So the muse is now income-less for the time being. While I'm upset that my chronic illness managed to jump up and bite me severely enough that I am no longer employed, in a way it is a relief. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE eye care, I love what I have done for the past five years, and really had hoped to continue on that path. I have had two good jobs in the past year. One that didn't quite fit, and I left on good terms and this one, which was perfect... except for being ill the last six weeks. 

My goal now is to recover fully from pneumonia, get back to the dojo and get my strength back and reinvent the muse, again. 

I've been wanting to go back to school for a few years now, this may be the time, before Maddy goes off to college. I enjoyed working for myself several years ago with my little yarn and fiber business, but physically I think that's going to be difficult, and the market is saturated with indie dyers and spinners, but I am pretty sure I can find a little niche, carve out my corner of Etsy or ArtFire, maybe with the right product take advantage of the farmer's markets in the area.

In other, happier news, being forced to either nap, or sit on the couch and stare at the idiot box for the last few days, I've managed to reknit the entire back of the Badlands for Maddy. I made the mistake of not checking the armhole depth before I finished the back. She could wear it, but it was TIGHT. So knitting accomplished. I also managed to make two wash cloths yesterday. Nothing to terribly exciting, the stand by Grandma's Favorite in some HL I love this Cotton. But what is a mom supposed to do when her kid walks up to her and says, "mom, where are all the wash cloths?" Make some of course. 

The Orange Scarf

 Well the thing is, there isn't an orange scarf, not yet anyway.

I love to knit. I love the feel of yarn between my fingers, the slight sound of wooden needles clicking together as I knit and purl my way to completion, or not. I'm very much a process knitter, but as I've gotten older I've become a fair amount better at actually finishing projects and keeping my WIPs (works in progress) down to a somewhat manageable level. Currently I have three active projects (we are not going to count the UFOs at this point, that was last year, they will eventually make it into the queue or be frogged). A hat for Alex, vest for Maddy and socks for Jeff.

Last night I was feeling a bit left out out of the knitting queue and thought it was time to start on another project.  I wasn't feeling up to digging through the bin of yarn in the living room, let alone go on a basement or under-the-couch search for the perfect yarn for the perfect project, so I felt pretty good about spotting some lovely orange silk tweed blend yarn right near the top. I only saw two skeins, but I know there are two more in that bin somewhere. It's perfect scarf yarn and I've got 284 yards of lovely orangeness.

I should stop  here and say that I love scarves almost as much as I love knitting. Knit scarves, woven scarves, wool, silk and cotton scarves, love them all. I wear them outside, at home, at work (we have a dress code where I have to wear white pants, white shoes and white lab coat, so it's nice to dress it up a bit).

I found a (simple) farrow rib pattern and after having to rip it out and start with a slightly smaller needle size, I was good to go. I got a couple inches done last night, and a few more this morning before deciding that while it would be fine, I didn't love it. And not loving a project, especially one for myself is usually a deal-breaker. So I frogged it and headed back to look at patterns. I love looking at patterns, but for some reason today, all the scarf patterns look exactly the same.  I've been knitting long enough that I tend to ignore yarn weight and yardage measurements when looking for pattern. I look for a design I like and then figure how to adapt it for the yarn I have. I think I found one; Ripple but I'm not sure, so I think I'll go back to working on the Seussical Socks I'm knitting for Jeff an,d let Ripple and the lovely orange yarn get to know each other for a few days.