We bumped fists and dug in.  We weren’t lively, but we were awake and saw the ball drop:

Nothing like a nice cup of hot cocoa to welcome 2011!

2010 was. . . . . . .a year.  Full of so much sadness around us and for people we care deeply for and at the same time filled with an equal amount of happiness.  The year in hindsight was neither success or failure, it was just a year.   I could lament about many things and cheer about many others.  There are things endured in the past 12 months I hope to leave far, far behind, there are other things I wish I could relive again in a nano-second.  I guess that’s what life is all about.  I’ll take 2010 as a wash and hope the good outweighs the not so good in 2011.

I’m going to start the year with the slightest of do-overs.  Last summer J2 participated in WEBS Fiber Camp.  He had a great time and did a lovely job in all areas.   Except his knitting.  It was not pretty and I took A LOT of heat for saying so.  I shared that with J2 at the time and he actually found it funny that many of you were bothered by my point of view.  I wasn’t trying to be mean, just honest.

Last week J1, J2 & their friend JP were hanging at the store while I met with our lovely Berroco rep, when she suggested that she would teach J2 & JP to knit.  J1 had no interest – he’s cool you know :).  The two boys were enthusiastic and went out to the store to fetch yarn  & needles.  They came back with Valley Yarns Berkshire – we had instructed them to get Northampton, but Berkshire works fine too for beginners.  At this point I moved onto other work.  I came back around a little bit later to find two happy knitters (although only one is pictured):

J2 continued all the way home and then some:

He was still struggling a bit but improving.  He was diligent in his efforts.  I spent some time with him over the weekend and noticed he was pulling his yarn very tight after knitting each stitch – as in strangling his poor knitting needle.  I told him to not do this and to just relax his tension and lo and behold:

Folks – we have a knitter.  Now, I know many of you will give me an “I told you so” and that’s fine but you also have to understand how J2 ticks.  He does nothing until he is good and ready.  This started with walking, moved into learning to skate and ride a bike.  He will not take direction and listen until he has made up his mind that he “wants” to learn something or is “ready”.  Sounds reasonable but until you watch it happen – repeatedly – it’s truly hard to explain.

What you can see is the difference between the start of his knitting and the more recent rows is the dramatic change in tension. It now looks like knitting versus felting :). Yes, he cast on way to many stitiches – it’s not ribbing, it’s just all scrunched up, but the quality of the knitting is really coming along.

And so it goes – 2011 maybe be starting with a still unfinished chicken for me, but the makings of a new knitter are born.

We have lots of great stuff planned for this year so I hope you’ll join us for the fun!

Cheers to you all for 2011!

Kathy