Nut Moon Knitter

Lucy Was Here!

Yesterday was a really nice day. I went to my very first knitting class ever, and boy was it great. When I left home, it was dark and rainy and very gloomy, but the more I drove toward Staunton, the brighter and sunnier it got. There were wild flowers growing out by the road, and I passed a goat farm, a horse farm, and lots and lots of cows.

I arrived at On the Lamb at the same time that Lucy Neatby did, and yes, she is quite recognizable! Because I know a lot of people are wondering, her hair was about three shades of pinks and purples!

The class was on finishing techniques, and I have to say I learned a lot. It was so interesting to get her take on things. The class was fairly large, but that might be because we were tucked in a small space. She taught from her DVD collection which looks to be excellent (I did not purchase any of the DVDs but do plan to) as well as a dry erase board. With just about everything she talked about she was able to show us a knitting piece supporting the technique which was fun for everyone.

Her knitting is just wonderful, and the colorwork was truly inspiring. She covers areas that I have not explored much. She does a lot of intarsia and Fair Isle, and seemed to have many vests and socks. Also double knitting--she is working on a large piece that is double knit (could be a rug or a blanket when done) and it was many different colors worked in a Native American or Cowichan design, if I remember correctly. One sweater (she was wearing when she first arrived at the shop) that stands out as exceptional is her "Rainbow Sheep" sweater. It is available in a kit, and is a lovely example of exciting intarsia--so much going on that you couldn't ever possibly get bored, either knitting it or wearing it!

Her attention to detail is the basis of her teaching, and she is a true "thinking" knitter. She does not just follow what has always been done, she has spent her life figuring out what's best for each item and has learned from her mistakes.

We took a break in the morning, one for lunch (which is when I shot the above photo--included is my new friend Pat) and another in the afternoon. Lucy did not disappear and hide during the breaks: she was always very happy to chat with people. I told her of my knitting history, and showed her my book, which she said looked very nice. I'm glad that my book is on cables, because she doesn't seem to be a huge cable knitter, so I didn't feel like I was stepping into her territory! We spoke at great length about my teaching, which I am still hesitant to begin. It was nice to have someone who "lives the life" taking the time to counsel me on my future.

Anyway, I met lots of very nice people and feel more inspired than ever to get on with some knitting. Joe was a wonderful host, and gave us little packages full of samples of yarn--including an entire ball of Juliet by Skacel (nylon/acrylic novelty yarn). We each got a lottery ticket (none were the big winner) and a little sample of Soak. All in all, a simply wonderful way to spend the day!

When I arrived home, I had a box of sample yarn from Fiesta Yarns waiting for me, so I might do a bit of designing (playing) this afternoon. The yarns are lovely--La Luz (100% silk), Baby Boom (100% merino superwash), Gelato (100% rayon ribbon), Meteor (50% rayon, 50% cotton--also a ribbon), Boomerang (100% merino superwash) and La Boheme (50% rayon, 32% brushed kid mohair, 14% wool, 4% nylon).

I am naturally most excited about the Boomerang and the Baby Boom--cables would look lovely in this yarn. I might try some knit/purl patterns in the La Luz. The colors of the Meteor are great (its name is "Tequila Sunrise") as well as the Gelato ("Clematis") and the Baby Boom ("Poppies").

In other news . . .

While I have been taking my "break" from knitting, I've been working on socks. As I have said, I've never been a big sock fanatic, preferring (dare I say it) store bought socks. But, I've been working on socks after having bought some Claudia's Hand Painted, and I've made about five pairs both in the Claudia's, Regia and now old baby yarn that I found in my stash. I have perfected my technique, memorized all my measurements and have gotten much more happy with working with double pointed needles. I no longer have to look up the Kitchnener stitch--I have it memorized. So, yesterday I decided that I had to wear one of the pairs to the knitting class and I chose a beautiful pair of blue Regias with inch stripes of blues and greys interspersed with

