So Long 2020, Better Luck Next Year

Hello Again! It has been a long time since I posted anything on the blog. I have a dozen draft posts that I would like to finish and share with you, but it has been such a difficult year, I feel like I need to acknowledge everything that has happened before I go back to knitting as usual.

Three hand-knit dolls stand next to a small garden.

I lost two very important people this year. The first was my Aunt, she died on January 1st 2020 after a long illness. Of course I miss her terribly. She was always the first person I would call with good news, or if I just needed to talk. She collected all of the magazines I had designs published in, even though she didn’t knit, and she always read new posts on the blog. She was the photographer of the picture above and the recipient of many hand-knits. I have been getting used to not having her in my life anymore, but I’m glad she was.

A close up of a tabby cat looking directly at the camera.

In November my cat Roy died. He was an old man and had been suffering from the effects of old age most of this year.

A tabby cat sitting on a wool cowl in shades of brown and white.

He loved to sit on my lap while I was knitting, and he always inspected my wooly creations while they were blocking.

A tabby cat with green eyes lying in green grass.

When I was learning to improve my photography skills he was often a patient and photogenic model.

A tabby cat wearing a knitted lace shawl lying a tile floor.

Then, of course, there is the pandemic. In the US the lack of empathy and understanding during a difficult and divisive time has exposed and exasperated a disregard for science, government failure, wealth inequality, systemic racism, and environmental destruction. Under the weight of all these issues, I didn’t really feel like talking about knitting this year. I know that things won’t magically change with the start of a new year, but I am still looking forward to the end of 2020, and the changes I plan to make in 2021. I hope you’ll stick around for more knitting.

Side view of a tabby cat lying on a bed with a blurred background.