In Which Only Happy Things Exist

My most recent bestest creation and third place finisher at the 2013 Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival! Eeee! Most exciting revelation: I know how to spin, and am quite good at it. :)
Observe the fine thread. The gloss of silk and the rich rust color of the fiber. I used a drop spindle for this, which is unusual for me as I'd had such trouble with that method of spinning until this year.

Which makes it sound as though I've been spinning forever, but I didn't start until last April or so, borrowing Molly's wheel and then going to The Mannings to pick out one for my very own. Lenny, as he's known, is very dependable and cute, spending most of his time in the living room with me, the cats, and the fibers.

But earlier this year, I decided to attend the Madrona Fiber Festival in Tacoma, combining my love of fiber with a much-needed visit home to see Candyce. There, I learned how to use a drop spindle from the lovely women in the Spindlewood booth, and left the festival with two of their spindles and a considerable quantity of various wools.
I also got to semi-Kinnear the Yarn Harlot. It's not a true Kinnear, as I had to ask her to stand still for a moment so I could get the shot. She's very mobile!

This post is sort of the Memento of my last year, since it starts with my recent spinning achievement and works its way backwards in time. :)

I've done some knitting too, but this past 12-month is really marked by my shift to spinning. I'd always loved watching people spin, and it was so relaxing to let my mind drift while I turned little bits of fluff into something completely different.


And my year isn't all about knitting and or spinning, either. While not a luminary in the game world, I've done a couple of presentations that seemed to be well-received. And while I haven't been in the public eye much while our game was unannounced, I was pleased to be invited by an actual game luminary, Richard Dansky, to come speak at the East Coast Game Conference last month.

I like public speaking, especially on topics I enjoy. My presentation was about creating memorable NPCs in games, and folks seemed to like it, which was nice. I found I missed talking to other people about working in the games industry, people who love games and want to work on them, or learn more about working on them.

Good things happened to me in the past year, and that's been very pleasant.