Incommunicado

My poor computer is dying. It went to the doctor this week and he sent me to a specialist. Anyone interested in selling their old laptop?

The Doldrums

The problem with having start-itis is that, at some point, I have to work on all the things I start. This is not the fun part for me. I seem to be in a place this week where I look all around and see only half-finished (sometimes half-started) projects. The garden is on autopilot. Helping at the yoga studio is settling into a routine. It is too hot to knit, and anyway I am surrounded by socks, sweaters and shawls in progress. My Netflix pile is boring. The loom is waiting for some spinning to get done and the spinning is waiting for a part to return from being missing. We have planned the soap show season and now the soap needs to be made.

Now, in the abstract, I like doing all these things. I am good at them. They make me happy. But when I look at my "to do" list and see what needs my attention - what I have gotten myself into - I heave a heavy sigh and look for time in my day to go play WOW. Part of it is brain chemistry and I have been feeling overwhelmed, irritable and frustrated this past couple of weeks. I think the trick is to tell myself that I get to do all these things instead of I have to do all these things.

In other news (and there are pictures to prove it) I had a great time last weekend. There was a good amount of planning things and then saying "I don't wanna" and making myself do them anyway. And the surprise? I had a great time at all of them and am richer for the experiences. Friday we had a kirtan here at the yoga studio with Dave Stringer. *swooon* He and the band were nice and the music was fantastic. Many cds came home with me since I can't afford to go to the next concert - in Bali. Saturday we had a soap show at the Old Riverside Foundation Restoration Fair. People with restored historic houses put them on a tour and then at the headquarters there is a vendor fair and the final house tour. It was a little quieter than last year, but we managed to have a good time. We had the world premier of our new soaps with the Riverside Raincross on them and everyone thought they were quite handsome. You should buy some. Saturday evening with hosted a second kirtan, this one with Keshavacharya Das. I was wiped out from sitting in the hot soap booth all day, but I wanted to support the artist and went. While the crowd was smaller, the company and the music were second to none. We are so fortunate to have these performers come from all over the country to join us at Inland Yoga. (*thud* off soapbox) Sunday all I wanted was to stay home, but it was off to the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale for the day. I did not get all dressed up, but did remember to apply sunscreen. I had a great time. I bought a floppy straw hat (yay shade!), perused all the booths, said hi to the gang at St. Cuthbert's, had a gyro and a guiness, saw an acquaintance from tatting/ bobbin lace events, and saw part of a couple shows. There was some "I ran out of tip money" guilt and therefore did not watch the all the shows. It was sunny, dusty, hot, dusty, bright, dusty, loud and dusty - all the things that make up faire. I like the new site well enough - there is a little lake that is nice to look at, lots of trees for shade and the occasional water fountain for water bottle refilling. The bath water was pretty black when I freshened up that evening! I filled out the day with a little WOW and all in all it was a pretty perfect weekend.

Wanted: Blog Fodder

The garden is growing. I have had a half dozen extremely flavorful strawberries already. The tomatoes are coming right along. I have been harvesting lettuce leaves every week and have a crisperful now. I hope the lettuces last until the tomatoes are ready! The roses are about done, but they had a good run.

While I have been thinking about / doing yoga office stuff all week, I have been lazy about actually going to class. In fact I am playing hookey right this moment. Tomorrow for sure. I spend a lot of time each day telling everyone how they should come to yoga and about all the different classes and events we have going on in May. I went to slow deep stretch this week, though, and the spot in my back / sacrum that has been bothering me for a YEAR finally popped into place. It was quite a noise, but it feels better now.

I have been playing (far too much) WOW this week and had forgotten how fun it is. Unless I am dying, which was the case this afternoon. Geez, that is frustrating. Mostly playing WOW at the coffee shop makes me long for an internet connection at home. Not until the cat feels better and the job situation is more stable. Or at least until the cat feels better. She has been losing weight over the last couple months and the vet found some elevated levels of bad stuff in her bloodwork, so she got a sub-q shot of cortisone and is on some antibiotics. I have a few choice words for whoever invented giving gritty, cold, nasty tasting fluids to cats. She gets all suspicious when I head for the refrigerator now.

