Blue Skies

It has been an embarrassingly long time since my last post. Life has been a blur of early mornings at work and late nights at rehearsal. However, all of my hard work is paying off and this weekend, I anticipate very successful performances. The snow is melting, the birds are singing, and the wild rabbits are reappearing. Spring is most certainly on its way, and I am so ready. I feel like the turn of the seasons will be bringing many good things with it, and that there will be a lot of blue sky in the months to come. I'll be back soon with details about Ysolda's online Squam class, and to talk about all the socks I've been knitting. I have a rare night off, the dark day preceding opening night, and I plan to use it well.

Rosemary

Remember that unexpected adventure? It was a deeper rabbit hole than even I anticipated. It took me four days to reach completion, but I'd say it was worth it.

In February of last year, I decided to start my first sweater. I chose the pattern, Plain and Simple Pullover, ordered some Knit Picks Palette in red, and got started. However, I planned on making it with long sleeves, instead of the short ones in the pattern. Being a newer knitter than I am now, it didn't occur to me right away that drop sleeves wouldn't be able to be easily converted by just knitting them longer. Ultimately, I asked around on Ravelry and found someone who said they'd help me convert it to a raglan. I knitted both sleeves from the cuff up, but life happened and the Raveler was unable to help me. So, I finally put the sweater away, with plans to take an evening to frog it at a later date.

However, it never did get frogged, and the other night it floated back into my mind when I was falling asleep. I realized that I could probably manage the raglan shaping now, having gotten many a sock gusset under my belt since then. Using EZ's directions from The Opinionated Knitter, I did the calculations, got numbers for my gauge, and the rest was history. Victorious, glorious history.

(This might be my new favorite picture of myself.)

It's been a really gloomy day outside, so we'll probably take more pictures at a later time.

I'm so happy with this sweater. It fits very well, which was more than I expected, and it's delightfully warm. All the math worked out beautifully, and now I can't wait to make more sweaters! I'm so glad that I didn't have to end up frogging all of my hard work. I named her Rosemary, because I finished her the same night that I saw White Christmas, with Rosemary Clooney, for the first time. I know, shameful, right? One of the most famous movies in my favorite era of cinema, and I hadn't seen it.

But, it's just like this sweater--better late than never. :)

P.S. I also finished Ben's first pair of socks, and started a second. Pics to come.

Upgrade

This is the first day off I've had since the last time I posted! Wow, I really need it, too. I wanted to show you the last thing from our little photoshoot in the park. I finally knitted Ben a proper wool scarf, after all these years.

It's about time! For the past six years, he's been using the scarf that I crocheted him out of Red Heart when we first started dating. Yeah, not exactly the warmest, coziest thing to make a scarf from. I wasn't always the yarn snob that I am now.

Anyway, it served him well enough through New Orleans winters, but he needed something a little more substantial in Chicago (if he wanted to survive until spring.)

It's just a plain seed-stitch scarf, made extra wide and long so that he can wrap it around three times when it gets cold enough for him to need that. I made it from two skeins of Imperial Yarn Columbia in 116 Black Cherry. I think I used 5.00mm needles, but I'm actually not sure. That's what the yarn called for, so that's probably what I used. He's gotten a lot of use out of it so far, and it's a very sturdy yarn, so I think it will be a scarf that sticks around for a long time.

I am almost done with my first pair of socks for Ben! The first one fit him perfectly, and I'm really excited about stocking up on socks (hah, get it?) for winter. Pictures soon of a couple pairs of finished socks. Until then, back to knitting by the tree!

Heavenly Peace

Sorry for the lapse in posts, y'all. The past few days, I have been getting in a whole lot of much-needed relaxation. Tuesday was my birthday, and I had a fantastic day! Ben gave me something I've been wanting for a long time: a Willow Tree nativity scene. I've been spending so much time lately blissfully curled up with my knitting, enjoying the coziness of our light-bedecked apartment and tiny Christmas tree! I will be back very soon with the remainder of our photo shoot pictures! Until then, I hope you are enjoying some of your own cozy holiday cheer.

A Long-Delayed Introduction

It is a beautiful day here in Chicago, and Ben and I went to a little park and had a little photo shoot of several different knits. Now, I can finally share them with you all! It's about time that I properly introduce Esperanza.

