May Our Best Day of 2019, Be Our Worst Day of 2020

For quite a while now, when the calendar pages dwindle to its last few leaves, I've used the quiet of the season to choose a Word of the Year to serve as my personal motto throughout the upcoming year ... When things get hectic, or I feel I've been pulled off course, I can look back at the word I chose (or the one that chose me) and remember how I intended to navigate the months, how I wanted to feel, and in what ways I wanted to move through life.  The year of our Lord, two-thousand and nineteen was my Year of YES, which looked an awful lot like a year of NO. I guess that's what "they" mean by: Saying no to others is oftentimes saying yes to yourself.  It wasn't really a me versus them sort of thing, though, it was more about accepting what is for any given moment, and not forcing myself to do anything, or be anyone, or go anywhere that didn't feel right, or healthy.  If I was sick, I allowed myself to be sick.  If too many opportunities (or those without enough notice) came my way, I declined them.  I had no desire to force myself to perform, or say yes to everything for the sake of saying yes.  I wasn't interested in pushing my body to do more than it could handle, and likewise I wasn't going to stress myself out by over-committing to projects that would've had countless (unnecessary) deadlines dangling over my head...

As I sat on the floor in front of the fireplace coming up with my word last December, I envisioned my Year of YES going a bit differently, but I am more than comfortable closing out the decade with this vibe. 

Let Me Be Frank

Francis Hamilton Spon age 70

This time of year often finds me casually browsing the ol' family tree.  As the year winds down, and time seems to move a little more slowly it's nice to catch up with some familiar (and not so familiar) faces.  Above, is a photograph from 1900 taken at the Bushnell studio in North Yakima, Washington of a 70 year old Francis Hamilton Spon, or Frank H. Spon as he's typically identified.  When I bought the photograph from a book dealer out of California, Barry Cassidy Rare Books, it was delivered with a little sheet attached that, at some point, had been inconveniently trimmed, but appears to be a document someone typed up with Frank's census information that we can cross check with his life story, and some official documents that record his whereabouts.  It's important to remember we are talking about the Wild West at this point, and while I'm not as familiar as I should be with territorial record-keeping for this time frame, there was a solid attempt to keep track of the population, however I am aware of fires that wiped out a lot of history, and records for this period, so we just kind of have to be happy with what we get.  Parentheses below are my own:

(1863) Yakima Co, WT. Spon, Francis H. 34 NY, carpenter
(1872) Yakima Co, WA Spon, Francis H. 43 NY, farmer, wife Minerva J. (Chambers?), dau. Minerva A. 4 WT; dau. Adelia M. 3 WT; son Frank J. 1 WT.
(1878) Yakima Co, WT, Spon, Frank 49 NY stockman, M.J. fem., 27 WT; W.
Max 8 WT; Frank 6 WT; Thomas 3 WT.
(1880) Yakima Co, WT, Spon, F.H. 51 NY; F.J. 28 WT; M.A. 12 WT; A.M. 10...; ...k 8 WT; Fanny 5 WT.
(1900) Ahtanum, Yakima Co, WA, Spon Frank H. 70, b. Dec 1829 NY, ... Germany, farmer, divorced.
(1910) Ahtanum, Yakima Co, WA, Spon Frank H. 81 NY, retired
("Kamia)kin, the Last Hero of the Yakimas", By A.J. Splawn, page 267;

Burn Brightly

Be someone's candle in the window; light their path and show them the way home.

Stille Nacht

DEADLINE EXTENDED!!!

Join Pat's Twitch channel tomorrow (December 18, 2019) starting at 12 PM CST for the FOURTEEN HOUR live-stream after-party event where donations will continue to be accepted until Midnight PST.  Read more about the mayhem here, and I hope to see you all there!

