Finished Legwarmers

These are part of my new summer wardrobe. Mission: Full Sun Coverage!! They look kind of short in this picture, but they come up just over the top of the knee. I did a feather and fan lace top. Since I don't wear pants, I'm working on more summer weight leg coverings so I can continue to wear my cute shorter skirts. I'm going tight shopping any day now too. Each one is a full skein of sock yarn with leftovers used for the top and bottom. These pics are pre-blocking.





I'm really liking lacey tops, it makes the lace stand out more than when the whole project is lace and the rest of the sock or legwarmer is a zombie car project with straight st.knit stitch. For my next pair, I think I'm going to splurge on some really fine Egyptian Cotton yarn to see how I like it. And I'll try a nice cabled top with the cotton!!

Sock Update

I've done two more pairs of socks! So far I'm averaging a pair a month this year. I didn't get a picture of the pink ones when they were finished........and then gave them away!! I'm gonna get better about this I swear! I personally love ankle socks, and not just because the knit up quickly. The teal-greeny ones I kept for myself!!

A Yarn Junkie's Wet Dream

Every yarn junkie knows about the gems of a stash. They are the rare gold coins sparkling amongst the hordes of saved up change in a jar. For some knitters it might be a skein of cashmere or a small hank of Quivet. For me, currently, it's four skeins of handspun yarn by Merce Mitchell. Spinner and felting artist of Taos. I was a fan of Merce's work long before I was aware of Merce herself, and I'm still surprised when I think that not only is she a real person, living only a mile from me, but she's become one of my bestfriends!!

I come from a background of extreme poverty, so there were periods with no knitting at all. I remember going into Walmart years ago and splurging on 4 skeins of Lion Brand Homespun yarn and getting tingly toes because it was such an extravagance at the time. My financial world has improved over the years, and I've been able to have at least a small monthly yarn budget for a few years now. But I've remained frugel, and horded and recycled my way to an enormous stash that now has it's own room. I am a yarn junkie.

The issue with having gems in your stash is whether or not to knit them. When you have 64 yards of precious handspun goodness (with a price tag of $45) the pressure as a knitter is extreme. Once it is knitted, it's no longer in the stash. Each of Merce's skeins is a one of a kind work of art. She doesn't mass produce, and her sense of color is breathtaking. Her talent to mix and blend her wool like fine oil paints rivals Noro! Yes, I said it. So until today, I have kept these coveted goodies in my stash to fondle and preen over. But I'm in the middle of a Lupus Flare.....and I need to pamper myself. And Twilight is currently knitting with Cashmere Noro, which makes the knitter in me jealous to no end.

So today I pulled out the very best balls in my stash to begin a "Comfort Shrug". One skein of Merce's and 6 balls of Twilight's handspun (which is so wonderful that it deserves another whole post all of it's own)

For the very first time, I cast on with Merce's yarn!! It's incredible!! The yarn is like Merce herself down to the core! It's an expression of the earth and life. It isn't soft, and it's not smooth. It's knarly and inconsistent. It's personality is spectacular, a new color and texture appear with every stitch. It has strength and durability underlying it's beauty. And every so often a spot of shiny bright silky goodness pops out at you!! I just completed 8 inches of ribbing for the cuff of my shrug and not one single stitch was boring!! The act of knitting it was pure joy. Thank You Goddess for my life. Thank You Merce and Twilight for the yarn. I love you.

Too Much to Tell

Twilight just pointed out to me, again, that it's been over two months since my last post. I had to tell her that I hadn't posted because I couldn't remember my name and password to get into my blog. She gave me some pointers on how to get that information back and here I am!!


Art
For anyone who wants a beautiful illustration on how my art show went this month, please visit Twilight's wonderful blog. She has carefully documented the event and each of the participating artists!! From my point of view, I'll say that it was a spectacular day!! It started and ended even before I knew what was happening. It was a dreamlike whirlwind of great music, food, art, artists and visitors. And ever since it ended, I've been fired up about next year's show!! I've started one new piece, and am planning on starting two more new ones as soon as possible!!





Lupus

I'm currently in the middle of a flare. It's been the worst one in at least 8 months, but I'm keeping it under control. I have been feeling great over-all since my last post, this is just a minor set back. I have been working with my friends Helen, Twilight, and Merce with some Energy Healing Work. We've been studying from the books by Donna Eden: Energy Medicine, and Energy Medicine for Women. And then putting into practice what each of us needs and comparing notes of the effects. So far, mixed with the exercises given to me by my Rhuemy, I've had very noteable positive results!! I'll post more about that in the future!!


My best news came in March!! My blood specialists said that my ITP is now in remission. My counts are good and my body is producing platelets and not destroying them. Which means that I can now have an occasional dose of Advil or a small glass of wine without endangering my life.

