A Full Week

The table to the left

This past week has been full of things I wanted to do and other things that I wasn't so sure about.  Which is why I'm a little late writing.  About a month ago, I was offered a part-time job working as a Library Assistant at the local library, 20 hours a week, and I was happy to get it.  Until I realized how much that cuts into my happy time of doing whatever I want to, as has been my life since mid-June.  I needed to get out of the house, and I could use the extra money, and it has taken my a while to really sink into the joys of retirement.  But I had, deeply.  Last week was orientation, 20 hours of sitting in classrooms, learning library and County dos and don'ts.  Boring and time-consuming, and all I could think was, "I wish I could be knitting through this!"  

The table to the right

I have been piecing that Grandmother's Flower Garden, knitting my cabled sweater, trying over and over again to knit the very beginning of a lace shawl, and recently, beading.

Over the years of beading the hemstitching of scarves, I've accumulated a lot of beads, and what are they doing but taking up shelf space?  And a few weeks ago, my sister lost her newly beloved beaded bracelet.  I had very similar beads in my bead box, so I made her one for her birthday (which is today), and then thought, maybe I should make her another?  And that led to another, a wrap beaded bracelet with all clear beads.  I really should have taken a picture!  While I was making the last one, I was sort of watching a YouTube video on bead weaving.  I didn't realize that she was actually teaching Peyote stitch and calling it bead weaving, something I've wanted to learn for a long time.  So I stopped beading and started watching.

And now I am obsessed.  I practiced Peyote all Saturday, and most of Sunday, until I had to make her birthday cupcakes, until my hand was sore and my shoulder was painful.  It's taking a long time to be happy with the results, but I will persevere.  I have a lot of beads.

I haven't been weaving at all, but when I'm not beading, I have been working diligently on my sweater.  I'm at 13 inches from the bottom, and need 16.5" before I separate for the sleeves.  It strikes me as funny, though, as much as I was in the mood to make a serious sweater, that it's getting too hot to hold as I knit!  88 degrees with 100% humidity is not sweater knitting weather, not with heavy wool.

My new job starts in earnest today, but not until later this afternoon.  As long as Purl is watching over me, I'll go get back at the beading and piecing.  Have a fibrous week!