Knitting progress has been slow - mostly I am working on finalizing the "Mermaid" pattern for my lace knitting class. It is in my head and on the notepaper, but not graphed up all nice and neat. Interest in making this project is growing and I look forward to sharing it. Maybe I will even get all fancy and figure out how to make it a download-for-sale. I managed to knit 2 inches too far on both sleeves of the Mirepoix bodice and have ripped them back to the place where the increases were supposed to begin in the first place. I never thought I would love 2x2 ribbing this much. I like the yarn quite a lot - Louet gems sport superwash merino. Especially the superwash part. It makes good tv knitting.

Speaking of which, I have been chipping away at the netflix queue. This week is "The Ferrari Experience" (would have been better on fast forward and mute but did have shiny cars) and "Le Mans" (which I tried to watch with Mr. Fixit once, but I fell asleep pretty early on. Not a lot of talking in that movie). Then there was "The Water's Edge" with Nathan Fillion ("Firefly", "Serenity"). If ever you want to holler at the tv, this is the movie for you. Couple with issues moves to scary run down cabin bordering a lake and in the backwoods. Not really drama, not really horror, not really good. Nathan's character is an idiot, but he himself is dreamy. Also in the pile of movies is "Oklahoma" and "7 Brides for 7 Brothers".

Lisa, ver. 29.4

My very, very favorite episode of "The Simpsons" is the one where Homer goes into a mental institution, meets Michael Jackson and brings him home. He and Bart write Lisa a birthday song ("Lisa, it's your birthday, happy birthday Lisa"). My second favorite episode is the one where Lisa is training for the spelling bee. Nationals, I believe.

I only follow one horse race a year (big guess which one) and was totally bummed to miss it this weekend due to sheer forgetfulness. Linda at KNS and I realized it at the same time, tuned in to hear "Big Brown won" and switched it off. This means we missed the announcement of the tragic end of 8 Bells, the only filly in the field. She broke both front legs and was euthanized on the track after finishing 2nd place. It reminds me of the story of Ruffian, another filly who broke both legs during a match race and was put down (in the mid-70s). So sad.

But I had a great time at the knit night / birthday party on Friday, a great time at the veggie potluck on Saturday, and spent Sunday playing WOW. Yes, I mean all of Sunday. It was great. Today (the actual Special Day) I have no plans except to go to bellydancing tonight.

I received yarn for my birthday and promptly cast on for the Mirepoix Bodice from Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. Then I set it aside out of guilt and worked on Mandy's purple sweater. The end is within sight. With a telescope.

It is good to be Lisa, version 29.4

WOW - Whee!

I left the 'puter on all night and it obediently installed 5 hours worth of WOW patches. Then I got to play for a few hours this morning and was happy as a clam (until I started dying). Ahhhh.

Everyone is invited to the Knit Night at Knit 'n' Stitch tomorrow night (see sidebar for address). There will be pizza, salad, drinky-poos, and I heard a rumor about birthday cupcakes*. Bring your crafy project (knitting, crochet, whatever) or just come browse the yarns and find some to add to your stash. They have some lovely sock yarn from Mountain Colors. We will also have "Brigadoon" playing. Every knit night they play a different musical and it is finally my turn to pick again. They ask nicely for a $10 contribution. The fun starts at 6pm!

This week's netflix movies were "Woyzeck" by Werner Herzog and "Crash" (which I have not finished yet). I am not amazingly impressed by either one. Time to watch some more "Weeds: Season 2".

*I may actually have started this rumor.

On The Road

Here I am, at 1:25 am, installed in the hotel room near LAX and I am wide awake. Martena leaves for India in the morning (yay!sob!) and we went over some work and then I will take the car to pick up some LA Yoga magazines and return the car to the house. I had a coffee before we left and a soda on the road (so bad) and have not been this awake in recent memory. Maybe the guy at the mini mart slipped some meth into it. Wait, I made the coffee at home. Dang.

