I've signed up for my first 5k--a turkey trot Thanksgiving morning. I've wanted to do a 5k for...oh, about 8 or 9 years now. I've tried the Couch-to-5k training program...oh, about 5 or 6 times now, haha, ever hopeful! Usually I get motivated in the spring or fall, when the weather is nicest, and then after a few weeks...well, I'm not sure what happens. Maybe it gets too hard, or I get distracted by some new thing to sink my time and energy into. Knowing me, it's probably more the latter (ooh, shiny!)
I had been jogging this past spring in New York, and had a 5k picked out--close to home, cheap entry, far enough in the future to give me a chance to get up to a point where I can jog the whole thing. Of course, life intervened (in a pretty huge way), I never signed up, and didn't continue jogging.
This fall, in Madison, with so many things going on (work, school, looking for an apartment--and then a car, also: wrapping up that life interruption), I somehow found the spare time and energy to start jogging again, found a new 5k to set my sights on, and on the last day before the registration fee increased, I committed myself (or at least $40) to the run!
It helps a lot that I live close to some great jogging paths--the UW Arboretum is nearly my backyard, and Lake Monona is just a short bike ride away. I got a bit sidelined this past week and a half with a cold, but with the 5k coming up in five weeks, I went out again for a run this afternoon, lingering cold symptoms be damned. I started on the usual paved roads in/around the Arb, but noticed a trail going off into a wooded area and immediately took the path less traveled ;)
It was one of those beautiful and enchanting places where the trees arch close overhead, creating a cathedral-like effect. The gently curving path gave just enough of an inviting view ahead. I didn't have to remind myself to relax and enjoy the run. The ground was low and a bit soft, but as I jogged on, the ground turned positively soggy and mud sucked at my shoes. I was really having too much fun to slow down, so I bounded left and right across the worst of the mud, hoping to land on a drier and firmer bit of ground. Leaping, laughing, frolicking, trying not to twist an ankle! I need to run cross country more often--it's much more fun than pounding pavement.
On the way back, I felt so good about the run--just about getting out and doing it, continuing to do it, the joy of the path--and the mud! I felt, again, gratitude. For my strong, healthy, beautiful body that allows me to have these happy moments, for the time and energy and dedication. In a moment, I realized: this jog is my prayer of thanks.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
October 17, 2016
A surprising realization today...
I was taking a walk with a friend earlier and he was talking about his work, past and present. His expressed some uncertainty about what his future held for employment--just that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do next. So I pulled out the million dollar question, which I first learned from my sister, who was asked it by a college advisor: if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life? (My sister's undergraduate advisor asked her this question probably 15 years ago; we might need to adjust "one million" for inflation purposes!1) The point is, if money were no object, what kind of work would you most like to do? In other words, what is your true passion, that you might be ignoring because of fear that it won't pay the bills? His response was writing a novel or two. (Sweet dream, btw, go do it!) The conversation got distracted, probably by a certain dog who was tagging along (she wanted to chase after ducks...), but a while later, after hearing about my work, past & present, he turned the question back to me.
I was momentarily speechless. I have thought of this question many times in the past, and always had a ready answer, but today, I was grasping at a void. My immediate reaction was so unexpected that I looked right past it: I'd do what I'm doing right now, nearly exactly. Whoa. I mean, this is big. This is seriously huge. I'm satisfied with my life right now! So satisfied that a million dollars wouldn't immediately make me jump ship at my job and otherwise drastically alter the course of my life. I love my classes. I'm optimistic about the direction I'm heading, career wise. My coworkers are 98% fantastic (really, that's an incredibly high percent). I know my current job isn't the job I want to have forever, but it fits into my life right now. And while that imaginary million dollars would certainly be welcomed, celebrated, and put to some use, it wouldn't make me change my life much. Granted, my life at the moment is far from static. I've got a number of dreams, short and long term that I'm working towards, but given that million, I'd keep moving forward as I am.
