a mystery

i am feeling content. i have started a new book (short story collection poached from tangle’s shelves) a new knitting project (those socks for my sister have been reborn as wrist warmers) a new garden (still mostly in the planning phase)… i’ve been cooking new and interesting foods (curry paste! polenta on the horizon) and going to yoga classes… interactions with the boy have been playful, comforting and i’ve had some quality social time with friends and family… sprunt is sitting on three eggs which are potentially on the way to being baby lime-green birds…

so why the intense insomnia??? what is doing battle with my apparent contentment?

unemployment malaise. that’s right, i remember.

twisty

yarn that is, or rather, twist stitches worked in yarn… i am hoping to keep up this new knitting kick–may even have to add a category.

in any case my point is (hah! that was fun) that i am stuck. i have been exploring twist stitches. i have a lovely spider pattern from one of my sisterinlaw’s (anyone come up with a new word yet?) books. i am on row 20 of 52, have arrived at a new sort of twist stitch, a purl left twist, and am somehow missing the point. i have watched videos on purl through back loop, which is the only portion of purl left twist on which i can find video, but alas, stuck. the stitch ends up twisting in the wrong direction, and there is a small hole. so clearly i am doing something wrong, despite following the “easy” instructions included with the pattern. the small yarn store that is three buildings down from the end of my block doesn’t necessarily operate with their listed hours, but i will attempt to seek help there tomorrow.

because, really, i’m knitting a spider here. interruptions will not be tolerated. also in the works is a very adorable duckling for my nephew-ling (people, get on these words–what precisely does one call the son of a cousin? forget about all these seconds and thirds and removeds and such. useless.) also in the works is the last third of the second arm warmer that will make a set with the completed hat i found in the closet recently. also in the works is managing to get through a heel of a sock.

i discovered that if i take many small breaks and am careful not to turtleneck (this is a brought on by a combination of family inherited predisposition, poor eyesight, and general bad posture. bllllleech.) that i can accomplish far more knitting, and with much less pain. to this we say yay.

say yay, damn it, or i might not knit you something.

just a quickie

so…

fantastic visit with the boston crew. my nephew is ridiculously happy and learning so very quickly. i think my highlight of the weekend was the nose game. in which one either points to or touches a nose, any nose. i also now have my very own copy of the joy of cooking, and my life is a few percent more complete. also some replenishing of yarn (most of which was destroyed by mice… did i mention?) and spices (penzey’s, oh penzey’s) which is of course good for that soul-y thing.

coming up is a sister visit. finally. we are not managing to see tom stoppard speak because the darn tickets are sold out. we may manage to see the frida exhibit. and we will most certainly cook. and stay up too late talking until i have to tell her to drink some water to rid herself of the gravel throat.

also, yet more progress on the house. i have cleared the large closet, squirreled away (sensibly and neatly) all the extra linens, all the bags, scarves/hats etc, and our ‘fancy’ clothing. with room to spare. extremely tedious and icky but satisfying to be done with.

also, will be working a dance show in april. hmmm.

idiot box

by which i mean the television, of course. it is what occupied my entire day. by this point i expected to be hale and hearty, back to work on the various projects at full potential. instead i lie on the couch watching questionable programming and think about whether my throat, my head, my cough-strained back muscles or my toes hurt the most. the endless stage of sickness where you rally, go out into the world a bit, only to return home under the exhausting realization you have overestimated. and so, after two days of out and about, today was television.

i saw a play. a play which i could have seen in many stages from rehearsal through previews, but chose instead to see once, halfway through the run, as a simple unconnected audience member. now, this is not to dismiss the sneak peak at the set half built, the overheard (and discussed) tech challenges (eg how to hide a lit hookah in a collumn behind a pull down desk that won’t be revealed–and smoked–until 15 minutes into the show), the foreknowledge of fiber optic stars… but it was as close to ordinary audience member as i could manage. which was kind of nice. surprises, and such. lots of discourse on reason v religion sprinkled liberally with literary references–in other words, a play which required an active brain. also nice.

also had a nice lunch with a ‘work person’ yesterday–at less than a month since the show closed. very proud of myself. it’s usually so difficult to maintain connections, no matter how good intentions are. this time, i say ha! lunch. and hopefully more to come.

must sleep. germs are planning a covert middle of the night offensive (by which i mean several hours from now, the technical middle of the night…)

form a habit

since i last wrote (not too long ago, this time)

a very nice lazy afternoon spent on the green couch, with soup, tea, meandering conversation and some knitting.

made very difficult by the nasty slice in my right index finger i acquired moron fashion by playing with a soda can top. nothing like a little adrenaline and a lot of inconvenience to kick start productivity…

also we picked up fred today. as we have a cement backyard, we had him cremated. they put his ashes into a very simple box, and kept some of the feathers. it was one of those situations where a stranger is trying to be nice and helpful and inadvertently makes a mistake–other than the (freak) yellow tail feather, which was my favorite and specifically requested, they chose–well, strangely. but he is back home with us and, though very, yes, strange, it feels like the right choice.

so my brain is lazy. odd, unusual, abnormal, weird, curious, other, etc.

the aforementioned soup was a tomato lentil–ingredients bought earlier in the day from the italian market (a total cost, i am proud to report, of $2) and tossed into my slightly inadequate 8qt pot. as usual, i reminded myself to put a 10 or even 12qt pot on  my wish list. and i cemented the decision to get an immersion blender. transferring batches of soggy vegetables (which have _still_ not broken apart after far too much cooking) into our small cuisinart and making a silly mess is perhaps an activity i can do without. i have already had creamy vegetable soups (with proper texture) floating through my cooking dreams.

also a character in the soup was the new aero garden basil. it is busily outstripping the other herbs, and some heavy pruning will be necessary to keep the poor parsley and mint from having to grow in the dark. the large leaves of this basil, in fact are quite minty. proximity in this case is coincidental–did you all know that basil and mint are in the same family?

what else. we have just watched several episodes of simpsons season 10. i seem to have missed many that year. it was the year simpsons went all digital–lost some of the color nuances, improvement in sound.

but i babble. it is officially nighttime and i am pumpkined strangely early.