This was a challenging year for us and it feels like a blur. There were a few high notes from this year that I want to share with you. The highlight of Warp or Weft was making strides in my work and having an awesome Pop Up Shop at West Elm Seattle. I spent a lot of time weaving this year and explored color variations in overshot, which everyone seemed to like as so many overshot photos are in my Best Nine from Instagram this year. THANK YOU for continuing to follow my work and read my blog. I truly appreciate your support.

Our personal high note was adding our newest cat, Bennie, to our family in June. I saw him on the Purrfect Pals Instagram account a few days before my birthday while my husband was at a work conference. The story said that he needed ongoing prescription food to treat crystals in his urine and he gets along well with other cats. We thought he would be a good fit as Ivan also has crystals in his urine and agreed to go meet him that weekend if he was still at the shelter. Lucky for us, he was still there! That Saturday morning, we spent two hours with him at the PetSmart Adoption Center in Renton and, well, everything worked out perfectly. He is a total love bug and has the energy of ten thousand kittens even though he is six years old. He's keeping our other cats - and us - on our toes. As Fred continues to battle lymphoma, Ivan was a bit bored and sedentary, but Bennie changed that and Ivan is down a few pounds from the extra play time. Bennie LOVES every toy. He even loves the toys the old heads were too cool to play with.

I get the feeling his last home wasn't a cat friendly environment and am glad they made the decision to turn him in to the shelter. It was the best thing for Bennie. I suspect that he didn't have a cat bed before because he slept on the floor next to a cat bed for the first two nights. The file also noted that he was tearing up furniture, but that he didn't have any scratchers in the home. We have 9 scratchers in our house and he loves them. He had some scars on his back from a fight because he was an indoor/outdoor cat, but we are an indoor only household so he won't have to worry about being attacked ever again. We kept Bennie separate from the other cats for two days and then he escaped from the bedroom and immediately wanted to play. We are SO happy to have Bennie as a part of our family.

Our travel this year was limited compared to prior years with a summer vacation to Maui and an early November trip to Las Vegas and Death Valley. We spent a lot of time exploring the Puget Sound region and enjoyed time outside in Seattle. I will never get tired of the beauty in this region! The sunsets and wildlife sightings are always breathtaking.

We've continued our commitment to helping those who are less fortunate. Realizing that every dollar, in-kind donation or volunteer hour spent can help someone, here are some of the charities that we supported in various ways this year:

Teton Raptor Center: We provided a general donation for the care of injured birds this year, but in the past we sponsored the PooPoo Project, which provides specialized screens to prevent cavity-nesting animals from flying into vault toilet ventilation pipes, looking for a place to nest, roost, or cache food, then become stuck in the muck. You can sponsor a life saving screen for $35 and they will tell you where it is installed.
Philadelphia Futures: Provides low income, first-generation-to-college Philadelphians with tools, resources and opportunities necessary for admission to and success in college.
Purrfect Pals: A no-kill sanctuary, foster program and hospice care to cats in need in the Seattle region.
Bridge to Recovery Foundation: Provides support, awareness, and resources to those seeking recovery from addiction to substances.
Philadelphia VIP: Since 1981, Philly VIP has helped more than 37,000 impoverished Philadelphians (the US city with the deepest poverty) get the free legal help they need to stay in their homes, age with dignity, create non-profit organizations, continue to work, and build stable families.
Center for Hope: Accepts donations of and distributes cases or gallons of water, water filters and replacement filters to those in need because of the Flint, Michigan water crisis.
Distributing Dignity: Distributes new bras, pads and tampons to women who are aging out of foster care, seeking refuge from domestic violence or abuse, experiencing homelessness, struggling with life altering illness or displaced by disaster.

I hope you will join us in supporting some of these charities. A little help can go a long way.

For 2018, I wish for you to travel to new places and experience new things. May this be your best creative year yet! Thank you for all of your love and support. I wish you only the best in 2018!