It seems a common theme at the end of my blog posts lately, but again, I am grateful. So grateful that the rebuilding of my life is going so well, and that I've found more satisfaction than I would have imagined possible.
I was taking a walk with a friend earlier and he was talking about his work, past and present. His expressed some uncertainty about what his future held for employment--just that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do next. So I pulled out the million dollar question, which I first learned from my sister, who was asked it by a college advisor: if you had a million dollars, what would you do with your life? (My sister's undergraduate advisor asked her this question probably 15 years ago; we might need to adjust "one million" for inflation purposes!1) The point is, if money were no object, what kind of work would you most like to do? In other words, what is your true passion, that you might be ignoring because of fear that it won't pay the bills? His response was writing a novel or two. (Sweet dream, btw, go do it!) The conversation got distracted, probably by a certain dog who was tagging along (she wanted to chase after ducks...), but a while later, after hearing about my work, past & present, he turned the question back to me.
I was momentarily speechless. I have thought of this question many times in the past, and always had a ready answer, but today, I was grasping at a void. My immediate reaction was so unexpected that I looked right past it: I'd do what I'm doing right now, nearly exactly. Whoa. I mean, this is big. This is seriously huge. I'm satisfied with my life right now! So satisfied that a million dollars wouldn't immediately make me jump ship at my job and otherwise drastically alter the course of my life. I love my classes. I'm optimistic about the direction I'm heading, career wise. My coworkers are 98% fantastic (really, that's an incredibly high percent). I know my current job isn't the job I want to have forever, but it fits into my life right now. And while that imaginary million dollars would certainly be welcomed, celebrated, and put to some use, it wouldn't make me change my life much. Granted, my life at the moment is far from static. I've got a number of dreams, short and long term that I'm working towards, but given that million, I'd keep moving forward as I am.
It seems a common theme at the end of my blog posts lately, but again, I am grateful. So grateful that the rebuilding of my life is going so well, and that I've found more satisfaction than I would have imagined possible.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
October 12, 2016
Last night was pretty rough. I received an email that was useless and abuse-full. I read it late last night and the emotions it stirred up spilled over into today. After my morning class, I thought maybe I'd just skip the afternoon class and take some time to recharge (probably cuddling my cat on this cold rainy day). But I was reluctant to miss and after a bit of time and a decent meal, I headed back to campus for Social Problems.
Before I started the semester, I predicted, I think fairly accurately, that Sociology of Gender would be really interesting, and Social Problems would be pretty depressing. Today's Social Problems class, we looked at global gender inequality. The first power point slide: Acid Throwing (complete with photos). I hung my head and covered my face with my hands. I thought: I just can't do this today. I can't look at this stuff, hear about this stuff, think about this stuff, absorb these realities into my head and heart and soul. I debated leaving the class, but stuck around as slide after slide, we covered the greater horrors of being a woman in the world today (today--2016!): dowry deaths, femicide, rape, honor killings, sex slavery, etc. Not an uplifting afternoon, especially layered on a rough night.
At one point, a man in the class told us how, when he was deployed to Afghanistan, his unit came upon someone being stoned (seriously? 2016!). They tried to intervene, but their leader had to order them to move on. It wasn't something they could stop, and they needed to continue their mission. The student spoke about it soberly, and it was clear he had a hard time reconciling the fact that he had to walk away from that. He said he signed on to protect life--granted, the life of Americans--but seeing that, he felt the same call to protect life regardless of nationality, and ultimately, couldn't. The class was silent. It was, literally, a moment of silence. I felt horrified by his experience, but honored that he shared it with us.
On the way home after class, I cranked up some Lady Gaga. I just needed a female power anthem, and I hadn't listened to Born This Way in a few months. Driving down East Wash in my new-to-me red Prius, base thumping...I felt strong, proud, secure. But towards the end of the song, everything hit me: my privilege. And then: tears of gratitude.