Part II

For some reason, TypePad decided to edit my post. To continue:

interspersed with a fair isle/checkerboard pattern. Well, when I got home, I felt like I could feel every single stitch, and I had knit them with size 1 needles! Also, one of the very helpful techniques learned was a much more preferable graft than the Kitchener stitch. So, my sock knitting I think has come to another stopping point. However, having said that, Lucy mentioned to me that she will be on the judging committee when Knitter's Magazine has another sock contest. I brought in my copy of SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS that XRX published back in 1999 and she gratiously signed it on her Travelling Socks pattern. I might just knit up one or two very vibrant and fun socks for the contest--she thought that the deadline was January; I'll have to check on it. It could be a lot of fun making artistic socks rather than functional socks.

What I really wanted to get down today, was the progress of my churn dash quilt. I put on the sashing and have basted it together. The basting is an experiment, because all I could find was a fusible batting which I had never used before. It seems to have worked just fine. There are one or two places where I might need to quilt out the raised batting, but we'll see--overall, it is easier than hand basting. I have never used the basting guns or anything, and I think this fusible would be wonderful for smaller sized projects.

I am happy with it--it is quite white and plain, but that is what I wanted. I have a bunch of fabrics lined up for the next quilt, and there is no white or cream fabric in the stack. It will be a colorful profusion of pinks, blues and greens. The churn dash, however, is supposed to show the blue fabrics of the churn dash and be very understated. I have the quilt stencils that I would like to use, I've found my thimble (it really has been years since I've quilted) and the quilt is ready to go. Too bad knitting has come back to the forefront! No hurry on this quilt, though; it can wait until the fall if need be. I want to enjoy the hand quilting. It is my favorite part of the process--bleeding fingertips and all!

After several days of rain and now chilly weather, it is starting to brighten up in the Valley. Here are a few shots:

Flowers!

Look at what I received the other day--

They are flowers which accompanied a copy of my new book!

Cast On magazine received the latest sweater that I designed, and they wrote back that they loved it. That always makes a designer feel good--to hear that the actual sweater met the expectations of the swatch and sketch. I really liked this sweater, too. It is a nice cozy autumn cardigan with just enough texture. I wish that I could show pictures of it, but sorry! It will be in the fall '08 edition of the magazine.

Remember the churn dash quilt? Well, I have finished all the blocks that I need.

Now I have to cut and sew the sashing. I love white on white fabrics (which are used in the blocks) and so I got more for the sashing. The cornerstones are going to be a bright tone on tone red and hopefully this will take some monotony out of the all blue blocks. I am still undecided about a border, but will decide when the quilt top takes shape. There are lots of sashing pieces to sew! I might do some applique for the final border bringing in more red or maybe reds and blues together. That is the fun part of quilting--you don't have to decide about things like borders or bindings until the end if you don't want to. You might not have access to the original fabrics if you didn't buy a lot at the beginning, but that is a small price to pay.

It is a gorgeous spring day here today, and my forsythia is in full bloom. There will be no photos until next year, because I just planted it a few weeks ago, and all its glory is not much! It will grow quickly, though, and in a few years will be spectacular. The daffodils that I planted in pots are doing well, surprisingly enough. They are popping through the soil and look healthy enough. After they have bloomed (hopefully!) I'll plant them in the landscape.

The trees in town that I took photos of are now starting to turn the pretty leaf green, and when you drive under them, there is a shower of petals. I wish the flowers could stay around longer, but after all the brown of winter, I've been looking forward to the trees greening up. I can't very well say that I don't want the leaves to come out! I guess we always have to be happy with what we have at the moment.

Spring in the Valley

I have finished the sweater for Cast On. I wish that I could take lots of pictures of it, because I really like this one, but I can't--this will have to be enough.

I used Cascade 220, and I really liked the yarn. It is the same yarn that I used in my argyle sweater, so I think that I'm definitely a fan. It is not too expensive, wool, and knits up beautifully. I'll have to get more of it.

