Quiet zone

I can't believe how cute the little socks are! They were just the knitting I needed these past couple of days.

• Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight in "Fairgrounds"
• Gauge: 6 stitches per inch on 2.75mm Brittany birch dpn's
• Pattern: Basic heel flap sock formula, tweaked a little
  

I washed and sort-of blocked the set this morning, and the yarn got so soft and snuggly -- just right for a little baby.

The weather fairies have been kind today, helping me to relax in the cool air of my day off. Even out in the world (or Sag Harbor, which is where I went) the air was clear and comfortable. I'm grateful for these little bits of sweetness, because I need all I can find.

I think that I'm just tired. The downsides of my job get to me when I am tired. The little things take more concentration. The big things become too big. It is only when something happens -- the barometric pressure takes a dive and throws me into a migraine -- that I realize that I'm just one Jane, and that I can't push it, and why should I? So today I played with tiny socks and photographs and Annabelle, and I took a nice long nap filled with dreams. I stayed quiet, and I feel so much better!

O is for...

... OCEAN.
I moved here to Long Island because it made sense at the time. I didn't know why, except that visiting here opened my heart in a way I'd never known before. Leaving my life and starting a new one here was a leap, for sure. I had friends here, Judy and her family, but I was also alone. I think I was drawn here by the ocean, though.

In the bad months at first, the ocean was there to listen, and I screamed and howled at it, out into the surf. I got better at my new life. Since then the ocean has lifted my spirits, heard my prayers, delighted my senses, and inspired me to paint.

O is for my Ocean.

Woke up, it was a comfy morning...

... Oh, sorry... Anyway, it was! Sunday morning was perfect. I opened all the windows, flung open the door, and turned the ceiling fan on to clear out the stale air-conditioned air. I poked around on my teeny-tiny "deck" -- see how small it is? -- and barricaded the stairs so that Herself could not escape. No ticks for us, no ma'am!

Fresh air at last! Breezy, fresh, oceany air! Nothing could have been more welcome. I brewed the coffee, started the computer, and went back out to breathe some more. Pure bliss.

I spent the morning working on my Project Spectrum Postcard for my July pal. I love making stuff with paper. I don't scrapbook or do paper crafts, really, but I have a huge collection of images and bits that are fun to assemble. I'll post photos after she gets the package, because I don't want to spoil the surprise! Lisa has been very patient!

I seem to have been making negative progress on my Hippy Crunchy sock. Since I'm not a complete fool (and I know when to quit while I'm "ahead"), I decided to set it aside for a couple of days. I turned my feeble mind to figuring out what to do with my STR Rockin' Sock Club Fairgrounds yarn (the mediumweight that wasn't thrilling me as socks). I came up with this sweet little baby hat. My niece L is going to have a baby in October, and I want to make her something special. I started with a simple hat in the round, did a rolled brim, and added some purl rows every once in a while. I came up with a nice little decrease plan, to make the crown a little different -- and I really like it! I have more than enough yarn left over for at least one pair of little socks, and I could probably make a pair for the big brother as well.
My sister E is planning the One Skein bib wardrobe, and I think I'm going to do a Mason-Dixon Kimono. We'll have to try to control ourselves! This will be a well-knitted baby, because her Auntie A knits, too.

Work keeps surprising me with its strain and drain. I have been doing this job for eleven Augusts now. I mean, I know what I'm doing, and I know what to expect. But this year, I seem to be getting slapped around more than usual. We've decided that the heat wave took all of our energy, and the customers have stolen our very souls, so now we're nothing but empty husks waving in the breeze. We like the drama, we do.

So far I've been able to keep up with the demands of the busy season, and it's helped to retreat to my little home each evening and each day off. But I miss the rest of my world -- walks on the beach, visits to Judy (I haven't seen the Remarkable R's since when, June?), unfettered travel around the villages and towns. I've sacrificed many of the bits of spontaneity my life had for peace and quiet. I've put many things on hold, with promises to myself that I will go there, or do that, and be that Jane again, after Summer. Four weeks till Labor Day.
It's damp and humid again, so I'm back to breathing chilled air (but at least I'm not all sticky and uncomfortable). I'll live with it for now, because you can be sure that the next time a cool breeze blows, or the temperature dips a bit, I'll have the windows wide open in the blink of an eye. Four weeks till Labor Day!

It's hot here, too.

We're in the middle of our first real heat wave of the summer, and though our temperatures are just hovering close to 100, it's still awful. The air, if that's what you can call it, is thick and soupy, and the breeze is anything but refreshing, and doesn't do anything but move the sticky air around a little. Breathing is hard, thinking is harder. May as well stay home. There's nothing to be done except complain and try to stay out of the worst of it.

The shoreline at Short Beach in Sag Harbor was empty this morning, except for this one gull. He stood there for so long that I began to wonder about him, but then he flew off into the thick air -- slowly, it seemed. Everything seems slow today.

I'm comfortable at home, with my little window air conditioner and my icy tea and my windows that I covered with dark cloth since I have no blinds and all my windows face south. Though I feel a bit like Miss Havisham, shrouded as I am in the dim, strangely pink light of my "curtains," I know that I'm lucky. I didn't have to go to work today, where it's hot no matter what the AC is doing, and unpacking books and hauling them around makes everybody weak and cranky.

I was so numbed by the heat yesterday that I unpacked the box containing the new Vogue Knitting, but I forgot to even glance at it! Oh well, there's always tomorrow. My mailbox contained the new Interweave Knits, though, so I'm happy.

My mailbox contained another, more exciting treat. Lisa of Knitting by the Sea was my fabulous Project Spectrum Postcard Pal for July. Look at the lovely purpleness she sent! I just love the card (and the "spare" card she included was the perfect purple pick-me-up for a friend who's going through a rough time). Thanks, Lisa, and yours is almost on its way!

It's August already? I'm behind in everything! Hold on -- I have an ABC-Along O in mind, I'm almost ready to send my PSPostcard, I'm putting the finishing touches on my KSKS pal's package, and think I'll even be able to manage a Project Spectrum-themed project. Not too bad! All these things, and the knitting that started them, make every day sweet. Work can be bitter, hard, tiring, or whatever, as long as I have the knitting.

I'm making progress on the second Hippy Crunchy sock, but it's slow going (those pesky yarnovers keep going AWOL!). I have a washcloth on the needles (or maybe two). I haven't worked on my Flower Basket Shawl in a while, but that's because I know that I don't have the ability to concentrate on the pattern right now (if I can't manage the yo's on a little sock, I'm sure not going to try to work on a lace shawl!). None of my knitting has an expiration date, thank goodness!