Back Again!

Ok, so I have not blogged anything in a long long time. I suppose life has had me so busy that my thoughts have been squirreling away. But just as life seems to be resuming in my backyard, my life too seems to be taking on new pathways, complete with new adventures and journeys.

Work for me is in a state of turmoil, as the county budget will not support continuing the program that I work for. So I have been busy first advocating ( for the soon to be laid off county workers ) that they might be seen as a valuable resource for the county of Sonoma. As such that human resources would see each worker as an individual with valuable skill sets that may work for other classifications within the county system. I feel that that part of my journey as went well in that, I have had several interviews, and I have been placed on several transfer lists. This is what I was originally advocating for.

The stress involved as one waits to see what is going to happen to their job is tremendous! For me it has driven me back to a passion that I had placed on a shelf for awhile. My passion for knitting. In order to find some sort of inner peace, I recently picked it back up, with a few goals in mind. One goal was to knit, a simple yet elegant wrap for myself, one that could be held in place with a shawl pin. I accomplished that task and then some. Having completed four mobius wraps, in various beautiful yarns. I gifted one away after a friend commented on it. I am in the process of knitting another for a coworker. My other were to learn to knit socks, and lace triangle shawls.

I recently, reconnected with a dear friend from the past who also knits, and she recommended the Ravelry site. Becoming a member on Ravelry has opened a whole new world regarding knitting for me. I made a friend who lives in Toronto. She has over the Internet, held my hand and taught me to knit the lace triangle shawls I so badly wanted to learn to knit. My first one came off the needles last night (it is waiting to be blocked), and my second went on needles this morning.

The experience of learning to knit from charts has taught me much about life:

Don't be afraid to make a mistake, go slow and pay attention, focus, focus focus, be gentle with yourself, all good things take time and speed is not that important.

Feeling the richness of the yarn, between my fingertips has been calming to me. I have discovered yarn therapy.

I have also discovered that there exists an Hermes of yarn. It is called Wollmeise, it is beautiful rich with color, hand produced, and very much sought after. I have managed to acquire a few skeins,






It is lovely to work with, and the intensity of the colors are breathtaking. But it is hard almost as hard to come by as a grail Hermes scarf.

This new knitting journey has taken me along such wonderful pathways. Going into local yarn shops is like coming home to the ultimate in hospitality. Something I have felt was missing from my pathway lately, that warm inviting feeling where everyone treats you like they have known you for years.

That was what I found when I entered the local yarn shop in Sebastopol, the staff there were vibrant, eager to help, and the shop was warm and inviting. This is also true of my very local shop called "Castaway" where the owner brings her little dog named Olive who greets each customer, and then almost leaves with you as you exit the shop.

Today I had the pleasure of visiting "The Knitterly" in Petaluma. The store is breathtaking! The staff treat you like forever best friends, and they are eager to help and a wealth of knowledge and passion for the craft.

These times are difficult for many across the globe. Feeling a sense of community, and togetherness seems so important to me as of late, and just as yarn is looped and drawn over needles and through other loops, connecting with others, to share warmth, and appreciation seems to fill up my spirit cup these days. I am grateful for that!