It is snowing outside tonight. Again. After unbelievable warm days in the 60’s and 70’s the week before last Colorado plunged into frigid temperatures and snow overnight last Sunday. Then the temperatures went subzero and it snowed again. And again. We have already passed the average snow totals for the month, my snow shovel is getting worn out and MacKenzie is downright disgusted.
During all of this I had a very busy week. I knitted, read, rushed to appointments, and pretty much wore myself out. I even cooked some great meals that were stashed to eat for the upcoming week! By Saturday night I had finished knitting the MacKenzie cat. At the same time I finished the series that I was binge watching on Netflix (Anne with an “E”), and polished off my audiobook, The Giver of Stars. Flush with success I blogged about my week Saturday evening.
And woke up yesterday totally at a loss. What am I supposed to do with myself now? I was in the doldrums for sure… between knitting projects, between books, between Netflix shows, between snowstorms… really struggling to get myself restarted. Ugh. I spent way too much time wandering around on the internet looking at books and yarn.
By the evening , after grocery shopping and shoveling MORE snow, I had pulled out some yarn, made some decisions, bought a new pattern, and slowly settled into a new audiobook. Today I wound yarn, kitted up my new projects, and began to cast on. I even found a new show to bingewatch (Counterpart on Amazon Prime)
Both of the yarns were specials at my LYS. The Baah Yarn La Jolla is the January 2020 yarn, and the plum is the February 2020 yarn from Chasing Rabbits. I bought them both the minute I saw them because… well… I deserve them!!!
I had already made a knitted stockinette swatch with the two yarns held together, so I pulled that out, measured the gauge, and then made another with a larger needle. Bam! I am almost exactly at gauge, the fabric will be light, fluffy and warm, and the sweater is perfect for my struggling hands to work on right now. I bought the pattern last night and cast on. Take that winter weather!!
Oh, yes. Back to the binge watch show. Counterpart is on Amazon Prime and I went right down that rabbit hole as soon as I started watching it. Perfect show to watch while knitting a simple stockinette tunic. I’m already through all of the shoulder shaping and into mindless stockinette for the next 8″. Good show, mindless knitting: perfect match.
But wait, there is more! I need to make another cat!!
Late last night I settled on an audiobook to listen to while falling asleep. Here it is, and so far it is a good one. Perfect for end of the day sock knitting.
So it took a day for the reset and to cast on again, but I am now through the doldrums and energized with projects and goals. What a relief. I’m also considering some quilting and maybe spinning some yarn.
Bye, doldrums.
I’m off to shovel some more snow.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
I love yellow roses too and have six ‘Graham Thomas’ ones outside. Your sons kitten is a sweetie and I am sure will make a great model for your next cat project. I watched Counterpart last year in Australia and just loved it. It certainly keeps the old brain cells functioning. The acting is top notch isn’t it and I just love the music.
I have to go find your Graham Thomas roses on the internet to see what they look like. I just love yellow roses, especially ones with an orange tinge to them. I like in the dry West (Denver) so the ones that were recommended to plant were limited but I have some beautiful ‘Hot Cocoa’ rose’s in my front yard; right now they are buried under snow, poor things.
The kitten’s coat keeps changing while he grows, but i think I’ll be able to capture the idea of him in this new project. Then i have to make a tuxedo Maine Coon cat. Whew! Lots of cats in our family.
I’m halfway through the first season of Counterpart now: it is great!! The acting and story really stand out. Such a good production, but not okay for challenging knitting. The stockinette or a sock are just perfect and i dont think I’m missing much detail.
I just looked up that rose… oh, my goodness! What a beautiful rose!!! You have 6 of them!! I have a beautiful pink English rose, and I’m pretty sure it needs one of these in the garden with it. It is a perfect yellow rose!! Thank you for introducing me to it!
Yes it is the perfect rose. You can prune it to the ground and it comes back beautifully. I also mini prune halfway through flowering season and it extends flowering even more. I live in the driest state in the driest continent so they should do well in Denver for you if its dry there. They even have a subtle fragrance.
Wow. A wonder rose! It looks like it can tolerate cold to -20°F, so it should work. I will getting some for sure!!
All artists and creative people need to do some research and development time and we shouldn’t feel guilty about that. Those yarns for your Boxy are soooooooooo gorgeous, I think we are drawn to the same colours. Those yarns for the kitten look perfect, will you be making him kitten sized?
Thank you, I feel better about the drive to develop my next projects. I practically dream about yarn colors and textures sometimes.
The kitten is growing so fast I think I will just make him full size: I’m pretty sure he will be bigger than the knitted cat when he’s done growing.
Isn’t that color the best? I’m glad you agree. I just bought a down coat that is almost the same color, and got another skein of the La Jolla to make a small shawl or cowl to wear with the coat. When you see the right colors you just have to grab them, right?! Any leftover plum will become socks!
I thought about you today as I organized yarn. The designer of the cat pattern just released a KOALA pattern to die for. You just posted pictures of spinning, and I thought… I’ll just spin these yarns!! It won’t take much and I have fleeces the right colors. A new approach!! There is this rose grey alpaca fleece in my stash…
Sounds perfect đŸ‘Œ
I’m so glad you’ve found a book, show and projects to keep you entertained while it snows:) I know that feeling when you finish everything at once and you just don’t know what to do.
I’m so excited to watch another cat project! Jonesy will be an excellent subject:)
The roses and orchid are stunning. It must make it a wee bit easier to tolerate the snow when you have flowers to enjoy:)
Today it is sunny so I’m going to rush out and shovel before tomorrow’s snowstorm. đŸ˜¦
It is amazing how happy having the indoor garden makes me. I used to have a greenhouse attached to my classroom at work (I was a biology teacher) and I still miss it. Still, one can do wonders with grow lights and determination.
I am back into my groove and knitting like a fiend again. It is good to be busy again.
After such a busy time, sometimes it’s good to just have a down day. Relax and reset! And you are back at it again đŸ™‚ Looking forward to seeing your new sweater and knitted Jonesy!
PRECIOUS kitty!!!
He is so much fun. I haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks so my son sends me pictures.