Knitting As A Lifeline

"Literally holding my breath.  Waiting for the next thing to happen.  Not feeling a foundation underneath me."

That’s how I feel if I'm not knitting every spare moment.  Between projects, to let my hands heal a bit, makes me feel a bit like flotsam in the sea.  Tensions rise, bickering increases, boredom sets in. 

I used to be able to fill in the time with other productive things while not doing patchwork or knitting.  It was a break time to catch up with organizing, or cleaning, or just leaving the house.  Now, not so much.

  There’s been an increase in the amount of stress here in the last year, and it’s almost the anniversary now of all the beginning of that stress.  The year has pretty much flown by.  I still hope this coming year will be better and bring some relaxation and more happiness.  It’s not looking to promising right now.

So, I still need my lifeline - knitting - to carry me through.  I can take it with me like a security blanket small enough to fit in my purse, but now I have project bags that are easy to carry.  I can sit with it in any room, and keep my mind occupied no matter what’s going on around me.  I have something pretty to look at and concentrate on too.  I can shut out what ever is going on, but still be present and aware of what’s happening.  Or I can just totally shut everyone out, even if they try to get my attention.

After all that’s happened in the last year, I feel like I just want to be alone.  That’s not going to happen for a while either.  And probably when it does happen, I won’t like it very much.  Then I’ll be craving for the chaos.  It’s either is going to rain, or it’s going to pour.

  I never know what’s going to happen anymore and I realize more now than ever that my plans don’t mean much.  I can’t predict with any certainty what ‘s going to happen next.  So, should I throw caution to the wind??  No I think I will just try to make myself as happy as possible and not care too much what other people think of me, and just continue to do my thing, no matter what that is.......

Rainy Day Chat

Welcome to the Banter!  It's a rainy day here in the mountains, and with the rain and drizzle comes the fog... so typical for the fall and spring here.

Speaking of fall, its about at it's peak here, colorwise.  It is beautiful.  The leaves are clearing out though, and they'll soon all be gone.

Which doesn't bother me much at all, because, next is Winter!!  I love winter.  I think people think I am crazy-- who loves the cold??  I do, because I get to wear sweaters, and thick socks and warm pants and coats and knitted hats and gloves.

And, speaking of sweaters!!   I'm knitting one for myself.  This is the first sweater I've ever made for myself.  I think it's coming along well.  I made some mistakes, but corrected them all before going further.  I had to knit several swatches first, and learned the pattern quite well, as I had to start over and over.  My brain just doesn't want to work with me in counting, unless I do it over and over, and over again.  So it is quite a challenge for me.  This is the back of the sweater, it is going to be seamed, which frequent makers on the internet comment that they really hate seaming.  But I have to do it for the experience.  There is more on my Ravelry page which you can link to HERE. (click on the word "here").

The three pictures above are part of my BEE HAPPY quilt project organization.  I'll be cutting the 10 inch stack today, then hopefully start at the machine very soon.

 This is my foyer.  I've never had one before, but I think it looks okay.  It's really not done yet, it's always  a work in progress around here.

 Some mums for you!

And here's my Good Bye Girl.  I decided to put her on display in my glass case.  She's too fine to keep in the shadows.

I hope your day is fine.  I love the rainy fall days.  I've made some chocolate chip cookies and am ready to cut some fabric!!!!     XXOO,   Bebe

April: Languishing Within the Throes of Winter

It's unusually cool this spring, for this locale.  In fact, it's been one of the coldest winters and springs on record.  There's been white-outs, when you least expect it, cold and rainy days, dismal days, dark and cloudy days.  The dog with the thick coat has shown no signs of shedding, which shed in February last year.  The pear trees have bloomed and leafed out.  There are buds on the maple trees with their pretty seed fronds, and there's the little peach tree, newly planted in the yard.  

There is some good to all this cold:  the blueberry bushes and azaleas are blooming profusely, and the lilac bush has leafed out beautifully, after a disasterous bout with herbicide last fall, which seems to be a miracle.

Despite the weather, the sky puts on a fantastic show.

And since it's very cool, still, there is time to languish with a fantastic novel for the spring:

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim.

If you have not read this book, only seen the movie, take the time to read it.  It's worth every delicious word.

New Ironing Board Cover and Spring

I Finally stopped sewing long enough to re-cover my ironing board! 

Sewing things I actually NEED sometimes gets on

my nerves, because they take time.

I had to take time to do this project though, as my old

cover was torn.

It was easier than I thought it would be!

I followed Joanna Figueroa's instructions in her

Fresh Vintage (TM), FTQ#FV550, Issue #19

which you can get HERE.

Oh, and by the way- it's SPRING here!  The trees are

a'bloomin' and the robins are out in force!

But it's a blustery, humid day and we are

probably in for some storms today....

I love how the cover turned out!  It only took me about 30 minutes total!!

Which only took a little time out of my day!!

The fabric is by Joel Dewberry for Westminister Fabrics, Buttercup. 

LOVE IT!!

Did I mention it's Spring here?!!  These hyacinths

are from a single bulb I planted here

two years ago.  They're multiplying!

Happy Spring!!