Adventures in 2011

When I last posted here, I had no idea four weeks could go by so quickly. In that span of time my sister gave birth to a tiny baby girl, I met up with my favorite knitting groups for our holiday parties, spent about two weeks in baking cookies (that is one biiiiiig post), and had time to reflect on what has happened throughout the year. To simplify the giant sludge of information that is in my brain, I decided to break everything down into topics.

Family
I left one family two years ago and became a member of another this year. Never have I ever been happier, and I have learned to appreciate the family members who truly appreciate you back. Welcoming my new niece into the family was a special event. It was elating in hearing my sister ask me to make the Mewing One a hat because she was so tiny. My heart just sang at that request! Though 2011 leaves one red mark of hurtful truth, it also leaves me in a blissful state of my future with my lifetime BFF. Christopher is my world and I am the hoppiest bunny in the world because of him. He loves that I love to cook and bake for him, and I do it in earnest. In my eyes, he and my bunnies ARE my immediate family. As for my fiber stash being a dowry, it depends on which items are not tagged with “colddeadhands” on Ravelry. 😉

Bunny Loves
Losing Augustus Gloop Caesar in 2010 was devastating, but losing both Sweet Pea in February and Rowan in July was just plain horrible. Not a day passes with my looking at Christopher and saying (imagine in a sumo wrestler’s voice) “Hai… Sweet Pea Hai…” in what we fondly recall as SP’s way of greeting us whenever he saw us. When I stayed in my apartment for that final weekend, I kept thinking Sweet Pea would appear at my feet. Moving out of that place was best for me because I would have never let go of the pain in not being there when he died. Maybe that is why I felt so terrible about Rowan’s death. Rowan’s death was so sudden, and I kept blaming myself for it by asking “Why?” and “What if I…” over and over. It has inspired me to do something I have not been able to do in a long time. Beginning next week, I will be at the Virginia Rabbit Rescue in Chesapeake. I will be taking care of the unwanted rabbits at this amazing shelter during the weekdays and hopefully my own kiddos will not hate me for smelling like other bunnies when I get home. (They can be sooooo territorial over us humans!)

Friends
If it were not for the internet, I could have never ventured into the past two years. I left New England knowing that I would have the online support of my friends to back me up. In doing so, I made more friends and met more wonderful people than I ever dreamed. For all the friends I made, I also found adversaries. Possibilities for failures and opportunities can appear out of nowhere. Whether the people you meet become friends or adversaries is not always your choice. I discovered that no matter how genuinely nice I was to certain folks, they always wanted my head on a platter. Their attitudes created a tense environment, and I am deeply grateful to those friends who knew what was going on and helped to cheer me up. While I am assisting fibery friends succeed by improving their online presence, I hope to encourage others to keep playing with yarn and technology as much as I do!

My 3 Words for 2011
When I stated I was going to be following the words “Genuine, Solidarity, and Forgiveness” I truly meant it. However I quickly discovered that I could not be genuine because I was not allowed to say the truth in a lot of things (two examples: bad LYS experiences and bad pattern/yarn experiences in trying to turn WIPs into FOs). It is a sobering moment when you are told you were hired to be a shill. As for solidarity, I did my best in sharing news and tidbits that were just plain good, and not marketing or money-making driven. Pinterest has been a wonderful way of doing that. Whenever I find useful information, I share it for everyone’s benefit. I mean, why not? Forgiveness was actually easier than I thought. I released the pain from being hurt in the past by using my hat-making skills. Doing so kept my heart and soul fresh while I was repeating the therapeutic words, “I forgive you” as I knit each stitch. I have no idea which three words I will follow this year, but I should figure them out by the end of next week. After all I have a whole year to live up to them, right?

Here’s to the best of our dreams and hopes to everybunny in our New Year of 2012! =:8