Long drought

I have been moping around for several weeks mourning the loss of my primary method of income. I got laid off from my company in a large group of people right before Thanksgiving. Nice, huh? I've been looking for work online and feeling ineffectual in general as I thrash around for direction. I am sure that this will turn out for the best and I'll probably be much happier in the long run, but it is always a shock if you are not expecting it. And this is the second time in 10 years that this company laid me off. OK, I get it. Go work for somebody else.

I have been feeling a little bit sorry for myself and with Christmas coming, everything seems to make me feel like (or actually) crying. I have it way better than lots of people and I am not in any way destitute. But it's always scary to face change, especially when you didn't choose it and it blind-sided you. But I will prevail. I signed a new lease just days before I got the news so my first week was spent moving. The second week, I escaped to Tucson to visit my folks. That was nice. I took my knitting and you have already heard the bamboo sock yarn story. But I did get some knitting done.

Today I tackled organizing the garage which has become a dumping ground for all the things that won't fit in the new place. I ended up washing some suri alpaca that I had ordered. And now I have plans to mix it with some angora and try some laceweight yarn for a shawl. I have been thinking of trying a sweater again also, maybe with the handspun that I saved from the beautiful sweater I knitted that was too big for me. There's lots of it.

I also dyed some of the angora yarn a pretty gray to knit a hat for my youngest son. I was knitting one for my elder son who had asked for a green one, and the younger came up with a swatch of angora yarn that I had knitted and said "I want a hat out of THIS!" It had fuzzed up beautifully and was so soft, he could not resist it. This is a 20 year old guy and it surprised me and was so endearing because I didn't think he'd like something so soft and cuddly. Not manly enough, you know. My middle son admonished me not to make a "girlie" hat for him. 22 year olds are so conscious of their dignity. That made my youngest son's request all the more surprising and delightful. So I can't wait to finish it for him. He has been my model for his brother's hat which is helpful because his brother is 200 miles away.

I used to sew a lot of my children's clothing when they were young. Then when they became teenagers, they didn't want hand made things anymore. So I started making quilts instead. Now all the young people I know want hats and scarves and other accessories. It's fun, but I wonder if I'll have time to do the things I want for myself. Probably. Especially if I'm off work for a while. LOL But it's cool that I'm back doing some fibery things again and so I had to post about it. I'll get a picture of my youngest in his hat as soon as I finish it.