The Year That Was

I made a bunch of stuff this year!

2008 FOs

Made with fd’s flickr toys.

1. Crochet scarf close-up, 2. New scarf, 3. Finished Kaffe Socks!, 4. New Hat, 5. Monkey Socks – Finished!, 6. Crochet Scarf #3, 7. Waving Lace Socks, Complete!, 8. Waving Lace Socks, 9. Swallowtail Shawl – Finished, 10. Woven Scarf, 11. Spey Valley, 12. Malvina’s Embossed Leaves, 13. Lizzy Socks – Finished, 14. GANOMY FAIL, 15. Mini Socks, 16. Rita Mitts – complete!, 17. Roadhouse Mitts, 18. Silk Garden Scarf, 19. Abby’s Mitts, 20. DSC02384

My favorites are the Roadhouse Mitts, the woven orange Silk Garden Sock scarf, and the Lizzy socks.

The most favorite thing though, I didn’t make. My favorite thing is buying the house and getting the new flooring in the bathrooms, which means there are no carpets in the bathrooms anymore! Take a peek:

housemosaic

(and soon I will actually MOVE IN there, hahaha!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Post Holiday Pass Out

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We had various celebrations and all were great. My favorite meal was, of course, the deviled eggs, cheese zombies, potato soup, and egg nog that we scarfed at Jason’s house on Christmas Eve. (“Best. Christmas. Ever!”)

Abby's Mitts

I made my sister a pair of fingerless mitts as a last minute Christmas gift, and they went over really well! So that was nice. Abby is an excellent person to give handknits to.

Today we went to Ikea so I could buy some stuff for the house, and I got a Poang chair and an Expedit bookshelf (this is the square 4×4 shelf – for yarn storage in the craft room!). And several injuries because apparently I am a klutz, or I was today anyway.

I was in the bathroom in one of the stalls and there wasn’t a purse hanger thing on the door, so I hung my purse* over the corner of the door, then realized there was no toilet paper so I went to find another stall and I grabbed my purse, but gouged my thumb on the extruding metal where the purse hanger should have been.

I started bleeding like a stuck pig and went to the sink where I bled all over. I finally got it slowed and wrapped in a paper towel.

Outside the bathroom, Abby nursed me back to health with magical liquid bandage and bandaids she randomly had in her purse. I don’t know how she does it! But I was more-or-less back in action thanks to her emergency supplies (and her purse isn’t that big!).

Anyway, so after that we ate lunch and went downstairs to the marketplace and I dinged my middle finger on the cart, then lost control of the cart and ran into something and bruised my stomach on the cart handle, then I dropped part of the Expedit on my foot (though that didn’t hurt so much).

We managed to get everything in the car using the power of physics and went to the house where we unloaded all my other stuff. Besides the chair and bookshelf I got a couple of cheap rugs, some wine glasses, some bag clips, a lampshade, and a big picture of a deer for the wall. (Heh.)

I only went $11 over my $500 budget, which I think is doing pretty well. And was probably all tax anyway.

We’re painting the craft room on Sunday, then on Monday my contractor is coming to rip the bathrooms and lay down linoleum, and then next Saturday we’re moving my storage unit shizzle into the place, which will be awesome!

I still need to buy three sets of curtains and one curtain rod between now and then. And get the cable and internet hooked up.

Anyway, things are moving along on that front.

*Tote Bag

^My mom made that cool purse for me for Christmas.

End of the Year Meme

What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Hiked five miles and lived to tell the tale.

Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?

My only goal for this year was to be less negative, and I really think I succeeded in that regard.

Did anyone close to you give birth?

My friend Sarah had her little boy on March 1!

Did anyone close to you die?

No.

What countries did you visit?

Just this one!

What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A Wii.

What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

November 4th! (I frown upon socialism and Chicago politics.)

What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Paid off the credit cards, hiked five miles, bought a house.

What was your biggest failure?

Discovering I had seven cavities! Which happened today. I am still not over it. And pretending that I won’t be spending $1800 fixing them. HOORAY!

Did you suffer illness or injury?

