4.28.15

This is for my Quilty Friend

Love, 

Me

4.27.15

Enjoying knitting socks.

4.26.15

Eating like my young, hippie self.

Of course, I didn't have the money for the good stuff, just the old brown ones with the pebbles in them from the food co-op, back in the day.

4.25.15

On my needles:

Laule's by cabinfour

Laule'a socks. I love the lavender color. These are my first purple socks, I think. Top down is not my usual method, but it is nice to get back to basics again.

 I am calling mine Garter Cowl . The pattern is Montague Street Cowl, by Nina Machlin Dayton Designs

I didn't think I would like garter stitch, but I had the urge to make something for a Knit-Along. I had some Lichen yarn to repurpose, so I looked for a lighter neutral to pair with it. I learned mitred squares and the cleverness of the construction meant only 4 ends to weave in. I bought buttons while on the Rose City Yarn Crawl. Favour Valley Woodworking. I don't know if you can tell, but these are mulberry wood. I must have stood in front of the display for 20 minutes trying to decide. Maybe today I will put those buttons on and call the project finished.

4.24.15

Several mornings this week temperatures have begun in the very low 40s, then warmed up to my favorite Pretty-Much-Need-a-Light-Jacket-Temperature. ALMOST warm enough to sit on the porch for an hour or so. This weather has been beautiful and the bunnies love it. I bought some repellent to remind them not to dine on my day lilies. 

There are wild blackberry bushes right across the road, and when I open the door to go into the yard, they either dive for under the porch, or head to the briar patch. Yesterday, we had a pair of Blue Tick Hounds scenting around for hours. Then, they headed to Quilty Friend's yard, where she reports they took a nap on her lawn after trying to sit in her porch swing beside her! They were as cute as can be. It made me want to have a couple, myself. 

How I imagine myself with a Blue Tick, sitting on the porch.
Neighborhood is probably better off if it is jacket weather, however.

I DO want a big dog, maybe, but I know scent hounds have their own scent that is not pleasant indoors. What kind of dog should I get? 





I have a few years to consider it. Lily dog turned 10, yesterday, and she is still frisky as a puppy. However, she was NOT happy to have other dogs in her yard.

4.23.15

Knitting today. I will go to Strings and Stitches and work on this cute little cap.

Since I am knitting at the store, the polite thing is to work with yarn purchased there. Last time I went, I bought some Cascade 220 

for Perennial, by Alana Dakos, and cast on. It is going to be a fun knit, but I have to keep myself from knitting on it at home so I don't use it up before I want to go back to the store. It is nice to sit and be still in the company of other ladies.

Don't think I am devoting the entire day to leisure. I will begin my trip with a visit to the dump and end it with a trip to the grocery store. Sometimes I think I should just go from grocery store directly to the dump and just unload the groceries right there. 

Actually, it is the packaging that is taking me back to the dump on a regular basis. I have too much wild life to consider composting my organic refuse, so that takes up a little space.

By and large, though, packaging is the bulk of my carload. That and junk mail. Every time I go, I have enough junk mail to fill two boxes that hold 10 reams of paper each.

4.22.15

I spent Earth Day in my yard, learning to do a little gardening. 
The weather was WONDERFUL. 
I spent time in my mind with loved ones who loved gardening when they were on this earth. 
It was a very satisfying day. 

4.14.15

I have not done much quilting, but instead, turned to knitting. The mindlessness of knitting has been something I rely on every day. At first I was randomly stash diving, coming up with a ball of yarn or two, making some scarves--grief knitting--sometimes inventing a pattern, other times just randomly selecting one. If you visit my Ravelry Projects page, you will see a lot of grief knitting. A. Lot. In fact, I just counted 24 projects of the 76. Granted, I have not always made a project page for what I am knitting, but still. 

Then I read on one the blogs I follow, about a particular yarn store. I initially followed Patchwork Times by Judy Laquidara because she posts a lot about her quilting. I also enjoy reading about her gardening and putting-up-food experiences. I will probably never be a prepper, and she and her family eat a lot of things I do not eat, but that is part of why she is interesting to me. It is fun to know something new and to look at something from another's perspective. 

But, by far, the biggest change Judy has made in my life came from the discovery of Eat.Sleep.Knit., which is a yarn store only a couple hours drive (probably 2.5 hours) from me. 

I still haven't physically visited the store but on January 28, I made the decision to participate in their Yarnathon 2015 activities, and I bought yarn for several of the Knit-Alongs. I used birthday money. It was still one day before my birthday--12 hours, 34 minutes, and 27 seconds before--that I placed my first order. 

THEN I discovered how to earn the badges. It was too late to get the badge for ordering on my birthday, but there will be more chances for other badges. In fact, I am applying for Phone-A-Friend with this blog post. I have promised myself a visit to the ESK (Eat.Sleep.Knit) shop, once I get to a certain point on a particular project. I CAN navigate Atlanta. I CAN do it by myself. I will have fun!

4.13.15

A month ago, I left to stay in Oregon with one of my brothers. It was exactly the right thing for me.  I found I had in me the strength to do a NUMBER of things I did not remember I could do by myself. 

I stopped feeling helpless.

I did not realize I had felt helpless.

I still feel helpless some of the time, but now I know inside ME is someone who CAN, and when I really think I CANNOT, I know so many, many people who will help me until I remember I CAN again. 

Thank you to all of you.