Happy 2012

I spent the first day of the new year at the beach. On January 2nd, I went back to the beach at 6:45 AM and had lots of fun taking pictures of the sunrise. It was a wonderful reboot to the world. I even managed to get the Gardener to come along on that warm morning.

Anything else I have to say is either trite, or silly. I’m artificially glad that at least 2012 is new…a new page in the sketch book… and not 2011, which sucked the wind out of the enjoyment of life for lots of people.  I hope I’ve learned enough not to relive 2011 again and again, ala Groundhog Day. In this “new” world, I keep looking at my photographs from January 2nd on the east coast, and I’m amazed at how beautiful the world looks when I’m not focused on life/work/worry.

Wishing all the best for you, your family, and your life focus in 2012. p.s. Ah, the beach. Perfect.

Christmas crackers

It’s the Tuesday after Boxing Day, and it’s been soggy… dreary… everything Christmas wasn’t. On Christmas night, we remembered at the last minute we hadn’t pulled the crackers. So, by 10 PM everyone had on their paper crowns and were discussing which “prize” was the best. It was a lovely end to a nice day spent playing with a new kitten (adopted earlier in the month). The little pink dinosaur was one of the prizes, which I placed in an antique dish.
I hope everyone else had a lovely Christmas celebration, and that those who celebrate later (or who celebrate Hannukah or Kwanzaa) have a great celebration with family too.
Happy New Year!

Eager anticipation

Untitled, a photo by rjknits on Flickr.

I’ve spent the day wrapping gifts and baking. So far, on the baking front:

• Lucia buns
• Jul konfekt
• Toffee bars
• Birthday cake for the Gardener
• Blueberry sour cream coffeecake with pecans

… Apparently I need running shoes and an exercise program to survive Christmas, but I can’t wait. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.

A slice of light lingering

A sharp slice of paper

Or a too wide Cheshire Cat grin —

Tonight’s half moon shines bright

Cutting through the dark, while its fading face,

Lingers behind the night.

© rjn, November 30, 2011

A tiny sweeter

I knit a sweater using E Zimmerman’s February Baby sweater design. Interesting pattern, although I wanted something less likely to catch on baby’s fingers. I revised it to have less lace (one panel of the lace pattern on either side of the front of the cardigan). I knit it with sock yarn, further reducing the size, because I’ve been told this little one is going to be early. If she arrives home from the hospital too big and healthy for this little gift, I will be thrilled.
Kind of a Project Spectrum knit — blues, oranges, neutral browns, whites, purples. Can’t figure out how many different months those cover. The sock yarn was a brilliant choice, because it ended up creating a faux Fair Isle pattern on its own.

Reclaimed columns of the Capitol Buiiding

Reclaimed columns of the Capitol Buiiding, a photo by rjknits on Flickr.

Beautiful silhouettes for a pensive week. The weekend was filled with different levels of closure, including the loss of a friend. Today, I’ve been thinking about Tennyson’s poetry: “Twilight and evening bell,/And after that the dark!/And may there be no sadness of farewell,/When I embark;” — Tennyson. [Full link here] I regret this break in our long conversation.

mocha chocolate cake filling options

• Apricot jam
• Raspberry jam with coconut
• Nutella

I have the mocha frosting for the outer frosting layer. But now, I’m stuck with decisions. Considering how rarely I get the chance to bake in the kitchen, this is a sweet problem to have.

And apricot jam was the winner.

Less knots if the thread doesn’t come off the shuttle, I suppose

I have a lovely tatting shuttle made of steel. It proudly claims to be “Improved” with “more thread” and “less knots”. Unfortunately, the little bobbin is immobile. It’s loaded with DMC 80 thread in an amazing fuchsia color (#917).
I know I have another one around here which used to work. Humph.

The French Revolution in Ballet

“By now, the distinction between theater and life had collapsed almost entirely and the Paris Opera became a staging ground for revolutionary festivals. These outdoor celebrations were not free-form gatherings of exuberant crowds but highly planned and rehearsed ritual reenactments of dramatic revolutionary moments set on a spectacular and grand scale with thousands of participants.” — p. 111

“Because dancers and ballet masters were so deeply involved in staging these events and because ballet had always been tied to the ceremonial life of the nation, the themes that ran through the festivals did not just fade away when the revolutionary moment passed: they took hold and changed ballet forever.” — p. 113

Excerpts from “Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet” by Jennifer Homans. This book is filled with fascinating stuff, including period illustrations, and info on how ballet started as the dance of French Kings. The art form travels from France to England to Italy back to the French Revolution, then on to Denmark and to Russia. I may never look at ballet the same way again, especially the introduction of the women in white. Brr.

Seagull in a pool of water

Seagull in a pool of water, a photo by rjknits on Flickr.

For Project Spectrum (September), I went to one of the beaches by the bay, and looked for natural yellow elements. The sand and yellow reflections on the water here, made for a fun picture. Alas, no knitting for the color yellow was done. I’ll post other images, once I’ve sorted through them. But this one sums up the end of summer and beginning of autumn for me — bittersweet and filled with rain.