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Clara
queen bee
USA
4362 Posts |
 Posted - 12/28/2009 : 2:33:58 PM
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I've been trying to collect the various metaphorical "souvenirs" of my 2009 and pack them away for safekeeping. I've come away with a few knitting-related things for which I'm extremely grateful this year. I thought I'd share them and see what yours are.
For starters, I'm grateful to all of you. I hope you know how sincerely I mean this. I love that we have this warm, bright, safe, comfortable little space to come whenever we need companionship, help, or inspiration. I watch newcomers arrive and make their first timid post, and I see others welcome them. I see people ask questions, and then I see others answer. And always - well, 99.9% always because we are human beings after all - I see a thoughtful and respectful discourse. Which makes me not only grateful but tremendously proud. I'd like to think that we can model here the kind of discourse I'd like to see in the bigger world. (And if it never turns up in the bigger world, well, we always have this place.)
What else? I'm grateful to all the little sheepies of the world, for willingly giving up their coats to us each year so that we may keep warm. Not just warm, but inspired and delighted and pleased in the truest tactile way. And I'm grateful to the world's sheep for giving me a reason to write a second book. 
I'm grateful to knitting needle manufacturers for continuing to churn out pair after pair so that I may, in turn, continue to cast on stitch after stitch.
I'm grateful to designers for continuing to scribble with yarn and needles, take notes as they go, and transform those doodles into beautiful, workable projects. I'm equally grateful to technical editors for making the journey ahead of us so that we may avoid any landslides or broken bridges.
I'm so grateful to the first person who tried swapping the order of stitches and discovered the cable. And the first person who took scissors to her garment and (eeek!) showed us that steeks can happen. To all those people who came long before us and figured out so many essential things so that we can sit, play, and explore in a most luxurious manner.
And of course I'm grateful to the yarn companies of the world, the bold folks who continue, after year, to furnish us with our creative oxygen. I appreciate that they're paying more attention to source of their materials and the way those materials are processed, shining a brighter light on the process and bringing us more natural yarns that make our hands sing and won't sit in a landfill for 1,000 years. I'm equally grateful to the farms and small hand-dyers and individuals who strike out on their own to do the same.
It's a pretty incredible time to be a knitter, I'd say. What about you? Forget the dropped stitches, the snags, and the knots in our skeins, what knitterly things make you particularly grateful on this December afternoon?
Clara
Your friendly Knitter's Review publisher
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Jane
SustaYning Member
USA
4291 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2009 : 3:56:57 PM
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I'm also grateful for all the things on your list, Clara. I'll add that I'm grateful that my hands can hold the needles, and that my eyes can see the stitches. And I'm especially grateful for you and this wonderful place you've created.
Jane
Betty needs a warm hat: Support KR
Blog: Not Plain Jane
Photos: My Flickr Album
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Milinda
Permanent Resident
USA
3816 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2009 : 4:32:00 PM
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First of all, Clara, thanks to YOU for creating this lovely Front Porch in the summer; cozy fire-side knitting spot in the cold and inviting us to join you. It never ceases to amaze me how sophisticated knitting has become in my lifetime and in the years I've been here. I've met incredible personalities and become close friends with people I have met visiting on Clara's front porch or sitting by her fire.
Mouse and I have discovered we think alike to a degree of Twilight Zoneness.  Then there's Atavistic. I've watched her come of age here with us and that has been great fun. The generational aspect of knitting is fantastic, it joins all of us from different backgrounds and age groups and together, we learn and grow as a community.
Thanks to all who have participated in civil discourse, agreeing to disagree with me, over the political cycles. Those who know me realize there are few things more worthwhile to me than a great geo-political disucssion and a challenging knitting project on my needles. This site fills me up in a very good way.
May we all continue to grow the way knitting has.
M L
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cpknits
Chatty Knitter
USA
297 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2009 : 5:21:45 PM
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All of the above and I'll add my appreciation for all of the hard work that goes into maintaining, promoting, growing of the local yarn shops, the knitting guilds, the stitch 'n beaches, the fiber festivals, workshops, websites and magazines. I've probably forgotten something in what feels like a vast support network.
Carol, Wisconsin |
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Consuelo
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
582 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2009 : 6:56:48 PM
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I'm grateful to have found this forum. I am so inspired to knit by all of you that I've gotten faster at all my other duties in life just so I can get back to knitting
It it, indeed, one of the more civil places I have found anywhere. Thanks everyone!
Consuelo
"Travel is fatal to prejudice" Mark Twain |
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ellensatch@msn.com
Chatty Knitter
256 Posts |
Posted - 12/28/2009 : 7:51:43 PM
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Ditto to Clara & everyone else for things to be thankful for. I so totally agree!