Last weekend was my daughters' 13th birthday, so they had a huge slumber party which extended far into the next day when we all went to the mall for a few hours. We once surprised Nicholas for his birthday by getting him some guinea pigs, so we decided, quite impulsively, to get the kids some rabbits! Actually, Steve was at the feed store getting a battery for the lawn mower, and they had these rabbits up for sale--they were so cute, how could we turn them down!

These two giants are named Brayon and P.B. They are the size of a medium sized cat! They are really sweet, although it took P.B. a while to get used to Emily picking him up. I think they are adjusted to each other now, though.

This little fluffy one is Pip.

I don't know if he is partially angora, but I'm certainly going to try to do something with his fur. The big guys are about four months old, and Pip is about two months. So, although they have this nice hutch, they are mainly in the garage until the weather at night gets more consistently warm. They don't seem to mind where they are, but it will be nicer for them to be out on the deck when the weather is nice, and we can sit with them more out there. I really loved having guinea pigs for so many years, but it is so heartbreaking that they have so short a life span. Hopefully these rabbits will give us a few more years with them. They also seem to be a lot less work than guinea pigs.

Anyway, the girls had a great birthday. They received kites as a present from one of their friends, so they've been out a lot flying their kites!

Now for the spring blooms! Yesterday was a lovely day, so I got out with my camera. This first picture is right up the street from us. I drove up to the post office a few weeks ago, and the whole area was starting to show signs of daffodils! They are not out all the way yet, and I hope that I don't miss it when they are. They go way back so they are really impressive.

I wish that more median strips were planted with flowers. There is so much construction around here and road widening, that they could easily throw in some plants or seeds before they cover over their areas. But these daffodils are wonderful, and it is a start! I wonder how many years they have been there.

This is the view of the greening up of the hills from my house:

Our little tree out front just starting to show it's leaves:

And some crocuses that I did manage to get in last fall:

I found about sixty daffodils that didn't ever make it in the ground, but I have now put them in. They were sprouting, so I figured they would have more of a chance in the ground than in the garage, and it they don't make it to next year, that is okay. I tried.

This is a lovely forsythia in a planting at our street's entrance:

And here are a few shots from around town:

Now back to fibery pursuits. Remember that Claudia's Hand Painted that I bought? Well, I have gotten to work on a pair of socks.

I'll be finishing up the second one today--I'm at the gusset area right now. I think they are really nice--I love the colors--but I have to say that for the price, I'm not sure I'd make socks in this yarn again. I found two skeins of Regia that I bought years ago, and that is so much cheaper and just as nice. I guess I'm basically too cheap to indulge in luxury when it comes to socks! My socks are also not much good for blogs for another reason--I don't like patterns in my socks. I like them just plain stockinette stitch or they bug me when I wear them. So, I'll make a few pairs here and there, but it is not likely to become my new "thing".

Next in line, until I find another knitting job, is a new quilt. I am still working half heartedly on the churn dash and I will probably make a few blocks today. But I came across some fabrics which work wonderfully with the curtain fabric that I used to make curtains for the girls' rooms:

Since I may be near the fabric store this weekend, I thought I could find a few more to punch up the intensity a little. I also found a pattern that I like called "Dublin Square" in a book called 15 Two-Block Quilts by Claudia Olson. I like quilting much more than piecing, so if I could finish either this new quilt top or the churn dash so I have something to quilt either over the summer or by next winter at the latest, I'd be happy. We don't really need any more quilts around here, but it certainly doesn't hurt to make them and put them away for when the kids get older. I think it is easier to have quilts waiting in the wings than sweaters!

I hope that spring is greeting you with its beauty!

