Resolution for the new year

I finally had a chance to get caught up on some of my blog reading today and was particularly interested in the post my friend Deb had concerning her philosophy on New Year's resolutions. This year Deb has resolved to do something joyful every day and for her that involves playing a musical instrument. As I was thinking about something joyful I could do every day, I decided that spending some time knitting was definitely a resolution I wouldn't have any trouble keeping. And in that spirit, here's an update on the sweater I first showed you in my December 26th post. As you can see, I made a major color revision, but I like it much better now. Both sleeves have been completed and about 6 inches of the body. Progress will be a bit slower now until I get to the colorwork on the yoke, but it will be some mindless knitting to work on during my daily commute. My goal will be to have this sweater completed in time to wear to the Sax-Zim Bog Winter Birding Festival in February.

This sweater pattern is called "Shades of Grey" and is from a Patons pattern book called Weekend Retreat, published in 1998. As you can see my sweater is in shades of brown, and even though this pattern book was published over 10 years ago, I still love all the sweaters in it and am looking forward to trying some of the other patterns someday.

Since so many of you (including myself) wondered why the Great Horned Owl only ate the head of that bunny in my backyard, I decided to consult with the best raptor experts I know: Susan K Williams and Dave Dorsey. (That's the coolest thing about blogging and Facebook -- I have almost immediate access to experts who have the answers to my most vexing bird and nature questions.) Anyway, according to my experts, when an owl kills prey that's too large for it to carry away, it will eat part of the prey first. And apparently owls will eat the head first in an effort to get at the chest cavity of the prey. If food supplies are plentiful, the owl will just eat what it wants and leave the rest behind. In leaner times, the owl will take the remaining prey and cache it for a future meal. Dave told me that when the Snowy Owl or Great Horned Owl at his Alaska Bird Treatment & Learning Center eat only the head they're eating too good and it's time to cut back a little. So now we know! Thanks Susan and Dave for your help!