By Any Other Name

So there I am at work, loading bobbins onto the plying machine, and I hear the bell that indicates there's someone in the retail shop. I go out to greet the person, and she has a vase of flowers in her hands... for me.



The fellow I'm seeing wanted to make me smile, you see. And he did. I've been smiling for hours!

Thank you, darling.

Hulk Smash?

I was going to work four hours this afternoon and then head down to CT for the weekend. However, the coworker scheduled for the first half of the day is down with the flu, so I got a call at 9 this morning asking if I could work the whole day instead. Oh, sure! Scramble to get dressed, make lunch, throw stuff in a bag, and get out the door on time, and I made it. Having expected to spend four hours doing other things before being at work, I was a little out of sorts, and naturally, the first thing I did was injure myself.



It doesn't look like much, but it hurts like the dickens. I was lifting the ramp of the steamer (a big plywood box), and my hand got caught between the ramp and a plastic file crate. Now I know where we keep the bandages at work!

There has been some knitting and sewing (pics eventually), some moving-of-stuff, not nearly enough sorting and clearing, and lots of time spent with dear friends in the last few weeks. Life is getting better, I'm singing and laughing more, and generally feeling happier. I even managed to get to an awesome Dave Matthews concert, where I took some crappy pictures with my phone from my "seat" (read: standing room only) in the pit.



And because it's spring, there are babies everywhere, including at my friend's farm. Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen?



I'll be in CT tomorrow, and my original reason for coming down has disappeared, so I'll have some time around lunch to hang out with anyone who feels like calling me. Happy knitting!

The Birds

It's probably a good thing that I haven't seen a certain Hitchcock film, as I've been having some close encounters with my feathered friends lately, and I don't need more reason to be freaked out.

First, there's a pair of what I think are flycatchers that have built a lovely little daub-and-moss nest on top of the security light just outside my front door. I like these birds, and they're very cute, but they're also somewhat territorial, and every time I leave, I have to pass right under their nest. They don't like this at all. They hover a few feet from my head and snap their wings at me, then pop off to the nearest tree and angrily chirp at me until I get in my car and go. I wish I could relocate them to make life a little less stressful for both of us.

Then this morning, around 6:45, I heard some tapping on my window. Initially my heart jumped to my throat and I reached for the phone because the ex has been stalking me, but when I sat up and looked out the window, there was a little bird sitting on the sill, staring at me. I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't see it clearly, and as soon as I moved again, it flew away, but it definitely made eye contact.

So that was an interesting way to wake up. Now, because I'm not completely awake and exhausted all of my nervous energy telling you about the birds, I'm going to wrap up this post with some long-awaited pictures. Enjoy!


neckwarmer made with yarn spun from alpaca fiber purchased at CT S&W


fiber purchased at CT S&W


14th-century-style hood made back in January and finally blocked the other day


Jaggerspun 2/20 Cobalt heather


yarn spun from the mystery fleece I picked up at work

More pics next time!

Down With The Sickness

My father has been diagnosed with Celiac Disease. He also has irregular cells in his stomach that might be lymphoma, a common side-effect of Celiac Disease that has gone untreated for years. He must remove gluten from his diet, which effectively means my sister, who lives with him and cooks for him, must remove gluten from her diet, as well. They'll check the irregular cells in two months (after he's been gluten-free for a while) to see if they're lymphoma or not.

This disease is genetic. There is an inaccurate blood test, and symptoms can be so mild as to go unnoticed. If you remember how to do a Punnett square, parent 1 is nn (Celiac Disease is recessive), parent 2 could be anything (nn, NN, Nn), and my chance of having this is all over the map. I'm calling the doctor tomorrow to schedule the blood test, and I may be altering my diet just in case... I probably won't go comepletely gluten-free, but I'll limit my intake.

Just when I think life is calming down a little, I get slapped with something like this. I need a hug.

The Sting

So there I was, yesterday morning, getting dressed. I pulled a folded pair of jeans off the shelf, shook them out, and stuck my leg in. I felt a familiar pinch at the back of my knee, threw the jeans on the floor, and watched a stunned-looking wasp stumble out of them.

Anyone know of a natural wasp repellant? I don't want to bug bomb all of my stuff, but I'm really getting sick of getting stung. This is the third time in a year. Grr.

The other day, one of the ladies in one of my knitting groups brought a few cones of yarn she'd found at the local recycling center. Two black cones didn't interest me, but the peacock-blue laceweight did, especially when I checked the label inside the cone -- Jaggerspun Heather! It's their 2/20 in Cobalt, and it will make a beautiful, lacy something... someday.

Before I find a project for that, though, I need to make a gift for my best friend, who's getting married in July. I've settled on a ring pillow, covered in light purple satin with a white knitted lace overlay. I just need to settle on a lace pattern.

Now if I can just find motivation to do anything on this dreary, rainy Saturday. Tomorrow I'll be at NH Sheep & Wool, and I'm really looking forward to it, making today even harder to get through. Maybe I'll knit a little before I go to work.

Come Sail Away

There is a lightswitch at work with a label below it that reads, "FORCE OF GRAVITY -- DO NOT TURN OFF."

I love my job.

