It's funny...

looking back over some of the posts I have written. There are so many ideas and things that interest me and most I don't end up pursuing. It is kind of sad.

Lots of people have been blogging about Christmases that are memorable and about letting go and not trying to make everything perfect, and not getting grumpy when it isn't perfect.

The Christmas that I remember most clearly from my youth was the year (one of the several) that we were very poor. My mom bought me a one gallon size jar of pickles with food stamps. I absolutely love pickles, so it was a great gift. That was also the year that the power went out. I don't know if it was because an electric bill hadn't been paid or if there was some storm or something. It was beautiful with all the candles lit and the tree with it's decorations glinting in the candle light. I think I was 10 that year.

The next year we went to get our Christmas decorations out of storage and someone had stolen them. I had had the same stocking from when I was born. It was red velvet with a white fluffy top and someone had used glue and glitter to make a big, cursive 'E' on the red part of the stocking. Every year I think of that stocking. It was perfect.

I love hosting Christmas. Having people over and providing for them and seeing them happy makes me happy. It makes me feel domestic and capable. (I spent the first part of my life trying to get away from everything feminine, believing that feminine equaled weak. Now I work to reclaim the fact that I am a woman, but I think I still have skewed ideas of what that means.)

Yesterday was the winter solstice here. I wanted to celebrate, but no one around me seemed interested. I feel the connection to the circle of life and the light going and coming back. I feel rooted in the earth when I think of the solstice. I read about someone having a bonfire. I think I shall try to muster the energy to do that next year. The bright light in the dark. The spark of life. Family and fun around a fire, showing that we keep going even in the dark.

I was going to post a horrible camera phone snap of the sock, but it just isn't going to work out.

A coworker is having me over sometime next week to try out her spinning wheel. It is exciting and scary at the same time. Hopefully it won't be too much fun, otherwise I will just be pining for my own wheel. I haven't had much practice with a spindle. I need to give it another go, and of course by that I mean just practice, practice, practice.

Knitting-wise, I am really looking forward to the beginning of the new year. There are so many things that I want to do. There are several lace projects and at least one pair of socks and a sweater in queue.

I'm not a big new years resolutions kind of person, but I'm thinking of some crafting and hobby related ones. Maybe if I set some goals, I can try some of the things that haven't come to fruition this year. More needlefelting, sewing and knitting. More reading.

Thank you for coming and reading my blog and especially for commenting on it. I just set up Google analytics. It has a map with litle dots (like pins) that show the city of origin of people who visit my blog. My favorite day so far was the one when there were pins in Sweden, Finland, New Zealand, France, the UK and a scattering in the US. I love love love how international this is! I have had visitors from 4 continents so far. I doubt that I will ever be visited by someone in Antartica, but I hope to be visited by someone in Asia and Africa some day.