Lost And Found

Just when my husband was getting used to the quiet, my voice is back. Still raspy and uncertain, but audible. And while I lost a couple of weeks, I found something, too. I found that I do enjoy knitting.

While I was sick, I decided to knit up some of the yarn I spun in my class at Sievers -- the nubbly, felted stuff I didn't want to use for looping, that ball of stuff I plied the wrong direction. It's been almost 15 years since I knit anything, and then I was neither skilled nor confident. But I managed to find a pair of straight needles, a set of double points, and a ball of commercial yarn to warm up with. The last thing I knit was a sock (a sock, not a pair), so I cast onto the dpns and knit in the round.

Maybe it was the codeine, maybe it was because I just didn't feel well enough to care how anything turned out. Whatever the reason, I finally felt the Knitting Spirit.

So I made a tool bag for my spinning wheel.

Before I felted it, I sampled a looped edging technique that I liked very much.

I made myself a hat and earband from handspun, and a set of wrist warmers for my sister's birthday.

I made a pair (yes, a pair) of fingerless mitts with a small matching bag for another gift, using yarn I dyed with Kool-Aid. Having no voice, I could not explain to Bill how I had no energy to fix a meal but could dye yarn.

This week has been mostly about getting two pieces stitched for a show in Missouri. Before I started, I got out the Play-Doh to warm up and work out some ideas.

The first piece I made was a complete disaster, except that it accurately reflects my energy and state of mind as I was making it. Once that was out of my system, the other two pieces were much more satisfying. The first piece will make a dandy bonfire sacrifice sometime soon.

So today I'm back to stitching, then need to get my artist statement out of my head and onto paper and photograph the pieces. After that, my reward for staying on task? Yup, I'm have some purple-and-white barber-pole yarn I can't wait to knit up.