Great Expectations

My mother is a great list maker. She will sit for hours making a list each morning and then complain she will get none of it done. I attribute this to unrealistic expectations. She will list everything that she wants to accomplish in her lifetime in her morning list. I inherited this but go about it in a different, more destructive way. Each morning at about two am, I awake with my list swirling in my head. This morning is no different. My list looks something like this.

1. Dye eight more skeins of each of three new colorways of wool cashmere blend.
2. Find home for rescued pit bull puppy who has monopolized my every thought this week.
3. Skein twenty pounds of sock yarn and dye by next Tuesday.
4. Exercise.
5. Find source of bad smell in car.

There are at least ten more items I could add, but don't want to bore you.

My teeth are finding a closer relationship lately, and to help diminish the pressure before I grind them to the bone, I have been knitting little squares of our new colorways. This relaxing
task seems to be just what I need right now. No pattern to follow, just cast on and knit stockinette. I love to see the pattern the handpainted yarns create. Myra developed two new colorways that are so rich and vibrant with autumnal tones that I want to pick apples and bake apple pies when I looks at them. I can't wait to knit a sample of our new yarn spun for us by Shady Side Farm dyed in one of these new colorways.

We have a yarn called Cotton perles that we are just starting to do more with. It's not the softest yarn we dye, but it has wonderful design qualities, is great for men's and children's garments, won't pill or sag, and takes dye like a sponge.

Handling yarn; skeining it, dyeing it, washing it, knitting it, and of course, buying it, has huge therapeutic properties. When life gets in the way, reaching for my knitting bag or sitting at the loom to throw the shuttle back and forth a few times help to calm the brain and feed the soul. When I see the flood victims on TV or read about some horror in Baghdad, my small anxieties find their proper place. But life is what it is and must be lived, so to the list to put things in their proper perspective.

In the meantime, we continue our preparations for The KNit and Crochet Show in King in of Prussia. I am chomping at the bit for daylight so I can go back to the store and start inventorying the yarn I have dyed so far. The colorful piles of yarn all around the store and studio are just phenomenal. We have really outdone ourselves and I can't wait to see our display. It should be interesting to see what we can pack into a 10 X 10 square.

Also, we finally got our back issues of Vogue Fall 2005 which contains the pattern for the Twisted Float Shrug Myra knitted out of our wool mohair blend, pictured above. This pattern has been the most popular model in the store. Two gals purchased Lorna's Laces for their sweater and the rest bought our handpainted yarn.