Twists of Fate

I’m totally in a knitting slump. I haven’t picked up needles since I finished the mittens, which still need a lot of work to be felted. I really should’ve paid more attention to my yarn selection there, I think. I, for some reason, thought the alpaca/wool blend would felt as soon as someone sneezed on it, but apparently this is not the case. I hope the receipient has better luck than I.

I think I need to unravel the Chicknits Cardi I started for my sister. For some reason one sleeve is about four inches longer than the other, and it’s just not really working out. Time to rip and re-evaluate. I got some Rowansoft 4-ply recently in one of the destash posts, and might swatch some of that as a possibility for this sweater. I think I mostly have Navy though, and I’m fairly certain she will find it a depressing color. However, she also works in coffee, so maybe the darker color would be better anyway. It would be a more workable color when you’re surrounded by grounds that stain things if you’re not careful.

I think a lot of my “meh” is driven by the fact that two of my extended family passed away within a week of each other. Aunt Mary Jane was wonderful, though I barely knew her. Very “momly”, I know all of her kids just adored her. I thoroughly enjoyed speaking with her when we were able to do so, and I am confident that her gentle energy is relaxing in a well deserved cosmic spa somewhere. I was a lot closer to my Uncle Bill, and his passing is hitting me harder than I thought it would. He and his wife Jayne (my father’s sister) were just about the only doses of normality that I had growing up. We had some serious differences of opinion, most notably in the arenas of human sexuality and religion (you know, the little things), and my last visit back to see him was not as smooth as I had hoped it would be. Regardless, I will miss him greatly, and hope that he has been reunited with my Aunt and that they’re enjoying new adventures together.

But the wheel turns, and I have to get going on a knitted gift for a friend who is having her first baby in May. I find myself drawing a total blank. I need things that are easy to knit right now. She’s having a boy - a blanket perhaps? A small sweater/bootie set? I don’t know! My experience with small humans is very…well. Small. I’m not much of a baby person, and I find myself nearly paralyzed by all the choices. Suggestions would be wonderful.

Work continues to kick my arse, though a really lovely and pretty woman just came into the office I’m sitting in and randomly said hello. So, hey, bonus there! :D

I ache, and I hurt, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other and hope it’ll get better soon.