It's Been A While Since I've Written

No, I haven't disappeared. I’ve been here the whole time. Knitting away like a mad woman on a certain project that feels like it has taken me FOREVER to complete! 

Since the inauguration, our world has been flipped upside down. I am not a fan of our new President as most of you who follow me on Facebook and Instagram already know. If you are a fan then we’ll just have to agree to disagree. There's been a lot of that going on by the way. Agreeing to disagree. I have lost friends on Facebook (and probably Instagram too), I have unfriended people & have no doubt lost followers and yet life goes on. Except, for some reason it feels like we’re stuck inside a bad dream. Every night I watch the news to see what kind of awful is happening in the world and within our own country. There has been so much of it, its overwhelming. I think that's where I’ve been stuck and I apologize. Like crazy. I wished I’d stayed constant at writing on my blog. Its the one thing, the one outlet I have that doesn't ever change. Additionally, with what I have shared about my health in the past, I’m not sure how in depth I’ve gone previously about the depression, PTSD, and anxiety that I deal with and have since the death of my brother. I suffer in silence because these problems simply cannot be seen. There are days when I don't want to get out of bed, and if I do, I don't want to venture very far. Depression and anxiety issues make it so easy to stay home and do my thing. I also have Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension which causes bad headaches and migraines daily. Sometimes I can function and sometimes I simply cannot. I work hard at doing the best I can to be normal. My apologies as I know I’ve let all of this interfere with my writing.

Many things have happened since I last left you at the beginning of the year. The Women's March on Washington happened. I cut my hair in February (again, if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you already well know this)...

I turned 45 years old...

 I got more tattoos (I'm working on a sleeve on my left arm)...

Both Aunt Betty and my Mother turned 75...

 Easter came and went...as did a spring break visit from my adoptive niece Anika and nephew Nate. The Great House Flood happened April 20th...

...and took a full 6 weeks until our household was fully operational and doing so normally. Drywall had to be carved out and replaced in two rooms, there was the painting in both rooms, carpet installation in the bedroom, and all the while the inside of the house looked like a full on construction zone. Everything was out of place and there was plastic all over everything. It was one holy mess. 

I finished a shawl and (gasp) did not publish it. If anyone is interested in making it I might suggest that you take a look at my Patina Crescent pattern. It has all the instructions for how to make it (including the edge stitch increases for my crescent shaped shawls) except the ending to my new one ends with several rows of:

Right side: edge stitches, K2tog, YO, edge stitches

Wrong Side: edge stitches, knit all, edge stitches

End with a Picot Bind Off

I would ask that if you decide to make it, please give credit where credit is due. That's all I asked. I decided not to publish it because it was really made off the cuff, on a whim. I didn't keep notes, nothing specific. The beginning of my crescent shaped shawls are more a method than anything else. I wanted to show of the yarn I used for it more than anything else. Which, by the way, was from MJ Yarns in his Simple Sock in the colorway “Mice and Men.” It will go with a lot of things I have come fall and winter and I’m looking forward to that.

 Mom and I ended our membership with our Knitting Guild. I will not go into the details of that mess publicly. Anika and Nate are currently here for the summer, and of course, there is a new design coming up soon within a week, hopefully. Anika is going to model it for me for the photo shoot which Dilshani will do again for me. She did the shoot for my last pattern, The Journeyman Scarf, and the photos were nothing short of spectacular. 

I am in love with my latest design, the Placitas Lace Wrap. Really. You’ve seen the progress pics if you follow me on Facebook and Instagram. It is another collaboration with MJ Yarns. We collaborated previously when I made Diamante, which I loved. It was the first time I had used Jonathan’s Opulent Fingering (MJ Yarn’s MCN blend) and it was like working with butta. Really now. I knew I would want to collab with him again. I had been wanting to design a few more rectangular lace shawls. The only one I designed was my very first design back in 2011 which was Tameron. Grazioso, was originally made as a scarf pattern but was knitted in three sizes to allow for a shawl/wrap. That's it. Everything else is a crescent shaped shawl. I really missed working on rectangular shawls and felt the need to do a trio of them to add to my collection. Two of them are collaborations with fingering weight yarns (MJ Yarns and Skein Yarn of Australia) and the last one will be a lace weight shawl I have had planned for quite some time.

For the time being, I am finishing a shawl I have had in progress for a friend of mine before starting the second rectangular shawl, the Skein Yarn project. I only have 3 rows and the crochet bind off to go. Its been languishing for long enough. When I was working on it a few months ago I was running short of yarn and knew I needed to get another skein. Knowing Malabrigo only dyes their yarn in small batches of 5 skeins at a time, I was truly worried I wasn't going to get a skein that matched. Boy did I get lucky! I ordered a replacement skein from Jimmy Beans Wool and damn if it wasn't almost EXACTLY the same. I was thrilled and relieved to say the least...

I can tell you that thankfully, so far this year, my health has been okay. I was diagnosed with costchondritis in March this year (which was very painful) but I have recovered. With the help of all the medications I take, I do the best I can to function with the many chronic problems I have. Some days are good, some days are bad. Regardless, I have let it all interfere with my blogging regularly and I hate that. My dear friends, it means the world to me that you come and hang out with me here for a bit. I am so sorry that I let the world and my head get to me and stopped writing for 6 months. I will do everything in my power not to let it happen again. I appreciate you all so much for following me on Facebook and Instagram and for all the wonderful nice comments you leave for me regarding my knitting.

I look forward to sharing the Placitas Lace Wrap and all the details with you in my next blog post. If you haven't seen the preview online, here’s a couple pictures for you...

Take care everyone, I’ll see you soon! I promise! I cannot thank you enough for sticking with me. Until then...KNIT ON!!