The last post of the year

My nice peaceful, personal space between Christmas and New Year has not gone quite as planned. Poor old DSM fell prey to his least favourite thing of all, a short, sharpish attack of the d&vs. Yes, really, not overindulgence in anything. So, he has been off work, which is not such a bad thing, but he has been feeling droopy and not like doing anything much, but in need of some companionship. So I have been fulfilling the role of the loyal spouse instead of being self-indulgent.

Add to that my own spell of not sleeping too well, and creativity has definitely taken a bit of a back seat. I have been doing some stuff, though, and thinking a lot about other stuff that could be done, so hey, it isn't all gloom and doom!

As well, on Christmas Eve, my copy of Abby's spindling dvd arrived, and so we have been watching that. I'm not going to pre-empt my up-coming review in the Journal (assuming that I get it written in time, which I will....) but - impressive. Not surprising - just sayin'.

There has been completion of a spinning project.



The mohair is done. I don't have a huge amount of it, but I saw an ad for the latest Rowan magazine the other day with a picture of a very simple vest-cum-shrug that I think would work well and that I should have enough yarn for.

And straight on to the next spinning project, mainly because I like to spin in the middle of the night.



This is a pygora/fine wool mix that I bought at SOAR, at vast expense, but it was totally irresistible. It is very nice to spin, but I am rather glad that I didn't leave it to mature in the stash for too much longer, as it is already showing signs of compacting slightly. There is only just under four ounces of it, but I am hoping that will be sufficient for a small neck-shawl. I'm spinning from dark to light, half on each of two bobbins and I am going to attempt plying them together with little blurring of the colours. This is going to be challenging, as the rolags are not equally proportioned colourwise. Until I actually get in there, I'm not sure just how it is going to work out, but then that is all part of the fun, no?

To end the year, I have learned a new knitting technique! (Don't faint, nothing all that grand.) I'm knitting the border on to the "Birch" shawl, and continually turning the work around was an absolute pain for some reason, so it suddenly dawned on me that I could simply knit backwards on the plain row. One or two awkward moments to start with, and now - easy-peasy. So I have nearly finished the long top edge. Won't get it done by midnight, though.....

The mogs have gone off to prison, and the DSM and I are going to Somerset tomorrow to visit his aunt in her new care home. I'm not sure if we will be away one night or two - we had originally thought to make more of a trip of it, but the weather is so unappealing that we may do no more than the necessary, with a side trip to Get Knitted and then home for one last day of holiday, and getting the decorations down.

Apropos of which, we went to our local garden centre today to buy new tree decorations for next year in their sale! So we shall be well spiffy. Met my sister over there, and had lunch in the Bear, which was nice. She is talking ever more seriously about moving over here, which would be great.

No resolutions this year, other than to be purposefully occupied and happy. (Don't want much, do I?) I wish us all the peace of the cool greenwood and the midnight sky, the tumble of surf and the warmth of the spring sunshine. Tonight, we have a lunar eclipse of a blue moon on the turn of the year. That has to mean something good, surely......

Happy New Year.