My Fears Realized

The past forty eight or so hours have been nothing short of tragic. It has not reached temperatures over 25 degrees. It has been misty and freezing rain has made everything droop with ice and it is simply depressing. There was a red robin, the harbinger of spring, sitting on the sidewalk huddled into himself this morning because it was too cold to fly. Does this mean that all the baby birds are going to freeze like all the delicate buds of trees and the daffodils and tulips that were opening up to meet spring? I could almost hear the cries of all the new grass as it froze to death.

The other fear that has been realized is that I have to really evaluate my knitting habit, can I really even call this a knitting blog these days? Probably not technically. But The Thing is that I can't really afford yarn right now. I am not talking about the kind of yarn diet that some knitters go on where they can still buy things like the occasional skein of sock yarn. No, this is a full-on yarn famine. I can't afford the yarn that I would like to buy, and I don't want to be a yarn snob, but I don't want to shop red heart either. Not for what I want to make. I need quality yarn to make the things that I want to make. I need wool for felting, I need denim for the hat that I want to make. I need things that I can not afford. What is a knitter to do? Should I get a job? I can't really justify putting the kids in day care so I can knit, and when would I find time to knit if I work? It is ugly, and yes, kind of tragic. It is what I love to do. I can't do it. That is sad.

I have very little knitting news, as usual. I cast on the green socks again, and again I screwed them up. Why do I keep trying? As I write, the felting of B's slippers is at hand. I just have to clear out the washer of a load of towels, and in they go. Yeah, I know that I was supposed to felt them when I was in Durango, but I underestimated the amount of energy that it takes to supervise small children in a house that is not child proof. I also visited a great friend that I haven't seen since Jack was a smallish-type baby, and we had a family get together on Saturday where the teal and purple slippers were presented to my grandmother. (she loved them, and they fit her.) And we had a trip to the emergency room (if anyone is counting, that is the second in as many months) that ate up about a day of my life. So, there was no felting then.

Jack turned three yesterday, which was bittersweet for me. It seems so fast that he is already past toddler-hood and onto the next stage. We had a little Thomas The Tank Engine party...well, we had Thomas napkins and cups at any rate. He was pleased. It was fun, he got toys and ate ice-cream cake. Good times were had by all.

My Useful little Engine having his birthday dinner.

Miss Mimi took her first step this morning, and then she went and did it again. Won't be but a few more weeks and we will have a new toddler running around the house. We really are surprised at how long it took her to start this walking stuff, considering she crawled at six months. Well, it is probably just as well, since a walking baby opens up a whole other kind of trouble!

Frozen egg hunt!
Jack was more interesed in eating snow off his sword than hunting for eggs!

Happy Easter! Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!