*** 

I've had many silent nights to ponder the state of the world lately, and feel that we need to be lending a helping hand to one another more now than we've been willing to acknowledge in recent years.  Five years in, I've taken a few moments each Winter to hype Pat Rothfuss' Worldbuilders charity, and this year is no different.  We're currently barreling down the tracks to the final day of this fundraiser on behalf of Heifer International, and even though (in the past) the charity has almost always been extended, I would not take my chances waiting for that announcement.  If you would like the opportunity to win prizes in the lottery, or bid on something you fancy in one of the auctions, or help a team meet their stretch goals, now is the time to get your donations in.  "But, isn't this the season of giving - why are we talking about all the things we could be getting??" You may be asking ... Yes!  This is the season of giving, but Geekerati, geek-centric, and geek-adjacent companies from around the world have come together and donated tangible items in the form of books, games, experiences (think, Caribbean cruises / writing mentorships), art, apparel, accessories, trinkets and keepsakes, and one very special book that keeps being donated back to the charity, not because we're all cynical and believe people won't help other folks from the goodness of their hearts, but to make it more fun.  Why aren't we trying to make more things in life fun, is the more appropriate question, I think.  If you'd like to join in, every $10 gets you one entry into the lottery, and a warm and fuzzy feeling to carry with you throughout the new year!

If you're curious about my previous posts on the topic, you can read them here, here, here, here, and here.  And as always, if you're strapped for cash or too young to participate, please do not underestimate the value of spreading the word, your voice can make a strong impact, so don't be afraid to make some noise!  Also, this charity is open to folks worldwide, so if you're worried that donations made from outside of the country won't go through, they will, and you are eligible to win prizes as well.

Wherever you are, take care of each other out there!

xoxo

I See Your True Colors

Fall / Winter 2019 - 2020

"As a form of cultural expression, fashion always reflects the deepest concerns of society.  But unlike literature, music or art, fashion communicates indirectly -- employing a language and a logic of its own.  Fashion's power, to capture the present and even to predict the future, is only revealed with the passage of time."

-Lourdes M. Font, Ph.D.

Here's Lookin' at You, Kid

If you see a spider on Halloween night, it means that the spirit of a dead loved one is watching over you.

-Medieval Superstition

Fathoms

Earlier in the year, this piece was published on J.G. Lewis' website: Mythos and Marginalia during his Where We Are project. Fall has always been a time of renewal for me, so it feels fitting to share it once more.  Enjoy!

Photograph Courtesy of J.G. Lewis

A fresh, new year is finally upon us!  I know a lot of us have spent the dwindling days of the previous year ruminating on our lives and loves, and for some, even love-lives; we take stock of where we are, and look ahead with hopeful eyes—Hopeful that this year will be better than the last, hopeful that we've learned the lessons we were supposed to learn, and hopeful that we'll be strong enough to face whatever comes.  It's a time for intentions, and a time to let our day-dreaming hearts run wild across three hundred sixty-five empty spaces longing for the color of life to be splashed across them.  But more than organizing the year ahead, and making resolutions we'll break by mid-January, it's the perfect time to recognize that where we are at any given moment, isn't actually a place that we are forced to stay.

The truth about nature is that it's much more fluid than we're often conditioned to believe, and as disconnected as we may think we've become, we can't ever truly be apart from it, therefore our lives, our understanding, how we relate to ourselves and one another, and all things human are also a lot less rigid than we have convinced ourselves that it all is.  And so it is, we're never absolutely stuck anywhere.  I don't mean physically ... Of course, there can be circumstances in the material world beyond our control that limit the action some people would prefer to take, and it reeks of ableism to pretend otherwise.  No, I'm talking stuck in one attitude, stuck in one's thoughts, stuck in unhealthy relationships, stuck at a soul-crushing job, stuck with a cramped perspective, that kind of stuck, the one that doesn't always necessarily depend on a person's geography.  A lot of these things can feel pretty permanent at one time or another, and frankly, we're met with enough well-intended adages, and mixed messages that make it seem that way, but it doesn't have to be so.  And just like in nature, a little nudge can improve your immediate circumstances significantly.  Rainstorms are natural, but you don't have to stand in them getting drenched when there's a massive tree to duck under, or a welcoming cave ready to shelter you.  Those options are both "natural" as well, but it takes a little bit of work (albeit, minimal effort) to connect the dots, consider the benefits, and act on it.  There is nothing enlightened about sitting around waiting for divine intervention to fix things that we are more than capable of handling on our own, yet we let ourselves get so insecure about the decisions we make, we allow ourselves to lose touch with our true essence, and can easily find ourselves trudging along in these unfulfilling, shallow existences so completely preoccupied with the wrong things that we're oftentimes clueless as to how we even got here in the first place.  What's especially sad is that, even though it's conceivably wholly temporary, this lack of depth pervades every aspect of our lives.

