Blogiversary!

And what a year it has been! I didn’t realize until a few days ago that my initial post was on Firstborn’s birthday. [Happy Birthday, Sweetie!] They were still living in Florida at that point and making plans to move back to the Lone Star State.

I was dealing with Katrina refugees upstairs; they were letting the good times roll 24/7. And management was fixin’ to kick them out.

I had not met Brother Abacus; my heart and my leg were yet unbroken. Both are fine again, thank-you-very-much.

I was just getting to know my Sisters of the Wool and gathering the courage for my first pair of socks.

BittyBit was remembering me from one visit to the next, lurching about on tiptoe, and formulating her first earnest but unintelligible sentences.

And now I read something like four dozen blogs a day, and post several times a week, most weeks, and listen to the KnitPicks podcast, and borrow audiobooks from the library.

My stash is growing, my repertoire of cast-ons and bind-offs is growing, my impatience with apartment management is growing, and I’m seriously thinking of buying a house *before* LittleBit graduates high school, rather than after. Three small bedrooms are all I ask: one for me, one for her, and one for an impeccably organized studio. Oh, and a kitchen that I can eventually remodel to incorporate a Viking stove and a freezer and a refrigerator big enough for tribal feasts.

Secondborn’s husband is a real estate appraiser, and he’s been deputized to look for fixer-uppers within three particular local ward boundaries. [I love the ward I live in now; I also like my best friend’s ward and the one where Firstborn and her hubby live. I want to stay in this school district so that LittleBit can graduate from her present high school.] He and Firstborn’s husband have volunteered to help with any repairs that need to be made.

What I’m hoping for is a repo that has a solid foundation, good roof, working plumbing and AC. I can pull up carpet, replace sheetrock with some help from the guys, and I love to paint. I would like to take an eyesore and restore its dignity, sell it in a few years, and buy or build a Craftsman-style cottage.

Here are the promised pictures of the yarn for MS3 and the beads. Top to bottom: KnitPicks Shadow in “Lost Lake”; Mill Hill 8/0 Glass Beads, color #18831; KnitPicks Alpaca Cloud in “Moss”.



And an extremely fuzzy close-up of the beads, to give you an impression of the “peacock” effect.



I know that MS3 specifies dark beads with light yarn, and vice versa. At the moment, I'm not sure which yarn I'll use; both are luscious, and the beads work with either.

When we were having our second Knit Night last week [a/k/a “Woohoo! Jo’s Here” Night], Jeri came over to meet my new yarn. She looked at the yarn, and then at me, and commented in a slightly puzzled tone on the sudden influx of green into my stash.

I can’t explain it. My personality is anything but subdued. My car is red. My tote bag is red. My planner is red. My nails and my lips are red. My kitchen is red. My closet is red and fuchsia and turquoise and plum and that bright marigold I adore, and lots of black, and an increasing amount of greens and browns and pale banana yellows.

It’s more than the simple fact that these new colors are what’s available where I shop for my clothing. There is just something about them that I find appealing. I'm wondering if this is a visual manifestation of readiness to move into a new phase of life? A home-owning phase of life?

I met the manager of a new apartment complex on Saturday; the daughter of one of my dear friends lives there. And that might be where I need to live, in the interim. But part of me is thinking, Umm, no, *house*.

When I drove home from church yesterday, I suddenly realized that I was noticing how certain houses were landscaped and thinking, “I could do that.”

We’ll see.