A year and a day . . .

Yesterday was my 1st Blogiversary!!! I really wanted to post on my actual Blogiversary . . . but our weekend was very, very busy. (It was good though . . . more on that later in the week.) It's just like me to be running a little late anyway, so I figured I'd reflect on the past year today!!

Gosh, I don't even know where to begin. It may sound corny to say that my blog has somewhat changed my life, but I really think it's true. Over a year ago, I was desperately trying to teach myself to knit. I started reading Stitch 'n Bitch, and when I got to the section about knitting blogs I was intrigued. I didn't even know what a blog was. So I took her suggestion and Googled "knitting blogs" and the journey began. The more I read, the more hooked I was. Soon I started to think "Hey, I could do this too." And on August 13, 2005 my first post was written and I was an official blogger.

Of course, most posts back then had no comments and at times I wondered if anyone was out there. But soon, I made my very first blog friends, Chrissy, Jill, Chris and Jen. Little by little, I got to "meet" more and more of you. I could never have imagined the wonderful people who would come into my life, from all over the world. If I tried to list each and every one of you, I'd never get this post uploaded . . . but a look over at the scrolling "Blogs I Read" section in the sidebar will give you a good idea. (And of course, I have to give a special mention to my long lost twin!!!) Some of you I have been lucky enough to meet. Some of you I'll be meeting in the near future. If I had my way, I'd meet you all some day.

Another thing I ponder is the question "Would I still be knitting if I didn't have a knitting blog?". Quite honestly, I have to say the answer would probably be no. I'm notorious for finding a "hobby" and throwing myself full force into it . . . only to push it aside a few months later. (I have a dozen half-done counted cross-stitch canvases to prove it!!) Through knitting blogs I learned about the "good" yarns, the importance of yarn crawls to LYS, the millions of wonderful patterns on-line. I learned the correct way to increase and decrease. I learned what a provisional cast-on was and how to do it. I learned that one pair of socks should always be on the needles. And so much more. But most importantly, I learned what it was like to be part of a knitting community. To share your triumphs and your failures - knowing someone is out there rooting for you. To share the triumphs and failures of others, to admire their wonderful works, and to root them on when a project goes wrong. I never could have imagined you could share so much with people who feel like family . . . yet most of whom you have never met or spoken to. I came to realize that for me, knitting in not just a "hobby". I have to say, without the information I learned on knitting blogs I don't think I would have ever stuck with knitting long enough to find that out.

All of this is all well and good . . . . but is it really life-changing? No, probably not. However, a year ago, when I started my blog, I had no idea what HTML was. I didn't ever click on the "Edit HTML" tab on my Blogger page because everything in there looked too scary. It took me several days to figure out how to add a web-link. I spent many aggravated hours trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. But the more I fiddled, the more fun I had. I found some HTML tutorials . . . . I did a lot by trial and error . . . . but somehow I started to learn how it all worked.

A year later, I have finally quit that job that was sucking the life out of me. There were a lot of different factors that made it the right time to go. But one important thing that always held me back was the question "What would I do next?". I never had an answer. Frankly, I still don't, but thanks to blogging I am a little closer. The girl who had no idea what HTML was and didn't know how to use Paint Shop found that she really loved working with them both. I not only reformatted my own blog template, but I do banners and blog templates for others too. I love it, I've never been happier, and I feel like I'm on the right path.

I didn't intend for this post to be so long and wordy . . . but it's so hard to express how much blogging over the past year has meant to me. If you have stuck around and read this whole post, I want to give you a special thank you for being such a faithful friend and reader. And I want to thank all of the readers who couldn't quite focus through this long rambling post too - I hope they know I appreciate the time they took to stop by.