3,000 years and 3 days old

Happy Blogiversary to Me!!! (3 days late)

My family will probably recognize the title reference. I have a very crafty grandfather, a woodworker, folk painter, creator, who has gone through very unusual phases of craft in his life. Between "authentic" Native American artifacts -- he is British-born, actually -- he occasionally took up making "real" Egyptian scarabs that were "3,000 years and 3 days old."

PawPaw sold these items at the flea markets to buddies who would act as middlemen and pass them on. Whenever any of us would express qualms about the public purchasing these objects, PawPaw would tell us something that has always stuck with me: "People buy the story you tell them. That's the real value."

Isn't it true? Isn't it why we write, particularly on these blogs?

We could all throw up pictures on our blogs, just to share our knitting. We could post tutorials and technical tips on how we accomplished what we did. But it's the story of how and why we do what we do that keeps my blogroll long.

I'd like to use this blog in my second year to tell more stories, both to myself and to any readers out there. I don't feel like I went as deep as I had originally hoped when I set out on this blogging journey. It's been wonderful to have the outlet, but I've felt constrained when writing about my everyday feelings -- partly from not wanting this to be all bitchin-n-moanin, and partly because my inner editor is pretty strong.

This next blog year, I hope to tell more stories, both of yarn and of motherhood. Sometimes just taking the time to blog was an obstacle (yeah, that'll improve with a newborn in March), but I need the creative outlet. I have to take the time and not feel guilty about it -- consider it an investment in my sanity.

Maybe I'll delve into the creativity that surrounds me everyday to inspire blogging in my second year. As I was telling the Cap'n the other day, our home is really one that is full of creation. It's everything from the art on the walls to the knitting books, Slim's daily journey learning new tricks to the piles and piles of yarn. We have made a home made up of creativity, and I'm proud of it. I would like more of that to come out on the blog.

So here's to Blog Year 2, and everything that keeps getting better as it grows. Two is better than one! Clearly when you're talking pacifiers too...

(Slim disappeared for a minute and was a little too quiet...I should have known. He found both of these in the bedroom and came into the living room carrying them like this. That's us...we bring the crazy.)