Matt Kahn tells us, “Despite how open, peaceful, and loving you attempt to be, people can only meet you, as deeply as they've met themselves.”  That's how folks are meeting you, that's how you're meeting them, and it's how all of us are showing up and greeting the world.  It's all a choice, however, we can decide at any moment if we're splashing around in the paddling pool, to take a lesson, get stronger, and move to the deep end.  Perhaps you slide in as effortlessly glamorous as Esther Williams, but if you don't, there's no shame in needing a life vest, water wings, goggles, or a nose plug, and it's not important if you arrive flailing, and sputtering, the point is that you're willing to do the work.  You may, indeed, lose touch with those who prefer stomping aimlessly through mud puddles, but you'll find yourself swimming toward the person you're meant to be, engulfed in purpose, and creating ripples that affect everyone around you.

Cottage Conservatory

Black Eyed Angels - Delphinium

When I first started gardening on my own as an adult (especially with heirloom varieties) I was interested in seed saving, but kept coming up low on info, and images to walk me through the process for some of my favorite plants.  I mean, I know it's all pretty straight forward; wait for the petals to fall off, pods of some sort to form, and eventually dry out, but I wanted to know what I should be looking for, and when to clip & collect seed pods - whether to wait for them to open on their own, or catch them right before.  So.  Necessity being the mother of invention, I patiently observed what was happening in my garden, and found a method for a couple of my early bloomers that has been successful thus far.

We Want You! We Want You!

We want you as a new recruit!

Deadline for application: July 25, 2019

Well, not "me" we ... I don't actually have anything to do with it, except for spreading the word, really.  Anway, that writer guy, Pat Rothfuss, is looking for a business manager to handle daily minutiae so he can get back to focusing on the things he does best, like ... creative minutiae.  So hop over here, and read the job listing, and if you happen to be an expert at a little bit of everything, you should totally apply by sending your cover letter and resume to jobs(@)patrothfuss.com!  I know a couple of people already who could fill the bill, but it should be noted this is NOT a remote position, applicants need to be in the greater Stevens Point, Wisconsin area, or willing to relocate (I hear it's quite a lovely place).

This is such a great opportunity for the Jack/Jill of all trades, or anyone looking for a fresh start in a new career, or even just a change of scenery.  They are asking for serious candidates only, so if you're in a place where you're half-jokingly just throwing resumes at walls to see what sticks, sit this one out, but if you're really ready for something new, go get 'em, Tiger.

Good luck!

If You Like Piña Coladas

In my neck of the woods, there has been a steady Summer rain falling for the entirety of this balmy National Piña Colada Day, and I can't help but think, somewhere, Rupert Holmes is very pleased.  With that, I give you my personal piña colada smoothie recipe —

Here's what you need:

4 Cups frozen pineapple chunks

3-6 bananas chunked & frozen

1 Cup full-fat canned coconut milk

1 Cup filtered water

1/4 Cup pure, organic maple syrup

1/2 lime juiced

1" knob grated ginger root

1Tablespoon unsweetened organic shredded coconut

Here's what you do:
In a 72 oz sturdy blender place pineapple chunks around the bottom, and fill the pitcher the rest of the way with pieces of frozen banana (Tip: when you freeze bananas you'll want to peel them, and chunk or cut them up first, then bag and freeze).  Throw in the rest of your ingredients, and blend the hell out of it (you may need to stop a few times in order to scrape the sides of your blender's pitcher).  That's it!  If you'd like to enjoy this as a dairy-free "nice cream" option, transfer your mixture to a freezer-safe container, and freeze for 2-4 hours before serving.

