Catching up

Times have been tough - the situation with my mom in the nursing home has been unstable, with demands on my time, my energy, my nerves. It has left me little time to be present and attentive to my self and I was plunged into a very deep sense of despair and loss and longing, overwhelmed at times. The last couple of days have been calm in regard to Mom, and I took this time to try to regroup, to confront my grief anew, to again set myself to figuring out how to live in the world that my child no longer inhabits....

The good news is that I have some sense of peace today, and I haven't that in quite awhile. I am grateful to feel it again.

I'm sure the recent weather contributed to my dark feelings. The winter storm of two weeks ago began with about 14 hours of rain and sleet and 5" of snow on top of that. I took this picture in the middle of the snowfall.

Little did I know that the rain and sleet would create A Situation with my car -- it was parked on the street, the water deep at the curb. Essentially, it was as though my car had been frozen in a giant ice cube. Days of chipping away at the ice freed the tires finally, but the walls of ice still around gave no traction....salt, more chipping, kitty litter, muscle.....nothing worked, even when the temps climbed to 40 during the day. On Day 7, I tried AAA, but the line was busy, busy, busy. On Day 8, I got through and within an hour, The Robin was free!

All those days, I canceled everything, stayed home, dealt with the nursing home via phone and I made another Round Trip Jacket!

What's that, you say? You haven't even seen my first Round Trip? The one it took me three months to finish? The one I modeled at the Round Trip Jacket Party, with one sleeve on stitch holders, the other still on the needles and a ball of yarn in my hand? Well, here it is, finished at last:
(Molly made me pose like that!)



Details: Yarn is Noro Iro #61, size 11 needles

I think that Iro works spectacularly with this fun pattern -- I made the second one in Iro as well. I should have pictures for my next entry. Just about everyone who made this chose to lengthen the sleeves and I did, too.

I'll try not to stay away for so long. I love doing this blog and sharing my work and my life. It's important to me and my connections with those of you who read my blog are important, too. I appreciate so much the kind words and thoughts that come my way.
Namaste,
Zann