Today was a wicked busy day - by the end my brain felt totally full. When I realized I totally forgot to go to a meeting I knew it was overflowing and important things were leaking out. I had some fun today, though. I went for my first manicure (extra basic) and pedicure this morning. My toes are now Idaho red. It was scary at first and then really fun as soon as I put my feetsies in the massaging footbath. I will have to add it to my list of "special things to do once in a while", along with going to the movies and getting a haircut. I swang (?) by Tar-jhay and found a cute sweatshirt/hoodie with crows on it that I just had to have. Luckily it was drizzly and cool most of the day, so I had an excuse to get it. How can it be 100 degrees yesterday and raining today? Maybe the weather goddess needs some of my mood stabilizers.

As I type the Blizzard patch is downloading so that I will be able to play WOW again someday. The taskbar says I have 4 hours to go. This is better than the 12 hours it said it would take at the library. Here at the Holiday Inn I can just leave it on all night. I do miss playing WOW and if I am going to pay for the subscription I should play the game. I wish (OK not really) that I could spin, weave, knit, play WOW, watch netflix and read all at the same time. And check email. This might be an ambitious goal.

The kitty cat has a date with the vet on Friday. She has been losing weight (but not condition or energy or affection) the last several months and I am starting to worry. I am feeding her wet food on the sly - although the other cats are starting to catch on. I hope she just has something simple like a hurt tooth. Simple = cheap.

What the ****?

A week? A week? What is the deal? Well, if I have been lax, at least the garden has been growing. An epi blossom:

An iris from my Aunt Anne's garden, taken while I was in Arizona for the Handweaver's convention. Who says Phoenix is only a desert? Half of my little garden, up against the house. The tomatoes are much bigger now, and in their little cages. None big enough to eat yet, but lots of little blossoms. There is a "cherokee purple" and a "Juliet" roma plant.
The purple trumpet vine on the side of the porch. For one week a year it is a mass of purple blooms and the rest of the time it is a wild and wooly green monster.
Knitting progress has been limited to the second swamp sock, out of the frog pond and ready to turn the heel, and work on That Scottish Shawl, which is my TV knitting. Not necessarily the best plan, as it has a complicated chart. It is a particularly poor knitting choice for movies with subtitles. Frogging (and frog pond), by the way, comes from the sound you make when tearing out your knitted progress: "rip it, rip it". When you undo one stitch at a time it is called "tinking", as tink is knit backwards.

I did put in some good weaving time this week, but am hamstrung at the moment by being out of white singles and the accelerator band of my charkha being AWOL. I remember finding it loose and putting it "somewhere safe". Famous last words.

All else is good but ho-hum. Knitting class on Wednesdays, yoga work every day, yoga class when I can make it, netflix, reading and petting the pets. I read a great book by Dan Simmons on Saturday - "Darwin's Blade". It was an action-packed thriller about an accident reconstructionist who gets in over his head. The accident reconstructions in the book are all examples that I remember from the Darwin Award books, which cracked me up.

I am adding 2 lace knitting classes over at Knit N Stitch; Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2. I finally washed and blocked the "Mermaid" scarf and that is the pattern we will be using. Of course I have no picuture ready for you *sigh* Fewer copyright issues if I just use my own design :) Come on over!

Shiny

My big adventure to bellydancing was quite adventurous. I was terrible at it. I did keep trying, I did not leave early, and I will do the homework. I expect to be able to do things perfectly the first time (!) and my awkwardness and embarassment was an unpleasant reminder of being singled out in high school. Ick. But I think I had more fun than frustration and will keep with it. I used a whole new set of muscles that yoga doesn't even touch, that's for sure! One of the women from the advanced class came along as my moral support and it made me feel reassured. I think she is on the chocolate chip cookie list :)

This afternoon I met up with Anne for lunch at The Falconer in Riverside. I had the infamous fish & chips and it was well worth it. Mmmmm. The apple tart was excellent (but not $7 excellent - that is a dessert for splitting from now on). Apparently I have been conditioned to insist on pie after a fun meal out. It is a couple hours later now and I am still stuffed.