This is an incredibly easy, but delicious, and festive concoction to have at Summer gatherings, and is a perfect alcohol-free option that can accommodate a good swath of guests, and their needs without singling folks out, and excluding them from the fare.

Happy sipping!

Say What?

"They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?"

-Diana, Princess of Wales

Can I Take Your Temperature?

'Cause you're lookin' HOT today!

I don't know about you guys, but my Summer got off to a rocky start, miraculously however, the temperature blanket is still in full swing.  I think I've been clutching it like a life-ring; as if getting each day's color on it will bring some semblance of order to chaos, and do a minor task like hold the entire universe together ... Or something.

In this moment it feels pretty marvelous to be able to come up for air after losing the larger portion of both April and May flattened by back-to-back viruses (or a cold + relapse, or some damn thing) which unceremoniously rolled into a month-long Facebook fast (that actually feels a m a z i n g, to be honest), with a good old fashioned tech flub thrown in for good measure.  Incidentally, did you know that when you upgrade your iPhone, you have to flip the little "messages" toggle to the "off" position in settings so that your new iMessages aren't sent to your old phone that's lying dead in a desk drawer for a month?  Oh, it's just me who had to Google that?  Super.  I'm now officially time-to-have-kids-so-they-can-explain-your-own-tech-to-you years old.

What's so irritating is that I thought I had everything all set up, but when I signed into a streaming app to try out a little adapter (the third one that didn't work because it didn't have audio capabilities like the description SAID it would!) for my clock-radio that keeps my office-space full of fresh tunes ... The one I refuse to junk simply because newer models are available--

Do you remember when people would keep their stereos, and all sorts of sound equipment for, like, decades?  Or even when parents would give their kids an old set, and all you had to do was upgrade the speakers if you wanted it to bump with a little more bass than the Perry Como records used to in your living room?  I miss that.  I also only buy things I really like, and refuse to throw them out by virtue of companies that make billions of dollars per year telling me I should buy the next new thing.  It doubly grinds my gears when they stop selling the parts, and adapters that let you fiddle with your gadgets, and make them work with newer components - there was an entire industry, and chains of stores dedicated to this very thing for the majority of my life, and now we're all just supposed to let our perfectly functioning small appliances wash up on some beach kids are trying to play on because Some Company decided to change the shape of the ports on their devices?  That's a negative, Ghost Rider.

End. Of. Digression.

Anyway, when you log into an app from an old device (and you haven't toggled your messages to "off") you run the risk of having all of your iMessages moving forward, rerouted back to that phone.  Allegedly, there was a notice that was supposed to accompany this switch-a-roo, but I don't remember such a thing ... Which means, I either swatted it away (because who just reads EVERY notice on their smartphone anyway?) or this all happened during a fever-dream, and I never noticed it.  These are both equally likely to have happened.

At any rate, if it's possible to simultaneously exist in a state of refreshed + flustered I think that's my current location.  And really, my mellow is only being harshed because I don't want folks to be thinking I'm out here just giving them the cold shoulder ... I mean, I'm pretty aloof as it is, but that's a new level (even for me)!

The good news is, with me finally mending up, and things being so quiet around here, I've been able to explore some ideas, and finish some old projects.  So, if that's the sort of thing you're into, and hanging around here for, look for some new to-do's, how-to's, and diy's coming a little later.  Also, if you haven't heard from your people in a while, charge up, and check any devices rattling around an old junk drawer just in case! 

xoxo

Ostara Calling

Fuchsia Chickadees

On a shortlist of the top three things that performed the best in my garden last year, two of them were a nest of birds, and a few wascally wabbits that hunkered down in the roots of my peppermint plant.  It's safe to say that my garden soil is thoroughly depleted at this point, so I'm spending the first few weeks of Spring looking for ways to bring abundance back to my veggie patch!

Peppermint Patch Bunnies

Ever the optimist, I'm still starting a hefty batch of garden seed indoors this year, mainly so my fine feathered friends don't throw a block party, and pick everything out of my beds before anything has a chance to sprout, but also because I'm hopeful I'll find the right trick to revive my jungle.  I'll report back when I've found the correct formula ... Until then, happy planning & planting!

xoxo

Chilling Out

Or is that thawing out?  Well, if it's March in the PNW it's both, and everything in between, which inspired my latest batch of chia seed pudding.

