I’m writing this from the spare bedroom of my friends’ house, after spending a good chunk of the day packing and sorting clothing (often going: “WHY did I buy THIS? That’s SO unflattering!).
In the way that life tends to go, I’m in the middle of several challenging things at once. “When it rains, it pours,” may be the understatement of my decade.
I had a major bout of depression. Like, really, really MAJOR.
I went on a two week trip for work (it was AWESOME; my students rock).
I started college again at University of Alabama Birmingham; my first time back in school in 16 years.
I fell and injured my wrist badly enough to not be able to knit (for a while, I couldn’t type, draw, or write, either).
And then Tuesday I had a discussion with my husband and partner of almost 20 years.
We realized it was time to part ways. I moved out.
Weirdly enough, after the initial 48 hours of panic, rage, and anxiety: I feel ok. Relieved, even.
Not that things aren’t going to completely suck for a while. But there’s a wonderful network of friends all over the country who have been supporting me since Tuesday. I had to take a sociology exam, in a hotel room, the night after this shit all went down, and I got an A. I’m honestly worried about money, but not full on panicking. Some people might consider this whole post to be an airing of my dirty laundry, but mainly what I’m trying to get across is that we’re all human. Sometimes things go to hell in the proverbial handbasket. It did, and I’m intensely grateful for my local Birmingham friends, and the AMAZING people I’ve connected with through the knitting world.
They have been encouraging, caring, and funny (sometimes darkly funny, but I needed that). They’ve offered their homes, their food, bourbon, humor, networking skills, and most of all, they’ve listened. Knitters are good people.
The world isn’t such a scary place after all.
In the middle of all this, I also released a new pattern. If you like brioche knitting, this one will be a fun twist on your existing skills. If you haven’t tried brioche knitting yet, it’s not that difficult (although, yeah, it is a little weird). And stay tuned, next week I’m releasing a sheep-tastic, shiny new thing.
Rushton is a two-color brioche knit cowl, originally released through the Indigo Dragonfly Smart-Ass Knitters Club.
$7.00, Ravelry PDF download
Two-color brioche ribbing creates a lush, textural, colorful, and reversible fabric in this close-fitting cowl. A band of contrasting brioche ribs slants from right to left along the full length of the cowl, and shows equally strikingly on the reverse side of the fabric.
FINISHED SIZE: Approximately 28cm (11”) deep, 53.5 cm (21”) circumference
YARN: DK weight yarn, approx. 250 yds ea of two colors, MC and CC.
NEEDLES: US size 3.25 mm/US size 3 16” circular needle.
Adjust needle size as needed to obtain gauge.
GAUGE: 20 sts & 28 rnds over 10 cm/4” in two-color brioche rib, worked in the round.
NOTIONS: Stitch markers:
1 locking/removeable,
5 additional markers
(4 x 1 colour, 1 different colour), tapestry needle.
SKILLS: Knitting, purling,
basic brioche stitches, brioche
shaping.