Progress on the Swamp Socks is good. I finally frogged them all the way and restarted on 4 dpns. I was getting a significantly different gauge when I was working on 1 circular, and sock 2 bore little resemblance to sock 1 in the size category. Now they are my "computer is warming up" knitting and that is soothing. Progress on That Scottish Shawl is also good, even though I had to tink 2 rows last night. Bleh.

In the garden, the first strawberry of the season will be ready for a photoshoot in the next few days. Maybe I should pickle it for posterity?

Alas, I have to run, as the meter is about to expire and there is weaving calling my name back at the house.

Yo Yo Yo Yo-Yo

Whew. For someone without a job I sure have been busy. I miss blogging daily and will redouble my efforts.


Thank you for the kind comments. I love comments. Cheryl asked how I find fibery events. Partially it is word of mouth, partially notices on some of my fibery Yahoo groups (Riverspinners, spin-list, spindlers, charkha, spin-events, knitlist, knitlist-ads, knitting-for-sale, here-be-tatters, weaving), partially it is ads in Spin-Off and Handwoven, and partially it is searching online for fiber events.


Life at the yoga studio is great. I am working on our Hunnyfly.com website (yoga clothes and gear) and doing my small part to keep everything shipshape in the office. I love my "coworkers" and most everybody I meet there. It is a pleasure to see them at work, outside work, and in class. I somehow ended up doing the same type of thing I just left, but the difference in my happiness level is astronomical (for the better).

The garden is growing by leaps and bounds (there are pictures, but I left the camera at home, charging). I have been harvesting lettuce, parsley, basil and oregano for the cavies and rabbits, for myself and for drying. I added some more strawberries and a hummingbird-friendly flowery plant, and put cages around the tomatoes. The roses, epiphyllium and geraniums are blooming like crazy, and my aphid problem seems to be under control. You can tell I am really enjoying taking care of the garden. The watering, the weeding, the pruning - it all fills a place in my life that I didn't know was empty.


I have been knitting a little bit - a few rows here and there on the purple sweater, on the swamp socks (I finally frogged #2 and am reknitting it at the correct gauge), on the Scottish Shawl. That last one is a quick knit, despite being shetland lace. I suppose it is because the rows are short, and there are no purling rows. I had a little "yarn accident" and ordered the "Don't Be Blue" sock kit from the Loopy Ewe - available only to those who didn't win the sock club lottery. It came in the mail Wednesday and had yarn, a pattern and some very good goodies. I sat down with my charkha and spun enough spindles of cotton to make at least one more dishtowel - maybe two. I am having fun planning the patterns and colors for this batch. I found TWO POUNDS of green/ white and brown/ white cotton in the closet and it spins like a dream. The weaving is moving right along as long as the spindlefulls of cotton last.


Not much to report in reading material (except that I haven't been and I think some things are overdue), but I did watch "Curse of the Golden Flower", "Le Samurai" and "Steamboy" in the last week or so. I watched "Steamboy" in English and it worked out well as it is set in London of 1866. Patrick Stewart *swoon* does the voiceover for the grandfather. I also received "Akira" but just could not get into it. "Golden Flower" is going on the 'must purchase' list.


I discovered a *fantastic* cookie recipe and have made cookies left and right this week. The whole batch disappeared at the yoga meeting last night, so they must be alright in the eyes (mouths?) of others too.


Oh, and I washed, claybar-ed and waxed the car this week. Shiny.

