Two reasons to be happy about knitting

Reason 1, the selfish:

I knit a fitted set-in sleeve, without a pattern or even premeditation, which properly fits not only the armhole of the sweater, but my own body.

Some background:  this particular sweater has been on the needles for nearly a year, and projects that linger tend to acquire weight - as in, unwelcome burden sort of weight.  Something that seemed delightful and fun in the beginning becomes questionable: is this really going to work?  Is it going to look as good or be as comfy as I thought?  This sweater was in the throes of such doubt, purely as a result of too much time languishing in a basket and being passed up for fresher projects.  So the success of this sleeve, the utter surprise of nailing it, redeems both this sweater and my confidence in my knitting.
Now I just have to do it again.

Reason 2, the global:
These children in Gaza.
A few of them are wearing hats I made.
(bring your tissues)

Stitching

Now that there's a lively discussion going on*, and people may be peeking over here to see actual work of mine (she said hopefully), I'd better get some more recent photos up.

I've been stitching.

The act of "putting in stitches," as Willia Ette Graham used to say, has been calming and comforting.

The stitches form a language, recalling past rhythms and moments,

but also asserting the present,

keeping me quietly here.

Those little marks?  Little dashes skipping and meandering through the uniform structure of the woven cloths?  They make me so happy.

*If that link is no good, use this one instead.

A sky

So I'm not doing the photo-a-day thing, nor have I made any resolutions or otherwise acknowledged that this is a new and different year, but I am trying to pay attention and notice things, and this sky had to be documented.

We don't often get interesting skies here in Doha.  For most of the year, we're excited to see any clouds at all.  But in winter, there's the chance for some actual weather, and it all manifests in the large, open sky.  I noticed these lovely brushstrokes of cloud while driving home, and then immediately went to the roof.  The torch tower for the Asian Games 2006 is on the left, and another unattractive tower is being blocked by the detail from our own rooftop.

Seriously.  Around here, this is meteorological excitement, folks.