Forest Bathing.

A couple of days ago, I finally got to use my new toy camera, a Camp Snap, that I received for my birthday last year (a gift from Papa Bear). From what I've read, it wasn't the ideal weather for it - a little overcast, in fact, it rained and hailed towards the end of our walk but I got some nice shots considering I wasn't over thinking it.

 

 

 

 

The light effects are extremely subtle but I'm happy with the pictures I took. I think it'll do better in the summer with more colour on display and more sunshine. We walked up to the cafe and had a snack (me: dirty chai latte + ginger cake, him: pup cup and doggie ice cream) before getting rescued from the rain and hail by PB. We're lucky that we live so close to this park and I should walk here more often. 

 

My Sophie Shawl has been frogged and restarted, a few little fumbles here and there, and I just couldn't take it anymore. My inner perfectionist won out. To be fair, I'm much happier with the start of the icord edging now, it looks much neater which is important for such a simple design. I haven't accomplished an awful lot since Wednesday, a gentle flare up is urging me to move slow and do less so I've been doing a little bit of knitting, hand sewing and happily eating through a batch of cookie dough hummus (yes, I've become one of those people...) and this weekend, I'm going to see Opeth with PB and a friend which should be fun and a good test run for my stamina when it comes to the expo later this year. I'm hoping I won't need to use my cane but will take it along in case.

 

I am fortunate to be in a season where my fibromyalgia flares aren't so debilitating although I'm aware that can always change. The thing is, there's nothing I can point to as a reason for this development which is part of the overall problem, it can be managed...but it's management in the same way that balancing six spinning plates that need to go different speeds and change direction are managed. You can't just expect a routine (though those are helpful) to have the exact same result and that's why it's so frustrating when after a 'good' period, you have people saying "but you could do this last time..." or "you weren't like this the other time..." when things change for the worse. 

 

Yes, I know. I'm mourning the change, it never stops feeling devastating when I can't do something that I did easily the day before, the week before, the month before. As well meaning as those comments can be, it really does illustrate that people can't really understand it unless it happens to them and  I wouldn't want anyone to suffer with chronic illness or pain just to understand but that's been my experience and the experience of many others. 

Oof. I went off a little bit there unexpectedly. Anyway, at the moment I have a lot to be happy about and that is truly a privileged position to be in these days.

Bistitchual Identity Crisis.

Who am I? 

I mean...who is this person within me that wants to knit a cardigan? I can knit, very slowly and very easy things like scarves and shawls but recently I've been on a kick to knit Liesl (like, a decade after everyone else has) for a light layer this year. Nevermind the fact I'm already working on a cardigan (crochet, Iron Lamb's Sunday Funday) made from cheapy aldi yarn which needs my attention and the pile of finished shawls that need blocking...

 I just want some yummy yarn, chunky needles and to knit. I've been pining for my Fox Wedding shawl that fell victim to a traumatic house move (where I didn't get to pack my own things so many items went 'missing' in between my home and there) which was made from Malabrigo chunky I bought from Ewe and Ply when they had a market stall in Shrewsbury. I remember studying each colour intensely because it was the most I'd ever spent on yarn and for myself too. I end up settling on a reddish orange, I can't remember the name of the colour and I think it's since been discontinued. Alas, I loved that shawl and it's squishyness. Maybe I should make another one...

I gave up knitting as soon as my crochet skill developed much faster - I find it easier to read my crochet than my knitting and it's so much easier to go back and redo! I knit so slow that it really is torture when I have to rip back for mistakes. I hadn't picked up knitting needles for years so I thought I ought to practice a bit on a nice little project before wading out into the cardigan ocean; enter the Sophie shawl. I really love garter stitch, it's so squishy and simple but it can look a bit...basic? Untidy? It's not an elegant stitch all by itself, is it? 

Then I realised the Sophie series (Scarf, Shawl, Hood) have all sorts of think pieces about them on youtube where people wring their hands in a very hipster like fashion about how it's just too much that other people spend their time and money knitting them...like, what? I do think it's a little cheeky to split the pattern into three when they're all simple variations on one theme but people can knit whatever they like. Anything that encourages people to pick up two needles or a hook can only be a good thing. 

Anyway, back to the shawl. I love a huge squishy thing around my neck so I went for the largest size and splurged on some Malabrigo Rios in a lovely yellow colour. I love knitting with Malabrigo - so soft, so colourful! - and I'm about two thirds through the increasing part. The i-cord edge is exactly what I want - it tidies up the garter stitch but also lets it show off the naive and simple beauty of it. Very excited about getting this off the needles...

This is all a long preamble to the fact that I'm now procrastinating daily on Ravelry, trawling through patterns and going 'oooh, I need to make that!' without figuring out where I'm going to find the time to make all these things. Time management is difficult when I'm so easily led by my whims (I have recently also accepted that I am a Person of Many Whims which was somewhat of a 'well, duh' moment for me) and my whims are likely to divert from any given course at any given moment. 

But for now, the whimsy is in knitting and for that, I'm quite content.