Knitting Competes with New Focus

Who would have ever imagined that I could knit less, even when I have more time for it?

Sigh.

I really let myself go this year. When I was stressed [when wasn't I stressed???], I came home exhausted from all the mental effort and the myriad things I was juggling in my head. I came home ready to vegetate and soothe myself, and I didn't feel guilty or in any way inclined to limit myself or deny myself. It worked OK, and it is one way of getting through demanding times. But [why is there always a 'but'?] . . .

Needless to say, when school ended, I realized I need to change my priorities. Exercise every day (30 minutes seems to me like a long walk, but it really has to be the low end option, since my end is getting lower and wider by the week), sign up for the organic produce co-op, cook more (healthier meals when I cook vs. when I graze out of the pantry), and clean and organize my closet, my study, my classroom, my head. And I have 12 weeks in which to do this. OK, now it is more like ten.

I would have made an amazing drill sergeant, no? [rolls eyes]

BUT the paybacks for these new foci (I AM an English teacher, people) are that I get a more energetic body, my clothes fit better, I don't feel like I'm plodding when I walk through the house, and greater organization to me feels like greater stability and calm.

Hey!!! Where the hell does knitting fit here? Surely there must be room for my knitting life. As my stepdad used to say, so colorfully, "Damn-betcha!"

I have started some new projects (not that I had finished the UFOs, but I wanted some small satisfyingly finishable projects) for Luisa and Adele, my little friends from Hamburg, visiting Cali right now. I made a bubblegum pink variegated scarf for Adele, with fringe, and am going to give the Tahki Bunny/Buffalo Gold stripey hat to Luisa (who just turned a very enthusiastic five years old!).


(This below is her sister Adele in a sweater
I made her last Christmas.)


I also got three pillow inserts at IKEA to use for pillows I want to knit (nice, square, practice with patterns, relaxing, fun to gift).

And I felted a bag I had made with some wool and Rowan Silk Tapestry yarn. Here it is before felting. It needs a haircut and some reshaping, but I have high hopes.