Whizzing in April

Where did the month go? I really did try to post on Tuesday. Really I did. Thank you all for your kind words about the Petal sweater. I have worn it quite a lot and enjoy it every time. I think that pattern will get made several more times.
The AZ Handweaver's Conference "Fibers Through Time" was great fun. I sold soap, met great people, got a bunch of spinning done, and scored an affordable warping board. There was a gallery for items made by the guild members and they were amazing. I am all motivated to submit something next time. Here are Sharon and Jo, my vendor neighbors (I will link to websites when I remember to put the addresses near the laptop bag).
Here is an antler handle basket from the gallery. I loved this. This bikini and cover up were just adorable. They won a prize of some sort. This red vest (handwoven) was my favorite item. It was much redder in person. The combination of weave structures piqued my interest.
Me and the soap booth!

Galen, my fat cat. That is a box that copy paper comes in. He can sure spread out!
I got to visit with my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandma in Phoenix on my way to and from Tucson. We had some birthday cake, played some Boggle, and had a slideshow of the handweaver's conference pictures. And more spinning was accomplished.

It was a good weekend. I can't really remember what I have done this week - it is a blur of yoga, netflix, and spinning gray yarn. A lot of gray yarn. There is a Riverspinners meeting tomorrow, I saw the shrink today, the weather has been great, and I think I am going to go home and bake cookies. The garden is growing (although I may lose the pansies) and I have been refereeing the aphids vs ladybugs showdown on the rosebushes. A good life.

By Popular Demand

Petal is done! Dream in Color Classy yarn, colorway "Petal Shower", purchased at The Loopy Ewe. Pattern is "Perfect Sweater".

Snuffelupagus

I have been snuffly and sneezy all week - the last two days particularly. I am not quite sick enough to call off my life, but I am not so well that I feel like being amazingly active. So - not a lot of yoga this week. Tomorrow, though, I am going to Viniyoga in the morning and then two Ashtanga workshops in the afternoon. We'll see if I make it through alive.

The big project for today was picking out plants at the nursery and spending a couple hours this evening putting them in the ground. There are now tomatoes, strawberries, parsley, basil, lettuce, and pansies to add to the one garlic plant and the volunteer oregano. I spent under $30 for all of the plants, a 50# bag of gypsum to make a dent in my clay soil (that might be an oxymoron), and a tiny birdfeeder. I have seeds for some other things around the house somewhere - clary sage, cantaloupe, acorn squash and maybe some morning glory seeds. That can be next week's project.

I finally finished the Petal sweater and it was nippy enough to wear it this morning (it is also nippy this evening, but now it is just me and the petsitting pets, so I will wait until I have a human audience to wear it again). I even dragged out the iron and steamed it. I have no idea what is coming up next on the UFO list. I bet it will be Mandy's sweater. I guess that means I do have an idea. :)

I caught the opening of "The Thomas Crowne Affair (1999)" on the tv the other day, but had to leave for yoga before it was over. I put it on my Netflix queue and have watched it 3 times since Tueday. I think it is going on my (very short) 'movies worth purchasing' list. I have the original on my queue too, but I think I have a bigger crush on Pierce Brosnan than Steve McQueen. Mr. Fixit was forever talking about Mr. McQueen ("Men want to be him and women want to be with him"), but I just don't see the appeal.

Exciting Stuff

Things here are still par for the new and impoved course. Yoga is going well, and helping at the studios is going well. We are still taking sign-ups for the yoga retreat in Hawaii in May. I hope I win the lottery before then!

Knitting is being accomplished - I have been chipping away at Mandy's sweater again, and worked on the Uncloudy Day socks. In face, I took them to go see The Bladerunners at the Coffee Depot (with Pacific Ocean Bluegrass) last weekend. It was a good time. The ginger ale was superb and I splurged on a cd. I don't know if it was a good value - it is amazingly depressing. I mean, Morrissey could take lessons from this disc. I guess I like the new stuff (with the new guys) better than the old stuff (with the former guys).

I finished my second library book yesterday. It was "The Terror" by Dan Simmons. A great read - I think I managed 600 pages yesterday (of 800). It is a fictionalized account of a real mid-19th century British polar expedition. I probably don't have to add "doomed" as a qualifier there. It was pretty much the way they all went. But it was riveting, a page turner, and made ya think too. It was loads better than "Sea-Cursed" (my other library book), a collection of short stories about the sea - all wierd, scary, or gross in some way. There were only a couple I really enjoyed. There are some good authors in it, though: Clive Barker; Roger Zelazny; Roald Dahl, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allen Poe (who had a cameo in "The Terror", now that I think about it).

