It took me eleven years to knit this scarf:

You would think that after eleven years, it would be long enough to wrap around the Earth two times. Yet, it’s only about four feet long. That’s because I haven’t actually been knitting for eleven years, I’ve been knitting for a couple of days and then putting the scarf away for safekeeping for a couple years. Repeat as necessary.

There was a knitting craze at a summer camp I attended in the summer of 1997. One of the groups learned how to knit squares that would be sewn together to make a blanket. As a result, you’d see girls and guys all around campus bent over their knitting needles. I wasn’t in the knitting group, but I decided this was a good opportunity to learn how to knit, so on Parent’s Day we went to Wal-Mart and purchased some needles and yarn. That year I made a really ugly blue scarf.

Once I got home, I wanted another project, so I got some black and white yarn to make [...]

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I often forget what makes me truly happy. Dragging my ass out into the cold to hang out with friends can be a chore, but I usually have a good time. Keeping up with my blog can be difficult, but I always feel a happy buzz when I’ve written a really good entry that says just what I want to say. Putting on my workout clothes and going to the gym often makes me mumble profanities under my breath, but I usually feel a little high after a good run. Oh, and chocolate always tickles the happy part of my brain, but I suspect I will always remember that even if I go completely senile.

Lately I’ve remembered that I love making stuff. Making stuff makes me happy. I made some of my Christmas presents this year, like a photo collage and a Haterade label for a friend who likes to say “Don’t drink the Haterade!” After I’ve spent an hour or two creating something that did not exist before, something that will hopefully make someone [...]

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