A Ball - Or Two - Of Yarn

The Official Sock Yarn Blankie Square Count for November 10, 2009:

Squares Needed: 736

Squares Knit and Stitched Together: 239

Remaining Squares Needed: LOTS! In real numbers 497

Susanna The Short was officially divorced a month before me. I met her just as hers was finalized. We have very different personalities. Conservative on the outside; colorful on the inside - that's STS. Our divorce stories on the other-hand are very similar. We hit it off immediately! I met STS at a knitting group. My first time with the group was the same day everyone was going out to celebrate her divorce. Her divorce present from the group was a pair of socks made by most of the group members. I call them her "divorce socks."

Recently, I was given a ball of STS' divorce sock yarn for blankie. It is green, purple and white. Last Thursday I took the ball out of the plastic bag it had resided in and placed it on top of my blankie in my bag so I would know where it was later on when I was ready to add the square. However, when I did actually go to knit the square it wasn't there. Ok . . . I mentally retraced my steps and identified the few places it could be. None of which I would be back at anytime soon. Crap Monkey! The divorce yarn had divorced me after just a few days. No worries, I would just send the person who gave it to me a message explaining what happened and see if they had more. They did. Problem solved.

I got the new ball this weekend. I swore I would knit it into blankie immediately. In reality it was more like an hour later. When I went to get it it was gone. WTF! I was divorced by yarn yet again!? I looked up and down and all around. Like before, at the end of the day I took it all in stride and the person who gave it to me said they would give me another. Phew! Third times a charm, right!? I have to say, I did have a harder time letting go of the disappearing yarn this time around. Before I was about to leave my lo-cal I decided to look one last place. Ah-ha, found it!

It was hiding behind the leg of someone else's chair. How it got there is beyond me, but at the end of the day what is important is that I found it and that made me happy that I found the yarn. Since then, the yarn and I have worked through are differences and it is now part of blankie.

Yay for happy endings!


Until later . . .

The Time Has Come

My friend with breat cancer will be going into surgery in about 7.5 hours. It's so surreal.

"Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine." That is what I keep repeating to myself. She told me today "she hopes" everything will go well and the cancer won't spread. I wanted to say I'm sure she will be fine. However, I'm not G-d. I can't make that promise. But, I so badly want too.

I still can't believe this is happening to her. If I had to equate how awesome this person is, I'd have to compare her to Joe, who died last July. Maybe that is what freaks me out. If Joe can be taken before his chance for a transplant what is keeping her from being taken. This is where KP and BFF would remind me about faith and trust in G-d's plan. Sigh.


At this point all I can do is wait to hear that the surgery went ok and that it is on to the next step. While I do I will say a prayer for her. If you are spiritual in any way, shape or form, I ask of you to say a prayer for my friend as well. Thank you.

Until later . . .

"It Is What It Is"

Somewhere around my early- to mid-twenties my mom would tell me how she was concerned that I wouldn't make it to see thirty.

Lovely!

This isn't exactly something anyone wants to hear - especially from a parent. However, she had a valid reason to be concerned. Like my dad, I am a worry-wort. If you could worry about it I do; and then some! Her concern was simple - all the worrying could take a toll on my body. I appreciated the concern and understood where it was coming from, but never really took it seriously.

Well, I made it to thirty . . . and then some. One could say I was trying to prove my mom wrong. However, just because I made it doesn't mean my worrying ways changed at the stroke of midnight. I still worried about everything. It wouldn't be me if I didn't, right!?

Last week, I was on the phone with KP when I realized there were a few things I couldn't find. Both pricier items and important to me. As I searched my place for them I said, "Well, if I can't find it I guess it just 'is what it is' and I will have to get new ones." This catch phrase wasn't new to me. It's actually something I've been saying for years now. So much several of my friends often beat me to the punch. KP commented that was a very relaxed approach I was taking and that she would have been upset. Yeah, I guess it was. I guess over the past few years I've realized there are some things I just can't control as much I would like too. Does it suck that I would have to spend additional monies to replace something? Yes. Do I need to stress and worry about it? Nah. I guess I'm learning to let go of things I can't control and invest in those I can have an influence over.

