Look at this.  It’s almost an entire year since I’ve posted.  Fucking ridiculous.

The main reason is I haven’t been knitting.  I realized recently that I have not completed one single thing this year, 2007.  Not one.

So I started the Lady of the Forest Shawl, using some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted I have.  I have 4 skeins of Ice House, and 2 of, I think it’s called Blackwatch.  I figure I’ll start with the Ice House, and when/if I run out, I’ll use the Blackwatch which will make for borders.  No pix for now.  If I have to post pix, it delays things even more.  (There’s got to be an easier way to do that…)

The shawl will be a gift, and a study project for me:  I like it, but I think I want to do something that looks sort of similar but in a different way.  So once I’ve knitted this, I’ll know what I want to do differently.  (For starters, I want to start at the top.)

Haven’t been spinning either, even though I’m the president of a spinning guild.  In June we had our Dyefest meeting, and when I finished dyeing I wanted to hang awhile, but I didn’t have anything to work on.  So I bought a 4oz. bag of Crosspatch Creations stuff from our local fiber pusher and have two small-ish skeins so far.  I don’t like knitting with frog hair, so I make a concerted effort to spin a little thicker than that.  Actually, unless you run the Crosspatch Creations through a carder again, it’s kind of hard to spin fine with it, with all the multi-colored neps and silk and whatnot.  So I guess it’s about sport weight or so.  Maybe DK.

What’s been occupying my time?  Well, working full-time takes it out of me.  And driving up to Sacramento once a month to check up on Mom, who deteriorates more and more, and sister Val, totally fried from running Mom’s household.  And all the spinning guild stuff — which is much less than I’d hoped to do, because I’ve been so distracted.

You’d think it would have occurred to me before now that having some fiber projects going would help me with stress management.  How many months have I come home from work and stared at the TV, unable to remember my own name, let alone read a pattern?  I can’t  remember the last time I swatched for a new project.  Honestly, I have no idea.

So I’m making an effort to get back into it.  The process is soothing, and the result is very good for the confidence.  I need any way of feeling effectual I can get these days.