She started like this:

And, slowly but surely, she grew:

Then, one night, she was done:

I blocked her the next morning:

I wore her to VKL:

And now, finally, I made the time today to take proper photos of her outside:

It's about time. I couldn't be happier.

Pattern: Queen Anne's Lace by MMario
Needles: 3.5mm dpns and 4.00mm circulars
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Verde Esperanza

I love, love, love this pattern. Please knit it, you won't regret it.

P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with more from the photoshoot!

Spooktacular

A year ago today, Spook came into our lives. It was a totally unexpected development for me to have a rabbit, although I'd wanted one for a long time. He was so tense and afraid in those early months, and through the last semester of my undergrad, I was so busy that we didn't get a whole lot of quality time together. That, combined with the hectic nature of my household at the time, meant that his demeanor didn't get a whole lot more relaxed while I was living in New Orleans.

However, then we put him in the big orange truck with us and brought him to Chicago, and everything changed. In the three-ish months since we've gotten here, Spook and I have bonded to a degree that I could only have dreamed of, before. We have a morning routine where we hang out while the coffee's brewing, and we frequently cuddle with him lying on my stomach. Moving here helped so much, because he's near us all day, every day, and we interact with him constantly. I'm so thankful that he is a part of our little family, and I can't imagine our home without him.

(He had been sleeping, and opened his eyes because he heard me taking the picture. He sprawls out like this to sleep all the time, and I love it so much.)


So, Happy Birthday, little man. I can't wait to see what the next year will bring.

Crazy Pants

I just wanted to stop by and say that I am, indeed, alive. Tonight is the opening of my opera, and one of my best friends and fellow knitters has been staying with me this week, so it's been amazing. It's also been incredibly busy, which is why I haven't posted much. But, I will be back soon with pictures of VKL and all of the goodies I got there! In the meantime, send me good mojo for this weekend's shows!

The Time Has Come

Y'all. I am at Vogue Knitting Live. The marketplace opens in six minutes. I'm wearing Esperanza. The hotel is gorgeous. And there are free lectures that I just found out about. I am going to take a million pictures, and I'll tell you all about it tomorrow!!

Victory

Esperanza is complete. I have three rows of plain knitting, and then I cast off. I can't believe she's done. It's been hours of work, and I'm so happy with the result, so far. I can't wait to see her blocked! Completing Esperanza is extremely meaningful for me. I cast her on as a symbol of hope, and as she grew, so did I. Things are so much better in my life than they were the day I cast her on, and it's so wonderful to have a physical manifestation of all of the work that went into that change. I can't wait to share pictures of her, completely finished. My Green Hope has grown into something truly lovely.

In the Moment

Today was a day of surprises. I had decided last night that I would use today to learn music, apply for jobs, and generally Get Things Done. I woke up late this morning with a terrible headache, and I was moving pretty slowly--but still planning on hitting the To-Do list, eventually. Then, in the course of a conversation with Ben, I decided to look up the characters from my favorite childhood book, so that I could show him.

Does anyone remember Golden Girl and the Guardians of the Gemstones?

Golden Girl started out as a toy line in the 80s that was only released for a year. Later, books were written about the characters, and there was a board game, and a short-lived TV show. This pre-dated She-Ra, which I didn't know until today. I had a She-Ra toy when I was little that I thought was Golden Girl, but it's good to know that Golden Girl wasn't a rip-off. Anyway, this book was the origin story for Golden Girl and explains how she gets the Gemstone that she and the other Guardians protect in later books. I did not have this book when I was little, I had one of the later ones, which was aimed at a slightly younger audience and was sold with an accompanying cassette, which I didn't have:

My PawPaw and I probably read this book a thousand times. It was old when I got it--acquired, no doubt, at one of the garage sales that we frequented on Sundays. It only got more worn with constant reading, and eventually my PawPaw had to reinforce the spine with tape. I remember specifically that it was old-fashioned clear tape with the threads in it, like this:

Unfortunately, when I got older Hurricane Katrina took the book, so I don't have it anymore.

Anyway, while I was looking up pictures of the Dragon Queen to show to Ben, we started looking on Ebay and Amazon at the different merchandise that was available for sale. We wound up spending most of the afternoon looking at things, and Ben won an auction for this awesome lunch box--we got it for $5!