I am mentally gearing up for my trip to the AZ Handweaver's Conference next weekend. I am going to augment my adventure with a visit to the family in Phoenix. It will be short, but I am sure we will have a good time.

Lazy Day

Did a little reading, brushed the dogs, went to the shrink, met Ruth for lunch, watered the housesitting plants. How did it get to be 3:30??????

Off to the bank.

Boring is Not Bad

The ankle is feeling much better. I can move it in 3 of 4 directions and am (mentally) comfortable enough in yoga to do modified asanas without feeling like it is wimpy. I love this new and improved yoga-every-day practice; I can actually feel the muscles in my arms these days. We had a restorative class in Hatha yesterday, so I felt refreshed for Ashtanga afterwards. It was *amazing*. I felt calm and centered and focused like never before. My standing balances were good, my breathing was good, my mind was clear. I might have to do that before every Ashtanga session from now on.

The job hunt is going slowly. There were no responses from last week's resumes. I think this afternoon I will spend some time sending out more, although I kinda like not having a real job. I feel like I am independently wealthy and am SO happy. I had a dream last night that I was back at the old job and it was less than pleasant.

One sleeve down and one sleeve to go on Petal. Might get that done today, too. I finished the first Swamp sock last night and it might never get a mate. I am so sick of the colorway.

Still Boring

I decided that my plan for yesterday was to slide down the porch steps and twist my ankle. Right before yoga and on the day of the hip workshop. Sigh. But I muddled through class and workshop with heavy modifications. It feels good today - but not good enough for Ashtanga this morning.

Petal is all done except for setting in the sleeves. It rained and hailed last night, which motivated me to wear it today. Now it is sunny and warming up. Sigh.

Today is wide open and I am taking it easy. Maybe I will finish sorthing the fleece with which I was gifted last Thursday. It was a pet sheep (boo) shorn by the owners (boo) and it is a naturally black / silver / brown (yay) finewool (yay). I am saving all I can for spinning and some for felting. Some is just trash. I will have to ask for next year's clip - I will even pay for a good shearer to come in. I forgot how much I love the feel of a fresh greasy fleece. It feels like sun and rain and happy sheep.

When You're Having Fun

I can't believe I haven't posted since Monday. Where has the week gone? I am still all yoga all the time and loving it. This weekend is the hip opening workshop (there is still time to sign up - hint hint) and I finally decided to go. I am going to try very hard to relax for the rest of the weekend.

I worked on the Petal sweater this week and have seamed the sleeves and am working on the neckline. Soon I will have to face setting in the sleeves.

Not much else to report except that I raked the backyard on Monday. Whee.

Yogini

Not much concrete to report on - knitting is going, but nothing is getting near the finish point. Weaving is on hold until I spin some more, and my spinning mojo is AWOL. The lace heart just needs the filing, but there has been no mojo to do that either. Even my library books are due tomorrow and I have not finished them.

About the only thing I have been making progress on in yoga and training to be the fill-in office manager while Jessa and Martena are in India. I am excited (and a little nervous). I tried a class in a new-to-me type of yoga this week - Viniyoga. It is centered around the breath and is traditionally a one teacher one student type of class. It was challenging in that I was suddenly faced with something new and all my "am I doing it right? what was that thing again? am I breathing in or out? do I look ok 'cuz I feel ridiculous?" feelings. But I liked it and will go back. I have gotten complacent / comfortable / confident in my regular classes (perhaps unreasonably) and going to something new really highlighted that for me. I tried to be more open and focused on my own practice tonight, instead of comparing myself to others (favorably or not). In fact, in class tonight I really kept my ujjayi breath for most of the practice, whether or not I was happy in the asanas. This is an improvement.

