Santa Cruz... What will I knit with you?

So here I am, working on my school stuff in Santa Cruz, but I haven't been knitting at all! I have a couple projects (they are older and slightly complicated) that I get out occasionally, but then I just get frustrated and put them away. I've cast on for a couple simple projects with gift yarn from last fall -- yarn that I truly adore -- but I'm not happy with the way it looks after I start knitting, and I just frog it after a few inches.

I think I want endless, simple garter stitch (or perhaps stockinette in the round?). Something I can do in the dark, or at meetings, or when I'm sleepy and frustrated... truly relaxing or meditative knitting. But, I don't want to use any of the yarn I have on hand to knit it with...

Monarchs

I visited the butterflies today.


There is a Monarch butterfly wintering site near school, and they are just beginning to arrive. Orange and flickering, they circle the grove until settling on branches to masquerade as leaves.

Back in CA

Well, a lot has been happening. I'm back in California, and I'm going back to school.


I got here very late on Friday night, after a killer drive from Portland straight through to Santa Cruz, and I haven't even finished setting up my room. School starts this week, and I'm nervous but excited about it.

Today I decided to venture out of the house to sit in a coffee shop (my home away from home) and send emails. I'm trying the coffee shop just down the street from my new place, and it looks promising, but the mocha is so sweet I can barely drink it. Well, next time I'll try one of my old haunts.

I'm sure I'll update my blog more often now that I'm back in CA. Cheers!

Monday Night

Ella is running around the apartment in a true Frenzy. I think it may have been brought on by watching the bird hoards flying around outside the apartment. I just spent almost two hours giggling and reading Bridget Jones's Diary. Now it's time to work on something meaningful.

I hope you are all doing well. Cheers!

Belly update

An update on Dan...

My sweetie is feeling better. He's back at work, and seems to be handling it well. He's not supposed to life heavy stuff yet, but otherwise his activity level is almost back to what it was before. Luckily he hasn't had any major complications, but his tummy doesn't respond to food quite the way it did when he had a gallbladder. We've been discussing how we might change what we eat (yes, I get to change too) in order accommodate his altered digestive system. We may come out of this situation with healthier diets all round.

In other belly related news...

I preformed at a Hasani's Hafla, (a.k.a. belly dance party/show) this Saturday. Yes, for those of you who don't know all my secrets, I have been belly dancing for about a year now, and this was my second public performance. I was nervous, but I had a lot of fun!

I'm including a picture for you, but it's a bit grainy:


And here's a little self-portrait from the show:

Gall*

Last week became very complicated. Dan's doing OK now, but I had to take him to the emergency room early Thursday morning. After a rollercoaster of a day (with x-rays, ultrasounds, blood tests, waiting around, consulting with doctors, etc... etc...), I took him home... sans gallbladder.

He is now home recovering from the surgery. He's even considering going back to work tomorrow. He'll be OK. He's strong. (He offered to let me take a picture of his healing belly for the blog, but he's already removed his bandages, and we decided healing wounds aren't really good knitting blog pictures.)

*I almost titled this entry "Bile and Pain", but decided to go with something less harsh.

Lynn's big beret

Some time ago, I found this Noro yarn on sale, and I immediately knew it would be perfect for making a gift for Lynn because they are exactly her colors. After careful consideration, I decided to make her another hat--specifically a beret.


You see, this is not the first hat I've knit for dear Lynn. I made her a lovely Odessa a few years ago, but she can’t wear it anymore. She has a hearing aid, and if she wears a hat too tight over her ears it makes the hearing aid feedback.

This hat doesn’t have that problem.


I used the "One Day Beret" pattern as the basis for the hat (I showed it to you way back here), but I purposely made it rather large on top so it can bell out over her ears. The extra space stops the feedback problem. (Yay!)

I finally presented the finished beret to Lynn in February, and I think she’s really happy with it! When I was down in Portland last weekend, I noticed it in her car. She told me that she keeps it there for convenience and wears it frequently when she's chilly.

It makes me really happy when I know someone I love is using something I knit for them.

Action

Spring's bustin' out, on a green sunny rampage, after the snowiest winter I've ever experienced in Washington. The dandelions have taken over. The sky is clear. The farmer's market is open, and I'm listening to the siren call of tiny plant starts (Buy me! Put me in your earth! I will grow for you, feed your soul and your belly!) And on Sunday I had a mini-crisis.


Don't worry. Everything is now resolved. It was a paperwork crisis—and everything is now filled out, submitted, and received—but it could have been bad, and the shock seemed to shatter something inside of me. After I panicked and cried, I called dear Sabrina. She talked me down, put things in perspective, and was lovely. She helped me find my strength again. Then I moved back into action mode—and haven't stopped since.


I've felt frozen inside for a while. Frozen by fear of failure, by feeling overwhelmed, by... all sorts of self-doubts. And all that emotional ice was freezing my actions too.


Of course, I wasn't completely inactive or even particularly sad, but I didn't feel like I was moving forward.


Now it's warming up outside, and the ice in me is melting, and it's spring, and I want to make change and take control—to act. I'm bustin' out too. Be on the lookout.

Oh my!

It's been such a long time since I last updated my blog! I better change that...

Stay tuned...