Part One

Here's what you need:
3T dried peppermint leaves
2 c boiling water
Here's what you do:
Combine, and steep until cool.
Part Two
Here's what you need:
2 c full-fat coconut milk
2 c peppermint tea (above)
3/4 c coconut shreds
1/2 c chia seeds
2 1/2 T pure, organic maple syrup
1 tsp organic vanilla extract
Pinch of pink Himalayan salt
Here's what you do:
If using canned coconut milk, empty 2 cans into a small dish or glass measuring cup, and whisk to ensure the milk has not separated due to cool temperatures.  Once smooth, combine 2 cups of coconut milk with 1 cup peppermint tea, and shredded coconut in a blender, and whip on high until the mixture is fully incorporated.  Pour back into your glass measuring cup, and set aside.

In your newly freed up blender, pour in the other cup of peppermint tea, and add maple syrup, vanilla, and salt.  Mix until fully incorporated, and empty into a large mixing bowl, whisk in chia seeds, pour in coconut milk, and whisk once more.  Cover and place in the refrigerator for an hour (or overnight).  After the mixture is chilled, and all set up, whisk by hand one more time before spooning into dishes.  Serve immediately.

What I love about this treat aside from how fast it is to make (aside from the chilling part) is how it combines the warming flavors of summer like coconut, and vanilla with a whisper of winter with peppermint lingering in the background.  This is not a recipe that screams "PePpeRmInt!" It's delicate, and refreshing, and what's even better is that it can be frozen into a "nicecream" form if you prefer that texture to the more custard-like state of chia seed pudding.

Bon appétit!

Baby, Baby, How Was I Supposed to Know ...

FTC Affiliate Disclosure

... The stork was on the way here?  

"Special Stork"

With Basic Invite's selection of chic baby shower invitations, and announcements, of course!  This utterly charming online stationery boutique has got every major bash, ceremony, and holiday covered.  More personal than an email blast that ends up in a spam folder and automatically deleted before you even get a chance to open it, or events that fall to the bottom of our newsfeeds, these beautifully designed, and remarkably customizable pieces of ephemera convey the sentimental significance of your celebrations, and let recipients know you truly want them to be part of any upcoming merrymaking you have planned.  Beyond delightful paper products, Basic Invite's services (especially those for weddings) like free web page hosting, and address capturing which allows you to use social media to collect addresses that will be stored in your Basic Invite account that you may access during the design process will ensure your friends, and loved ones will never be caught unawares, or worse, sent on a digital scavenger hunt to find notices that have slipped into the endless void.

Still, why all the hype?

First of all (or should I say, "finally"), Spring is right around the corner, and now that we're all beginning to thaw out, and emerge from the post-holiday slump it's the perfect time to start planning baby showers for all of our expectant cohorts ... Remember those early Summer weddings we all attended last year?  Well, some folks brought back honeymoon souvenirs— the kind that, while ultimately expensive, were not required to be declared at customs, that they'd like to welcome into our lives with festivities of all sorts, and what better way to communicate, and commemorate the moment than with an enchanting, keepsake quality token of your special day printed on FSC certified paper so that there's still an environment left to protect once these children are old enough to plan their own celebratory occasions?

Airplane Baby Shower Invitations

Along with "baby season" quickly approaching, I am still very much an analog girl in a digital world in many ways, and I appreciate how Basic Invite marries technological convenience with a refinement commonly demonstrated by the highly-skilled artisanal crowd to create next level tangible goods.  So, when they reached out about the possibility of me chatting with you about their products I took a long look around, and folks, I think I'm in love.  You don't see me running a lot of ads on this page; I have one tab where readers can find items, and companies I use and stand by, you'll also see the occasional link to something I think you should know about dropped into an odd post, but I'm not a throw anything at the audience, and see what sticks kind of gal, and I think that says a lot on its own.  While we all know there are other companies in the custom print game, I don't think anyone is doing it quite like Basic Invite.  I have used several print-on-demand companies for business cards, stickers, and to pad out my small stash of personalized office supplies, so I know what it's like to try and navigate a clumsy site, or submit a high resolution image, or see a stock design that looks detailed, and crisp only to have a fuzzy / blurry mess arrive weeks later, but that is not the case here.  Not only are their products professional looking, but they couldn't make it any easier to get from "I have no idea what I want," to a unique, and endearing memento in your hands in mere days.

