Wow, time goes by so quickly!

I'm sorry for the lack of blogging. I knew it had been awhile, but I didn't realize it had been so long.

I've been busy, and I foresee getting busier in the near future.

I'm on the board of the Atlanta Knitting Guild, and I didn't realize just how much work there is in volunteering. I said that to Keith, and he said that's why it's called volunteer work, not volunteer fun.

Hmm.

One of the things that has bothered me most about being an adult is why do work and fun seem to be so mutually exclusive? Isn't there a way to meld them together?

And despite the work, I've actually been enjoying what I've been doing for the AKG. In fact, this upcoming Friday night, there will be a Stitch and Bitch at the American Craft Council show, and I've put in a fair amount of work with the local stores to get sponsors for it. We'll be teaching brand spanking new knitters some of the basics. It's from 5-8, March 11. Admission to the show is only $5 after 5. If you bring your knitting, you can get in for free.

Yvonne Monet of Dave-FM will be joining us too. I think that it's going to be a lot of fun.

I've also been working on Fiber Charmer. Just a day or two ago I realized just how little time I have before Stitches South. I think I'm about to panic! I've got so much yarn to skein and dye, and so little time! I foresee not doing much of anything that isn't fiber related for the next little bit. First Stitches, then Maryland Sheep and Wool where I'm working for Gale, then Carolina Fiber Fest. I need to turn into a dyeing machine and get some more product stockpiled. I had considered being lazy today, but I see that's not possible.

In other parts of my life, I've been thinking that I/we need to grow more of our own food. Gas prices are only going to make grocery shopping even more painful, so I thought about what do we really eat. Yes, last year's cucumber canning experiment led to way too many cucumbers going into the compost pile. I sat down with some seed catalogs and spent some time mentally reviewing what I buy week after week. This year lettuce is on the top of the list. Tomatoes, carrots, celery, these are veggies we eat all the time.

I just had Arborguard come out and trim an oak tree that was shading about the only part of the yard that's suitable for gardening. Limbs were also growing onto our power lines, so now the lights won't flicker when it's windy. I've got to figure out when I can schedule double digging new garden beds into all the dye time I need to do in the next few weeks. I don't want to wait too late to get the garden going. Gas prices here are anywhere from $3.32 - $3.69 for regular! $5 for a head of California grown organic lettuce can't be too far behind. It's a much better plan to grow my own lettuce, right?

I think I've hit the highlights. If you're a knitter who is reading this, think about joining the Atlanta Knitting Guild. When I originally joined the guild, I did so in order to increase my knowledge of knitting. Now that I'm in charge of the programs, I certainly see the challenge of booking interesting people, but I also see an opportunity to bring my desire for more knitting knowledge into a reality. I think the past couple of years have had more of the programming that I enjoy, and I'm hoping that I can continue to keep the programs entertaining as well as educational. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that while the Internet and YouTube can provide all sorts of supplementary knitting help, there is nothing like taking a class in real life. The little tidbits of information that you pick up from the accumulated knowledge of the teacher and the other students will give you aha moments that you can't get from watch videos. I'm excited about some of the program ideas that have come my way, as well as some great workshop suggestions too.

We'll have Karin Skacel joining us in June, and we've got an exciting teacher planned for this fall. (No spoilers, but I will mention that she has a pattern in the winter issue of Knitters Magazine, which unfortunately is not on their website yet.)

Hopefully I'll be able to update again soon!