Since I can't sleep...

Crochet, jewelry and general windging....
It's that time of year. The trees are starting to turn color, the nights are getting cooler, and my allergies are trying to kill me.

So I'm typing this on my phone while the breeze outside makes the wind chimes sing and my fuzzy kitty sleeps in my lap. I'm trying!

What I've been working on lately is three circular sweaters for my three youngest neices - ages 6, 1 1/2, and 6 months. As I mentioned in the previous post, I had major surgery on my ankle. My sister, in a bout of pity, bought me some lovely cakes of Lion Brand's Mandala in a purple and pink colorway. "Wood nymph" to  be precise (I just dragged my bag up here to look). It's nice, soft acrylic, washable and well-suited for little girls as the colors are bright and pretty without being garish. These cakes of long-verigation yarn are a thing right now and all the yarn companies have some form of them out. One of the biggest complaints I've heard people have is that the color changes are too abrupt. I can see that point, some colors more than others. I get around this with the pattern I've chosen and some creative cutting. The circular sweaters are well suited to multiple colors and if I find that the color will be changing mid-circle, I cut it before starting the round, thereby avoiding mid-row changes. I think that these 'cakes-du-jour" offer well coordinated color changes, without the necessity of buying six skeins that you will only partially use. When I figure out how to add pictures to this app I will include the finished and partially finished sweaters.

The other things I've been itching to do (obsessively look up stuff on Pinterest and YouTube? Me? Noooo) is start a Nalbinding project and try out Viking wire knitting. This may be due to me recently being asked to join a group of Norse reinactors... Though I had been itching for some Nalbinding before that (and left all my stuff at my house... I'm recovering from surgery at my Mum's). What the hell is Nalbinding you ask? It's another whole post... That's what. So is Viking wire knitting for that matter.

The jewelry making itch I think is probably due in part to my inability to go to my silversmithing class this session. My sister, brother in-law and I have been learning silversmithing from this very talented gentleman for the last couple of years. His studio is amazing, and you use the tools and patterns that have been accumulated over several generations. His studio is also up three flights of external stairs. So..no silver for Cyn. I will be lucky to be able to go up stairs by the time the classes are done.
Anyway... Allergies calmed down... Cyn is tired... pictures later..

     It boggles the mind how long it has been since I updated this.  How much my life has changed since my 'oh I'm going to write what makes me happy' blog. My life was torn apart and I have spent the last several years trying to put it back together again, with varying amounts of success.

     My friend Gayla and I had SomethingShiney.com with the intention of linking it to my Etsy shop. We had grand plans of posting lessons and how -to posts, and  setting up an Etsy shop with all our beautiful creations.

    As is so often the case with grand plans, something always gets in the way.  Her cancer, my... oh hell who can pick one thing... my LIFE... it never got beyond the basic planning stages.

    I lost my dear friend a week ago. I am still not completely adjusted to the world without her in it. So often I go to text her something, show her some interesting article.... and realize that I can't.  When my ex-husband took off to 'find himself',  or whatever the excuse for dumping 25 years together without so much as an actual discussion is this year, I found that she and he..... well lets just say they were closer than I realized.  But as so much of the last year or 2 of my marriage turned out to be, it was all a lie. He lied to her as much as he lied to me.  So I found it in myself to forgive her. It was hard, but ultimately worth it. Gayla came to say that she got the better side of the deal, though I don't think she thought so at first. What does this have to do with anything? I don't know. But as I was working  from home today (I had major ankle surgery and am still recovering) I suddenly had the need to find our website, and continue what we got interrupted doing. Grief does weird things to a person. I have found that out the hard way time and again the last few years.

So I'm going to start with blogging again. Hopefully it won't get sabotaged like my LiveJournal did. I don't think the ex remembers this blog so its probably safe. No one is reading it anyway :)

So look here for yarning, and crafting and jewelry and what ever else pops into my brain.

As for why my avatar is Alice and the Cheshire Cat? Well one of my high school nicknames was Alice.... and I have been down the damn rabbit hole since 2010...