I am feeling special today because Joan, the Fairy Godknitter, awarded me the "you make my day" award. I started to wonder what it takes to make someone's day. If you're Dirty Harry, it takes someone pointing a weapon at you and trying to kill you!

It doesn't take much to make my day. A really good cup of coffee in the morning can do it. A smile from a stranger as I walk down the street. Checking my voicemail and hearing the recording "no new messages" at work. But mostly, I am responsible for how I react to the events around me. If the train gets stuck and we have to wait, well, that's just an opportunity to finish a few more rows on my socks. Yes, I may be late for work, but that is out of my control and I refuse to let it ruin a perfectly good knitting session.

So, now the hard part. I have a long list of blogs that I read and enjoy. These are the ones I check in on first.

"Give the award to 10 people who bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel good about blogland. Beware, you may receive more that one award!"



Bells. Her posts are interesting and she freely shares bits of her life both the good and the not so good in every post.
Mindful Her thoughtful posts always pose interesting things to ponder.
Knitsane Michelle truly knits fearlessly. Her knitwear is wonderfully creative and I love watching the projects grow.
Random Meanderings Bezzie single handedly encouraged over a hundred women to get their annual pap test done by offering a yarn prize every month for a year to anyone who made and kept an appointment.
We are all mad here. Total disclosure here, this is my daughter Emily. She is a strong, independent young woman who jumps into life with both feet. I admire that and wish I were more like her.
Nanairo no Ashita OK, more disclosure. This is my other knitting daughter, Kate. She is so creative in many fields. She draws and writes and knits and wears funny costumes and is a fearless young woman.
Dreaming all the time Olivia inspires me with her ability to take wool and turn out the most amazing objects. Check out her pods and dishes. I have a pod on my desk at work and I love showing it off.
Yarning to Write While ostensibly a knitting blog, Amy shares her life as a teacher and parent. It's never dull at her house.
Sheepish Annie Annie is also a teacher with a wonderful sense of humor about her profession and life in general.
Samuari Knitter I have learned more fascinating things from reading Julie's blog than from any magazine. She researches topics like the history of needles and presents it in a way that is easy to read and enjoy.

Is that 10 already? I have another daughter who has a blog but she has not made the commitment to keep it up, yet. When she does, I'll save a spot for her. We're working on getting some knitting needles in her hands as well.

I am plugging away at the shawl. The K3tog are getting easier and the K1,P1K1 in the same stitch is becoming old hat. Actually, it is coming along beautifully. Michele mentioned in the comments that maybe I needed larger needles to make it more lacey. She may be right but since I had nothing to compare it to I followed the directions. The pattern called for fingering weight wool and a 3.5mm needle. We'll see. I think it's supposed to be a more substantial garment instead of a whisp of a thing. It is made for Iceland and I hear it gets quite cold up there.

Down here, we are still waiting for our winter snow. The temps are moderate this week. Almost 20 degrees warmer than last week. No wonder the poor bulbs are confused.