As you can see, it comes with a thermos, and it's exactly like another lunch box I had as a child, just with the Golden Girl pictures on it, instead. I'm very, very excited! Then, I started looking into the book I had when I was a kid, and found that it's very hard to come by these days! But, motivated by the challenge, I found both the book I owned before, AND the original, origin-story book, at very reasonable prices! So, those will be in the mail very soon, as well as my lunchbox!

After that, I offered to make Ben whatever he wanted for dinner, to thank him for winning me the lunchbox. First, he asked for Mexican, but we didn't have everything I needed, so he asked me to make something with potatoes, instead. I thought about it for a little while, and a couple of hours later, we had this!

I made cheesy twice-baked potatoes with fajita-style chicken and vegetables. It came out exactly the way I wanted it to, and I'm so pleased. I sliced the bell peppers and onions, and put them in a big bowl with the sliced raw chicken. Then, I seasoned everything liberally and stuck it in the fridge during the hour that I was baking the potatoes. This gave the chicken a lot of flavor. This was one of the first times that I basically improvised a meal, and I'm so glad it came out well. Best of all, Ben was thrilled with it.

So, today I accomplished nothing that I planned to do. Instead, I ended up having a romp through my childhood--and books and a lunchbox! (I used birthday money, so I have no guilt about the budget.) Then, I whipped up a delicious impromptu meal! I might have to do some serious catching-up on work later, but today I lived in the moment, and it was fantastic.

Real Life

I've spent a lot of time lately on Katie's blog. I've been a reader of her blog for quite some time, but lately I've found that I relate to her more than ever. She's just moved across the country with her husband and her brand-new baby boy, and she's adjusting to a very different environment. But the main reason that I've become more interested in her blog is that she is not only a knitter, but also a baker. I wasn't very interested in baking before I moved to Chicago. The idea interested me, but actually baking something involved trying to use my mother's kitchen, which stressed her out far too much to be worth it. While I knew that I was looking forward to cooking meals, I was surprised by an overwhelming urge to bake when we arrived in Chicago, where I had my own oven. Since then, I've been experimenting with a couple of cookie recipes, and gradually attaining baking supplies on our very tight budget. My collection of baking paraphernalia consisted of two cookie sheets and a mixing bowl.

Until today, that is.

My friend Angela, who has been living in Chicago for a few years now, is moving to New York and getting married. She offered us an air conditioning unit and some furniture a while back, which we gratefully bought from her at an excellent price. However, as I sat in bed last night, looking at recipes and lamenting my general lack of proper baking/kitchen supplies, Angela sent me a Facebook message. Ben and I dropped by her place again today, and by this afternoon, my kitchen table looked like this:

I died. Look at it all. I now have two cake pans, a mini-muffin pan, a whisk, cheese grater, TWO potato mashers (one of which I bet could double as a pastry cutter), that gorgeous old blue pot, and so much more! Plus, she gave me a kettle, which means I can store the coffee maker that I was using to heat water for tea, and we can use that prime spot on top of the fridge for the toaster she gave us! Best of all--I got a hand mixer!!! I spent the afternoon reorganizing my cabinets, and tomorrow I'm going to do some baking with my new supplies, including a batch of cookies to thank Angela for her kindness. I also picked up some essential baking ingredients at the store today, so my cookie/cake repertoire is going to grow.

So, anyway, Katie's blog is full of both knitting AND baking, so it's been a pretty awesome place to read about two of my favorite creative outlets. I found her "recipes" tab last night, and I am really excited about making pretty much all of that deliciousness. Plus, now I have the tools to do so! Yay!

Though her blog, I was led to Joy the Baker, which is an awesome baking blog, with a freaking ton of recipes. I spent a lot of the afternoon on her blog (I got *nothing* accomplished today that didn't have to do with cooking) and wound up finding several amazing things, like this pizza recipe that I'm making as soon as I buy yeast, and this post from yet another amazing blog, Helen Jane.

I think this blog post changed my whole line of thinking about my blog. I was already on the verge of a change, but this really pushed me over the edge. She's totally right--there are so many blogs that are about how people want to be, or how people should be, instead of how people are. I think that's been the big hang-up for me with blogging--I am a person who worries tremendously about how I'm perceived, and that's led to some huge blocks while blogging. I've left out anything that could make "weird" or...whatever. I've struggled to write because I've put so many blocks on what I could write about. I stressed about sticking to the knitting theme, about whether or not people even read this blog--but it doesn't matter. I write it. That's what matters. Real life is what matters. And today, for the first time in a long time, real life is totally satisfactory to me. My favorite blogs are written by people who share who they really are, so that's something I'm going to be trying to do from now on. I gave the blog a little makeover, too, because it was looking a little dreary to me. I also changed my username to my actual name--I used to have things to hide from, but I think that being genuine is the key for me now.