Also, thanks to dear departed Nana, who taught me to knit at age 3, back in the Eisenhower administration, and for instilling a lifelong love of fiber crafts. |
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busygirl
Permanent Resident
Australia
1672 Posts |
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dschmidt
Permanent Resident
3920 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 07:25:45 AM
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Ditto to all of the above, especially to Clara for creating and maintaining this forum and for my many KR cyber friends.
Donna in VA
The Honor Roll? It's easier here than in school. Scroll up to "Want to Make Betty Happy?" and be an Honor Roll member.
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Lanea
Permanent Resident
USA
5158 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 08:55:11 AM
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I'm so grateful for Knitters Review--for the forums and the newsletter. Moreover, I'm grateful for the true, wonderful friends I've made here. Our little exchanges here hold me over between festivals and retreats and quick little weekend trips together. Knitting is a wonderful pursuit, but it's greatest gift is the fantastic people it has brought me in contact with.
I'm grateful that when my paying job and my technological tools fall apart or drive me mad or seem impenetrably difficult, I have the reasonable, solvable equations of knitting and fiber to relax or thrill me. I'm particularly grateful that sweaters and socks don't crash, and aren't subject to viruses, and that user errors in knitting are relatively easy to fix and generally leave the content of the thing just as lovely and whole as when it was first skeined up.
I'm grateful that my non-knitting, non-spinning, non-sewing friends and family are so supportive of my avocations.
See proof of insanity: http://crazylanea.com/
Read my audiobook reviews: http://booksforears.com/
Buy handmade sock knitting bags: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5031570
Join the KR Webring: http://www.crazylanea.com/fiberarts/2006/07/the_knitters_re.html
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PBELKNAP
Permanent Resident
USA
1127 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 11:49:51 AM
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I'm grateful for all my knitting/crocheting-related gifts for Christmas, including (and especially) Clara's book!
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WIP = Socks (k). Done this year = Shadow Jacket (c), Snowflake Sweater (k), Round Ripple (c), Socks (k - 3 pairs), Cot'n Corn Eyelet Rib Top (k), Crochet Hook Bag (Double Crochet), Charity Squares (k), Armenius Sweater (k), Brown Sweater (k), Entrelac Scarf (tunisian crochet), DROPS Crochet Cardigan (croc), Hourglass Sweater (k), Victorian Christmas Rug (c), WWII Museum Scarf (c), Shawl (c), Red Heart WomanHeart Scarf (c).
Twitter Name = WildKnitter
If I could only do this for a living... |
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2totangle
Permanent Resident
1212 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 1:52:01 PM
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I'm echoing much of what's already been said, but I do want to jump in to add my thanks to all of you, with a special nod of the needles to Clara. You all teach me on a daily basis, not just about knitting, but about a whole host of personal, cultural, and other issues. I love the vibrant mix of voices here and the good humor, civility, sympathy, and generosity of so many creative people. Here's to another year of this wonderful forum and especially all the individual people who make it so.
Suzanne
Flickr pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/2totangle/
Ravelry project page: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/2totangle |
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rosir
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
430 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 2:58:28 PM
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What Clara and Jane said. It's also been a delight to watch someone with the best intentions and no pretensions, reach for the knitting stars, albeit with hard work and sacrifice. How lovely to see Clara gaining recognition among the "knitterati".
Rosi |
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queen of the east
Seriously Hooked
Canada
877 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 3:50:12 PM
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I too am grateful for Clara making this space for all of us, KR is a very important place for me to come to. This is where I can relax for a bit, have a laugh or two,learn something, assist another knitter and learn what is new in the wonderful world of handknitting.
I am greatful to Rowan Yarns, they gave us KidSilk Haze. When I feel blue I pull out my stash bag of KidSilk, I take all of the balls out of the bag and play with them for a while. Sometimes I even knit with it. I always fell better after playtime with KSH.
I am grateful to the knitters who discovered that making holes in knitting can produce beautiful lace. While I rarely make resolutions, this year I have resolved to knit even more lace. Some of the lace projects I have been wanting to knit will have their time this year, the Unst stole, the Lilac Leaf stole from Nacy Bush's book on Estonian lace (yes, I am very grateful for Nancy Bush) and a two colour Orenburg shawl.
I am also extremely grateful to my physio therapist, thanks to Dan I can continue to knit.
Ann in Montreal
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Ceil
Permanent Resident
USA
1562 Posts |
Posted - 12/29/2009 : 8:58:43 PM
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I am grateful for the people here, a genuinely congenial bunch! It's great to get an answer to a question, and it feels good when I can answer someone else's question. This place feels small enough, too, where we can get to know each other a little.
