A New Year's Resolution

Every Christmas Eve for the past five years, Mark and I treat the kids (and ourselves) to a very special night. We dine at one of our favorite Italian restaurants in the city and then stroll over to City Center and watch a performance by the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre company. It is truly a magical night.


After the entrees have been eaten and just before dessert comes, we share our new year's resolutions and write them down in a notebook reserved just for this ritual. While we try our best to come up with new New Year's resolutions, there is one that I repeat year after year and that is to make a new friend.

Cover art of our New Year's resolution notebook

2011 was a boon year for this resolution in that I've made so many wonderful friends via the blogosphere and while I only know you through our blogs and emails, I do honestly feel that our common love of yarn and knitting has made us true friends. Amidst this wealth of friendships, two have become especially close and dear to me. Erin of knitting in beantown is someone I got to know after we were partnered in a yarn swap and as she recently wrote to me:  "I think kind thoughts of you and feel such gratitude for your friendship. And to think it all started with an orange skein of wool." I feel the same, Erin.

And then there's Wei Siew of kiwi yarn knits who, as I've written before, I'm sure is a long-lost cousin.  We live half the world away from each other but through the magic of cyberspace, I feel as if she's my next-door neighbor.  As you know, she's my Autumnal Cardigan KAL partner (boy, is she patient as I'm still working on the second sleeve) and I can always count on her great advice when I'm stuck or confused with my projects.

Recently, we agreed to gift each other with yarn -- yarn that we can't get easily in our own countries.  I sent Wei Siew a hank of my beloved Berocco Ultra Alpaca and a hank of Green Mountain Spinnery.  Just before Christmas, my package arrived and I couldn't be happier to try out these beautiful wools.

  

Mythral is made by Stansborough in New Zealand and it's a warm and beautiful wool.  Kauri is a luxuriously soft merino wool possum mix.  Yup, you read that right:  possum!  And along with these treasures were gorgeous stitch markers that Wei Siew made which are now my "go to" markers. 

I'll be posting what I'm knitting with these yarns in the coming days but for today, just before New Year's Eve, I wanted to give a little love to these two very special friends and big hugs to all of you whose friendships I've come to cherish.

Wishing you all a bright and beautiful 2012! xo