I am massively motivated (rightthisminuteanyway) to attend one of the teacher training classes now - either here or in India (or both, if I hit the lottery). It's not that I want to become a teacher, but I enjoy diving into new projects.

Contented

Back at the coffeeshop, and it is bluegrass night with the Bladerunners . Yay! I thought I wouldn't see them until the concert at the Downtown Coffee Depot on 3/22. They are really quite talented. I have bluegrass, the laptop, my cute yoga shirt, my knitting and I don't know that I need anything else in the world. It can finally do things because I like them and not because I am killing time hoping Mr. Fixit will come back (actually, I haven't felt that way in a month or more in case you think I am still mooning 24 hours a day. I am down to 30 minutes or so).

I *cough cough* started a new pair of socks while my computer was booting up tonight. They are only one row long so far. I am sick of looking at the Swamp Socks. I should call them the Creature from the Green Lagoon socks. I loved the yarn in the skein, but I don't care for it in the sock.

I have put in a couple rows on the green Icarus shawl this week. Maybe someday I will get to chart 2. It is only 8 rows away, I think. The burgundy Icaurus has been languishing, waiting for lace knitting night to resume.

Lots of reading has been accomplished. One Man's Wilderness, about Dick Proennke, is a great read (there is also a dvd, called Alone in the Wilderness). At age 51, he moved to the middle of nowhere in Alaska, built himself a log cabin (in 10 days) and then lived there for the next 30 years. The documentary shows up on PBS sometimes, and back in December it was a gift during a pledge drive, so I snapped it up.

Weaving has been on hold for the last day until I can get some more cotton spun up. That is tomorrow's project. No pictures of the finished cloths, or the new ones, but here is the loom:

Yoga is becoming a bigger and bigger part of my routine (and I am trying to keep to a routine, getting up early, going to bed on time, so that when I get a new job I don't have to readjust to "normal" hours). I went almost every day for the last two weeks, and today I got sucked into the power hour. It did not kill me, but it was a near thing. Ask me again when I wake up tomorrow and my shoulders are stiff. I don't know that it is having an effect on my calmness and link with spirit yet, but it is good to get out of the house and get moving. And it is awesome when Martha reads to us.

The dogs are pleased that we have been going for walks - twice a day - for the last 3 days. They don't know how long it will last, but are enjoying it fully. Huh. Kindof like dating.

Still no news on the job front, but I keeping a positive attitude about it. I would rather be slightly worried about not having a job than be bursting into tears three times a day at the old one.

Fly on the Wall

I am at the coffeeshop. All the tables are taken. I am balancing the laptop on a barstool, leaning against a wall in the scary corner. But I have a connection and electricity, so I am happy.

There is a lot of good news to share. My unemployment claim has been approved, so I don't have to worry about making the rent. I have to keep looking for a job, but I was doing that anyway (in fact I have sent out 2 resumes tonight and am going to a walk in tomorrow).

I have been going to yoga almost every day for the past week. I feel great, although a little tight and sore from being away so long. I figure if I am working to earn free yoga, I had better go!

There has been very little knitting, but I did finish all the cotton towels and have already sold a couple. They came out really cute. I even managed to ziz zag hem the edges. Woot. I warped the loom again this weekend and started spinning this afternoon for the next batch.

These are the "Tuscany" socks. The yarn is Fiesta Boomerang in the colorway "misty morning". I put a Van Dyke lace pattern up the instep and front of the leg, which doesn't show well on the blockers. I loved this yarn. It would be great for a sweater. It is a 10 ply, so it is very round. These are the "Dahlia" socks. They are Yarn Pirate merino yarn in the "Dahlia" colorway (I am so original). I used a k3, p1 rib on the legs and cuffs which is my new favorite stitch pattern. They are both done now. The second sock has only one giant swirl going all the way around. I used the same number of stitches, same needles (aught), and same pattern. Wierd.

The sock blockers came from The Loopy Ewe (see sidebar). You can get them singly now, if you want.