Happy 1 Year Blog-a-versary to Me!

1 year and 46 posts, how about THAT?!  I just can't believe it.  All right, I suppose that is what all the young bloggers say, but now I actually get it.  Of course, when I told my dad this, he said, "It's been that short?"  DADS!  I can't complain though, he has proven to be my Biggest Fan. (thanks dad-o, love you!)

Obviously this is a good time to reminisce, and so I thought I'd tell you a little bit about my blogging, show you some of my favorite posts from the year and highlight what's coming.

Why did I start blogging?  It's all because of an ad I answered in a Rowan Yarns e-mail asking people to apply to be "Rowan Ambassadors".  What on earth was THAT?  This was the ad.

Naturally, I was attracted by the "Yarn to knit your own garment" part (like a moth to flame), but was intrigued by the rest.  I kinda seemed perfect for this job.  After all, I had done some pretty admirable Rowan patterns in the past, and had a nice collection of their magazines.

See one of my favorite posts: Sofia Wrap

As you know, I got the "job" (yay!), which isn't a job at all, but rather a sort of "play with all these delicious goodies and then talk about them if you want" position.  There are 14 of us total, (here are some of us in a special online Ambassador design collection for Rowan Kidsilk Amore) and we receive all the new booklets and magazines from Rowan and samples of any of their new yarns.  As you can guess, this is rather overwhelming, and I sort of lose my mind in ecstasy every season and feverishly cast-on my absolute faves to show you guys.  Thus my epic choice of Madonna from the latest Rowan Mag 55... but guess what, the beast is DONE, so stay tuned!

I don't like to always pick favorites either, because I'm a rather opinionated girl (ask my husband, poor dear).  Last week I re-blogged one of my very favorite posts about Planned Pooling for the Deramore's blog contest, which highlighted a yarn I received but had no idea what to do with.  For the re-blogged post, I know I was offering a great pile of yarn as a giveaway, but your comments of support just blew me away, and tears?  They were in my eyes, interfering with my Clippers game (yes, I'm a big basketball fan, bet you had no idea!).  Consider yourselves thanked and graciously bowed to!  It's not too late to win the yarn, either, heh heh.  :)

See my post on Planned Pooling and don't forget to enter the yarn giveaway by 

April 23

Obviously, how could I show you all this fun stuff if I didn't have a platform to do it on?  Or dare we call it a soap box?  ;)  I had been on Ravelry for years, giving detailed notes about my projects.  The blog has become my extension of that -- a place where I can alternate silly quips with ginormous photographs of what I love: yarn and projects.

My one failure for truly qualifying for that Rowan Ambassador ad is to be loyal to any one brand, as much as I love Rowan.  I love to make all manner of things, and as with any real endeavor, you need the right tools for the job!  I always like to alternate Rowan stuff with lots of non-Rowan stuff:

See one of my fave posts about my epic Blinged-Out shawl with over 10,000 beads

But sometimes there is NOTHING ON EARTH to do except to cast on a new beauty from the Rowan Magazine, in the same yarn it calls for (well... with Dayana Endorsed Color Changes).  Anatolia is my crowning achievement of the last few years, and I loved writing this post.

See my post about Anatolia (and New Orleans)

A lot of bloggers have to ask themselves two questions about their blogs.  The first is: how often should I post?  Sometimes I have a lot going on and would like to post all the time, but I've settled for a once-a-week posting rate.  First, as you guys know, I knit like mad -- but I do it so I can show you all my techniques and modifications in full color and ultimate glory.  It takes me AT LEAST 8 full hours to do a blog post, including photography, organization and sometimes making swatches to show techniques.  That's valuable knittin' time!  Second, I find that I really have trouble following blogs that post daily or often, I just feel guilty that I can never catch up (there are some exceptions to this, of course!  I love following LYS owner online buddies Jannette's Rare Yarns and A Really Good Yarn daily).

The second question is: What will be the photo to text ratio?  Ahh, such a conundrum.  I tend to love picture-filled posts, but I know some people really like to read about what is going on in a person's craft or maybe even more, their life.  I vacillate between wanting to chat about myself and just keep it Crafty, but I think in this coming year I may give more details about myself.  My husband is starting to interview for jobs, and we will need to move within the next year.  This will be quite a nerve-wracking time for us, and I think that talking on the blog will keep me grounded.  But knitting will always be there, so stay tuned for a post about the good luck charm I knit for him for his gruelling 2-day interview that ends today!  He is a scientist (like me), and so those of you nerdy types will have some fun.  To get familiar, you can check out another science-y knit I made for him, which is one of my favorite posts of the year.

See my post The Science of Hearing -- Basile's Hair Cell Sweater

I've also had the opportunity to do an independent review for flexible blocking wires that I really enjoyed putting together.  I didn't even know I liked that kind of thing!  Stay tuned for a review of some incredibly creative and affordable hand-drawn gift tags that show your recipients how to take care of their new knits.

One of my favorite parts about blogging a finished garment is trying to think of fun props to go with it.  I had far too much fun pretending I was a musician when I replicated the theme of the Alpaca Colour Collection Rowan magazine.

See my Sunshine and Bobbles Alpaca Colour post

And nothing pleased me more than to suddenly realize that I looked like a stegosaurus in my new Wilderness sweater, and that I needed a new friend.

See my post about one of my favorite sweaters Wilderness, Reversed

Wait, hold up... did I just say I needed new friends? What am I talking about, I now have ALL OF YOU!  And I want to learn so much more about you.  I know that it isn't so easy to leave comments on blogs, believe me.  But if you do manage here and there, do leave your Ravelry name or blog so I can go over and see what you've been up to.  Also, for that pesky captcha, I've turned it off and on, and the final verdict is ON, I'm sorry.  But I have a tip!  You only need to key in the long number of the captcha, you can totally ignore the short number.  I know, bizarre.  Hope that helps you comment, especially if you have questions, because I love to help.  :)

 Thanks for following, and don't forget I post once daily on my Facebook Page if you'd like to follow.  Sometimes it's personal knitting progress, sometimes new knitting patterns that catch my eye and most often, totally wacky and inspiring runway knits off my Pinterest boards.

Now, onto the year ahead!

See my Blood Stripe Wrap post (pattern by Kaffe Fassett in Rowan Kidsilk Haze)

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