Accidental Monogamy

The decision that it's time to do a blog update seems to come to me randomly, on a whim.  Well it came to me a few days ago, and I suddenly realised that I just didn't have anything to show you.  How can this be?  I'm always working on several things at a time, I finish about 4 projects a month on average, so how could I have nothing new to talk about after nearly 3 weeks?

Then it hit me that without any intention to do so, I'd been entirely monogamous in my knitting for those 3 weeks.  I'd been working on only 1 project, and it was a big enough project that it did take that long to finish, although this may slightly have been because my joints have been playing up, which meant I couldn't actually knit for more than about 40 minutes at a stretch without having to rest for a bit.

It's not a complicated project, and certainly not the biggest I've ever completed, but it was a joy to work on.  This yarn was just gorgeous!  It's Sovereign by Countess Ablaze, 4-ply, alpaca, silk, and cashmere.  Not an every day yarn, certainly not the sort of thing you'd make socks from, but if you're making something to be worn close to the sensitive skin of your neck, then this is definitely the stuff!

Here's a closer look, because it's impossible to do the colours justice in a photograph, but this photo does better than the first one:

Yes, I'm a big Countess Ablaze fan-girl, but I don't care.  She chooses gorgeous yarn bases, then produces the most deep, intense, and beautiful colourways, and she finds her inspiration in the best places.  She's also a very lovely woman to know.  

So of course, here's more of her work, just arrived this week from the second Odyssey update:

I suspect that this one will sit in my stash until around autumn, then it will demand to be something to keep me warm and look like the turning leaves.

And the last bit of Countess love is this:

The Stitchnerds group on Ravely are doing another KAL for March.  This time the theme is the colour green, representing St Patricks day, and the first buds of spring.  I've chosen this yarn, and I'm going to make a nice light spring shawl.  One can never have too many shawls!

However, I'm not going to remain monogamous.  I just don't think it's in my nature ;)

I've already cast on a new pair of socks for myself, because spring may well be on its way, but it still feels a lot like winter to me!

This yarn is ZigZag by King Cole.  They cater mostly to the budget end of the scale, but they do it well, and ZigZag is my favourite work-a-day sock yarn, because you can't buy luxury hand-dyed merino all the time if you have normal finances.

Bendy Knitters

I try not to dwell on my health issues.  The last couple of months haven't made it easy.  I'm now just one step away from a final, formal diagnosis, and confirmation that what I suffer from is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS).  

However, as though summoned by my need to not feel so isolated by my condition, an article appeared in Simply Knitting this month about The Bendy Knitter.  She's in a very similar situation to mine, yet she has taken ownership of her condition, and of her life. 

I also found this lovely video diary called Issues with my Tissues, of a woman who decides she will complete the London Marathon, despite knowing the pain and difficulty that doing so will cause her.  It's reassuring, since I'm effectively doing the same in running the Great North Run later this year!

I truely hope that the appearance of stories like these will help to raise awareness of the condition, because awareness, and understanding, are the things that can help us lead a relatively normal life.  Without those things, we will continue to be branded lazy hypochondriacs, simply because EDS is an invisible illness.

Penguins now?

Look what Kelly bought me last week:

I hear what you're saying now.  You're saying "That is plainly a monkey!  It is not a penguin!"

But look! :

See, all is well :)

That's all for now my dears, sweet dreams.