I lost my voice at the beginning of the year due to a spastic cold I had. I only had one really serious migraine (on the day of the primaries here in California – perhaps an omen of things to come?? :P)

What was the best thing you bought?

The loom! And all the yarn!

Whose behavior merited celebration?

I’m trying to think.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The Mainstream Media. I will never watch the news or read the newspaper again. I have found alternate sources on the internet. I just want the news to be reported. The spin, bias, and outright lies of the media have negatively affected this nation.

Where did most of your money go?

Credit cards, car payments, and yarn.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Stitches, my Texas trip, Big Trees, buying the house (after I finished spazzing)

What song will always remind you of 2008?

Uhh…

Compared to this time last year, are you:

i. happier or sadder? happier!
ii. thinner or fatter? fatter, I think.
iii. richer or poorer? richer! Until I get drilled on. Then I will be poorer!

What do you wish you’d done more of?

I wish I’d been less busy and been able to hang out with friends more. And I wish I’d made more local, single friends. And I wish I’d drawn more.

What do you wish you’d done less of?

Loafing around, guacamole intake. 😉

How will you be spending Christmas?

With my family here in town. Moving into the house.

Did you fall in love?

No.

What was your favourite TV program?

Supernatural and Dexter.

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I’m a lover, not a hater. (hahaha)

What was the best book you read?

I LURVED the Twilight series, and how crackalactastic it was. However, by FAR the best books I read this year were the first three books of The Sharing Knife (Beguilement, Legacy, and Passage) by Lois McMaster Bujold. They were absolutely fantastic, chronicling the romance between Fawn, a young farmer and older Dag, a Lakewalker. They’re too hard to describe, but if you like strong world building with fantasy elements, you’ll love these. I also enjoyed the new Jim Butcher books, one more for both his Harry Dresden series and his Codex Alera series.

What was your greatest musical discovery?

I can’t remember if Abby discovered Eskobar this year or last year.

What did you want and get?

A loom. A sheep cake.

What did you want and not get?

A Wii.

What was your favorite film of this year?

Probably Iron Man. I didn’t get out to the theater much this year though.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I went paddle boating on the Reservoir and ate a sheep cake. I was 28.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably satisfying?

Finally finding a boyfriend? I am not even sure at this juncture how to do that.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Current with a touch of 70’s.

What kept you sane?

My indomitable spirit.

Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I went through a brief yet intense Christian Bale period.

What political issue stirred you the most?

You ask this on an election year? I think the treatment of Sarah Palin in the media was appalling.

Who did you miss?

My friends, who pretty much all live far away. 🙁

Who was the best new person you met?

I totally don’t think I met any new people this year. A couple new coworkers, I guess. I need to get out more.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

1. Fixing cavities is fucking expensive.
2. Credit cards are bad.
3. Linoleum is cheap.
4. I heart yarn.

Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

Well, I don’t know about sums up my year (I don’t think there’s a song called “WOOO AWESOME WOO! YEAH!”), but I am very much in love with the new Keane album, particularly the Perfect Symmetry song:

I shake through the wreckage for signs of life
Scrolling through the paragraphs
Clicking through the photographs

I wish I could make sense of what we do
Burning down the capitals
The wisest of the animals

Who are you? What are you living for?
Tooth for tooth, maybe we’ll go one more

This life is lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me

Read page after page of analysis
Looking for the final score
We’re no closer than we were before

Who are you? What are you fighting for?
Holy truth? Brother I choose this mortal life

Lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
As the needle slips into the run-out groove
Love – maybe you’ll feel it too

And maybe you’ll find life is unkind
And over so soon
There is no golden gate
There’s no heaven waiting for you

Oh boy you ought to leave this town
Get out while you can the meter’s running down
The voices in the streets you love
Everything is better when you hear that sound

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses
I dream in emails, worn-out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages

Wrap yourself around me
Wrap yourself around me
As the needle slips into the run-out groove
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too
Maybe you’ll feel it too

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses
I dream in emails, worn-out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages

Spineless dreamers hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour buses