Whether trendy or timeless, there are literally thousands of products available, and with most of them offering custom color alterations (180+ colors, and foil options), the possible combinations are immense!

I can hear you now, "Thousands?  Be real."  We've all been to print shops where you have to slog through page after page of truly heinous motif compilations before you narrow it down to a meager 4 products that could even be considered, but what really took me by surprise about Basic Invite is that I haven't seen one product that is at all unfortunate looking, or the victim of bad design.  They're all actually quite good.  Good design is good design whether an item is your personal taste or not, and what's more?  You can take advantage of their Try Before You Buy program, and order samples of your desired products before you commit to large batch orders so you're sure to get exactly what you want!  Again, this is yet another thing they've made incredibly easy with each product page having an "order a sample" button in the same row as the "add to cart" function so there is no added drama to the process.  Aside from developing a streamlined system for ordering, and a place where you can flex your creativity, Basic Invite is an inclusive, non-discriminatory company with friendly, and thorough customer service standards, and I think they're a company worth looking at ... I've definitely got my eye on one or two new-to-me items I'd like to order!

Right now, Basic Invite is offering 15% off your purchase with code: 15FF51
But, don't be shy!  If you create an account you may receive an email with a personalized code for 20% off any order placed within one week of activation. 

Marbled Paper Business Stationery

Thank you, Basic Invite, for sponsoring this blog post!

Thank you, Reader, for coming along as I wax poetic about paper products!

Love-Bites

"When I say 'I love you,' it's not because I want you or because I can't have you.  It has nothing to do with me.  I love what you are, what you do, and how you try.  I've seen your kindness and your strength.  I've seen the best and the worst of you.  And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what and who you are."

-Spike; Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Peas Be Mine!

Princess Elizabeth Sweet Pea

We are currently six weeks out from Spring, although you'd never know it from the view of snow flurries outside my window, right now, and for me that means it's time to start sowing seeds indoors in order to get a jump start on thriving Summer garden beds.

Last year, I accidentally found the perfect location for my sweet pea patch, and they absolutely exploded both in blooms, and in height.  To be honest, my expectations were kind of low since I'd never had much luck with robust sweet pea plants before.  I had done a little research, and also stumbled through blogs, and online articles about all of the "keys to growing sweet peas" I could stand, and it seemed that all clues pointed to starting the seeds indoors, and not waiting until after the last frost to take action.  The truth is though, for all of my indoor-plant-starting, I found no difference between the indoor starts, and the seeds I'd just kind of tossed out there late in the season to sort of fill in any bald spots.  So, I'm left believing that no matter when you plant, as long as you find your Goldilocks location (and you're in a temperate climate) you'll have a full season of hearty plants, and vigorous growth.  For reference, the area my sweet peas did the best had dappled morning light, and what I call afternoon sideways sun - where plants can receive sunlight, but it's not a harsh, direct beam shining straight down on them, it's an indirect exposure to the sun hanging low in the sky.  I'm curious to find out if I can get away with the same laissez faire approach this year, and have the same results, or if my 6 foot tall, late season sowing additions were just a big, wild, and happy accident.

At any rate, February is an excellent time to start poppy, tomato, and sweet pea seeds inside, if back yard gardening is your thing.  For my experiment, I'll be splitting my sweet pea stash in half, and starting one batch early, and adding the rest directly outdoors later in the season.

Happy planting!

