Catching up

...but first, a very big thank you to everyone who left encouraging comments after my last post, and for those who e-mailed me their best wishes. Piggy feels all warm and fuzzy inside.

So. What -- besides angst -- has been going on chez Piggy lately? Not a huge amount of knitting, to be sure. There's been some, but I'll report on that later. Instead, how about we start with recent additions to Piggy's stash?

I know, I know. I'm on a strict yarn diet. But really, I haven't indulged in too much retail therapy.

First up: a lovely gift (doesn't count!) from my fellow Terminal City Yarn Wrangler, nellum, as a thank you for driving her to and from Ikea. Piggy lurves Ikea, so this was hardly a chore that required payment. But I'm not going to say no to free yarn; I might be crazy, but I'm not that crazy!


Handspun and hand-dyed -- in purple, which nellum detests. Isn't that sweet? I'm thinking a hat for Piggy with this.

Next, more yarn I did not purchase! I received some delicious Spud & Chloe yarns from my lovely swap partner Misha in the Blue Sky Alpacas swap on Ravelry.


Popsicle (love the name!) Sweater (worsted weight).


And Anemone Fine (fingering weight).

Both of these are lovely and soft; and easy-care. No plans for either yet.

Now, to the stuff I spent money on. But really, it was too good a deal to pass up...


That there is 439 grams (15.5 oz) of alpaca and 710 grams (25 oz) of wool. Total cost: $15, from an estate sale nellum and I took in a couple of weeks ago. I do have some plans for this, but not knitting ones. At least not yet.

I've recently become rather obsessed with natural dyeing. This after my September Herbology homework for the Harry Potter House Cup (don't ask me about October homework...I've been a real slacker this month), for which I dyed hemp with turmeric and was rewarded with this lovely thing:



I've actually got two of those hanks of wool in the dye pot now...if you're on twitter you'll have seen some of the updates. I'll post them here soon.

Yes, honestly. Soon.

In a fit of crazy optimism (or maybe some peer pressure from a certain someone), Piggy has signed up for nablopomo again this year.

You've been warned.

Happy Hallowe'en, everyone! See you tomorrow.

The one where Piggy attempts to give herself a kick in the arse

So, I've been pretty quiet, blog-wise. Anyone still out there?

It's not that I haven't been doing anything, fibre-wise. My production, such as it is, has maintained a fairly consistent pace (i.e. plenty of planning, not a lot of finished objects -- but that's totally normal; I am, after all, Queen of the Pre-Process Knitters). It might even be up a tad.

And I certainly can't claim to be too busy to blog. I am still unemployed. Every day is Sunday, as my uncle says.

Which is the real issue. Well, how my current situation affects my mood, to be accurate. Cards on the table: Piggy suffers from dysthymia, punctuated, at times like these, but bouts of more severe depression. That's what the shrink, bless her, tells me. Basically, I'm a moody broad.

Anyhoo. My employment insurance is about to run out. I'm broke. And I've been feeling like I've been neck-deep in mud. And not the warm, mineral-laden stuff one bathes in while listening to new-age music before receiving an hour of shiatsu at the spa. And I'm scared.

But enough of the bitching. I have a plan. It isn't something I would have predicted, but I've thought about it a lot over the past month, and, after consulting with several people (including the aforementioned medical professional), I'm reasonably confident it isn't 100% bat-shit crazy. So I'm trying to drag myself through the mud to get the ball rolling. (Yes, it is indeed possible to be excited about something, to really want it, and yet be reluctant to do what is required to get it.)

And hopefully things will get back to normal here on the blog soon. For now, I'll leave you with a picture taken last weekend as I drove across the Granville Street Bridge on the way home from a yarn sale. (More on that later. Hopefully not much later.)


How cheesy is that? ;-)