I am so lucky. To live in a country where I can work full time. Go to school. Live on my own. Buy my own car. Listen to female power anthems. Meet guys of my choosing. Tell a guy I'd like to see him again. Tell a guy I don't want to see him again. Marry a guy I love, divorce a guy I don't, and have legal rights and social acceptance either way. Hell, I can change 'guy' to 'girl' in those sentences if I'd like. I can have a baby as a single woman (sperm donor, adoption) or I can marry and use birth control. I have these and hundreds of other choices.
I can ride a bike--we learned in class that women in Saudi Arabia were just granted permission to ride bikes in 2013, and then: only fully covered and with a male guardian. It was after midnight when I left work last night; I biked home, alone, from my full-time job to my apartment where I live alone (not lonely!). I wore pants and a top and didn't give my clothes a second thought beyond wishing I had worn something a bit warmer.
I don't often realize the ways I have the privilege of choice. I'm sure there are hundreds of freedoms and rights I have--and take for granted--that other women, if they attempted to do those things I don't even think about--would risk death.
It was an awful and awesome class, and I am so grateful.
October 10, 2016
Last night I tried to watch the presidential debate. I only made it through 15 or 20 minutes before Trump's inability to acknowledge his mistakes and sincerely apologize for them, his repeated excuses ("locker room talk"), denials, and deflections, the way he dragged the focus to someone else's unrelated mistakes...left me too disgusted and angry to continue to watch. I felt a personal empathy towards Hillary, having to stand there and just listen to him. What can you say when someone utterly refuses to accept responsibility for their loathsome actions and beliefs? You can attempt to help them see their errors and the gravity of them, but there are some who so steadfastly refuse self-reflection and empathy that your effort is wasted and you end up more frustrated than ever at your powerlessness. I couldn't watch any more, I saw more than enough.
This morning between classes, I swam some laps as I usually do. I returned to the locker room, showered, and got dressed. When I was nearly ready to leave, two other women came into the locker room--one quite elderly who I see swimming and doing water exercises regularly, the other a strong young woman who clearly swims/swam at a competitive level. I overheard the younger praise the older for swimming so consistently. The older woman minimized the compliment saying she often finds it hard to get motivated to keep coming back, but that she does shoulder exercises in the water that will help her avoid a surgery. The younger woman again enthusiastically reiterated her admiration for the older woman's dedication and effort.
And I thought to myself: this is locker room talk. Here is a one woman encouraging and building another up. Yes, in the relative privacy of a locker room (or similar setting), we can resort to less noble topics. But the topics we chose to speak on are chosen, they are choices that reflect our personal values. The locker room talk I overheard was beautiful and timely. I am so grateful.
Saturday, October 8, 2016
October 8, 2016
Wow, just read over my last post, from the day after I arrived back in Madison. It's been a few months since that vulnerable time, and I'm absolutely thrilled to get back here and share: vulnerability be damned, this is an awesome time in my life. I've had my moments (but only a few) and overwhelmingly, this was the right direction to take in my life. No regrets.
I've been busy as hell (in a good way) and have thought of this languishing blog a number of times, but just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down at it. I guess I regret that...documenting my journey over the last few months would have been really valuable. Alas. It's documented in my head & heart, which will satisfy me.
I've worked at my new job for almost three months now. I make IVs (and other sterile products) the entire 40 hour workweek. At times it gets a bit tedious--I quite literally stand in one place for 8 hours. But I did always say I'd love to make IVs all day, and--wish granted! The hospital is large (and in charge, haha), so the variety of products I make keeps it interesting. Some highlights: I can now claim to have worked with arsenic (!); a medication that is a relative of mustard gas (!); and a good number of drugs that are used in the prevention of organ rejection (I SO love being a tiny part of the organ transplant world!). Put like that, my job is pretty f'ing awesome! On the other hand, I can legitimately describe my job as full of "drugs, alcohol, and loud music" (the alcohol being 70% isopropyl--used for disinfection purposes; the music being Pandora, to keep the Oompa Loompas happy and drown out the HEPA filtration systems.) I'm really not the type of person who generally enjoys "drugs, alcohol, and loud music", which is, I guess, why they have to pay me to do this stuff :P My coworkers are about as great as I could hope for--generally hard working and helpful to one another. And I get scrubs provided by the hospital--and laundered by them too. Best job perk ever.