So, after I got my cabinets organized and looked at some cookie recipes for tomorrow, I cooked a very special dinner. Ben and I have two very good friends who moved to Alaska right before we moved to Chicago, and we miss them like crazy. When we used to go hang out at their house, they'd cook a giant batch of Chicken Alfredo. I'm only willing to call it by that title because A) It's what they called it and B) They technically started with an Alfredo sauce base. However, after that, it completely strayed from the path of Alfredo-ness. Josh and Teni like very, very spicy food. So do we, so we let them go hog-wild with the cayenne pepper. Also, they always used bowtie pasta when they made the dish, so you wind up with a big plate of ooey gooey pasta deliciousness in an orange sauce. The uneducated would assume that it began with a tomato base, but one bite makes it clear that it's orange from the sheer amount of cayenne pepper. We're all from New Orleans (except Teni, who's from Alaska,) so we're used to the spices, but it's a little intense even for us, and not for the faint of heart.

Anyway, Ben and I have been missing the two of them a lot lately, so Ben suggested that we make some Chicken Alfredo for dinner. So, using some of my new kitchen supplies, I whipped up a big huge batch of the delightful spicy bowties, and a batch of sweet tea--because we always drank sweet tea with it at home.

Mmmmmmmmmmm. So good. I cooked it to Josh's spice level, just to make us feel totally at home. It was fantastic, and just like at home in New Orleans, it made a ton of food, so we have leftovers for days. WIN.

On the knitting front, I've gotten nothing accomplished on Esperanza in two days--I spent all of last night reading recipes and blogs, so I'm going to skip off now and indulge in a couple hours of knitting before turning in. I'm trying to get myself back to getting up early, because I love it so much and I am most creative early in the morning. Also, since I have so much music learning to do, I can get it done without using the whole day, which leaves lots of time for knitting and baking! Although I didn't get to schedule my classes during orientation due to drama with my undergraduate school, (sigh) I do know what classes I'm going to be taking, and I'm not in class until after noon three days out of the week, and I'm done early, which means that Operation Barista still has a serious chance of success! I'll resume applying once I'm actually registered for classes. I'm hoping to work in the morning, which will give me a couple of hours free in the evenings to cook dinner before rehearsals. I'm very excited.

P.S. Speaking of excited: I haven't had pizza since we moved to Chicago (which is both ironic and very, very sad.) I am making that pizza soon, and it's going to be AMAZING.

Sock it to 'em.

This weekend has been made of magic. I've barely slept, and it doesn't even matter. Instead of making a "to-do" list for the weekend, I decided to make a "did-do" list, writing down things after I accomplished them. I highly suggest this method if you're an ambitious person, because it is far more encouraging than staring down a big list of tasks. In the end, I find myself extremely satisfied on this quiet Sunday night--I certainly made the most of the weekend.

I did some MAJOR cleaning (RIP my phone charger cable, which has been sacrificed to the Vacuum Gods), laundry, drank a LOT of tea and enjoyed some of my favorite movies, played some video games and found all kinds of stuff that I thought had been irretrievably sucked into the black hole of my closet.

But, aside from that, I also finished one of my long-lingering WIPs:
The Unicorn-Cupcake Socks



This yarn could not be less my style. It was an Etsy buy in the early days of my knitting career, and the picture was...misleading, at best. The yarn sat in my stash for a long time, and finally I decided that I'd use it to practice my socks. On that particular night, I had decided to watch The Last Unicorn, and the colors reminded me of unicorns and cupcakes. So, I cast them on and worked on them until they were almost done...and then left them to languish until yesterday. I'm still not sure why that happened, but I finished them up quickly. They have achieved their purpose perfectly, allowing me to further develop my understanding of sock knitting.



The pattern is the good, plain sock from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting Rules.

