So this is Christmas

Good morning and Merry Christmas! Christmas is and the new year is right around the corner. 2018 has been a whirlwind of a year full of fun, excitement, new friends, and new adventures, but also not without its share of challenges, heartbreak, and tragedy. I am ready for 2019 and one of my goals for the coming year is to blog more.

I have been terrible about blogging these past few months and there are several reasons for that. I think it started with losing Cher, our newest dog, so tragically and so soon after she came to live with us. That was devastating and it is still difficult to talk about. Just as difficult is trying not to look at how things currently are in our home and our lives and think that this is not how things are supposed to be because there was supposed to be another dog here with us. Cher left quite a mark in her brief time with us and we will always miss her terribly.

The Albany Gay Men’s Chorus, which I joined at the beginning of the year, has also taken up a lot of my time. That is in no way a bad thing though. During the rehearsal cycle for the spring concert I incorporated a lot of spinning into my at-home chorus practice which also gave me something to write about. There was much less of that with the rehearsal cycle for our winter concert. I did practice at home, but I did not spin at the same time. Rehearsals started at the end of August and the concert took place last weekend. Yes, you read that correctly. We began rehearsing in August. I have had holiday music taking space in my head since before closing my pool. I will have more to write about the chorus in the coming year too.

Here’s my favorite piece from our winter concert.

In fact, I did almost no spinning from mid-summer up until about the end of October or beginning of November. It was around then that I resumed my regular 15-20 minutes at my wheel every morning before work and I have cranked out quite a bit since. Some of this includes the last of the baby camel I spun on my supported spindles after acquiring that amazing supported spinning yoke. There will be a weekend of plying soon. At least one whole weekend.

There hasn’t been much knitting since summer either. I finished the socks I started during our July vacation along with another pair that I had started in between the first and second socks of that vacation project.

Last weekend I cast on another Hitchhiker scarf, my first non-sock project in quite a few months. I am eyeing some hand spun in my stash for another project I am hoping to cast on for soon, but before that, I have another two dog sweaters to knit to fulfill my donation to the auction fundraiser for Italian Greyhound Rescue at our annual picnic in June.

There are other things that have kept me from spending time blogging and even from knitting and spinning. We have been playing a lot of board games at the kitchen table with friends, having our dogs’ friends (and their people) over as often as possible (mostly in the warmer months), and a few other sorta new things. I am okay with that. Making time for other interests is not a bad thing.

I have some chores to finish up this morning after my spinning time and some last minute Christmas shopping to do early this afternoon. Have a merry Christmas and I’ll see you next weekend!