I just got a phone call from Threadbear. Because of snow predictions this weekend, Debbie New is postponing her trip to Michigan. Drat! Deferred gratification again. That grownup thing. At least that will give me more time to dye yarn for upcoming Bloomiefest, which is the next weekend. Waaay too soon for me to get everything done that I’d planned to finish. More time this weekend is indeed a gift.

As I type this, the sun is shining on my left hand and it is actually hot! This is not the sun-through-the-clouds light that we usually get this time of year. It’s the real thing. I wonder if I try to go for a walk, if the sidewalks in this neighborhood will be cleared enough for me to be safe and stay out of the streets? I love walking but usually in the winter it’s so cold or the sidewalks are so impossible to navigate, that it is very hard to go out.

I guess I could walk at a mall, but the thought of being in a mall just upsets me. For one thing, the two enclosed malls in this area are pretty far away from me, so I’d have to work at getting there. For the other, I just really dislike the feel of a mall. It’s all marketing, very little touchy-feely-reality stuff. Just a million reasons to buy things I don’t need. I sometimes go to Schulers books at Meridian Mall, but I use the outer door and never go into the common areas.

I’ve chosen a simple lifestyle. I allow myself luxury only with yarn and food, for the most part (well, I don’t buy meat or cheese so even my luxury foods are not very pricey except maybe my fancy olive oils)… and I travel when I’m lucky. Clothing I buy at resale shops, but I’m easily distracted and I don’t need to be in a mall where I might be tempted to buy a $90 sweater or a $100 pair of shoes. It just doesn’t fit in my life, the way I’m choosing to balance things right now.

My afternoon computer class has also cancelled today, so I have time to wind yarn for dyeing. I don’t have to go to Foster Center until 3:30 today. I’ll enjoy it when I get there, but I’ll also enjoy being at home with the sun shining in my office.

OK, change of subject: Thank you, Cyndy! Cyndy reads this blog regularly and the other day she wrote me asking what I needed for the kids. I later made a post to this blog with the same information I wrote her… that is, what the CityKidz Knit! program needs right now.

Well, yesterday I went to Foster Center and there was a box in my room from Cyndy. She sent this nice lovely pile of light-colored animal-fiber yarns, perfect for overdyeing with Kool-Aid with the kids. These are nice fat yarns which are good for the kids to knit wristbands with, after we dye it.

Also, she sent three balls of novelty yarns for my more advanced kids to use… I wind off small balls of the stuff, so more kids can share it. They use it for little accents on bags, primarily. I have only perhaps two kids who could knit a whole scarf in eyelash without major “hiccups,” but a little eyelash knit along with something else works out fine, and keeps them motivated. This donation is a rare treat, and I thank you, Cyndy!

But wait! There is more! There was a bag that was labeled just for me! See what Cyndy sent me? A beautiful, perfect turquoise ball of sockyarn. Oh, my! I’ve seen this yarn before at Yarn for Ewe, but I can only buy so much on any trip and usually when I’m at a shop I’m on a mission for my business… finding yarn for this or that class I’m teaching. I run out of regular sockyarn on a regular basis, but I just had not found the right excuse to take home this perfect turquoise.

This gift makes me really happy, Cyndy! You have me pegged to a “T.” Now if I can only find time to knit sox for myself again!

Off to wind yarn from cones into skeins. Later I’ll have to find time to make them pretty with color, but the boring part comes first.