Yarn is a wonderful friend.  Yarn is faithful to us, even when are not faithful to it.

I have not been faithful to my knitting projects or my blog.  I pursued my other interest of running, and trained for completing a few of my goal races.  And I am not one who can easily balance several interests along with family, a full time job, and volunteering.

So my knitting and my yarn were pushed to the side for a long while.

I didn’t completely forget my knitting.  I have several projects in baskets around the house that I can pick up and work on when I have a spare moment.  But my heart just wasn’t in my knitting.  I would pick up something to work on, and get a few rows or rounds in, and just couldn’t make myself do more.  Or I would be to tired to do anymore.

But. My goal races are run.  I trained hard and I finished.  I am still running, but not long distances.  I had considered training for one more larger goal race.  But when I looked past the emotion and excitement, I remember the long hours on the road, away from my family, and the mental and physical exhaustion.  It just isn’t realistic to devote all my energy in a larger goal.

So the hold of running has lessened on my life, allowing me to return to my other interests.

And my yarn was here waiting all long like a treasured long lost friend.

One project that has been waiting is my Maritime Socks.  I’m using Plymouth Yarn Encore Worsted.  I chose this color of yarn for another project because I just love slight green contrast against the brown.  The striping is really turning out nicely for these socks.  And the yarn itself is so soft, I love working with it.  I have about 1″ more to go before I start to decrease for the toes.

I have several other projects waiting to be picked up as well, but those will have to wait a bit longer.

I am also working on dishcloths as thank you gifts.  I am trying to use as much stash yarn as possible. But I have bought some more cotton because I just didn’t have the right color for the intended recipient.

I am making several different patterns. But most of my cloths are using my Beginning Basketweave Cloth.  I absolutely love the basketweave stitch pattern, and it knits up quickly.  I practically have the pattern memorized to the point that it’s almost mindless knitting.   This project goes to work with me and I work on these during my lunch.

Not all of my yarn play is knitting.

This past Saturday, Get Stitchin’ hosted a make and take.  I took my 3 girls and they had a blast.  Lori was creative enough to make home made weaving loom boards from leftover framing matting.  The craft was quick enough that each of my girls made several woven coffee mug mats.

This was a great mom and me project for Mother’s Day weekend!

We also visited the Philbrook Museum to see the HOTTEA exhibit.  It is simply amazing to me how something as simple as yarn can produce a work of art so beautiful.  It was like standing under a rain shower of color, and the color shifted with the slightest breeze or as a person walked around.  Simply mesmerizing.

In addition to working with yarn more, my other goal is to get the back yard garden back into shape and ready for a small fall garden.

With both of us working full time, and my husband having a 2nd job as well, our back yard has become extremely neglected.  In our neglect, it’s become an awesome haven for birds and wildlife, but not nice to look at.    So I’ll be working little by little to eradicate weeds, and reseed the yard with good grass seed.   I’m only keeping 3 smaller beds for the fall garden, because that is all I feel I can realistically handle.

I’m so thankful for the faithfulness of yarn, and the beauty it brings to my life.