And feeling much more like myself after a couple days in the mountains.

Being in the woods make me happy! We stayed in a cabin outside of the Boone area and met up with some friends on Saturday to hike Grandfather Mountain. Not too many scenery pictures as we got a lot of rain (but it sure didn’t ruin our time!) - There are a few more on Flickr, but here are a couple:

Tad says it’s time to put the camera away - we could hear the rain coming towards us! Thank goodness for rain gear!

Since it’s Tuesday though, and it’s been awhile since I’ve posted for Messy Tuesday…. How about some Messy Boots?

These don’t have too many miles on them yet - I can’t wait until they’re old & beat up with the memories of this and lots of other hikes and camping trips scratched onto the toes and sides!

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Now playing: Patty Griffin - No Bad News
via FoxyTunes

Each year I find myself relating less and less Christmas and more and more to New Year’s. In part due to the overt commercialism associated with the Christmas holiday, the perceived pressure and expectations, but also and perhaps more than anything due to one very large hole in my heart belonging to the person who helped tie my family together and make the holidays meaningful for us. So, I’ve been a little quiet this last week or two. I haven’t been knitting much, I haven’t been online, and I haven’t written at all (if I have been slow getting back to any of you, please accept my apologies!).

What I have been doing is spending excellent quality time sharing stories, laughing, talking and dreaming with my brother & his SO, whom we haven’t seen in more than a year. They’ve just returned from living and working in Armenia, where they had some amazing adventures. Having them home safely and getting to spend the holiday with them was the best Christmas gift we could have. Those kind of gifts always are.

Back to New Year’s. I know full well that we all have the freedom to start over every day, new beginnings are a mostly mental thing - blah, blah, blah. But for some reason the new year holiday always provides me with a sort of mental break, a specific time that encourages me to reflect, re-evaluate, and mentally regroup. This is the time of year when I am most generous and forgiving with myself as well as a time when I am hopeful for the future. I feel less pressure and sadness, and more excitement and anticipation for what the new year will bring. And I AM very excited about what this new year will bring!

So, since this is actually a knitting blog, here’s a retrospective of fibery things from the past year!

And a forecast that 2008 will be another wonderful year with lots more new things to learn, yarns and fibers to experience and wonderful people! I usually set some pretty specific goals, but this year I’m foregoing the list in favor of the flexibility to go where my knitting may take me and explore anything that I find interesting along the way.

Thank you all for the incredible inspiration through all of your blogs, and your encouragement and support through your comments here over the last year. 2007 was the first year that I have been an active blogger, and I have become unexpectedly fond of this little space as another creative outlet and documentation tool - and SO fond of all of you that read and that I correspond with. A very Happy New Year to all of you! I hope that whatever holidays you may celebrate were filled with love and laughter and many new warm memories, and I wish you all the best in life and fiber pursuits in 2008.

See you next year!

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Now playing: Asobi Seksu - New Years
via FoxyTunes