March Wrapup

It seems as though I do a lot of waiting . . . now I am waiting for yarn to come for a Cast On design. I'm really excited about this one--it is a traditional Aran cardigan and will be knit in Cascade 220. The original swatch was done in Waterlily by Classic Elite Yarns, but apparantly they were out of the shade the magazine wanted. It was a long ordeal, but between Cast On's editor and myself, we have a beautiful shade of brown chosen. It was ordered a week ago, so every day I hope that it will come and every day so far I have been disappointed. There is nothing worse for a knitter than to have to wait on yarn! I have my charts made, my sizes chosen and my needles ready to go. But I can do no more until I have swatches made to get a gauge from. And then it is mad knitting to get the thing done before an April deadline. But I'm happy to have work.

The other day we all went to Staunton, which is a really cute little town about forty minutes away. It is the home of the Woodrow Wilson birthplace and Presidential Library.

We have not tackled that yet, but you can see his famous Pierce Arrow limousine through the windows as you drive past.

What did we do? Well, we found ourselves in front of a yarn store On the Lamb so we went in. It is the cutest store, and the people inside were very friendly. I found myself signing up for an all day class with Lucy Neatby! The timing is really bad, because all the kids have dentist appointments that day and I have a doctor's appointment, but I figure they can all be changed. How often does Lucy Neatby get to Virginia?! If any Harrisonburg area knitters are reading--sign up! It will be fun and educational and it will give me a chance to meet you!

I also picked up my first Claudia Hand Painted yarn. It is a beautiful blend of greens, blues, purples ("Ocean Depth"). I figure living in Harrisonburg--the home of Claudia's handpainted yarn--it is about time I start using it! I thought I would be very adventurous and knit some socks. I don't knit socks very often, because I don't really like using dpns, but I guess if the yarn is great, that would offset the needles. I show pictures later, because I really don't plan on starting these right away.

I did manage to get the argyle pullover done:

I still don't know what I'll do with it. I'm thinking of putting it in another book, but I need to see how the first book does, before I can think about another. It looked great on Leslie, though.

I've also gotten some curtains sewn for the girls' rooms. I found a really nice paisley fabric and made ten panels which I put on rings and hung on silver rods. I'll try to get a picture sometime. They are all lined, and as I'm not great at curtains, it was a lot of work for me. The girls love them, and they do soften the rooms quite a bit. I may get more of the fabrics and make some quilts for the beds. I'm not there yet, though.

On the gardening front, my hyacinth bulb is happily planted outside now. It was beautiful, and lasted quite a long time. Now it is near some crocus' that I did manage to get in last fall. I hope that the hyacinth comes back next spring--so far it looks like it is doing just fine and will become a regular spring addition to the garden.

Waiting for the Rain

Today Leslie and I are home nursing colds and waiting for the rains which supposedly are on their way. So often these storms get forecast, then never show up, so we'll see. I did have lots of little birds (and the blue jays, too) at the feeder early this morning, so maybe they know this afternoon they, too, will be hunkered down.

This is the current project:

I started it last November, then got busy with other things. I dug it out over the weekend, put in the side steeks, cut them yesterday, and now I'm knitting the sleeves onto the body. If I get going with my book on color knitting, this will probably be included. For now, though, I'm happy to have something to keep my hands working and am just trying to get it done.

I also found a long ago put away piece of crochet which I finished over the weekend:

It is a long, narrow piece of double crochets which I decided would make a good stole. So, I put some scallops around the edge--

and now I have something to put around my shoulders on chilly days which also looks good just being draped on a sofa or chair.

As I am sitting here, I am also smelling the fragrant hyacinth which has bloomed!

This was it over the weekend--still very tight and no fragrance at all, but now it is half opened, a lovely lavender, and beautiful! Next spring I'll have them all over the house in their cute little bulb vases. When I lived in Alexandria, Virginia, I had a neighbor who absolutely loved her hyacinths. She had them planted right near the front door, and there were several times when I caught her down right next to them breathing deeply. Flowers are so theraputic in both their beauty and their fragrance. I can't wait to plant some forsythia in the yard--that is another harbinger of spring.

So, I will leave with this cute picture from my calender:

When I turned the calender on March 1st, I was delighted to find this picture. I think we are all meant to play with our threads and our yarns this month!

