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I recently started using my MP3 player for what it was actually intended for. The model that I got actually doubles as a flash drive, which is why I picked it. I used to have a flash drive, though it was a measly 128KB ... and it was so small that I lost it at some point and have no idea where it went. So I picked up this MP3 player that is also a 1GB flash drive. I downloaded some knitting podcasts the other day and I am SO ADDICTED! I love them. I listed to them at work, in the car and at home while doing housework. I tried a few different sites, some, which are no longer currently casting anyway, but found two that I really enjoy.

The first is The Knit Picks podcast with Kelly Petkun. Kelly is fabulous to listen to, she has a great speaking voice and is sure to vary her tone so its easy to listen to her. She mostly discusses knitting related things, but there are a few casts where she will discuss a trip she recently went on (with knitting too of course). Most of the places she goes to are places I would like to visit someday, so I love hearing about them and her reviews are worthy of being an excerpt from a novel, I feel like I am listening to a book on tape sometimes.

The other podcast that I enjoy is Sticks and String with David. He talks about knitting and some other things, one of the recent casts was about the "T" word and it was brilliant. You have to check out the cast to find out what the word is :o) David is from Australia so there's also that awesome accent to listen to as well! G'Day Mate.

One of my goals for 2009 is to blog more ... and about more interesting topics. I usually blog like I am making a grocery list, not like I am talking to a friend. I am going to try and brush up my writing skills ... I actually have quite a vocabulary when I speak, but it doesn't come out in my writing, LOL!

2009 will be a year of stash busting for me. We bought a house late in December and I said that I wouldn't buy any yarn until I had gone through my stash ... for obviously reasons ... like I'd like to keep the house! I went a little crazy in October and November hoarding yarn balls like a squirrel hoards nuts in preparation for winter. Because of this though, I feel confident that I can keep up with this commitment and not end up in a straightjacket and padded room involuntarily in a few weeks. There are some areas where I am allowed to buy yarn ... for the sake of my sanity. I do work a part time job in addition to my full time job, so I do deserve a thrill every now that then :o) I have one project that I can buy yarn for - A Year in a Blanket. I have been thinking about this and I think for my budget I will do this in Berocco Comfort, which is affordable, easy to care for and comes in a wide range of colors. My thought was to do each square in a different color, so I will have to buy a skein a month, but that’s OK. The point is to keep my yarn buying under control and reasonable … not necessarily to stop it completely.

I did have the foresight to see this stash busting – no yarn buying – as a potential mental health hazard for me and so last Fall I joined a sock yarn club that starts shipping in February and consists of a shipment every other month for the year. And to boot … its got a nerdy, sci-fi geek theme! The Lord of the Rings sock club from The Unique Sheep is now closed, but details are here.

It snowed quite a bit today here in New England and I found something out about anti-lock breaks … while the concept in theory is a good one, and I am sure they work very well in many situations, they do not, however, work so great in one particular situation. Here are the facts: very steep decline, snowy road, red light = sliding perilously while stomping on the break pedal hoping that the person who has the green arrow to turn in front of you sees that you are not stopping, though you are trying. Luckily this person did indeed see that I was not stopping and was not inclined to cross the nearly fatal path of death in front of my truck.

And now back to your regular scheduled knitting update. While I was working my part-time job this weekend, which consists mostly of having to stay awake overnight, I made a short list of things I learned in 2008, things I want to learn in 2009 and projects that I want to complete that could have been started in ’06, ’07 or ’08.

Things I learned in 2008
Fair Isle
2 socks at the same time
Continental Knitting (this could have been ’07)
Seaming and Finishing

Techniques I want to learn in 2009
Slip Stitch
Knitting with Beads
Lace Shawl

Projects to Finish
Hooded Scarf
Faux Dr. Who Scarf
Afghan
Tank Top
Mitered Mittens
Christmas Stocking

I finished my socks this weekend and just have to cast off the second sock and weave in all the ends. Once complete I will post photos and the pattern that I came up with to use up some left over sock yarn.

Thank you and goodnight!!