So, I've been back from Hawaii for almost a whole week, and am just now starting to feel over the post-retreat hangover. You know the symptoms, they're just like the post-vacation blues: slow to re-enter "regular" schedule, difficulty forming coherent sentences (goes with the "slow" thing), refusal to adapt to weather at home, etc., etc., etc. I should have given myself a day or two to "process" upon my return. Sometimes such things are necessary after a retreat or a yoga intensive. There's a lot of yuck that (hopefully) gets released and it can take a few days to integrate the new perspectives gained.
So, taking extra time is off is what I should have done. What I did, however, was arrive home a little past midnight on Monday (after waiting almost an hour for luggage - what is the deal with the SeaTac Airport & it's luggage delays?!?!) and get up at 8 (6 Hawaiian time) to teach my back-to-back morning classes. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are my busy days, and by Wednesday night I was d-o-n-e done. Anyway, that's why I haven't blogged except for the technology rant...too tired to string words together in a coherent manner, and my clever quotient was waaaaay below average.
This weekend we accepted the weather-gods' double-dog dare and took the down comforter off of our bed, exchanging it for two layers of regular blankets. This was a mistake. February has been mild up until yesterday, with Spring-like temps and sunny days. Now we're back to low forties and rainy. My basal body temp this morning was 96.3 (it's usually around 97.1 at this point in my cycle); no wonder I had trouble sleeping. Even the dog getting up on the foot of the bed this morning didn't help. We'll try a third blanket tonight and see how it goes.
In knitting news, I am bored to tears with my snappy little hourglass sweater. Sleeves are dull, dull, dull until I get to the attaching part (they're raglan, which I've never done). For now, it's just rows and rows of stupid stockinette stitch with the occasional decrease or increase. Blah. Only the beautiful purple color and lovely texture of the yarn keep me going. That and the fact that I'd like to actually wear the sweater sometime this season (which may last longer than the groundhog predicted)!
I am trying not to succumb to the siren calls of socks, Anouk, and various stash projects. If I start something else right now I will end up with another sweater that I don't finish until two years after I began. Sort of like this fun number:
which I started as a brand new knitter two years ago. It's from the "Cowl and Howl" pattern in Stitch 'n Bitch and it's done in garter stitch. It took just a few bus trips to Bellevue and back to knit up the pieces, but my other projects quickly taught me that I love knitting, not sewing up. Therefore, it should come as no suprise that the pieces ended up neatly folded in my stash, mocking me for two years. Now it's done and I may actually wear it from time to time. It's great if I'm going to be in a crowd and my husband needs to be able to quickly locate me. That, or as a costume for the next pink Gorilla ball. New knitters, beware: this is what you get when you go against your better judgement and get the yarn that catches your eye ("Oooooo, PINK! Ooooooo, SOFT! Oooooo, PRETTY!") before considering what it will actually look like all knit up into a sweater. In spite of being the pink Gorilla in the room that no one will talk about, I do actually like the sweater. It's my kind of "outrageous" and, frankly, I doubt that I will ever see another one quite like it on anybody else (at least in Seattle).
The vibrant pink is a perfect complement to your personality. Think of it as a visual representation of your vivaciousness.
Kelly writes: Thanks, Kerrie!
Posted by: Kerrie Smyres | February 20, 2007 at 01:50 PM