Speaking of Stephanie, something amazing is happening. She's coming to Shreveport. Unfortunately, she's coming this weekend, while I am completely booked up and busy. It makes me quite sad that she's not coming to New Orleans, and that I'm not free to see her, but there is a silver lining. A friend and colleague of mine is staying in Shreveport for an opera, and she's going to the meetup. I asked her if I could mail her one of my books for her to get autographed, and the fair lady has decided to humor me! So, I'm going to be shipping off one of my books tomorrow, probably with a really enthusiastic note/dorky picture tucked inside to further simulate my presence. I'm really excited, because it's the closest I'm going to get to meeting her for a while.

In other news, the Ishbel that I'm knitting for my friend Aria is near completion. Then I'll have an Ishbel block-a-thon for Aria's and Ginger's shawls and deliver them to my sick friends. If I finish the Ishbel tonight, that will be two completed projects in one day. Challenge accepted.

Doing Things Right

It has been so long since I've posted on my blog that I almost couldn't remember how to log in. When classes resumed, my life got so busy and stressful that I haven't finished more than a couple of projects. However, last night I realized something that really reset my perspective. I usually knit to relax, help relieve stress, and to enjoy myself. However, I have been turning away from my knitting over and over again because the lace is too complicated for my tired mind and eyes. Last night, we were passing by a Michael's, and I suddenly decided that I needed something. I went in and bought a ball of wool and some aluminum straights, and cast on a garter stitch scarf on the spot. After knitting about ten rows, I had everything all figured out.

I am officially resigning from the Ten Shawls in 2010 Challenge. When I started working on that scarf, I had red flags waving in my brain, telling me that I'd never get the four remaining shawls done if I wasted my time making something else. I beat myself up about it for a while, and then realized that the whole reason that I knit has gone out the window for the past few months, all because I've been pressuring myself over this challenge.




This school year has been the most stressful one yet, and I certainly don't need to be spending my free time freaking out about having to knit four more shawls before midnight on New Year's Eve. Also, I'd rather work at my own pace on complex shawls that I love than churn out four more simple ones just for the sake of completing the challenge--that's not what it's about. So, instead of trying all the way to the end and failing, I am acknowledging that this is what is best for me and my mental health, and I am making my garter stitch scarf. After that, I'm dreaming of mittens and socks and maybe a sweater. The moment I gave myself permission to stop stressing over the shawls, I remembered why I love to knit.

So, I'm going to return to the stress-relieving creative outlet that knitting is supposed to be. I don't know why I took so long to figure this out. I feel better already.

Look for some posts soon with older projects that haven't made it up yet. I hope that everyone is well, and that at least a few people still check my blog!

Weaving in Loose Ends

To put it simply, I had a strange childhood. Due to this, I missed out on a few things that many would consider essential.

This weekend, in a strange and wonderful turn of events, I was able to "weave in" a few loose ends.

We wound up on Ship Island, and by the end of the day, I had seen and swam at a beach, flown a kite, and built a sand castle--all of which were things that had been on my to-do list for the past twenty years.





These pictures did not come out very well, which is unfortunate, because this dragon looked so cool in person!





Later that night, we returned home and went to the midnight showing of Tommy Wiseau's The Room at the Prytania Theatre. If you don't know about this movie, find out. Unless you're faint of heart. Then, don't. You may die of disappointment.

All in all, this day was one of the best days of my life.

As far as knitting is concerned, I'm still working on Blue Heaven. But, if you look to the right, you'll notice that things are disappearing from my WIPS! I have been frogging what needs to be frogged, and I'm about to finally block and sew the button on that crocheted cowl! Soon, only my actual works in progress will be listed as wips!

I'll be back soon, hopefully with pictures of finished things! I have socks to make for my best friend's birthday, as well.

A Night With Ishbel--Creative Burnthrough

Night before last, I did something which really helps me when I'm overloaded with stress, or my sleep cycle is messed up, or really if there's anything wrong that I don't know how to cope with. A cure all, my "creative burnthough" is something that I turn to when I need to purge excess negativity. Instead of letting it stress me, and keep me awake at night, I stop everything and focus on an unfinished craft, until nothing else matters. I work until it is finished (no matter how long it takes) and then collapse, exhausted, into a deep and perfect sleep. I have never done this intentionally before, but I realized the other night that it was really what I needed. So, I sat down with Ishbel, only halfway through the first repeat of the A section of lace, at 11pm. I watched (listened to) V for Vendetta, Fight Club, Memoirs of a Geisha, Only You, and Pride and Prejudice.