I started classes, with trepidation, at the end of August. It's been a while (uh, like ten years) and I just didn't quite know what I was getting myself into. Ohh, but they are great! I'm taking two classes--Sociology of Gender and Social Problems. Social Problems pales in comparison to the Gender class. The problems are, well, depressing, though there's some interesting points that come up now and then. Probably the best part of that class is just learning more about how conservatives & liberals view social problems and what each group feels is the best way to solve them. I'm confirming over and over again my undeniable liberal political stance. Every. Issue. Liberal. (Okay, I admit, once in a while the conservatives have a good point or two, but forced to choose a side, it's still liberal.)
Sociology of Gender...seriously, everyone needs to run to their nearest community college (especially if that is Madison College--the professor is amazing) and take this class right now. It's fascinating (from an intellectual standpoint), but also personal. I doubt it matters how you define your gender or sexuality, the topics in this class affect everyone, and I think we can all benefit from increased awareness and discussion of the issues. If you want to know more about what we're studying and my experience of the class, please ask, but I'm going to not go into a passionate lecture here and now ;)
I could tell my one (haha, love you, Ginny!) blog reader about other things in my life: the new apartment, new car (!), volunteering, and other things I'm doing in my very limited free time, but I think this blog post has been narcissistic enough for one day ;)
I've been busy as hell (in a good way) and have thought of this languishing blog a number of times, but just couldn't seem to find the time to sit down at it. I guess I regret that...documenting my journey over the last few months would have been really valuable. Alas. It's documented in my head & heart, which will satisfy me.
I've worked at my new job for almost three months now. I make IVs (and other sterile products) the entire 40 hour workweek. At times it gets a bit tedious--I quite literally stand in one place for 8 hours. But I did always say I'd love to make IVs all day, and--wish granted! The hospital is large (and in charge, haha), so the variety of products I make keeps it interesting. Some highlights: I can now claim to have worked with arsenic (!); a medication that is a relative of mustard gas (!); and a good number of drugs that are used in the prevention of organ rejection (I SO love being a tiny part of the organ transplant world!). Put like that, my job is pretty f'ing awesome! On the other hand, I can legitimately describe my job as full of "drugs, alcohol, and loud music" (the alcohol being 70% isopropyl--used for disinfection purposes; the music being Pandora, to keep the Oompa Loompas happy and drown out the HEPA filtration systems.) I'm really not the type of person who generally enjoys "drugs, alcohol, and loud music", which is, I guess, why they have to pay me to do this stuff :P My coworkers are about as great as I could hope for--generally hard working and helpful to one another. And I get scrubs provided by the hospital--and laundered by them too. Best job perk ever.
I started classes, with trepidation, at the end of August. It's been a while (uh, like ten years) and I just didn't quite know what I was getting myself into. Ohh, but they are great! I'm taking two classes--Sociology of Gender and Social Problems. Social Problems pales in comparison to the Gender class. The problems are, well, depressing, though there's some interesting points that come up now and then. Probably the best part of that class is just learning more about how conservatives & liberals view social problems and what each group feels is the best way to solve them. I'm confirming over and over again my undeniable liberal political stance. Every. Issue. Liberal. (Okay, I admit, once in a while the conservatives have a good point or two, but forced to choose a side, it's still liberal.)
