Resolutions?

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Apple Basket!

I have been quiet here for a while; at first because of frantic pre-Christmas knitting, and later due to pondering how to proceed with this blog.

I started blogging about a year and a half ago, mainly to get my brain into gear again after a stress-induced depression. Thinking about and writing essays kept me going and gave me an outlet for, well, scholarly urges.

Since then, though, I have started working again, giving me plenty of opportunity to be scholarly, and I have joined several writing groups on LinkedIn, including two monthly microstory competitions. All this gave me the courage to enter NaNoWriMo – and write 50,000 words on the sci-fi novel I had been planning for years.

During November, then, I ignored the blog – guiltily at first – in favour of novel writing. Over time I realised I have come to prefer writing fiction to rambling on about my life. Fiction is much more interesting, anyway.

So, all in all, the premises for the blog have changed, and so the blog itself has to change. I may continue posting once a week, skipping weeks when too much else is going on, and perhaps mainly writing about knitting. And writing. I am even considering splitting the blog, keeping this page for knitting-related chat, and making a new one for writing-related chat.

If I do, there will be a post and a link.

And as you can see in the sidebar, I now have a Twitter account: a new way to practice formulating concise statements.

But let's get on to the important matters: 

The Knitting

First, the Christmas presents:

For my mum: Armada by MMario

Laura in Primrose

For my dad: Foot Hugger Socks

For Emil: Mini Me (a smaller version of V for Victor)

For Emil: Sea Star by Hansi Singh in orange (favourite colour)

My sister's Hands of Blue; I also made myself a pair, so we can be Two by two

Laura and her doll wearing Comfort shawls by Laura Ricketts

On 24^th December, a knit-along began in the aplayfulday group on Ravelry, making projects designed by Carol Feller. I cast on for an Iced cardigan in Aran weight cotton.

Inspired by the hexipuffs I made in November for the Great Ormond Street beekeeper project, I decided to challenge myself to making a hexiflat (non-stuffed) a day in 2014. So far, I’m doing fine – I have made 5 and am not bored yet.

It’s a way, of course, to use up scraps and leftovers of sock yarn, all those little bits that could be made into stripy socks, if it didn’t mean having to weave in a million ends. With the hexiflats, the ends are just pulled inside and left there.

And next month, in February, the Winter Ravellenic Games 2014 take place, concurrently with some sports event or other somewhere in Russia.

I joined Team Sherlocked as well as Team TARDIS, intending to knit a blue cardigan for the other and something for the one.

This ‘something’ is going to be rainbow-coloured due to the well-known controversy over Russia’s attitude towards gay rights.

Just as a f*** you to Putin and his gang.

In the whole context of gender queerness, I am fairly boring: a female in a woman’s body, formerly married to a man – won’t be doing that again, though – and personally not very interested.

In principle, though, I believe everybody is entitled to their preferences and to do whatever they want with whomever they want, as long as everybody involved wants to be involved and nobody gets hurt. And it’s nobody else’s business.

And I am perfectly aware that knitting something rainbow-coloured, and even wearing it in public, is not particularly brave, as it involves no risk to me.

But I can knit rainbows in February and make it a statement of support for everybody’s right to be themselves.

And with this, I wish you all a happy and fruitful 2014.