Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. --Susan Ertz
I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that I'm feeling a little anxious these days. Let's not go into it. We know the deal and we know what needs to be done and we know we don't want to but we know we have to. That's a lot of words for, "Yeah. It sucks." But here we are.
I've had a few extra days off as we had a holiday last Wednesday and I had no great urge to go back to work for the rest of the week. I'm not really sure that was the best idea as it meant I had a lot of days to sit at home and ruminate, which is not the best idea for me these days. I did have a few things I wanted to do while I was off, but I found myself stalled for a lot of the time... things to do but no real urge to get started. I filled the time with watching tv and online shopping on a lot of virtual holiday markets (which I actually feel pretty good about - might as well support SOMEBODY'S dreams). And yet, here I find myself on a Sunday evening wishing I was just a bit more productive. I don't even feel all that rested after all that lazing around. It would be nice to have more to show for it.
We did at least get out each day for fresh air and dog walks, as required by HRH Seymour. We even went out to the dog park and had a good play. Seymour met a friend who was nice enough to give him treats... and then who was generous enough to leave them in his coat pocket for Seymour to steal and run away with. Ah, Seymour... always giving me opportunities for exercise:
I made a decision that was totally outside of my character to try to hand-make Christmas cards this year. People: I do not do Christmas cards. My brain fails to see the point. And yet, I had an urge to cut and fold watercolour paper and start brush-lettering on them. I have an ink border planned as well. Folks: I even practiced my strokes. I NEVER PRACTICE. My piano teacher would barely recognize me now. I'm quietly confident I can finish these, but I have still more planned and only so much motivation. I suspect the greatest motivation will be when I have literally an hour left to get them done... but here's hoping it doesn't come to that:
Meanwhile, I have also been working on an experimental knitting project using several balls of yarn that have been languishing in the stash for several years along with some yarn I bought
a few weeks ago on a whim. I was standing around holding this skein of Malabrigo in my hand, trying to think of something I could make with it that would make the most of its dark, dark, deep forest green that has entranced me for so long:
I finally sighed and gave up and tossed it onto the shelf, where it landed on these skeins:
And that, as they say, was a lightbulb moment. Well, sort of... it was like an LED moment. You know... when you switch it on and it's kinda dim and you have to wait for a while for it to get bright enough to be of any use. Yeah. That kind of moment.
It took me another couple of weeks and a bit of trial and error, but I finally got a project on the needles with them, along with some white superwash yarn that I've had in the stash "just in case I need a neutral." I've finally settled on this stripey experiment, which was inspired by a sweater glimpsed on a YouTube video a few months ago. To be honest, I go back and forth between really liking it and not being totally sure about it. Sometimes, you can hit an idea right out of the park. Sometimes, you can really strikeout. This time, I'm worried that I might think it's a total home run, but the rest of the world is going to boo me out of the field:
And then I remember: this is knitting, not baseball. And I'm not supposed to care what everyone else thinks. Except I do... and then I don't... and then I do again.
Nevermind. I still like these yarns together:
The rest of the project is going to involve being really choosy about when I will use the white yarn because I don't have a great deal of it and it is (of course) discontinued. But I'm hoping the idea in my brain will be as nice in real life...
Either that or I'm going to have to take up baseball. I'd be ok with that, actually. I was pretty good back in the day...
Anyway: I did manage to finish something this weekend. I made a cake... a deep, dark, chocolately, fudgey cake. It's my birthday on Tuesday, and this is my birthday cake. And yes, I know I can buy cakes and that other people can look after that for me, but this is the cake I wanted and I am the only person around here who knows how to make it:
I'm off to eat some cake and then stare at my project for a while. I might even knit it, we'll see.
Have a good, safe week. Take care of each other.
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