Calm waters at last... It's been weeks since I had a moment to be quiet, but today is the day. I'm catching up on all sorts of things, resting, knitting, and enjoying some time at home.
The Knitter's Review Retreat was -- there are no words for how wonderful it was! I drove up on Wednesday afternoon with a car full of yarn and my spinning wheel and what felt like my entire house. By the time the rest of the knitters began to arrive on Thursday I'd settled in nicely.
[For a better description of the weekend than I could ever give, read Minh's wonderful three-part blog series. I failed in the photography department, too (not one picture!), but Minh also happens to have taken lots and lots of great pictures.]
My friend and roommate Kristopher arrived very late on Thursday, after working all day and driving for something like eight hours. We hadn't seen each other since last year, so we were looking forward to catching up in person (yarny phone calls just aren't as satisfying as yarny face-to-face conversations). The entire weekend was filled with yarniness -- all my senses were overloaded with yarn, knitters, good food, laughter, friendship, generosity, and fun!
I found myself thinking about my year -- a lot. Last year at the Retreat, I was just about to enter that long, dark winter of chemo and sickness, but I didn't really know it. This year, from the other side, I looked back with a lot of perspective. Surrounded again by all the people who kept me going, and able to (I hope) tell them how much they mean to me, I was happy and nostalgic and teary for most of the weekend. I saw myself differently -- through the eyes of my lovely, caring knitting friends -- not just as a survivor, but as having thrived, too. It's hard to explain, but I love this Jane, from her new hair down to her annoyingly-numb toes.
I started a simple New Beginnings project this year, since last year was the first time I didn't finish what I started on Sunday morning. It was a lace scarf with a provisional cast-on and charts, and apparently, not meant to be. So this time I brought out a skein of merino-alpaca, a beautiful limited edition yarn from Chris at Briar Rose Fibers in greens and blues and browns. I cast on a few stitches on US 10 needles, and began Clara's One Skein Shawl from Knitter's Review. I added some lacey rows, but it's mostly garter stitch, so it's chunky and warm, and above all, easy.
Just what my tired self needs. I'll probably finish it this afternoon.
So the Retreat is over, and Thanksgiving has come and gone, too. I had a great day with Judy and her family -- and I would have stayed longer if I didn't need to be ready for the big weekend at work. Black Friday passed quickly, as it always does, and Saturday was busier than Friday. For the next few weeks my head will be spinning, and then it will be 2010, and I'll get to relax a little. At least I have a goal!
So much to do, so little time -- or so it seems. I've been knitting away on all sorts of things, mostly from the Pile of Unfinished Knitting, but I did stop and make a Sweet Fern hat to match my Sweet Fern mitts. I love how the set turned out! There might even be a scarf's worth of yarn left over. A small, narrow scarf, but that would do.
I made the hat by spacing five of the cables around the brim, knitting them upside down. Then I turned at the end of a round and knit back in the other direction, so the cables would be on the outside when the brim is folded up. It's hard to explain, but once you do it, it makes sense. The yarn is Riihivilla Aarni, dyed with Indigo.
The other night I pulled out my Whimsy Lace Scarf, which has been weeping softly from the bottom of the knitting basket. I haven't worked on it since February, when chemotherapy finally took any remaining ability to concentrate or count. It's such a nice scarf, and beautiful yarn. It holds a lot of sad energy, though, and there are even places in the knitting that show my distraction. I've decided to give it only happy attention from now on, and the sad bits will fade.
My Levi socks have also come out of the bag again. I'm on the cuff of the second sock, and I'll cart it around with me for the next little while. I'll be wearing the pair before long.
I spent most of Sunday sorting and straightening my closet, and that pleases me. I needed to get into the bins of yarn so I could pick things to bring to the Stash Lounge at the KR Retreat next week. I ended up with two big bags of nice yarn, including all the Elann solid colored sock yarn I got a few years ago. I haven't used a bit of it. There's also a sweater's worth of Elann Peruvian worsted. I'm sure they'll find new homes with happy knitters!
I also dove into the bag of Sundara yarns, but all I did there was marvel and ponder and swoon, as usual, and decide that my next socks must be Brambleberry. Or maybe Through the Woods, or Pie in the Pantry. Oh, I don't know!
I did have a good idea, though. As I was looking through the mountains of sock yarn, I set aside any skeins that would look good as a plain pair of socks. Now, when I get the urge to start something new, I can reach in the bag and grab a no-brainer yarn for a pair of no-brainer socks. Wait -- where did I put that bag, anyway?
I have to keep looking ahead now -- the Retreat is in a week, and I have lots to do and sort and plan. My car is all clean, has a new battery, and is ready to go. The yarn is bagged, and I've begun to decide what to pack. It's even time to start checking the weather report for Williamstown, MA. I'm excited about getting away for a few days, especially because I'll be spending time with some of my favorite people in the whole world -- my knitting peeps!
Blocked and waiting for Annabelle's final inspection -- the Cedar Falling Waters shawl. It's still pinned out on the floor this morning, and I'll leave it there until I get home from work. It's probably dry, but I know me; once I unpin it I'll have to look at it, then put it on, then play with it ...but it's Monday, and I need to get to work. The light was so poor yesterday that the photo can't show how shimmery the purl bumps are, or how the tilting things wave across the surface. And the colors -- they are so cedar-y!
While I watched the shawl dry I finished a pair of Sweet Fern mitts from The Knitter's Book of Wool. I was knitting along on the second one, happily making the thumb increases, la-de-da hooray for me, when I realized I was making a second right-hand mitt. Oh well. When I posted about it on Facebook, I was pleased to learn that it happens to the best knitters sometimes! The yarn is Aarni from Riihivilla, a yarn which my friend Kris forced me to order. Its base is a blend of natural colors, and it's dyed with indigo, so it's a very interesting yarn. I popped the pair into a bath last night and they're still drying, so I'll try to get photos during the week. I also blocked two of the hats I made. I'm on a roll, it seems!
It might be that I'm gearing up for the Knitter's Review Retreat, which is happening in just a few weeks. I have lots to do in the stash before I leave -- there are many bags to sort so I can bring things to swap in the Stash Lounge, and I have to decide what I'm going to knit while I'm there, and I want to choose a yarn and project to start on Sunday morning.
It also might be that I had very good news last week. I'd been dreading my second three-month checkup with Dr. Pearl. Last time there was still some concern about my blood work, so we were being watchful and waiting to see how it would be this time. Well, it was the best it's ever been. So normal that it's crazy-normal. The three of us -- me, Dr. P. and Nurse Sylvia -- were thrilled! I feel like I've been doing things right (as in getting healthier), and I can keep going without all the worry. I'm so very grateful to be in the care of this wonderful doctor and nurse, and I'm also very proud of what I've done.
Oh, and I got my first haircut the other day!