Sociology of Gender...seriously, everyone needs to run to their nearest community college (especially if that is Madison College--the professor is amazing) and take this class right now. It's fascinating (from an intellectual standpoint), but also personal. I doubt it matters how you define your gender or sexuality, the topics in this class affect everyone, and I think we can all benefit from increased awareness and discussion of the issues. If you want to know more about what we're studying and my experience of the class, please ask, but I'm going to not go into a passionate lecture here and now ;)
I could tell my one (haha, love you, Ginny!) blog reader about other things in my life: the new apartment, new car (!), volunteering, and other things I'm doing in my very limited free time, but I think this blog post has been narcissistic enough for one day ;)
Thursday, April 7, 2016
April 7, 2016
Today I worked on spinning up some samples of Leicester Longwool. A friend had given me a little less than an ounce, and she wanted to see how I'd spin as a 2-ply, laceweight, for a lace shawl application. My goal was to spin a fine, smooth yarn, taking into consideration how long each sample took me to make (I was helping her make batts yesterday for her business and took way too long to make the first one, so I figured it'd be fun to see how efficient I can be with my spinning!)
The fiber is prepared as roving, and has some texture (nepps) to it, not to mention some vegetable matter. Not a lot, but enough. It's hard to see in this photo, but trust me, there's some there. (You can see it a bit better if you click on the picture to enlarge.)
In hindsight, I should have spun the fiber just as is first, before playing around with changing the preparation. But I guess I anticipated the roving prep to not be ideal for a fine, smooth laceweight yarn, and I wanted to really see what this fiber could do at its best. For a smooth, fine, laceweight, it really made the most sense to me to comb it to remove the nepps, vm, and shorter fibers. I divided the sample roughly in half. The first half I combed on my Valkyrie ExtraFine combs, making just two tranfers. This resulted in quite a bit of waste, (about 5 grams) but I wanted to be efficient and get the best quality wool, not necessarily the most wool. Anyways, they'll grow more!
The combed prep was divine to spin. It easily spun into a fine, smooth singles that just shined. Plied back on itself, I got ~33 yards (unwashed) in 7 grams. It's definitely laceweight, at 20 wraps per inch. This yarn took me 50 minutes from start to finish. I wish I had broken down the total time into time spent on prep and time spent spinning & plying. This sample had the most yardage, but I think it was one of the fastest and most enjoyable to spin, since I didn't spend any time picking out nepps or vm, and the fibers just flowed. I personally enjoy combing and think the time spent in that extra step was well worth it. I'd happily knit a shawl with this yarn, and I would consider it an heirloom.
The remaining half of the sample I planned to spin as is, in the roving form, nepps and vm included. Compared to the combed top, I really had to fight with the roving to get it fine and smooth. It didn't draft as nicely, and I had to either stop frequently to pick out nepps/vm or just let them be part of the yarn. I knew it wasn't turning out nearly as nice as the combed top and quickly grew frustrated with it. I felt like the fiber was just telling me this isn't how it was supposed to be spun, and I agreed with it. So I stopped before finishing the roving and plied it back on itself. I ended up with 18 yards, unwashed, in 7 grams. This yarn ended up approximately 15 wraps per inch, so more of a fingering to sport weight. It took me 28 minutes, start to finish. It's an okay yarn, more slubby and uneven than the combed sample. It would make a decent lace shawl, but I know the yarn could be so much better, the fiber has so much potential, and I just think this yarn doesn't quite do it justice, so I'm not entirely happy with it. Additionally, the spinning process was not enjoyable; it just didn't flow for me. I wonder if I had spun this prep first, before the lovely combed top, I might have disliked it less?
I really didn't think the roving prep was suited to a fine smooth lace yarn, but I wanted to give the roving a second chance at being a thicker, woolier yarn, so I spun the last few grams thicker, letting the fiber and fiber prep dictate how thick to spin. I barely fussed with vm or nepps this time around, and tried to enjoy the spin more. It was more enjoyable for me to spin the roving at this thickness, as it just seemed more suitable for the preparation and I wasn't fighting so hard to make it thinner than it wanted to be. Plied, it's still got some unevenness and slubs, but the thickness of the yarn seems to hide the slubs better than in the thinner second sample. This sample was just 11.5 yards, 6 grams, and approximately 11 wraps per inch (dk to worsted weight). It took just 15 minutes from start to finish. I do like this yarn, better than the second sample. I feel like the thickness embraces and works with the roving prep better. This fiber isn't next-to-skin soft for me, but I'd definitely enjoy using this yarn in some outerwear or home goods application. There's just enough unevenness to be charming, I think.
My spinning speed averaged 38-46 yards of finished yarn per hour. The sample that took the longest in yards per minute was actually the second sample (38.5 yds/min), where I tried to spin a fine smooth yarn with the roving prep. Surprisingly, the first sample (39.5 yds/min), where I first combed the roving and then spun a fine smooth yarn, resulted in almost the same yards per minute, even given the extra preparation time! Definitely worth that extra step, in my opinion! The final sample, spun as roving, thicker, was the fastest at 46 yds/min.
It was an interesting experiment, and I hope my friend finds it useful, but even if she doesn't, it was enlightening to me!
The fiber is prepared as roving, and has some texture (nepps) to it, not to mention some vegetable matter. Not a lot, but enough. It's hard to see in this photo, but trust me, there's some there. (You can see it a bit better if you click on the picture to enlarge.)
The combed prep was divine to spin. It easily spun into a fine, smooth singles that just shined. Plied back on itself, I got ~33 yards (unwashed) in 7 grams. It's definitely laceweight, at 20 wraps per inch. This yarn took me 50 minutes from start to finish. I wish I had broken down the total time into time spent on prep and time spent spinning & plying. This sample had the most yardage, but I think it was one of the fastest and most enjoyable to spin, since I didn't spend any time picking out nepps or vm, and the fibers just flowed. I personally enjoy combing and think the time spent in that extra step was well worth it. I'd happily knit a shawl with this yarn, and I would consider it an heirloom.
 | |||||
| First sample: 2-ply, 20 wraps per inch, combed prep |
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| Second sample: 2-ply, 15 wraps per inch, roving prep |
I really didn't think the roving prep was suited to a fine smooth lace yarn, but I wanted to give the roving a second chance at being a thicker, woolier yarn, so I spun the last few grams thicker, letting the fiber and fiber prep dictate how thick to spin. I barely fussed with vm or nepps this time around, and tried to enjoy the spin more. It was more enjoyable for me to spin the roving at this thickness, as it just seemed more suitable for the preparation and I wasn't fighting so hard to make it thinner than it wanted to be. Plied, it's still got some unevenness and slubs, but the thickness of the yarn seems to hide the slubs better than in the thinner second sample. This sample was just 11.5 yards, 6 grams, and approximately 11 wraps per inch (dk to worsted weight). It took just 15 minutes from start to finish. I do like this yarn, better than the second sample. I feel like the thickness embraces and works with the roving prep better. This fiber isn't next-to-skin soft for me, but I'd definitely enjoy using this yarn in some outerwear or home goods application. There's just enough unevenness to be charming, I think.
 | ||
| Third sample: 2-ply, 11 wraps per inch, roving prep |
It was an interesting experiment, and I hope my friend finds it useful, but even if she doesn't, it was enlightening to me!
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| Photo of the three samples together: top is first, middle is second, bottom is third. |
Monday, April 4, 2016
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...
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!)
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!
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...
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| FatCatKnits "Seth" (Day's End) on vBFL |
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| Blue Mountain Handcrafts "I See Fire" + "Appleton" on Merino & Cormo, with lots of add ins |
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| More FatCatKnits, "Sea Anemone" + "Cinnamon Clownfish" (club colorways) on SW BFL/nylon/bamboo |
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| FiberRiot "Madly, Deeply" on 50/50 Merino/Yak |
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| Hipstrings Buoy sampler (half of it). Blend of Shetland, BFL, and Manx Loaghtan. Colors are "Beacon" (yellow), "Sea Star" (orange), and "Otter" (taupe) |
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!)
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| Whoo, that's a bad picture, sorry! |
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