Dear Cathy, Sharon, and Naomi - Happy 2006! May it be filled with happiness and creativity.
I commend you, Sharon, for taking the road less travelled to Christmas. Every year I have my own doubts about the Christmas juggernaut, but I've decided to let it be a cultural institution that I will respect if not wholly embrace. Anyway, my husband loves Christmas and I share his enthusiasm.

The pictures show the amaryllis "Chico" in full bloom and Purl, the Manhatten yarn shop owned by the author of Last Minute Gifts to Knit. The amaryllis has a second flower stalk just about ready to open. Purl was one of three yarn shops I visited in New York. It was cozy and had heavy worsted New Zealand wool on sale for a very good price (I bought some to make cat beds). They wound the skeins without asking, too. The Yarn Company was less impressive (or maybe I was too tired after a day at the American Museum of Natural History), but the Knitting Cove of Port Jefferson was my favorite. It was a bit more spacious, the owner was very nice without being intrusive, and there were a lot of yarns and needles on sale. Of course I bought full price yarn but did get two circular bamboo needles for $5 apiece. I hope to have pictures of my new yarn for my next post.

At New Years I like to look back at the previous year and, hopefully, learn something. 2005 was the year I rediscovered knitting and discovered knitting friends for the first time. I find it hard to remember how I spent my free time before I took it up. Here is a list of projects completed in 2005: long sleeved pullover (for my husband, begun in 1997!), short sleeved pullover, 3 tank tops, lace shawl, 3 pairs booties, baby bonnet, 6 pairs socks, 2 pair wrist warmers, 3 scarves, shawl, 2 knit bags, cat toy. Works in progress include 2 socks and a baby blanket. In the queue are cat beds, a Turkish string bag, and some scarves/shawls using lace yarn that I've been acquiring.

I'm looking forward to the routine of the New Year, with regular work weeks and V.A. rehearsals, but this weekend Gary and I will be in Boston for the American Economic Association's annual meeting. There is a Cubism show at the Fine Arts Museum that I hope to see, and there are surely yarn shops to be visited.

Ellen