And So It Continues…

I have decided to name 2010 “The Year That Sucks”.  Yes, things have continued to go down hill.  Admittedly nothing is quite as bad as losing our beloved Isis, but the continuous stream of crappy things is really wearing on me.  The latest was an email that came last night from my local yarn shop announcing their closure.  And that sucks big time.

On the plus side, my yarn shop started a big clearance sale today.  All of their discontinued yarn is $1 a ball (and there is some good stuff there), books are $5 and everything else is 40%.  So, after my trip to the asthma clinic (good news: I don’t have asthma; bad news: I have some sort of respiratory tract disease /allergies), I went over to see what I could pick up.  And for $120CAN I got 68 skeins of various types of yarns, three books and one magazine.  Not bad at all.  (Sorry for the craptacular picture.)

To continue the good news, I have actually finished a project! It is the wee baby hat I shared the other day, Noggin, knit using Bernat’s Cottontot in colourway Wonder Dreams.  I still have a little kimono to knit up too before my dad’s co-worker goes on leave in mid-February.  I should be able to make it.

Noggin Baby Hat

I’m also making progress on Enchanting Lair’s Kitchen Blessing, for which I have changed the colours.  I’m stitching it on Firecracker from Country Stitch (at 1.5x strength) using Dinky Dyes Aussie Gold.  I am, unfortunately, running out of the silk and really need to get out and buy some more.  I’m still not sure what I will use for the border.  Maybe more of the Aussie Gold or maybe something else.  Once I get a chance to get to my LNS, I’ll see what my options are.  I’ve decided that there is no way I am going to be able to make this look traditional, so instead I’m going for a modern take on traditional Chinese banners. (The colours in the picture are a little off.)

Kitchen Blessing by Enchanting Lair

I would also like to say thank you for all the kind words about the loss of Isis. I’m coping fairly well, but I still hear and see her everywhere.  I take a good deal of comfort in the fact that I know she is now with my dog Max, who was her best friend until he passed away about ten years go. I thought it might be nice to share with you my favourite picture of Isis, taken about seven years ago.

Isis

I hope all of you are having a wonderful new year.  I know mine will eventually get better.  There is a Chinese saying: 先苦候甜 （seen fu hao tim) meaning that if something starts off bitter, the ending will always be sweet. Let’s hope that is true.