The Rollercoaster

I'm back down again this morning. I feel tired and depressed and my stomach is queasy. I choked down a protein shake and now I'm going to start on some yogurt.

A structural question for this blog has arisen. Should I record only good things that everyone experiences from time to time or include special blessings particular to me?

For example, last night I finally rousted myself out to attend a meeting of fellow spinners that I have been invited to join for at least 6 months. One of the members owns a coffee shop and she opened it up after hours for us. I was able to sit and spin some green corriedale that I traded on Ravelry to get. As with most gatherings of this type, conversation was open and general, but in the course of the evening I learned that two of the six people there were struggling with horrible painful Rheumatoid arthritis -- and had for years. Yet, there they were with their wheels, living their lives and enjoying an evening with their favorite hobby. From looking at them, you would never know that they had challenges in their lives.

On the one hand, I feel blessed that I haven't had to face a physical challenge like that. On the other, I feel petty that I almost didn't make the meeting because "I wasn't feeling up to it." And, truth be told, on the VERY petty side, I feel bad because I wanted to enjoy an evening out with fellow spinners and to laugh and tell stories -- not spend two hours discussing medical problems and pain.

So, I guess today's good thing is that no matter how bad you think you have it, someone else has it worse. Somehow, that's not very uplifting. Courage.

Day 2 of Thinking Positive

I'm feeling a little better today -- more perky. Meditating last night with Nancy probably was helpful. My stomach doesn't seem as touchy as it was yesterday.

Today's good thing is the way my dog follows me all over the house. Sam is a spaniel mix who apparently has abandonment issues. Whereever I am, he's there. He's a comfort and good company ... something solid and warm.

Up From the Dumps?

I've been down in the dumps recently. I've got my reasons. I had some surgery in early December that didn't go as well as I'd hoped and, as a result, I've been unable to hold down solid food for six weeks. I feel weak and somewhat depressed.

BUT, yesterday I heard a talk on Ted by a guy who was similarly depressed and started a blog of all the small good things in life. His blog is called 1000 Awesome Things, and it helped him feel better and ultimately led to a best-selling book and a Webbie award.

Not being a very original person, I thought I'd give it a try. Kate is always telling me to count my blessings. So, here goes.

This morning, on the way to take Kate to school in the snow, just as we reached a busy intersection with a four lane road, the traffic had a big gap -- so we slid right in with no delay. I love that.

Refined Aran Jacket

Hi! If anyone is interested, the sweater I'm making for Kate is a free pattern from Knitting Daily called the Refined Aran Jacket. I'm making it in a dark blue that coordinates with her uniform skirt and it'll be perfect for school -- provided that it fits and all the other variables involved in knitting a garment to fit an actual person work out.

Bunnies and Cables

Today I sat in my "office" for six and half hours straight and when the computer screen started going blurry and I was about to scream, I decided to take a little break. I took Genevieve out into the playpen and took some pictures of her. Her naturally black fur is growing in from the head back after her summer haircut. I have an oak branch in the pen for the bunnies to play with and nibble on and Genny sat up on her haunches and examined it for a while.

Thanks to lots of teleconferenced meetings recently, I've gotten a lot done on the new school sweater I started for Kate. It has four little cables running up the back and more cables on the front, plus pockets. Thank goodness, I can knit and look at the computer screen at the same time! Otherwise, these meetings would drive me insane!

Well, back to work. Jeff is taking Kate out to dinner at the Metropolitan Club so they'll be out of my hair and I can work through the evening. Ironically, what they'll spend on dinner will probably equal my pay for the day. But, the Trademark taxonomy must be done. Back to it...

Welcome to My New World

At Annette's urging, I've finally decided to update my blog. I've been silent for so long because I have a new job and it takes a lot of my time -- so I haven't had time for a lot of the knitting and spinning things in my life since February. As I told Annette, all I do anymore is sit in the basement in front of my computer. Not to be dissuaded, though, Annette said, "Then take a picture of your work station and post that." So, I did. Here we see a picture of my makeshift work station, a door painted blue and placed across two file cabinets. I have my spinning wheel clock above and my faithful companion, Sam, below.

The rug he's lying on is alpaca ...

Next we have a picture of my UFOs, all hung neatly in bags waiting their turn to be finished (or not). The beautiful steamer trunk that Kathryn refinished for me is full of fiber to spin and is flanked by chairs full of more fiber.

Here is a picture of the top of a dresser full of spinning supplies and dyes. It has three jars of dye on top, a duck-shaped basket full of my handspun yarn, and an example of "quilling," which is a type of rug hooking that was practiced in colonial times.

Next, we have a small sample of my commercial yarn stash, guarded by an angel made out of roving.

Last, here's my collection of knitting and spinning books. The ram holding up the books on the top shelf was a gift from Lynne and is far more attractive than this picture shows. The baskets are full of my hand spun yarn -- in fact, I wove the basket on the right myself too. The display case hanging on the wall has part of my collection of ancient spindle whorls in it. My Mom made me the sign that says "Penny Landen Needlewoman" on it with counted cross-stitch.

So, this is a view of what I see eight hours a day. After reviewing it, it strikes me that it's full of a lot of lovely gifts that people I love have given me. Not a bad place to be ....

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!!

We had a fun day today. We celebrated Easter and my birthday together. Mom and Dad drove up and we all went to Mass together and then to the Metropolitan Club for a lavish buffet. I totally pigged out on cold shrimp and crab and eggs benedict and roast beef. Then we drove up to Devue Park to enjoy the view over the city for a little while. When we got home, we topped off our dinner with a fabulous birthday cake Kate made for me. It was four layers of chocolate with strawberry filling in between and chocolate poured over the top. Totally sinful! We could hardly eat it after the buffet, but somehow we managed. The picture above is of Daddy with the two girls, who are wearing their Easter bunny ears.

Now to catch up on some knitting. Annette requested a picture of my angora key fob. I just made it up as I went along. The little random number generator is so small, I was afraid I'd lose it if I didn't have something attached to it. So I grabbed a small skein of Andy fur and knitted a square and then a strap to attach it to the thingie. It's silky soft and it helps to remind me of fibery goodness while I'm working.

Here's a picture of my work scarf. It's plain garter stitch so I can work on it during telephone conferences (Shhhh! Don't tell on me!). The alpaca and silk in it really give it a beautiful sheen. The color is called hyacinth, but it really looks like a purplish navy.

Last, but not least, I finished Ally's Centre scarf. It's double knitted so it's two thickness of material and in her college colors, gold and black. I was a little disappointed that it doesn't look very difficult, but I found it to be a challenging project. You have to knit each row twice and you have to keep straight which color to use at any given time. I've done color work before that looked a lot more impressive, but this was hard.

I started on a fair isle tam yesterday. I've just been doing the ribbing, so there isn't anything really to show yet. In fact, I'm still picking the pattern. More later on that. It may be slow going since I have so little time for knitting now.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and that you were able to share it with your family and friends.