So I've been celebrating life on many different levels!!!


Knitting

I'm waiting patiently to find out if I've been accepted into the 2009 Taos Wool Festival. The work is being juried on April 25th. Currently on the needles, I'm finishing up a pair of summer weight legwarmers. And I picked up a long term project that got set aside while I was working towards the art show, it's called the Penrose Rug. It will eventually by my special meditation run for the inside of my studio. But I'm also hoping to show it at the Wool Festival this year.

This is section of the Penrose. It will be 8 pieces like this put together in a large circle. The orange diamond at the top is the point where all 8 will connect in the center. After knitting each small piece, I have added felted appliques and embroidery. Most of this is knitted from recycled yarn that I hand dyed myself last summer.

Misc

Daniel and I, along with Twilight and Thebes, took our Amature HAM radio license test this past week in Los Alamos. And we all passed!!!! In fact, Thebes more than passed, he continued on and passed his General and his Extra licenses!! So now our husbands are shopping for radios, and antennaes and misc equipment. Daniel has high hopes of setting up a base station that will bounce signals off of the moon!!

New Sister!!

I just got this great picture with an e-mail!! I've been wanting to introduce this great couple. The handsome guy is my brother-in-law, Nathan. And the beautiful woman next to him is my future Sister-in-law, Sarah. I met her while I was up North for the holidays, and they announced their engagement in a quiet whisper and were firm - they wanted no fuss made at all!! They must have known that I'd want to start sqealing, clapping, and jumping up and down for joy!!!! I behaved myself, and didn't.
But I'm still so excited, I want to shout out "Welcome to the Family!!!!" Sarah, you are wonderful and I'm so thrilled to have hit it off with you! I needed another cool sister!! Don't we all?

We've only known each other since x-mas eve of last year, but she's already on my list of very favorite friends!! She's smart, funny, and political minded. She's a starving artist just like the rest of us, so she'll fit right in! The only flaw I've found in her so far is that she crochets and sews, and doesn't knit. Now, I know what you're thinking!! That's a pretty tough thing to over look!!! But I can do it. Afterall, she's young. There's plenty of time to get her using pointy needles!!

Blunt Confessions

I had a beautiful girls day on this past Thursday. Instead of lasting joy and good feelings, immediately upon coming home I crashed into a dark, tired bleakness. I have felt so crappy I didn't want to move or eat. I've spent the last two and half days in bed....only getting up to pee for the most part. My head hurt, my body ached, and I felt like I completely couldn't deal. Period. I couldn't even think about my art work or many projects. Even my knitting I only picked up sporadically and then tossed aside again. My phone was shut off so I wouldn't have to talk to anybody. I kept my computer next to me on the bed, so I could still chat with people inorder to cling to my sanity.



Daniel couldn't help but notice, afterall our bed is smack dab in the center of our living space. There are no seperate rooms....we live in a giant circular tent. He definately noticed, but he pretty much just watched quietly. Even going into day 3 in the exact same clothes.



Today I realized that this isn't a physical thing!!! I let this happen, and this is a mental, emotional, spiritual problem. I've been making myself sick for two days. I got tired, and then I let my anxiety get ahold on me from the inside out. It's mainly been financial worries... everything in the economical world is falling apart. I'm broke, I have a long list of needs and wants, and I owe my very good friends some cash....and they have a list just like mine. I have a "to do" list just as long, and I've been doing nothing but agonizing over doing nothing.

I got so obsessed and worried and anxious that I blocked the energy flow between my Chakras and I've blocked my ability to positively manifest in my current moment. I let my fears well up into a huge dark ball in the center of me, and the light stopped flowing through me.



I'm clawing my way out of it today. Just by writing this, I'm helping myself. I got up today, I brushed my hair, and my teeth, and I put on clean clothes. I ate a bit of soup for lunch. I going to knit on a sock for someone I love and not let it overwhelm me. I going to listen to Gregg Braden, and remember what my real job is.



I'm putting out a prayer. Let's bring our energy together. Let's remember we are all blessed. Let's breathe deeply together and know that we are divine. Our lives are infinately abundant. We are loved. We are filled with the light to heal oursleves. We are surrounded by the light to heal the world.

Furry Babies

I had a tired today, and I spent it reading alot of new knitting blogs. I noticed that everyone else has pictures of their furry babies. So I wanted to introduce mine. The big guy on the right is North or Norte, short for Northern Lights. The smaller, but fierce girl on the left is Aurora B., short for Aurora Borealis. And then for fun, because not everyone has seen them, I thought I'd include a picture of their namesake. Daniel and I come from the North, and the lights were part of

our natural world up there.