I am astounded by the fact that this is my 100th post!  It’s hard to believe but I have somehow managed to keep at this for quite a while now, and have reached this milestone.  I thought that I would take this opportunity to say a few words about the genesis of the blog and it’s trajectory.  I was pushed into blogging by my daughter, Emma.  I didn’t think that I had the skills to do this (I am something of a techno-phobe.)  I also didn’t think I had that much to say (in hindsight this is seriously funny).  I really didn’t think anyone would be interested in anything I did manage to say.  Emma was convinced that I was wrong, and she wore me down over a long period of time.  In the beginning, I wrote the posts, and Emma did all of the technical work for the blog – she is responsible for the layout and design.  Emma also took total creative control over all of the photographs, and served as fashion stylist.   Both Emma and I have been exceedingly picky about each and every post from the very beginning;  she would not accept a poor quality photo, and any of those you may find in my archives are ones I managed to sneak past her.

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will know that it is to some extent a family project.  Doug and Leah, while not having starring credit, contribute enormously to this effort.  Neither one has ever complained when I ask them to take endless photos, or to model for them.    One, or both of them, reads over every post before I hit the publish button, and provides unflinchingly honest feedback.  They hold off until late to put on a family movie, because I have to read through a post for the 17th time to make sure there are no typos, and then read it an 18th time just for good measure.  They put up with my endless knitting commentary with good cheer.

Looking back over the past 99 posts, I certainly have favorites.  The Retrospective Knits posts that we put together while on holiday in Arizona were really fun for the whole family and we all enjoyed making them immensely.  This was a three part series, but the first is my favorite.  I also like the post A Tale of Two Falkenbergs, which is a history of my knitting over the decades.  Emma wrote a very funny post about photographing knitting, Move Over Mom, which I love.  I am also very fond of the Wearability Wednesday series.  The most popular posts that I have done, on the other hand, (in terms of hits) are a post where I talked about how to do German Short Rows, and a post about copyright issues involving Kate Davies and her Owls sweater.

Last August, Emma moved to another continent to start university and her role in the blog diminished.  This means that I had to learn how to do all sorts of tech-y things by myself, thus demonstrating that you can teach an old dog new tricks.   Though Emma’s day-to-day contributions to the blog have been consumed by her busy and totally cool life away from home, she continues to be my sounding board in all sorts of ways.

So, what’s new for the blog over the next 100 posts?  On a personal note, I have big changes in store.  In August, Leah will also be heading off to university; like her sister, she will be in Canada.  This means an empty nest for Doug and me, about which I am already feeling melancholic.  I have also, somewhat crazily, decided to mark my empty nest by going back to school part-time while continuing to work full-time.  I would have thought, after finishing my PhD 20-some years ago, that nothing could ever make me enroll as a student again, but for some time now I have been toying in the very back of my mind with getting an MBA. If any time would be right for this move, it would be now.  So, starting in October, I will have some pretty serious commitments on my time.  I worry that they will interfere both with my knitting, and with my blogging, but as I find each of these activities rewarding, I will try to keep it all in balance.

I also plan to take my knitting in new directions.  Emma and I have been trying our hand at designing sweaters.  We have a number of designs worked out on paper, and I hope that later this year, I will take needles to yarn and start knitting some of them up.  When that happens, I will blog about the process, in particular about our unique design collaboration.  It turns out that Emma and I work well together in this respect – we have different skills to bring to the endeavor and a very good way of pulling the best out of each other.  With any luck, we will soon be incorporating some design elements into these pages.

I will definitely continue with the Wearability Wednesday posts.  These are fun and interesting, and I think informative for knitters.  I have two of them lined up now for June and July.   I recently wrote my first book review, and I may incorporate more of those. Also in the planning are a series of posts based around my collection of knitting magazines from the 1950s – 1970s.

Now a slight switch of topics –  after my last post, in which I mentioned I had been nominated for two Sugar Sweet blogging awards and a Liebster award, I discovered that even earlier (a month ago) I had been nominated for a Liebster award by Helen Knits and had somehow, don’t ask me how, managed to miss it.  I can’t believe this!   Seriously, Helen is awesome!  Her sweaters are fabulous, her photos amazing and her website really cool.  Her photos are taken by her husband, James, who is a seriously great photographer and always makes Helen look terrific (he is a professional photographer and web designer and a good one).  Please, go check out her site, and thank you Helen for nominating me.

Also, just as I published the previous post, I was  nominated  for yet another Liebster award by brown bird vintage. Thank you; I have really enjoyed the opportunity to read your blog.  I am completely thrilled to have suddenly been getting so much recognition from fellow bloggers and for the opportunities it presents to get to know new blogs (but secretly hope that the award season is drawing to an end, so we can all get back to knitting and chatting about knitting.)

I thank everyone who has supported me in this endeavor, both by putting up with me and by reading the blog.  If I don’t run out of things to say (which is highly unlikely) I expect to be here for my 200th post.