The week improved, thank goodness

I started this last week tired, stressed and unhappy. I had a bit of a pity party, too. You know, I do things right and things go wrong anyway, why me, that kind of thing. I put in a lot of hours at work, set some priorities, cleaned and organized my desk and my schedule and I feel much better now. I didn't even cry when I received an email asking me how I would suggest the University (of Maryland, which is my employer) should handle the upcoming budget cuts - furlough, layoffs, salary reduction, reduction in benefits, etc. I managed to respond in what I think was a positive manner and still get my thoughts across.

I have not yet been able to get started on my exercise program. Actually, program is too grand a word for it. I hope to ride my bike every day for at least 10 minutes. I hope to do at least 15 sit ups per day. I hope this will give me stress relief, more energy, better feelings about myself and will develop further into a real exercise program, including weight bearing exercises and some cardio. I need it.

I have had a problem with self image for many years. It affects all phases of my life, and some times are worse than others. I have just been through a particularly bad patch and I hope that I am back on the rise now. I took steps to change my feelings about my competency at work. If I can get this exercise going at home, I can improve both my feelings of bulgy ugly body and my feelings of satisfaction on the home front - no more "I am a terrible housewife, gardener etc." because I hope to have increased energy to take care of those things. My brain knows that I will feel better if I can do it, but my emotions make excuses and my body complains about aches and pains. The I tell myself that I am a weak willed lazy creature, and you can see how it perpetuates. One week of being strong will change this and I think this is the week.

On the knitting front, I lost and then found the baby sweater that I knitted for my cousins. I will sew the buttons on it and send it out soon, before I can loose it again. ; ) This is the best shot I can get for the cable view.

Aren't the buttons cute?

I knitted 4 rows on Laminaria over this week, but last night I discovered a dropped stitch and a hole. gulp. I think I am going to have to frog the entire edging section that I have completed, because with all of the increasing and decreasing I do not have faith in my ability to drop the section down and re-knit. D**m.

I lost and then found the pattern for my travel sock, so that's back on track. I have started the heel.

The body of the Elemental Boatneck is complete and I wanted to cast on the sleeves. I found the correct needle size and then couldn't find the yarn. Have you noticed the trend here? I have since found enough yarn to start both sleeves, but I could swear that I have more. Somewhere.

Karen gave me some gorgeous yarn a few years ago, purchased specifically to make the pooling colors scarf. I didn't work. I just could not make the colors line up for more than a few rows at a time, despite trying many needle sizes and a few different patterns. The yarn marinated in my stash for a while. Then I though I was happy with using that yarn to make Montego Bay. I knitted happily along for several inches, but as it progressed, I became unhappy with what was happening with the colors. Rip. I was recently rummaging (I think it was one of my attempts to find the Hempathy I needed for the boatneck) in my stash and saw the yarn again, had an idea and cast on. The pattern is the Luscious Lace Scarf. This looks right. I know, I thought that before, but this feels good to knit and it looks really good right now. I think it's the match I was seeking.

At the MD Sheep and Wool Festival I purchased this yarn from Shelridge Farms. I have been doing some swatching and trying to imaging what I see this yarn being knit into. It is a rustic kind of yarn, not smooth, so I think lace is out. I saw this pattern in a stitch dictionary and liked it, but when I knitted it up, I thought it looked like a spider.
I don't hate spiders, but I don't think I want to wear one. I will search further. I don't have enough yardage to make a really cabled cardigan, but I should be able to put a cable or two down the front, but a twisted stitch pattern is in the running, also.

We plan to go out on the boat today. The forecast is encouraging. I had thought that we might spend the night on the boat for a change, but the temps are supposed to remain in the 80's until after midnight and the humidity is predicted to be above 90% until morning. In a boat cabin that is small and has no windows, I think that is not a great idea. There would be lots of tossing and turing and not much sleep, I'm afraid. We'll go out mid-afternoon and stay out until dark - I love to watch the sun set on the water.

Have a great day, everyone.