Finished!

Here is the Cornish Lattice gansey, all finished. This is knit from the Green Mountain Spinnery that I bought at Heidi's closing sale :-( a few weeks ago. Overall, I'm very happy with it, but I think that if I had it to do all over, I would change it from a gansey look to just a pullover with the lattice pattern worked all over. I have submitted the design to Cast On for their fall issue, so I may very well have the chance to do it all over! If not, I'll make the pattern available for sale.

The yarn was nice to work with; a little on the scratchy wool side, but the yarn tag does say that the more it is washed, the softer it becomes. The color is "Clove"--I did not have a choice of colors, but I think that it is a shade that I would pick out. Steve has the sweater now, and it is a color that is nice for men as well as women.

Here is a close up of the neckline:

I haven't decided what to work on next, but I think that it will involve color. All my yarn is in the basement which I rarely go to, so I've really kind-of forgotten what I have. I might just bring out a box of DK weight and see what happens.

I had some visits the other day from little furry creatures which I will share! We have some trees behind us and have heard that we get deer, fox and occasionally a black bear, but we haven't seen any of them yet. Well, last weekend we had three deer pass through!

Aren't they cute! Click on the pictures to make them bigger--these deer blend in very well.

I also have a little squirrel friend that was looking around yesterday:

We put some corn out for him in case he comes back. So far he hasn't tried to climb up the deck to see what's in the bird feeder, although he is more than welcome. I like looking at all the little things and don't care who eats what! Typically, I plant a lot of things in my garden that will appeal to the little animals. When I lived in Illinois I planted things that the wild rabbits would like, and of course they took up residency in my yard which I loved. I really miss those rabbits, but I think that I might get some to raise that will be housed outdoors but allowed indoors. I'm going to try to get to the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival in May (anyone want to go with me?) and would love to bring home a grey angora. I saw one when I was there last in 2000, but could not get it. I have never forgotten how absolutely beautiful that fur was. He was sitting right there on the spinner's lap while she spun right from the rabbit! It was great.

Laurie had a really great post yesterday at Crazy Aunt Purl so be sure to jump over there and read it. I would so love to meet her someday! Her writing style is so easy to read, and everything she writes makes sense to me.

Here One Minute, Gone the Next

A few weeks ago I was unpacking a box of old sweaters kept mainly for sentimental value. Among them was this beauty that I knit about 22 years ago.

Although it may look pretty good in this photo, it was knit when large needles and loose cables were the rage (along with next to no shaping), so when you wear it, the cables become huge and the stitches stretched out to become nearly see through. I remember wearing this to work quite a bit and everyone loved it--I can't imagine it now!

So, I decided instead of just tossing it (no one would want it had I donated it) I thought that I would unravel it and use the yarn again. Easier said then done. The yarn probably is really cheap acrylic, and it has a lot of fluff mixed it. The color is nice, though. It took about three hours to accomplish this--

Success!

I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to knit with it--probably a sweater for Leslie. Last summer I designed a knit from the top down sweater that will be in a House of White Birches book (release date unknown). Because I had never done a top down before, I knit one for practice, wrote the pattern and submitted it. They took it! Of course, they wanted a different size and different color, so I got to keep the prototype and Emily LOVES it. I'll probably do the same type for Leslie, just incorporating a cable or lace pattern to keep it fun. If and when I do it, I'll make the pattern available on my site.

Several of you have been concerned about my blue mood, but I'm happy to report that I'm much better and have actually been thinking of several projects that I want to undertake and books that I would like to start working on. I'm also sending in some submissions to Interweave Knits and Cast On and have some designs that I need to prepare for sale on this site. I'm also considering starting up an Etsy account so that I can sell some children's/babies sweaters and design models. Lots to do, and now I actually am excited about doing them! Thanks to all of you who wrote to brighten my day and show me that I wasn't alone.

