Back to the comfort of home

Yesterday was my last day of working for a while. Taking a sabbatical of sorts. I am going to exercise, eat well, bless my house, love my family, and knit. Here is a new project: the Citron Shawl in Green Tea(se) by Twisted Sisters. My energy is at E. I need to fill my tank.

This could be the start of something better

I am still working, working, working and not knitting as much as is physiologically necessary for my optimal functioning. Today I got to put in a few stitches on my Emily Shemily while learning to take better pictures of my knit objects. Here it is!

What's wrong with this picture?

I have not blogged in a month. Worse than that I have had less than an hour a week to knit!
Why this crazy life change? Because I made a crazy life change. I have been working at a fabulous new job in a beautiful retirement community. (They even have a Stitch-n-B group). Getting to know 200 new people has been quite a lot of work and continues to provide challenges every day. This afternoon I finished work before Twisted shut its windows for the first time in two weeks. I found a new pattern from Shannon designed for the other Twisted partner called Emily Shmemily. The pattern said "take me home and make me out of that Blue Moon 'Mustang Sally' you've had wound for two years". So I have had a sweet hour of knitting in casting on this lovely shawl.



And while I was there at Twisted I signed up for one of their classes on how to take a good picture of your knitting. Good idea!

I Felt Like It

The Sale of the Week each summer week at Twisted has diverted me from planned projects (The Traveling Sweater, the poor little Featherweight). Each week I am led to a new product by the urge to maximize my savings.
Two weeks ago the featured yarn was Crystal Palace Taos, a worsted weight with colors that evoke the skies and high desert of New Mexico. I bought 4 balls that provided me with exactly the yardage to make a felted hat.



This yarn felted beautifully and made such a pleasing design with the striping. I had yarn left and decided to make a little hat for myself.



The colors are more distinct in the stockinette than in felting. And to my amazement there is some yarn left over. That will be used in colder weather to knit a blanket for this handsome steed that arrived last week to the hitching post in front of my home. Now I feel very Portlandy to have been art-pony-installed. I do have to keep picking him up every time I am outside as he is not used to standing on grass.

EZ You Say.

Elizabeth Zimmermann had an amazing mind and created so many challenging--yet EZ--patterns. The Baby Surprise Jacket is one that every knitter should try. Yes it seems like you are knitting a blob of garter stitch.





But then you fold and make a few seam stitches and you have a baby jacket! A baby surprise in much less than nine months.





Summer knitting continues. I knit in public on June 12 while walking in the Regence Grand Floral Fitness Walk. Progress was made on the Traveling Sweater on a car trip to British Columbia. Next up: Project selection for Portland Blues Festival.

Too Sick to Knit

I really thought I was protected from viruses. I have all the security scans and firewalls that I am urged to have. So in mid-May I was shocked to find that my body had been invaded by a virus. The immediate sensation was like being hit by a sneaker wave. Then hit with lots of sticks. Then feeling hotter and hotter like those missionaries in the cannibal cauldrons with the water boiling. The virus was using my cells to make more of themselves, and my body was fighting back with pyrogens and phagocytes. I was left the limp, helpless bag of nutrients for all the combatants. We will not even discuss what I looked like at this stage. (But my doctor said "You look terrible!" which I thought I'd have her put in a note for anyone who wanted me to do anything that week).
It is a desperate time to be Too Sick to Knit. I have been back to knitting for about a week and will soon show you my progress on these projects. And if any of my friends get the flu I will now know not to say "Well at least you had some time to knit".

Forever in Blue Jeans

I have a confession. I never wore a pair of blue jeans until I went to college. For years the dress code at my school did not allow it. My Mother and Daddy called them dungarees and they were not appropriate for a lady. So this young lady wore dresses to pick beans and help calves into the world.
When I discovered the comforts to be experienced in soft warm cotton jeans, I wanted to wear them all the time. What a perfect garment! It goes with everything and looks better with more wear.
When I found this yummy blue denim Indigo Moon sock yarn http://www.indigomoonyarns.com/

I wanted to make something like blue jeans. Comfy, warm, and made to fit.

Socks.