Ceil
Time is never a factor when joy is involved. |
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NutmegOwl
Gabber Extraordinaire
561 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 08:13:36 AM
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I've been lurking on the forums nearly since their inception, but in 2009, this place of Clara's became my touchstone. It gave me my cyber-sister, Luann, who seems to always be thinking of me (the simple fact of which brings me to tears often). It gave me lots of honorary aunts for my Darling Bebe who clamor for photos.
I am grateful to all the designers who realized in 2009 that a luxurious one-skein project can be as satisfying as a complicated garment; and those who have graciously allowed me to use their patterns in classes to empower other knitters with new skills.
And I am grateful for all the small animal operations who have assumed the risk to provide their small batches of glorious fiber at festivals to knitters like me who appreciate them and only hope we can do them justice.
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Nutmeg Owl
Quaecumque sunt vera
http://www.owlwaysknitting.wordpress.com |
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Shelia
Permanent Resident
USA
2315 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 08:27:30 AM
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Funny, I was just sitting down this morning and thinking about the year and all that has happened, and up pops this topic.
I have had a wonderful year, thanks in no small part to all of my friends met through KR, and because of knitting and spinning. I wish everyone here could be transported to the Retreat for a few minutes so that I could meet everyone in person, but I'm happy and grateful that there is a Retreat, and there is Maryland and Rhinebeck, so that I know and recognize so many from here.
I'm grateful for my husband, my farm, my studio and my animals, who also play a part in creating the personal world that I am so grateful to have around me. I'm grateful for the Internet, which makes it possible for me to be here in my own perfect place but still so close to so many of the people I love.
Lastly, I'm grateful for health, mine and that of my friends and family; and for their continuing caring thoughts, actions and support for me - I couldn't have made it through a few of the days and weeks this past year otherwise.
Shelia
www.letstalkstash.blogspot.com
ravelry name - sheliaknits |
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Solaris
Permanent Resident
Canada
4156 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 10:10:00 AM
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I am grateful for KR and everything it encompasses. If it wasn't for KR, I probably wouldn't be knitting (and even crocheting) much at all. And if I wouldn't be knitting (or even crocheting), I probably would be an emotional/psychological mess. Besides satisfying my creative appetite, and cravings for all sorts of yarns, knitting helps me get through the tough times in life, and this year, I had to rely on it A LOT. I also thank God that I am even able to knit and crochet.
______________________________________________
Lets be kind to one another.
My blog: http://solaris-eaglefeathers.blogspot.com/ |
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PBELKNAP
Permanent Resident
USA
1127 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 10:57:56 AM
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I'm also grateful for all the help you've all given me over the years...when I first started on here, I was a relatively new knitter. It was so nice to ask questions and have you all help out -- without the snotty attitude I was encountering at our LYS (since then, thankfully, I've found a better LYS). I've learned so much from you all...Thank You!
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WIP = Socks (k). Done this year = Shadow Jacket (c), Snowflake Sweater (k), Round Ripple (c), Socks (k - 3 pairs), Cot'n Corn Eyelet Rib Top (k), Crochet Hook Bag (Double Crochet), Charity Squares (k), Armenius Sweater (k), Brown Sweater (k), Entrelac Scarf (tunisian crochet), DROPS Crochet Cardigan (croc), Hourglass Sweater (k), Victorian Christmas Rug (c), WWII Museum Scarf (c), Shawl (c), Red Heart WomanHeart Scarf (c).
Twitter Name = WildKnitter
If I could only do this for a living... |
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Catlover
Gabber Extraordinaire
370 Posts |
Posted - 12/30/2009 : 11:26:01 AM
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| Everyone else has already said it so well that it's hard to know what to add. I am grateful though for having put most of my medical problems behind me. That means I am now able to knit more than I could. I'm also grateful for all the yarn I received as gifts for Christmas and also earlier in the year. There's a lot of wonderful knitting possibilities ahead. |
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KnittingKittens
Chatty Knitter
USA
161 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 04:45:35 AM
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I am grateful for: Knitters Review and all the hard work from Clara and the elves that go into making this spot one of my favorite places--we don't even need a passport! I am grateful for all the warm friendly knitters I have met and continue to meet. I am grateful for my hands which can create something from sticks and string. I am grateful for my family.
I wish us all a Happy and healthy New Year! |
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Marie
Chatty Knitter
347 Posts |
Posted - 12/31/2009 : 04:58:47 AM
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| I'm grateful for the "pause, reflect, create" component that knitting brings me, and for the connections with like-minded kinfolk it has fostered. It would be so easy for life to pass in a blur of busy-ness without either. Happy new year to all. |
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Knitting gratitudes in 2009
