Going Dark

I keep unintentionally going dark.  I'm not sure when I last posted, but I feel like it was a few weeks ago at least.

I seem to be getting worse and worse at documenting anything about my life at all, but I do have a few things to share.

Thing #1

A finished quilt!  A truly, completely finished quilt!  I finished the top of this quilt last march at the quilting retreat my mother and I went to, and then, I dunno, I just stopped.  It is done!  This one is for a dear friend's little boy.  I picked out the colors when he was about 4, I think he'll be 7 this year, but luckily this isn't a kiddie quilt, just a generic boy/manly colored quilt, so it'll be fine for his as long as it survives.  I am now going to put this away until his birthday in November.  Seems a bit silly, but his sister got hers for her birthday last year, so it makes sense.

Thing #2

A yarn crawl in NYC!  The PKT (Philly Knitting Triad) took a trip up to NYC on a random weekday to check out these fabled stores we have heard so much about.  We visited School Products, Seaport Yarns, Purl, and Knitty City.  It was a grand time, we took the train up, took the subway everywhere, and wondered what ON EARTH people did before google maps was portable.  I have absolutely no pictures to document this event.  I can show you evidence tho - look!  A bag full of yarn!  :-)

And don't worry, not that you were worried, about my whole 2 for 1 deal to burn down the stash, this trip was figured in from the beginning, so I haven't broken any promises to myself.

I brought home some sweet georgia merino in saltwater (4 skeins, right - this is a gorgeous blue/gree color, I can't make it show up anything but blue in the pic, very annoying) for a sweater, some sweet georgia sock yarn (immediately to the left), some malabrigo sock (above), and some worsted weight lorna's laces in rainbow for house socks.  House socks should be bright and happy, IMHO.  All the way to the right is a cashmere/silk blend for a scarf to replace the one my stepmother lost - you will notice how it is distinctly NOT within my color palette, but it is very much in hers.

It makes me sad that it's almost impossible to capture the beauty of the yarn on "film", but there it is.  If only I didn't lean towards reds/blues I could take much better pictures of the yarn I buy.  Sigh.

Thing #3

A book review.

Zoo Station by David Downing

I really enjoyed this book, reading about Nazi Germany is always depressing and shocking, but this was done from a point of view I hadn't seen before. It is set before WWII and the main character is a British journalist trying to stay in the country to be with his German-born son while trying to do what he believes is right. An interesting set of circumstances cause him to struggle with doing what he believes is right vs doing what he needs to do to be with his son, good character development.

Thing #4

Spring is happening!!!!

These are the only blooming flowers I have seen so far, but they are in a sunny, protected spot, so I deem them the harbingers of spring.  Can harbingers be in advance of good things or just bad?  Usually it's harbingers of doom.  Hmmmm, interesting question.

Everything else looks like this - full of promises.  I love spring.  Adore it.  Even if my throad hurts and my head is congested and my eyes are itchy.  I love it.

Thing #5

Cute, sleepy doggies.  

Duke is doing well, he's half way through his chemo and acting more like his normal self these days.  He has fully recovered from the surgery and seems to be doing just fine.  We are hoping the chemo does the trick and wards off additional cancer for a good, long time.  He's probably hoping he just doesn't get poked again!

Comments

[pattie]

you are totally on re: 'harbinger.' It's a person or thing that announces another; a forerunner.

glad to hear from you, sporadic though it might be! glad too that your pooch is doing well. LOVE your new yarn!

[Emily]

I'm the same way...I'll be good at posting for a few weeks and then totally drop the ball for a month.
Nice quilt! and the yarn is GORGEOUS!

[Jocelyn]

So many good things! I'm particularly glad to hear about Duke - that's great news :) A harbinger of good things to come perhaps? (I think you can use the word that way, personally.) Congrats on finishing the quilt - that's always such a good feeling. And I'm dying to see what all of those yarns become!