I'm also starting to think about what gardens I want to start. I got a seed/nursery catalog the other day which I will definitely be ordering from! We landscaped a little before moving in, but I need a vegetable garden, a rose garden, a perennial garden and some shrubs. The problem I have here is the hilly lot and the rock, but I'm going to try to get some raised beds going with stone walls. Steve has built a few stone walls on other properties and always swore never to do another, but now Nicholas can help!

We were supposed to have the big storm today, school was cancelled and everything, but nothing really happened. It is very gloomy outside, but every now and then the sun tries to peek through. I think spring is close by.

This is my little hyacinth which is now much bigger than this photo shows. It is the only spring bulb that I have been forcing indoors, but I do have a few bulbs in the garden. Hundreds didn't get planted, but they are fine and will be planted eventually.

February Update

Quilting:

When I found that I was having trouble finding happiness with my knitting, I decided to work on the on-going quilt. I used to work furiously on a quilt until it was done, just as I try to do with my knitting. I am very much a one project at a time person. However, I've been trying to work on this quilt slowly, because I'm really in no hurry for it. I really is just meant to "fill in" between projects.

After cutting for hours, this is what I had:

There are two different sets of fabrics here, two stacks of five squares each:

The finished block ends up looking like this:

This is an old photo, so disregard the fabric color and pattern. I'm using several different blues. It is called a "Churn Dash", and it is a basic, old fashioned quilt block. The reason that I chose the pattern was due in large part to its simplicity--I wanted a red, white and blue quilt that harkened back to yesteryear. However, I am sewing it using today's conveniences--a rotary cutter and board, a sewing machine, and I'm squaring up each square using a bias square. I don't think too many of the old guard used to waste time squaring things up, and I know that I never used to. Quilts come out so much more perfectly when every piece has been pressed carefully and squared up.

My machine is a Husqvarna 350 which I have had for years. This is another tool which really makes work more perfect. I noticed a huge difference when I switched from my old Brother to this one.

Anyway, I need 30 blocks for the quilt top, and I now have 22.

Counted Cross Stitch:

After I spend a good day or two quilting, I found an old kit that I had bought for the girls to work on years ago. I decided that it might be a good project to work on while I waited to have fun knitting again (and I must confess all that squaring up brought on a tinge of carpal tunnel syndrome). So, on superbowl Sunday, I started it. A week later, I had this:

I think it is really cute. It is amazing how much work is involved in such a tiny thing! First comes the counted cross stitch, which I really enjoy. Next comes the backstitching which really makes things "pop". You are tempted to quit here, because the thing looks really good at this point, but the final touch is the embroidery. The vines were done in a backstitch, then the leaves and flowers were done in a daisy stitch. Lastly, you put on a few French knots. The kit comes with the frame and the little watering can. It also came with a little straw hat, but I thought that two accessories were too much. Decorating is best done in odd numbers, so I stayed with just the watering can. I painted the shadow box to match the trim in our house, pressed the needlepoint, attached it to cardboard with double stick tape, then popped it in and hung it on the wall. Now the new house has a blessing.

Knitting:

When I was trying to get my enthusiasm back for knitting, I worked on a few small projects for an upcoming One-Skein Wonders book. This is one of my submissions. It is a small bag for credit cards/cell phone or I-pod, and it is knit using Classic Elite cashmere yarn. It is very soft and cute, and I hope that they accept it.

I also knit a scarf and a neckroll stuffed with beans. I have never sent in submissions for these books because I really prefer to work on larger projects, and I like to have them done which as much yarn as is needed: it is more difficult than you'd think trying to design for one skein. I had in mind to order a skein that has a lot of yardage so that I could make sweaters for kids or babies, but then the whole "don't care" mood set in. So, I send in what I had, and I'll have to be happy with that. It they accept the projects that is great, and if they don't, I can sell the patterns on my website or give them away as freebies.