Exhausting Weekend

One of the perks of working at Green Mountain Spinnery is occasionally bringing home free fiber. Today Laurie, the fellow who runs the carder, brought over a pound of "waste" wool and told us it was up for grabs. One of my coworkers and I decided to split it -- I took about 3 ounces, and she got the rest. It's white and fluffy, fresh from the carder, but it isn't the same blend as any of our stock yarns and wasn't part of any of our custom orders, so if we didn't take it, it would be used to clean dark fibers out of the carder before the next run of white, and would be ruined. It was too nice for that. I'm not sure what I'll do with it... maybe play with some food coloring or other dyes and then make a little hat or something.

On Saturday I went to CT Sheep & Wool, hung out with more friends than I expected to see, and allowed myself some very modest fiber acquisition. Sunday I moved the last of my things out of Erik's house. While both days went relatively well, the one-two punch has left me exhausted, bruised, and blistered. I really didn't want to go to work this morning, but I'm glad I did. I think I need to stay off my feet for a few hours, though... owwie.

I'll take pictures of the new fiber as soon as I dig out my camera and find an uncluttered spot to take a picture.

Getting Better

My first day at the Spinnery was good. I came home smelling of lanolin, wondering how a cooperative can possibly make timely decisions, and eager to go back tomorrow. I spent most of the day twisting and labeling skeins, with brief interruptions to ball three skeins for a customer and pose for an impromptu photo shoot ("You look about the right size. Here, put on this sweater and come outside."). The people are great, the work appeals to me, and I get to inhale wool fumes all day. This job is a good fit for me. I hope it lasts.

Well, that sucked.

I broke up with Erik last month. He didn't take it well, and things were getting a little dicey as I was scrambling to find a new place to live, going to job interviews, and dealing with daily harassment about the living situation, financial issues, and random other crap.

On Sunday the 4th, I came back from a weekend with my family, and the harassment began anew the moment I walked in the door. After 20 minutes of begging him to leave me alone with no positive result, I called 911. The Troopers who responded suggested that I pack a bag and go somewhere else for the night, and as soon as they left, that's exactly what I did. The next day, I went back with the intention of talking about the financial issues and even handing him a check, but he stopped me before I even got in the house and told me I had to leave because he'd filed a restraining order. He said it was because I "escalated" the situation by calling 911 the day before.

I dealt as best I could for a day or two, relying on family and friends for clothing and a place to stay. I made arrangements with the State Police to go get some of my things (more clothes, some food, the crock pot, one of the spinning wheels, etc.) and prepared for the hearing, scheduled for this morning.

Turns out that courts overbook dockets the way airlines overbook flights, counting on a certain number of people not showing up. They didn't count on so many showing up this morning, so they had to prioritize the cases they heard and continue (postpone) the rest... including mine. The new date is May 5th. As soon as that was decided, I made arrangements to pick up a few more things (computer, cookware, etc.) this afternoon, and I am now set up with the bare essentials (plus some knitting) in my cozy new place.

Erik is making noise like he wants to drop the restraining order, which would make everybody's life a whole lot easier, but I'm not counting on him following through. I'd love for him to prove me wrong, though. He seems to think I was "kind" today when I came to get my computer, and while I'm not sure what he's smoking, I'm not going to argue. I just want to collect the rest of my things (which will require a large U-Haul and several helpers), get on with my life, and see where things stand in, I dunno, six months or something. There is no way I'd date him again, since we seem to bring out the absolute worst in each other, but I'd consider being on speaking terms if he can show me the respect I deserve.

For now, though, I just want to get on with my life. I've been hired by Green Mountain Spinnery to work in production, and I start tomorrow at 9:30! The wage isn't much more than minimum, but the fiber discount is 50%, so I may have trouble not spending my paycheck on yarn.

My fortune cookie tells me, "soon you will be sitting on top of the world." The one before this told me, "you look pretty," and I'm beginning to think that Chinese food should be mandatory when I'm depressed. Those little slips of paper wrapped in sweet cookie are wonderfully uplifting.

Back to knitblogging any day now, I swear.

Oh, I'm planning on being at CT S&W on the 24th. Who wants to meet me there or ride along from anywhere along 91?

Low Point

We were out of power for about two days, took a few years off the life of the fridge by running it off the truck's inverter, and were surprisingly productive. Now the snow is melting, mud season is starting, and I should be feeling better. Sadly, I'm not.

Depression has been weighing me down a lot lately, nudging me to sleep more, knit less, and spend way too much time reading threads on Ravelry. The causes and triggers are numerous; things like my birthday, my one-year anniversary on unemployment, and ongoing relationship issues all fuel this feeling of hopelessness that's so difficult to conquer. I keep trying to do things to break out of the cage, but they never quite work the way I hope they will.

For example, I started looking at colleges, because I regret not having the discipline to get my degree years ago, and I found a place that I fell in love with as soon as I set foot on campus. It's beautiful, it's small, it's relatively inexpensive (for a private school), but I still can't afford it, because student loans don't pay my car insurance or storage unit fees, and I'm not confident that I can do full-time school plus a part-time job and survive with my sanity intact. I did full-time job and part-time school for a few months back in '07, but that was trade school, which meant no homework or studying.

So, once again, I've fallen in love with an idea that probably isn't feasable. But how could I not fall in love with a place like this?





In an effort to give myself some confidence, I've started an ambitious project: Marianne Kinzel's Rose of England Design.



I know it doesn't look like much yet (that's part A... for those unfamiliar with the design, the large version ends with part M and is supposed to be 72" in diameter), but I only started yesterday. Maybe I'll have it done for Rhinebeck!

In the meantime, I'm going to write a cover letter for a job that intimidates me, re-write a college entrance essay, and do some sewing. Happy thoughts appreciated.