Well, I am not sure if I have a good enough “excuse” for the long absence. Every day I started with the best intention to update the blog… and every evening I cringed at my lack of engagement. I have no better reason for not staying in touch more regularly than sheer laziness. I can see some followers eyebrows going up with doubtful expressions… but when I refer to laziness it really means “I haven’t stepped into the studio”.

Yes, the cold spell during the middle of January had a strong influence of not wanting to bundle up and climb the steps to the studio. Then there was the notice that the house would be shown by a realtor… I spent a good amount of time making sure the house and studio presented in the best light. Even the weather cooperated with sunshine and blue sky… but the prospective buyers didn’t even bother unlocking the studio. I am beginning to wonder why people even bother to set up showings if they find the house too small… after all the pictures with our listing are certainly professional and nowhere are we hiding the fact that the property only has two bedrooms. The fact that it is a buyers’ market provides me with little understanding. They look at our property but want the lakeside house that is listed for more than double compared to our place. Thanks for letting me rant! Short story short, I cleaned up the studio beautifully and as a result, have to dig out the projects I was working on and reboot my passion!

I wasn’t completely inactive. In early January we started puppy obedience classes once a week. That also led to several impromptu puppy playtime opportunities.

Here are a couple of images to show Ash in action and at leisure… for those who have emailed and inquired about an update on her development.

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On a more creative note, the cold spell in January made me go through boxes I packed a couple of years ago to locate some of my favourite wool sweaters. I unearthed some beauties I created in the past and came across a favourite red merino single strand wool sweater I knitted about 17 years ago. I tried it on and it was way too big… too wide and too short in the body, and the sleeves dangling way beyond my fingertips.

One evening of unravelling the sweater yielded several large balls ready for a new project! I was pumped, located my sets of circular knitting needles, made some simple calculations to figure out how many stitches to cast on and I was hooked! For 10 days, I did little else, other than prepare meals for us and cuddle the dog several times a day ;-). I knit from morning to evening whenever we were home, and I even took the project with us on extended car rides.

I love my new sweater. It was knit in the round, has no seams anywhere. The sleeves were knit from the shoulder down. The cold spell was just coming to an end when I cast off the final stitches at the bottom of the right sleeve. However, the sweater comes in handy at the rather cool hall the puppy classes are held at.

With the leftover ball of merino yarn, a fashioned a lace cowl last weekend. It feels amazing around my neck! And it is in my favourite colour…

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I can truly say that I am delighted about this recycled sweater project! It yielded two luxurious items to enhance my winter wardrobe… best of all: I reduced, reused and recycled and did not add to the mountain of clothing waste around the world. I can see myself wearing this comfy sweater for another 17 years!

How was your start to the year? Have successfully you made it through the dark hours of January? Feel free to share your personal experiences of the last month! I know that Canada is so varied in its weather patterns… the Atlantic provinces are once again in the throes of a storm and its aftermath, Southern Ontario has “enjoyed” more than its share of snow this year and BC… between heavy rains and huge amounts of snow (depending on where one spends the season) everyone had to come up with specific coping mechanisms… Share away!

11 Feb This entry was published on February 11, 2020 at 3:56 pm. It’s filed under Creativity Update, Journaling, Motivational, Refocusing Creativity, Repurpose & Re-Create, Reuse, Something to Smile About, Special Project and tagged Blog, blogging, fun, Inspiration, just for fun, knitting knitting project, Learning, overcoming the winter blues, puppy update, winter activities, Wordpress, writing. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.