Grey skies whose raindrops
Gently caress the new leaves
Teasing them to wake
My daily goal is to seek out something beautiful in the tiny world around me and some days I actually succeed. Today was one of those days! The return of tiny green leaves on the bushes in my yard reminds me that despite the uncertainty of life right now, some things are constant and don’t require any human assistance. I am thankful for these small leaves!
I am also thankful for these smiling faces from yesterday! Thank you to Mary for hosting us again!
However, I did learn that slippery needles make for easy dropped stitches! The sock I was working on is up next for a “do over”! (FYI, Vera!! CoopKnits is hosting a FREE Mystery-Sock-Along! Clue ONE is up here!)
Happy Monday (yes, it is Monday even if it doesn’t feel like it!) Have a great day and stay home, wash your hands, flatten the curve!
Time is the longest distance between two places. — Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie
This quote perfectly describes how the passage of time feels right now. Monday seems like it was eons ago and today does not feel like Friday at all. And topping off the already chaotic week…life changed dramatically last night here in PA. All businesses that are not “life-critical” are now closed…for.the.indefinite.future. Which means Steve is suddenly not working anymore… PLUS My son is calling me multiple times a day to have me talk him down from the ledge, and my heart is breaking that there are so many miles between us because all I want to do is gather him up in my arms like I did when he was little and hold him close. Hard times, so.hard.
Tension-reliever –
This lovely gift arrived in my email this morning and I signed up before you could say Settling the Mind! Thank you, Michelle for this! Please join me… we can settle our minds together and be part of the best commUNITY, even though we are miles apart!
Great finds –
This week there were many!
First, NPR now has a very short new podcast: Coronavirus Daily. I love that I can get an update that is straightforward, no hype, no bs… just a simple update.
I have a friend who recently started her “Magnum Opus” project – a Russian lace shawl with something like 60 pages of charts… Yeah, my thoughts exactly! However, I did come across this beauty, which I think could be classified in that Magnum Opus category!
April 7th a new #100DayProject begins and I have re-assembled my “stitching basket” and will be stitching a bit each day. This time it is a more ‘planned out’ project. I know what I want it to look like…so my inspiration is to take that thought and make it a reality on my fabric!
All.the.FUN –
Last night Mary hosted our first “Long Distance Knitting Group” on Zoom. I was concerned that I would have trouble staying awake…HA! The truth is, I had trouble going to sleep afterwards! Want in on this riotous group? We are planning to meet again this coming Sunday afternoon… watch Mary’s blog for details. We talked, we laughed, we knit… and the joy overflowed! I can tell you that this was the BEST thing I did for my sanity all week… thank you all!
That is all I have for this week… my “forced” forsythias have been a ray of sunshine in this week! (Their outside compatriots are just starting to bloom – so soon, sunshine inside and out!) Have a great weekend, stay well, wash your hands, and keep flattening that curve!
It was a quiet St. Paddy’s Day weekend at my house but sadly, the same could not be said about my town!
ST. PATRICK’S DAY POLICE: Pittsburgh Police said they arrested 6 people during St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the city and that one Public Works employee was hit by a car. https://t.co/XQUhELPF8l
This article from USAToday was timely….#StayHome should be trending everywhere!
As Coronavirus puts us into uncharted waters, tonight I have joined w 15 health leaders to publish an open letter in @USATODAY with an urgent, lifesaving message:
And, late yesterday the CDC finally got their head out of you know where…
The CDC is now recommending all gatherings of 50+ people be postponed for the next *8 weeks.* These recommendations are not made lightly and apply to your daily routines.
This EXCELLENT WaPo article shows us clearly why strict social distancing is important! FYI, our trajectory has now surpassed the course Italy was on…just saying!
Stay well, stay socially distant, and for heaven’s sake, please stay home!
P.S. One thing you should absolutely do today is search “Italian’s singing on balconies” on YouTube. You will find gems like this.It’s a lovely rabbit hole to spend some time in! (Hint…Be like Italy…STAY HOME!)
Yes, this weekend will be one hour shorter when we turn our clocks ahead in the wee hours of Sunday morning. (or are you an entirely digital household and need to change no clocks manually?) My house is a mixture of digital and manual, so I will have a few things to change Saturday night before bed. However, there is no quick fix for changing the clock in Sherman… he operates on one time and one time only: the ‘is it time to eat yet’ time!
This week was really lovely – bouts of sunshine, punctuated with temps in the 50’s… and boy, do I suddenly have spring fever…bad!
I struggle with exercise and I beat myself up all the time because of those struggles, but then I listened to this Life Kit episode and I am not going to beat myself up any longer… it was wonderful (and so freeing!!) to hear that ALL MOVEMENT COUNTS!
I spent some time yesterday sorting through my stash of hand spun yarn to put some choices together to knit along with Vicki and friends as we all make Nightshift shawls! I think I have a pretty good start on where I want to go! But!! I curbed my enthusiasm to cast on because of those so.close.to.the.finishMiss Lime socks and this morning I only have the toe to go! (Rachel Maddow and Elizabeth Warren are fantastic knitting companions, just saying!) The absolute insanity of this all is that I knit these socks in eight days! Vera…I think you have created a monster!
And these “think spring” things caught my eye this week:
First, Jana Huck’s latest pattern, Three – simple texture, LOVE IT!
Finally, the winner of Ravelry this week (for me at least) is the Stockholm Slipover Mini (English translation is on its way…) but really, this picture was the thing that said knit me now:
