With Wool, Let the Rain Come.

 When you change your environment, you change your actions and reactions. Moving my desk into a little room was so exciting (and a lot of work), but it means taking the intention to go into that room to write or study. This is a habit I need to cultivate. Listening to the Happier Podcast with Gretchen Rubin, I am encouraged to work toward habits I desire.
Like yoga. The bag is packed and at the front door. I am not going to be the one thing standing in my way.

We celebrated D's birthday with 2 parties and Fathers' Day. We were blessed with sun for the last part of this Sunday. The poolside gathering was very festive. The Giant Jenga got to play and it was great fun.

 D was on call for his birthday and the weekend, so we had quiet celebration at home. But home made says party to me. It was fun to include his vet student and share a meal.

I finished the giant grey Waffles blanket. At the end it threatened to  swallow me up. But the weather is switching between warm and chilly. There was no contradiction to having its wooly weight on my legs while we watched TV in the evening. Almost done the 6th season of Big Bang Theory and enjoying laughing out loud. This blanket is destined to live in Winnipeg, so I hope it brings and easy comfort to that new start.

Love my button box. I'll just look to see if there's anything that might work. This is a baby sweater in the amazing Sweet Georgia yarns. You see that little blue dot on the button? It matches perfectly. I can hardly wait to see the sweet young bundle of joy at her first birthday.

We are excited about our trip to Ireland. I have had my clothes laid out on the guest bed for weeks. A capsule wardrobe of navy and white with a fair amount of wool and cashmere. Dublin is a swanky city and I don't like feeling like a compost heap. So I have some tidier items. There will be a gala dinner and a private party at the Guinness Storehouse. But the sun may shine, much like our own home, so sandals may make a showing.

Of course the travel knitting is paramount. I started both toes on D's Christmas socks. The left over Sweet Georgia Tough Sock is good for heels and toes. These are big men's socks, so I don't want to run out of the Socks That Rock in Bella Coola. Thank goodness I am taking the intended feet along, so I can try them on. I still plan to wrap them as a gift. He doesn't care.

Had a lovely bicycle around the western blocks near us and was charmed by these hops. Each pole has a moniker. When I was little, there were hundreds of acres of hops in our valley. They are just coming back thanks to the craft brewers.

Another big finish. This blue chunky cotton yarn is from the deep stash. I knit a baby sweater for one of Emily's skating coaches. Couldn't tell you if that was 10 or 15 years ago. The cables were a delight. And chunky knit up quite quickly.

Now I only have the grey crochet shawl on the needles. Plus the travel socks and I started a travel shawl. Plus the shawl that is waiting for another skein to be dyed. Plus the cozy memories sock blanket. But I think that's all.

This sweet girl loves to explore the front garden. We used to walk 4 miles every day. Now she barely makes it to the road. But she loves to go out. She won't go without me, though, (even if the door is wide open) so I stand around and pick a few weeds while she sniffs and follows the paths of the bunnies.

With my computer and books in my little room, I have a little haven to explore my words and ideas.

But it is new, and I don't always walk the few steps to leave the sunroom that was my "office" for so many years. I am trying to use my desk as a centre and anchor.

There was a ball of the blue cotton left over and I just couldn't put it back into the stash. I have other creative tasks on my list, but the yarn kept me enthralled. I used a free dishcloth pattern from Knitpicks and made 2 lovely circles while watching the Bakery Bears Podcast explore the castles of Elizabeth and Mary. Delightful. I also was compelled to try the citric acid soak to make the yarn colorfast as explained by Jasmin of the Knitmore Girls.

Last weekend was World Wide Knit In Public Day, but it was a cold, dreary rainy dreich. I wasn't feeling up to taking one of the big blankets to a chilly circle of lawn chairs. So I watched some new podcasts and am so charmed by the heavy Canadian content of the Grocery Girls , Wet Coast Wools, and Soxcetera. Knit with us. Join us in a knit along. Thank you, I think I shall. 

In yoga I got very excited by starting a head stand practice and I was way better than I expected. It felt very playful. But it was bad on my neck and I could feel the migraine starting that my physiotherapist had managed to exorcise. So now I have let that go.

With my gore tex runners and rain coat, I am not afraid to go out into the showers and explore the fields and trails. I actually prefer it to the heavy heat we had last year. This is the valley that I remember and feel at home in.