Bird is the word.

Instagram is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  There, I've said it.  What's more fun than keeping up with what your friends and family are up to via an ever-cascading supply of funky filtered photos of their life and times?  Well, there may be a couple of things which are more fun.  But certainly not sliced bread.  Sliced bread pales in comparison to Instagram.  Why?  Because there's nothing stopping you from eating bread without slicing it.  Probably even tastes the same.  Instagram.  That's where it's at.

Speaking of Instagram, a couple weeks ago I posted a picture of my first knitting project of the season.  You see, I am typically disinclined to knit over the warm summer months.  I'm not sure if that is just due to the lack of necessity for wearing lovely yarned items to ward off the frigid South Dakota air that joins us for the winter months, or because I simply get distracted by squirrels a la that little dog from the movie "Up."  Anyway, I began knitting again a few weeks ago, and here is the finished product:

For any knitters reading, I found this pattern on a website called Ravelry.  Ravelry is also amazing!  Not as amazing as Instagram.  However, it is a wonderful resource for finding patterns, ideas, and general inspiration.  

This seemingly inconsequential owl mitt' posting has resulted in just that, inspiration.  There was a moderately surprising amount of encouragement from my photo sharing friends, followed by a renewal of ambition toward yarning creatively.  I am looking forward to designing some original patterns, which are currently forming somewhere in that region between my ears.  Until then, I'm busying myself replicating (though, slightly differently each time...variety is the spice of life) the above feathered friend for some folks who found this pattern to be as eye-catching as I did.  In case you're wondering, here's what that looked like today:

Sometimes, ripping the guts out of your skein to find the end bit is inevitable.  A cruel fact of life.

Sometimes, you need to drink tea out of a mug as big as your face.  In those times, it's best if that mug says your name on it.

Back to the topic of encouragement.  I first learned of the importance of this in elementary school.  The school guidance counselor, who was a wonderful man, decided to focus on encouragement with us rugrats one year.  How did that look?  It looked like an elementary guidance counselor wearing a red cape with a big gold "E" on the back.  Anyway, for those of you who have encouraged me in this, you know who you are, I give my sincere thanks.  I'm imagining you each in a flowing red cape with bedazzled "E" right now.  You look rad.

Right, then.  I'm off to Instagram a picture of some sliced bread.  Toodles!