No, I'm not going to Blog 365, though I might help to provide a little fodder for other.crazy.people.

I did get an "A" in one of my classes... and a "B" in the other... but that's not it, either.

It's the ABC-Along!  Inspired by the great ABC-Along of 2006 and with the blessing of Anne, I've decided to "host" ABC-ALONG 2008.  I had such a great time doing it in 2006 and I've missed it for all of 2007, so it's time.

While my use of quotation marks above could be debated on The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, I do not feel that I use them "unnecessarily."  By "host," I mean:

Disclaimer.  I run a pretty loose group and/or -along.  I'd much rather knit or read or take pictures or cook or do laundry or clean the bathroom (you get the idea) than run admin (you've been warned).  I love a party, however, so let's get one started.

I'm interested in stirring up some creativity!  This project is wide open to interpretation and personalization.  What does it mean to you? Have a little fun; take, post, and let's talk about some interesting pictures -- see where it goes.

I've started both a Flickr group and a Ravelry group for ABC-ALONG 2008, and you are hereby invited.  The Flickr group is public/invitation only -- the last day to request an invitation to the group is January 19th; sign-ups will be closed as of January 20.  Please request an invite by leaving a comment on this post or sending an email (vknitorious @ gmail .com) with your Flickr ID.  By nature, Ravelry is open all night... we'll see where it goes.

It's simple:

Members in this year-long group -- knitters, spinners, fiberists (yeah, I like that!) -- post a photo to their blog and/or the Flickr group every two weeks to correspond with a letter of the alphabet.  Photos can be related to fiber, but do not have to be; they should reflect the personality of the photographer, and something of importance or meaning to them.

Post at least one photo in each 2-week period to match the corresponding letter of the alphabet.  There are 52 weeks in a year and 26 letters of the alphabet, allowing two weeks per letter (Weeks 1&2=A, Weeks 2&3=B).  Example:  "A" is for... Alaska, asparagus, alpaca, astronomy, aperture...  Whatever you choose, it should have some meaning for you.

I know a lot of people got new cameras for Christmas.  Maybe "A is for aperture" and "B is for (white) balance"... "F is for f-stop"... or "focus"... and perhaps the tone is set for exploring the new camera, its features, and photography in general.  Photojojo has some great ideas.

More to come as is warranted, including a hard-and-fast schedule and a button/banner.  To kick things off just right, everyone who sends me a comment or email request by the deadline (that would be January 19th) will be entered in a drawing for a book that I happen to have an extra copy of, that happens to begin with "A."

I did not get a new camera for Christmas, I must make do with the old.  It has served me well these many Christmases, sometimes taking pictures of Christmas things.

Katie decorated this ornament for us at my sister's last month.  I never put 2 + 2 together when she told me she'd gone out there, and even when she said that decorating had been done (Mack made a few ornaments -- and was chatting up the customers quite a bit, too!  Can I help you?).  The slip-trail technique my sister uses is called "ditzwork" and Katie's interpretation and design make me think Ditz meets Yellow Submarine.