New year , fresh start

Well 2013 is come and gone and I can't say that I'm sorry to see it go . I hadn't  meant to stay away from blogging for so long , it just seemed that life in the last few months of 2013 knocked the stuffing out of me . It had mostly to do  with health issues and some family issues . I am feeling better  and I'm confident that the family issues will work themselves out bit by bit . I'm looking forward to a better and happier 2014 .

Aside from the birth of our latest granddaughter Charlie  , this little addition to the family has brought me a lot of happiness . After Alaska died in May I realized how much I missed the companionship of a dog . A friend pointed me in the direction of Animatch a local shelter and this is where I found Zoe . She was a surrender from a commercial breeder and is about 2 years old . It was love at first sight . We filled out all the adoption forms and we were lucky enough to be chosen as her forever family . She is a very sweet ,gentle and happy little dog that follows me everywhere .

Looking back at my knitting of the last year ,2013 was a fairly productive year . I completed 31 projects . I knit some socks but baby cardigans and blankets were very prominent on my ravelry project page . I had hoped to practice knitting more designs with cables but that didn't pan out  . We'll see what I can come up with for this year . I hope to reduce the stash a bit and I have made a start with this trio of hats for Charlie . My first finish for 2014 .

To help me with my goal of reducing the stash I am going to do more knitting for charity . I have enough single and odd balls to knit a fair number of hats and mittens to give to the homeless . Our local hospital also takes baby hats for preemies and newborns . Of course , there is also the Warm Hands Network , which  does a great job helping the northern communities thanks to the generosity of knitters .

Those are the knitting goals ,they are the easy ones to achieve . The harder ones are the personal goals . The primary one is to learn to let go of and  to accept  the things that I can't change . I am going to try to focus on and appreciate all the positives in my life and to forget the rest . Another personal goal is to BE healthier , which means making some changes in my diet and exercise . This has been a constant struggle in the last few years . I 've lost weight but not enough to get me off  some of my medications . I need to find an exercise that I enjoy and can stick to .

Mike, Omi and Mason , Stella & Charlie .

Happy New Year and since most of the continent is under a deep freezing cold spell , hope you can stay warm ...