By then, my little triangle of stockinette had turned from this:



Into this:



I wasn't quite exhausted yet, so I decided to block her. But then, I found a dropped stitch, which I will assume happened one of the four times that binding off turned into nodding off. I had already blocked the shawl when I found the error, so I had to wait for her to dry. So, I took a 45 minute nap--which was interrupted by at least three phone calls. When she was dry, I took her down, dug out the ends (my least favorite part) and then tinked the bind-off to the mistake (this part happened in an IHOP, while my boyfriend and three male friends had a cheery time. I was a little stormcloud sitting in the middle of the booth, grumpily tinking the bind-off, then growing angrier still when, in my exhaustion, I forgot to stop tinking after I fixed the mistake, and tinked way more than I needed to. Then, I finally got the bind-off done correctly (although I bound off the repaired half with a different sized needle than I bound off the other half with, which I was concerned would be a problem. It wasn't.) After all this, I reblocked my Ishbel last night, before finally lying down for a long, uninterrupted night of solid and blissful sleep.

I woke up to this:





I'd say that a single dropped stitch was getting off easy, considering I pulled an all nighter to knit lace.

The Details:
Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague (rav link)
Yarn: Old Maiden Aunt Alpaca/Merino 4ply in the Limited Edition Ysolda colorway, purchased at Old Maiden Aunt
Needles: 4.0 mm Harmony Circulars
The Commentary:
This shawl is fantastic. Now I know why it's so popular! Ysolda has written this pattern that is so easy to read, and the shawl just grows and grows so quickly! It was clear enough for me to understand easily, even at 4am. I love the finished product, and I know that I will wear it often. I can't wait to make a bigger version, hopefully with the lovely pink laceweight that Ysolda used! I knew that I had more than enough yarn to do the small version, but not enough to do the large version, so I have a bit of this yarn left, which I intend to use in conjunction with more of Lilith's beautiful yarn. I will be shopping at Old Maiden Aunt again.
What a wonderful project, all around! I'm very satisfied with it, and the 'creative burnthrough' that produced it. Some things always work.

Travels

My Traveling Woman is finished.





The Details:
Pattern:Traveling Woman by Liz Abinanthe
Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in "Fairy Tale"
Needles: US 5 KA Bamboo Circulars for the body, US 8 KA Bamboo Circulars for the bind off. (I'm really glad I did this, my bind off had tons of stretch.)


When I cast on for this shawl, I planned for it to be a clever project while on my trip to Memphis to perform the Brahms requiem with the choir. A fourteen hour round trip, my knitter friend Amanda (bicyclefairy on Ravelry) at my side, I figured I'd be nearly done by the time I got home, and I'd be able to say that I made "Traveling Woman" on my trip.



Well, first of all, this shawl took me two months to finish, partially because it was the hardest thing I've made so far, and partially because I've been busier than I've ever been in my life. There was a great deal of physical journeying before it was done.

However, I had no idea when I started this project how much of a mental and emotional journey I would go though before I bound off. In the course of this shawl, I performed two requiems, an opera, and Carmina Burana. The Brahms requiem changed my life. I came home from Memphis a new and better musician, and my eyes were permanently open to why I do what I do. The independence of the trip was needed, especially since I had some family problems a few days beforehand. I think, in some ways, the problems that I was having before I left were really what sparked the change in mindset.



Anyway, I feel like all of the things that have gone on in the past few months have changed the way I think. I am a much better performer now, because I've finally figured out how I feel about my career. I have also figured out how I feel about people in my life that have brought me nothing but sorrow.



I've spent much of the last two years missing my friends, because I "don't have time" to see them. Well, I've been making time.






and it's been amazing.





I also sat back and really assessed what in my life makes me happy, and what doesn't. As a result, this will be the first summer of my adult life that I will not be working myself to death at a place where I am both unappreciated and unsatisfied.

This summer will be a summer of knitting, books, movies, and most importantly, friends. I'm not going to be wasting any more of my time.

As happy as I am, both with the shawl and my revelations, I bound off in sadness, because I found out last night that a dear friend of mine will be having heart surgery on Monday. He is elderly, and this will be hard, no matter what the outcome. I have been praying for him day and night, and I hope that anyone inclined to pray who reads this will also offer their prayers for Mr. Bill Thomas.



So, as I sit now with my Traveling Woman wrapped around my shoulders, I know that it was not physical travels that lay before me, but a journey to a better realization of who I am, and what's truly important to me.