First party! Will my blog match my socks?

When it comes to trying something new, two things tend to move me from pondering action to taking action:

a deadline, and a project that doesn't seem overwhelming.

Good gracious.  That makes me sound like both a procrastinator and a slouch, doesn't it?  Rats.  Oh well.  Now you know the worst.  Onward!

For example: Although I could knit, I never imagined becoming a sock-knitter.  I liked the idea of knitting socks, in a romantic, tribute-to-Louisa-May sort of way, but really...those teensy stitches?  Those many skinny needles, waving around like a demented sea urchin? Those heels??

Then, I had a very specific reason to try to knit exactly one pair of socks, right away.  Small socks, for a little pair of feet.  An experiment.  Not overwhelming.

And it was such crazy fun!  I knitted five more pair, then moved on to real socks, for big feet.  And I began to wonder why it had taken me so long to get started in the first place.

~~~

During several years of reading and commenting on blogs, I've often thought of starting a blog.  But...why?  For whom?  In the immortal words of the Mock Turtle, "With what porpoise?"

Still, I thought about it...

~Interlude~

This is my dog, Piper.  
Piper is a terrible procrastinator.
Mostly, Piper is a procrastinator about coming when she is called.

"I am NOT procrastinating!  I can't hear you calling!
I am BEHIND this TREE!!!"

So, aaaanyway.

It was the timing of two unrelated bloggy events that made me leap joyously off my Slouchy Fence of Procrastination and Overwhelmedness.

First, the lovely Vicki of Two Bags Full announced - fortunately for me, several months in advance! - that she would be hosting a non-commercial "Grow Your Blog Party."  It sounded like a lot of fun, especially for newbie bloggers.

And second, just a couple of weeks ago, after I'd been mulling for months about starting a blog so I could join Vicki's party, something happened.  Two of my favorite knitting bloggers, Ann and Kay of Mason Dixon Knitting, instituted a 15-Minute Lightening Round for their own blog posts.  Hilarity ensued, and I saw that it might be possible to blog in tiny little bits of time and have fun with it!

So...my first post was published a whopping four days ago, here (bear with me, please, this is my first blog post with linking and I'm kind of excited about it).  In that post I jotted down what I think this blog might become.  The jotted part may or may not be interesting, but I'll tell you what:

the goats are worth the click.

~~~

Because of other folks' blogs, I have developed valued friendships with people I may never meet in person, but who choose to share something with their readers that happens to be an important, or an unusual, or a just-plain-fun part of my life, too.  It's nice.  It's really nice.  And having my own blog to share already seems to make it much more of a 2-way street.  And who knows, maybe I will make more friends, and learn more things, and have lots and lots more fun!

And I'm beginning to wonder why it took me so long to get started.

"It's because you PROCRASTINATE.  Try to work on that, willyouplease?"

~~~~~