Warning! Sappy personal stuff...

I realized earlier this evening that I had missed my blogiversary by about a month. What a shame not to have marked it. I've just spent the last while going over my archives and can't help reflecting on how far I've come in the past year.

I try to keep my blog mostly about knitting, with a bit of gardening and cats thrown in. It's not often extremely personal and that has been a conscious choice. It's just who I am. Then, going over my old entries made me feel that, tonight anyway, I should get a wee bit personal.

This has been a tumultuous year for me. There has been a lot of struggle, change and some sadness. Call it cracking up, breaking down, just growing or whatever. Not to sound overly dramatic, but there have been times when sitting and rocking with the needles in my hands, chanting the pattern...k2, yo, k3, ssk.. over and over, has felt like all that could calm me. Then it was "Hey, I got a blog", followed by "I have a secret pal!". And then, I met you guys. I remember how nervous I was to go to the first couple of events...the fancy dress evening and the Knitting Olympics opening ceremonies. Yet, without fail, every knitter I've met this past year has been warm and gracious and fascinating. It's hard to remember a time when I didn't know Jen, Michelle, Kelly, Stephanie, Sophia, Sandi, Aleta, Drea, Kelly, Denny, Meagan, Jackie, Sharon, Krista, Erin, Laura. . . and on. I can't tell you how I look forward to our gatherings and how much they mean to me. Then of course there's Amy Singer, whose creation Knitty has been a little sun around which so many knitters orbit. Her passion and grace have been a teeny bit of an inspiration to me - and she's funny too!

Ok, some may think craft is a hobby, but really, it's a community, one for which I am ever grateful. A return to the usual knitting stuff tomorrow.

The above photo is my desktop wallpaper. It's Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966), one of my favourite poets. Read Requiem and March Elegy.