Purple Rain

 

I like the idea of spending a little time each day doing something for myself that will result in an actual tangible outcome, so when the idea of making a temperature blanket found me I was pretty well sold on the idea from the start.  As 2018 wrapped up, and projects wound down I had begun negotiations with myself not to start any new, long, and drawn out activities for the upcoming year ... So, naturally, that's exactly what I did!  For the last couple of years, I'd been toying with the idea of knitting a "sky scarf," where you look out the window and whatever color the sky is at that moment of each day, that's the color you use to knit a row of your project, but this being the PNW, and all, I figured if I wanted a grey scarf with little bits of blue in it here, and there I could just make that in a weekend, and not drag it out for an entire year.  I'd also kicked around thoughts about the Doctor Who scarf, but does anyone really need a twelve foot long scarf?  Answer: Yes (but I just wasn't feeling it this time around).  I needed something easy, with enough color variation to be exciting to me, and something that wouldn't take up too much of my time, and end up feeling burdensome.

Enter the temperature blanket. 

Each day this year I'll be recording the temperature for my location, and knitting the corresponding
color into my blanket.  First, I needed to make my own temperature gauge, since the ones I'd found floating around the interwebs had numbers on them I see in these parts only a few times per decade, and I want to make a blanket that has more than three and a half colors in it.  Shrinking my color palette down to nine colors, and adjusting the numbers to reflect temperatures (in Fahrenheit) that are more common to my area was a crucial step.  Since my climate is so temperate, I'll also be recording the year's lowest lows to its highest highs transitioning on days when the temperatures stay the same both night, and day.  Not only will this make a more interesting blanket, and ensure the use of all of my colors, but the finished piece will depict a broader summary of the year's fluctuations.  To me, recording just the highs would be like telling a partial story.  Next,  all I had to do was figure out what on earth I was going to make.

Visions of chevron, and cabled lap blankets danced in my head, but I didn't want to have to learn something new for this, especially if it was going to be an everyday sort of thing, and since I began planning this around December 28th, I didn't feel I had enough time to perfect a new technique.  Also, this project is supposed to be relaxing and result in a gift for myself ... It's not going to feel like much of a present if I'm giving myself a headache every day for a year trudging through difficult patterns.

Then I found this. 

In a brief yet informative post, Staci walks us through everything we need to know about knitting a scrappy bedspread.  Bingo!  "I mean, why knit a little throw blanket, when you could knit an entire queen size bedspread?" I said to myself as I, once again, over-complicated something I'd been attempting to simplify, but when I saw her adaptation of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Traveler's Life Afghan pattern resulted in 620 rows of stitches, I knew I was barking up the right tree.  I wanted to knit a garter stitch piece that could accommodate my desire for knitting two rows per day which will give the blanket a solid cord of color for each day on one side resulting in clean, sharp stripes, and create a bit of a gradient effect on the other side.  In the end, mine will come out at 730 rows, which will probably create enough fabric to pull over my pillows and create a nice, old fashioned crease of a smartly made bed underneath them, but we shall see.  Like Staci, and Stephanie I'll also be using the color changes as a further design element by clipping my yarn free from its skein at the completion of every row to create fringe up both sides of the blanket as I go instead of having to add it later.  Hopefully, tying them off at 5 strand increments should work out alright (stay tuned).

If you're interested in joining in, it's not too late!  

You can use my color / temperature chart, make your own, or find something else online.  Pinterest, of course, is loaded with ideas, and if you're not into the Care Bear Stare of a color palette I've created, there are folks who've made some pretty slick tonal combinations that elevate the look of the entire project I think, and give it a little more polish, and make it feel a little more grown up (that I wouldn't mind trying myself at another time).  Anyway, if you do want to take the leap, sort your yarn out, and you can find a back log of daily temperatures HERE.  Just click on your region, and go to the light blue "NOWData" tab to narrow down your selection even further.  Once you do, you can then select the dates you wish to view, et voilà, all of the daily highs and lows!

The Knitty Gritty:
Needles - Addi 40" Circular size: US 9 (5.5 mm)
Pattern - Staci Perry's adaptation of The Traveler's Life Afghan by, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn - Red Heart Super Saver Yarn (It's cheap, durable, and available in a wide variety of colors)

xoxo

Affirmative

My word for the year: YES