I've been working on a draft of this post for about two weeks now. The weather has been grey, gloomy and rainy. I just haven't been feeling it, if you know what I mean. Rain doesn't make me feel sad - I enjoy it - but after a few days, it does make me internalize a bit. All I've wanted to do for days now is stay curled up on the couch.
Fortunately, I had plenty of supplies to curl up on the couch with.
Fortunately, I had plenty of supplies to curl up on the couch with.
This was my acquisition from my trip to Tolt Yarn and Wool with Mom and Mel. Lovely,squishy, natural, sportweight cormo from Elsawool. I'm sad that Tolt won't be able to continue to carry this, but totally respect the farmer's need to keep their distribution manageable. I highly recommend this wool, however you can get it. | All that loveliness and squishy squish turned into this: the Zaria shawl from Knitty Issue 46 - Winter 2013. It was a pleasure to knit. I will eventually upload a pic with the full shawl being worn to Ravelry, but I need help getting that done. I am a lousy selfie taker. |
One day, I did take a break from all that couch sitting and went out to lunch with this guy. This is my father. I spend at least one full day a week with him. Frequently more. He's young, but he has vascular dementia and sometimes my mother just needs a damn break. The good news is, he is physically healthier than he was before the event that caused this, and even though he can't remember anything for more than a couple of minutes, he is really funny and fun to be around. More so than at any other time in my life. The irony of that really sucks. Time with him is grief and joy bundled into the same day, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. His three favorite things to do are: go out and get a latte, go for a ride and have lunch, and feed my dog treats. So that's what we usually do. We take the dog everywhere with us, because my dad really loves my dog. Roy loves him too. Dad's memory is a bit more stable when the dog is around. Pets heal. I'm convinced.
I also took time to visit Madrona, No classes this year, but that was okay. It's the first time I have been able to go for a few years and I just wanted to socialize with these lovely ladies. A significant portion of my favorite fibery friends live out of state, so getting to see them is really special. Now that Mom is finally retired, she got to come too. She's the second one from the left. (Unfortunately, not everyone is pictured here. We were quite the crowd.) My spouse (and dog) spent the day with Dad. | We took a side trip away from Madrona. Several of us had never been to one of our area's destination type yarn shops located on Bainbridge Island. We drove to Churchmouse Yarns (which provided the backdrop for the previous picture) across Hood Canal and the Kitsap Penninsula, and had a lovely ferry boat ride back, exiting in Seattle, then heading back to Tacoma. Even though the weather was stormy, the drive was pleasant, the shop was lovely, and the company was the BEST. The scenery from the ferry was pretty nice, too. For some, this was the first ferry ride ever. It was pretty fun experiencing that with people who had never ridden one before. Washington State can't claim to have any really fantastic public transportation---except for the ferries. Those are pretty great. |
Most of the rest of my time has been spent back on the couch knitting and binge watching TV: Castle, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Dr. Who, Sherlock, and a few others. I might have thrown in all the Harry Potter movies, too. Sometimes, that's just how we roll.
In addition to Zaria, I managed to knock out a Darkside Cowl out of some ancient handspun merino/ tencel. I can't even remember how many years ago I spun it. How sad is that?? Well. . . some yarns just have to marinade until the right project comes along. I spin yarn because I like to spin. I don't always have something in mind. | Very Busy Monkey's Dendrology Shawl also fell off my needles. I bought her Shawl Collection #4 in October. Geology is done, now this one. Two more and I will have completed the collection. Go me!!!! They are lovely and big enough to be a little more than a scarf but not as large as a shawl. |
The only thing that bothered me while knitting Dendrology, was that I used Hazel Knits Sock Yarn and my label said I had 425 yards, which is more than enough for the shawl size I was knitting (the smaller one of the two sizes listed), but I ran out ON THE LAST TWO ROWS. AAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH! I did check my gauge, but. . .whatever. I had some leftover sock yarn that coordinated well enough and it looks nice. Great pattern. Now I'm working on a dog walking cardigan called Common Ground by Elizabeth Smith. Okay - it's not actually called a dog walking cardigan but that's what I intend to do while wearing it. I'm using handspun Black Welsh Mountain Sheep that I spun from fleece my friend Sam gifted to me years and years ago. I'm so close to being done that I'll save that for another post.
Today, the sun is up and shining for the second day in a row. It's almost springy warm outside, which I find very energizing. I'm going to go process preserved lemons with my mother (we're on a make it yourself kick) and spend the day with Dad so she can go run some errands for a bit.
I hope your day is lovely, and that you get time to sit on the couch and knit too.
With warm and woolly thoughts,
Kimberly
I hope your day is lovely, and that you get time to sit on the couch and knit too.
With warm and woolly thoughts,
Kimberly