Right now, I'm working on some submission swatches for the next Cast On design call. I'm happy with what I'm doing--mainly cabled swatches in wool--and I'm familiar enough with Cast On to know what they want and what the deadlines will be like. Sometimes I'm not happy with the yarns that they choose, and I've had a few garments never returned to me as promised. Oh, well. It is work and something to occupy my mind and my hands. Work is what I need right now.

Now for two disappointing bits of news. Firstly, we had to give up our dear little puppies. Everyone was doing their utmost to try to give them the amount of attention and exercise that they needed, but we were all failing. We live on a very steep hill, and there is really no place to walk easily. We all hated it and I think the puppies hated it, too. The yard with a million trees is also not set up for puppies. Oh, how I wish I could have had these two in Illinois. We had a great fenced yard and a wonderful neighborhood for walking. We also had lots of parks to bring them to. In the end, we all made a tearful decision to let them find the acreage that they need, and we returned them to the shelter where we got them from. A week and a half later, it is still very painful thinking about them--we all miss them. We just have to accept the fact that although we have had dogs in the past, this is not a house for puppies. When our two old dogs died, it was extremely hard on us. This is, in some ways, even worse--there is a lot of guilt that I'm feeling, along with the feelings of loss. Ruby was not all that healthy when we first got her, so I hope that by having her we saved a life that may have been lost had she been elsewhere.

So why is it that the beagle won the dog show? I didn't watch this year because I didn't want to get upset again thinking about the puppies, and a beagle won.

Next, I learned that my local yarn shop is closing. I had only been there once, so I went back to tell the owner how sorry I was that she was leaving. I have always wanted to own a yarn shop and very well may someday. I think in the back of every crafter's mind is having a store with a huge supply of everything right at their fingertips.

Anyway, the store is having a huge sale, so I bought some Green Mountain Spinnery "Mountain Mohair". I have worked up a swatch for a gansey:

I'm going to start this after I have a few more swatches for Cast On done. I think what I need is a big project to take my mind off other things.

Trying to get inspired

I have been taking prescription depression medicine for about eight years. I discontinued it in November, because I got really tired of all the nasty side effects that I had been putting up with for years. More importantly, though, two of the side effects--rapid heartrate and weight gain--had started affecting my overall health, and I decided that I would rather be depressed than ill.

Anyone who has ever gone off depression medicine can tell you how truly awful it is. Electrical zaps, dizziness, teary-eyed spells, sadness, claustrophobia, etc. Well, I went through all of that. I actually went through it all twice, because I switched medicine about two years ago and went through all this after stopping the first one.

Now my body is working normally, and I am beginning to lose some of the weight that came as a result of the medicine. But I am sad. And, I am finding it very difficult to work on my needlework, because it all seems a little bit pointless. After all the designs that I have had published not too many people recognize my name. My website and my blog are not read by a huge number of people. I have written one book but it has not been published yet, so I can't get very inspired to work on the second when I don't know how successful Cable Confidence will be yet.

I also just returned from a cruise to the Caribbean, but it was almost the most stressful event to date, because I traveled with people who I thought were my support system, only to find out on the first day of the trip that they are not. I went through one l-o-n-g panic attack with no means of escape. I felt claustrophobic, and I was homesick. I took a lot of pictures along the way, though, and when I am fully myself again, I hope to use the colors and textures on the pictures in my work--in one way or another.

I'm home now, although it is a new house to me so not really home yet. I've been working on putting up pictures and organizing cupboards and shelves. It is overwhelming to me like decorating has never been before, and I'm not sure why. I need to get some window coverings up as well but haven't gotten that far yet, because I'm not sure what I want (and privacy isn't really a problem for once).

There may not be a lot of inspiration on this blog for a while, but I hope to hear from fellow knitters/crafters who have been through similar lows which have impacted their creativity. My hope is that when the spring flowers start to pop out I will pop out myself. In the meantime, I will do my best to try to find joy in life and in stitching. I thought I might start working on my churn dash quilt today and see how that goes.