A Whole New Year

I tried to take a pretty picture of things that represented my New Year, but it wouldn't turn out. I'm not much of a photographer, but I prefer to blame my camera. Imagine a lovely green bottle of champagne, with a champagne flute of bubbly next to it next to a playbill and my cell phone.

I was only invited to one New Year's "party" and it was described to me as "sitting around playing cards". I thought I could do better, so I bought (expensive) tickets to the Cincinnati Symphony concert. It was ok, but I will get cheaper seats next time (I was surrounded by persons at least twice my age, who probably were suspicious of the single-ticket-holder.) Also a significant part of the program was organized by a student at one of the local schools, and while it was nice, it wasn't that great. He did Gene Kelly's "Dancin' in the Rain" routine from the movie, and it just reminded me how good Gene Kelly was.

During the finale, my cell phone buzzed, and it was Gwen, who was remembering New Year's Eves Past and thinking of me. I'm so glad, because I was doing the same thing, except thinking of her, of course. I checked out the local public party, which was a bust (no people, no closed streets, nothing) and went home to call Gwen back. She wished me a Happy New Year when my clock turned 12:00 and I stayed up to do the same for her. I would have rather been at a good party with her, but it was certainly preferable to the alternative.

And now, for the knitting content:

Progress continues on the sweater I bought last time I was in St. Louis:

I got a lot done in Seattle, and it's relatively simple, so it's progressing well.

[I just tried to link to my original post about this sweater, including a picture of the pattern and the beginning of the back, and apparently I never posted that picture. And I deleted it thinking I had. No wonder Gwen didn't know what I was talking about when I mentioned it last night. I am a dork. Here is a picture of the predicted finished product: ]

And this is the sock I worked on in Seattle:

It's Mountain Colors Bearfoot, and I'm using a simple pattern from Nancy Bush's Vintage Socks book. So far, so good. I got a lot done watching movies on the plane between the coasts. The picture doesn't do it justice. I blame my camera.