April 4, 2016

I've lived in New York City now for just over two years now, but it's just been in the last few months that it's started to feel like home.  For one thing, the trains hardly phase me any more.  I used to get so anxious riding them--every noise or movement that seemed remotely weird made me panic (so yeah, perpetual panic, not fun), not to mention all the other people and what they might suddenly do while we're trapped here together.  I'm getting into the city more too, and getting more comfortable with the routes there--I think I kind of, sort of, almost, maybe have the Upper West Side figured out, haha, until the weekend hits and they do all sorts of crazy stuff to confuse me.

Transportation aside, a sense of home has come in many ways.  I've finally made some friends that I hang out with consistently at a yarn shop every week, though we meet there for spinning.  I've been volunteering with GallopNYC, which rocks my world in a way I did not see coming (I wanted to be around the horses, originally, but it's the kids that keep me coming back).  New York Insight Meditation Center is also coming to be my spiritual home.  I've gone on Sunday evenings to the Generation Meditation and Insight Dialogue in the city, and I look forward to the every-other-week Monday meetings of the sweet little Queens sangha.  I've also finally found a really great therapist (no shame, I'll admit it I do therapy) with whom I really "click".  If only I had made all these connections when I first moved here!  The connections and activities don't pay my rent or groceries; they don't fill my bank account, but they fill my soul.  And I think it was really a struggle to seek and maintain employment with a half-empty soul.  Something to keep in mind for the next move.

 On to lighter, fluffier topics!  I've been spinning lots...

FatCatKnits "Seth" (Day's End) on vBFL

Blue Mountain Handcrafts "I See Fire" + "Appleton" on Merino & Cormo, with lots of add ins

More FatCatKnits, "Sea Anemone" + "Cinnamon Clownfish" (club colorways) on SW BFL/nylon/bamboo

FiberRiot "Madly, Deeply" on 50/50 Merino/Yak

Hipstrings Buoy sampler (half of it).  Blend of Shetland, BFL, and Manx Loaghtan.  Colors are "Beacon" (yellow), "Sea Star" (orange), and "Otter" (taupe)

Happy sigh!  I couldn't pick a favorite.  They're each lovely and beautiful and fun in their own way.  (This is why I am hopelessly drowning in fiber--I love all of it, all the colors, all the fiber bases.)

I've been knitting too--a scarf pattern called Hallayö (whoo, look I made an ö! ALT + 0246, all pressed at once) using some ooold yarn dyed by a friend.  I'd attempted this pattern and yarn before and it did NOT work for me.  Turns out there are some errors in the pattern.  They're mentioned in the notes on the Ravelry page, but the PDF still contains the errors, so watch out for that.  Anyways, I'm almost done and playing yarn chicken--I've got 10 grams of yarn left, and quite a few rows to do!  I plan to put in a couple lifelines between pattern repeats so that if I run short, I can rip back and do fewer repeats.  This is a pretty crappy picture of the scarf, since it's not blocked yet and the lace doesn't show well, but it's proof that I'm working on it (and nearly done!)

Whoo, that's a bad picture, sorry!

In other news, I've started jogging again, in an attempt to train my butt into good enough shape to manage a 5K.  This is only the 3rd or 4th (or maybe 5th, haha) time I've started the training.  Maybe I'll finish it this time, lol.  I'm optimistic, given I've been at it two weeks so far, and I have lots of weeks left before it gets unbearably hot (good timing, Colleen!)  I'd like to aim for a 5K in June, but I'm not confident enough (that I'll follow through with the training) yet to sign up for it.  I know, if I signed myself up, maybe that would light a fire under me and keep me on track with the training...or maybe I'd quit like every other time and feel even worse at the money wasted on an entry fee.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks and see how it goes!