Tinking in the Dark

Twelve blocks in just under four-four time despite a medium nasty migraine. Not a bad start to my plans to get off my keaster. Glad to be back inside without streetlamps and headlights though. Sally and Kala did well with the blind cane, but Lance ran into it a few times. Not bad for an old dog. All three are as pleased with me as I am with myself. Great feedback for such a small effort on my part.

The catalyst for all this productivity? The wonderful women at the yahoo Knitters at Work group got me to pick up my copy of :”Full Catastrophe Living” by Jon Kabat-Zinn. I want to start back on the regular use of my meditation program – maybe even sign up for the classes again. I need to get out of the house more and have more structure. Yup. Gotta get that started. I can get through the full body scan and the sitting meditation exercises without falling asleep on a regular basis. Most of the time I don’t fall asleep until AFTER I put down my knitting now. So my concentration and awareness are improving. It’s time for formal instruction and committed effort.

I finally got together with K. for our gift exchange. Having food poisoning for Christmas was not fun! I missed out on Christmas Dinner and all sorts of goodies, but I’m finally feeling better. Honestly, today is the first day I haven’t had twinges in my spleen, liver and kidneys. I never knew food poisoning would be so debilitating after the initial – umm – reactions. Guess I’ve just been lucky! Anyway, last night was a wonderful time! I managed to pick a knitting book for K. that she didn’t have yet, G was mystified by the kaleidoscope, but happy and polite about the gift. And her interest in the toy increased as the three of us took turns looking into the tube. At three she has a bit of trouble trying to close just one eye, but she’s getting the hang of it! K. and G. picked out some lovely Jaeger spun Zephyr wool/silk laceweight yarn for me. G. insisted that I would like the red, and K. picked out a beautiful green for me. Very Christmasy!! The package also included a gorgeous set of Lantern Moon ebony needles -- how did K. know I’d been coveting hers for the last few weeks? Yummy knitting toys to play with!

Took a break from writing there and spent the last few hours fondling yarn and looking through lace books. I’m dying to make something from “A Gathering of Lace,” but I’ve also got the flower basket shawl to make, and a shrug to make from the heather grey lace weight Merino Oro that I picked up last spring. So much Lace, so little time! [snicker]


Having repacked my knitting bag last night to go to K.’s, I’m also eager to get back to work on my “Wear-Everywear pullover” in the pure alpaca from Elann. Buttery gorgeous stuff. And in a lovely purple. Not sure what they called the color two years ago. Not violet. Not amethyst. Anyway, this fancy-rib pattern has had me tinking quite a bit, and I’m also knitting this project in the dark or with my blindfold on as often as not. It’s a good project for learning to solve problems with my fingers rather than with my eyes! It will be a while before I’m ready to tackle lace completely in the dark!

Hmmm. Thinking and typing are getting more difficult as I now have a thirteen year old cat with a very loud motor sitting on my shoulder! When Lady decides to come out of hiding, she’s absolutely convinced that I must be as eager for her company as she is for mine. Spoiled brat-cat! My vet tells me I didn’t cuff her about the ears enough as a kitten. I believe him. But when you get one so small you’re feeding it from a preemie bottle and having to help it relieve itself . . . well, I’m sure you understand the dilemma. But it was funny that as soon as I described her personality, he knew she’d been bottle-fed.

My mom’s Christmas is partially done. As she’s not likely to visit this site anytime soon, I’ll include a picture of the hat and scarf from Handknit Holidays. I bought the actual boheme yarn for this, not realizing that it came in different size skeins. I got one skein as the book calls for, and then realized that this was a smaller skein, and the project call for a larger. So. I was lucky enough to have ordered a variety of skeins of “wool of the Andes” from knit picks for making ornaments –-nope, that didn’t happen either -- and I was able to find a skein of iron ore that really matched the shades of the boheme very well. So I used the pure wool for the top of the hat, and did the decorative, triangles in the boheme. The scarf will be all in the boheme. I’m pleased with how the hat is coming along. Mom will like the softer and warmer wool for the top of the hat anyway! She actually lives someplace that has SNOW in the winter. Can you tell I’m already tired of mud? The set are to go with Mom’s new red leather jacket. She can also wear the set with her “snow-coat” which is cream with red and white embroidery. The variegated reds in the boheme make it a great choice for this project!

Well, time to bring this ramble to an end. I want to get a note off the girls at KAW as well. And sleeping might be a good idea since I’m feeling better!

Ah, Sally the shepherd just settled in next to me. Maybe I’ll stay put for a couple of rounds of knitting after all. I’m a sucker for a dog that settles onto my feet and sighs as she lays her head! Now all I need is a fireplace, and my picture-perfect scene would be complete. The oil lamp is good. But a fireplace . . . . nothing better!