Squirrel-Minded

Maybe it's the sunny weather and the warm temperatures, but I'm still struggling to get my brain into working on my knitting projects. There are plenty of distractions around, and I feel like I should soak them in while I can. As I look around on all the other blogs I follow, I think this feeling is common amongst many of us who are used to being stuck inside for the winter. As soon as the sun shines, my brain goes into get-outside-explore-look-around-oh-squirrels-birds-flowers-mode. Perhaps this is not such a bad thing.

We went out exploring along a trail near us yesterday. I kept stopping here and there to take photos of things along the way. I liked the look of this fallen, but surviving, tree. It's kinked right at the base, like I wrinkly elbow. It made me think of a fallen Tolkien Ent...


And I always like the look of driftwood. This is part of a trunk that must have washed up and has been beaten by the water and dried over and over again.


My mind is so distracted that I went out yesterday to buy spinach... and came home with a new dress and chocolate chips. While it was probably not the most efficient use of my time, it made for a tasty afternoon. I used the chocolate chips to make these cookies, which are made with black beans! I'm sure the cookie purists would turn their nose up at them (it always amazes me how many people are psyched out by a few ingredients deemed "not normal"), but I really like them. They remind me of a Filipino pastry I grew up with called hopia, which is often made with mung beans. They add a sweet flavour that reminds me of home...


Even Rascal's walks are interrupted by us stopping to pick blackberries, which are just starting to ripen. We discovered a little pocket of them today and filled two yogurt containers (and several mouthfuls) to take home with us. I think we'll be back there later today, much to Rascal's chagrin. I think he's becoming impatient with us dawdling so much during his morning and evening constitutionals.


Today, I was bound and determined to get some knitting done. Every time I sat down and worked a few rows, my mind wandered. I forced myself to stay put to finish a section of decreases, then got up to make blueberry scones...


Then I knitted a little longer before I folded the clean towels and put the dishwasher on... which Rascal seems to have discovered as a source of a few tasty treats if we leave it open as we're loading it with dishes that have a few bits of food still stuck to them. He hovers around there like a little mooch a lot of the time:


Despite my squirrel-brain, I managed to get my current project on the blocking boards this afternoon. It doesn't look like much, because it's still in progress, but it's going to be a shrug. What you can see below is the back and sleeves all connected together and lying flat. I figured I should block it before I continue to make it a bit easier to start seaming the sleeves and doing the finishing on it.


It feels good to get it to this point. It's almost like I'm a knitter again. Maybe my brain will settle down a bit and I can get some more yarn-stuff done without distractions...

Hey look, coffee!


Hey look, pretty flowers!


Hey look, mossy tree!


Sigh...

Comments

YarnKettle said…
So it is not your knitting season, that is OK. It looks like you're getting plenty of other things done. Summer is for enjoying, knitting will still be there later.