As for my mom . . . Last week she was telling me how she didn't know where something was and it was concerning her. It was the middle of the day. There was nothing she could do until later. I told her to relax and look for it when she got home. I also told her I was sure it would be fine. She was perplexed by my response. That's when I realized I had come full-circle. Amazing how it sneaks up on you!

Until later . . .

Silly Sheep!

I'm not sure who introduced me to the Dizzy Sheep and its infamous "Dizzy Deals," but I have to say I have mixed feeling about them for doing so.

No, the yarn I had finally settled on for the February Lady sweater I plan to make wouldn't cost me at my LYS as much as I would have paid had I found a companion pak in the yarn pit at Stitches (half the cost actually) however if I could get a deal on it, even better! (I can never be accused of being a spendthrift.)

I did a double take when I saw the Dizzy Deal posted Saturday night. There it was! Berocco Ultra Alpaca - 215 yards of super soft, warm awesomeness. I had only been stalking the site for a few weeks. I didn't think it would appear so quickly. I felt like I had won some sort of knitting lottery. After I got over the shock I quickly made my way to the other room to get my credit card since I really wasn't expecting to make a purchase. The color selection was limited. I think Dizzy knew the shade of blue I had been eying and thus didn't make it available. However there were two shades of purple available. I went with the darker purple. (Lighter purples such as Lilac and Lavender looked better on my Grandma than it does me.) All said and done, I saved about 35%. Oh, did I mention Dizzy gives AWESOME customer service!? Over 24 hours after I placed my order I realized I didn't buy enough - go figure! I e-mailed D about my slip-up and before I knew it my worries were no more.

After the purchase was made I e-mailed my button dealer to ask when their shop would be open so I could finalize my button selection - the big picture is made up of small details. Yesterday morning I received a reply with the "store" hours and also the suggestion of a knit along. Hmmm . . . not a bad idea! I think I will need someone to prod me along on this project. Especially since I can't seem to put down the two sock yarn blankies.

My goal is to have the sweater done by mid- to late- January . . . just in time for some of those snow falls I was going on about early.

Until later . . .

Springing Into Winter

Yesterday and today were lovely Spring days.

So nice that after I ran errands yesterday I changed into a pair of shorts and took a two mile walk. It was such a nice way to end the day and start the evening. Since I got an early start today I took another walk. This time just a little longer - 6 miles. I have to admit I wasn't sure if I still had it in me to make the walk without killing myself as it's been awhile since I stopped walking 40 miles a week. (Yes, you read that right.) I did slow down at the end, but still averaged a 15 minute mile.

One of the things I love about my walks is the time I have to think and clear my head about things going on around me and in my life. G-d knows I need that right now since there is a lot to clear my head of. I've been working hard lately to clear up some loose ends that have been hanging out there for some time. Most of them are all tied up. Except for one large one. Though it has an obvious solution (that is if I have to take action), that is not so desirable to me. So, it will remind loose for another moment in time. Maybe if I try hard enough I can will it to fix itself.

It's sad to think in just 22 days the snow will be here - remember there are three guarantees in life. One of them being the very latest date we can expect snow by.

Winter is not my season. Not even close to it. Which makes the fact that I love to watch snow falls bizarre. It's one of the most peaceful sites if you ask me. To see the streets and sidewalks coated with untainted snow . . . Wow! Just wow!

During winter 2008, when I was taking the crack-ass of dawn (aka 5:30am) train into work, if it was snowing out I would make my way out to the platform 10-15 minutes before the train was expected just so I could enjoy the site of the light coming from the lamps overhead beaming onto the falling snow. The angle at which it hit the snow was breathtaking. I know! It sounds super cheesy and it was a bit chilly, but it was beautiful. It was a site that helped me forget all about my worries and woos. Even for just a brief moment. It still is the site that takes me to a peaceful place. Moments like that are the only reason I look forward to winter. And, this year I look forward to experiencing it from my current view of the world. I'm sure it will be incredible.

Until later . . .