Sunday, June 07, 2009

The One in which I must decide



Well, I am off camping in a few days. Yepper, the city girl goes country for a bit every year. I head off into the great wild woods or vally or hills or wherever and get my nature groove on. I will spend 12 days enjoying the sounds, smells and sweet air of our Earth.

This year I am headed to the Pagan Spirit Gathering again. For years, it has been in Ohio but, this year it moves to Camp Zoe, MO. I will be enjoying the space with friends. Bunny, Sweetpea and I are camping together. It is the first year in quite a while that I've camped with others. That will sure be fun.

We've got loads of coordinating and packing to do. Who brings what for whom is a big set of questions. Mostly, we are working it out, though. My toughest decision isn't about my clothing or the books but, you guessed it, about my knitting. What projects do I bring??? Yep - projects, not project! I realize that it is a plural reference.

In years past, I haven't done much knitting. One year, I took a lovely skein of sock yarnn to knit. I even worked on the socks but I didn't get far. The yarn, you see, wasn't superwash and it was felting as I knit it in the 90 degree weather. Another year, I had the good sense to bring different yarn but it was fuzzy. Fuzzy and humidity/heat don't mix well. Sigh.

This year I have a multiple-pronged plan. I am taking a sock project. It is a simple set (I am an optimist) of socks in Tofutsies yarn. That might be good to knit. The second project is the Victoria parasol project. No wool or animal fiber to be found in that project. But, I worry it is too complex for those lazy hot days. The last project is going to be some wash cloths from Lily Sugar'n'Cream. One cannot go wrong with basic cotton. That'll be for the days when the sun or the heat addle my brain but my hands must still create.

So, here's to the great outdoors and to knitting in nature!!!

Thursday, June 04, 2009

The one in which I am content . . .



Life is going well. I’ve got a plan and I am working that plan. Sure, there are glitches but, mostly, it is all working out. On Sunday, I expected to spend time mending and packing (for camping) and sputtering around the house. Instead, I spent yesterday in the ER with my friend, Gardenia. “They” thought she might have the H1N1 virus so our visit there was spent in isolation from the madding crowd and wearing masks to prevent contamination (or further exposure).

It was an interesting visit to the hospital. We would watch as administrators and health care professionals would walk up to the door, look in, look down at their records and then walk away only to show up a few minutes later, masked, and ready to work. This was bad for said friend because she felt like something the cat dragged in (and if you’d seen her cat, you’d know that wasn’t a good thing). Poor Gardenia was feeling miserable and isolated and just wanted to be home in her own bed. I felt bad for her. But ...

The visit was good for me because I’d had the presence of mind to take along some knitting. There I sat for 6+ hours as they poked and prodded Gardenia. Poor woman, she was coughing, she looked tired and drawn, she was dehydrated, etc. But, there I sat being the good and stoic friend just a knitting away! It was a joy to be knitting and so relaxed . . . well that was me anyway – not so for poor Gardenia. After all of that, they release her with the diagnosis of a ‘cough’. Saying that they’d run out of Swine Flu testing kits and weren’t likely to get more. They advised her to watch her symptoms and advised the rest of us to stay masked when around her. Go figure!!!

The photo above is an early photo of the socks I started on may 29th. They are in Tofutsies in a green/gray combo colorway (I think it is called Four Leaf Toever). It is a simple 2x2 rib on the leg of the sock. I don't know yet what the foot will look like as I am doing this from memory. No, I am not being innovative - I just cannot find the pattern in my craft room. Sigh.