Half a century

Today I turned 50.  Strange, but turning 50 isn't so bad.  Not like turning 40.  I was depressed for a couple of months after I turned 40.  I bought "All About Eve" and watched it just to see the scene in which Bette Davis admits to turning 40.  It may be that personally and professionally I am in a much better place than I was 10 years ago.  Ten years ago I hadn't met Bruce.  Ain't love grand.  We always try to stay home on our birthdays.  Although two years ago I got to have my birthday in Jordan, which was absolutely amazing.  We haven't taken another big trip since, although we have talked about it, but neither one of us wants to be on a plane for that long, or go through airport security, plus it is hard on our kitty when we leave her alone for that long, even with someone taking care of her while we are gone.  She is always very happy to see me when we first get back, but then she remembers how mad she is at me and bites me.

I spent the morning weaving on my small 24 harness loom.  I haven't done much weaving for a couple of years now, having gotten wrapped up in lace knitting, but I've been wanting to get back to it and have been reading my Handwoven magazines.  I bought this loom after making it through breast cancer, a present to myself for surviving, and I started the project back in 2007.

 I bought this loom so I could do more complex projects, but then was frustrated by how slow it is to weave on compared to my floor loom downstairs in my studio.  On the floor loom you can get a real rhythm going and the cloth just appears like magic under your fingers.  But this morning when I started weaving on this loom again I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I liked the slow pace, the greater contact I had with the fiber.  I don't know, maybe a couple of years of lace knitting has taught me the value of going slow, and taking your time.

This week I also finally picked up my Triffid shawl again.  It has been sitting on my project/coffee table for the past couple of months.  I stayed home from work on Wednesday, feeling a little under the weather, and made a lot of progress on the shawl, watching the X-Files on Netflix, and worked some more on it this afternoon while we watched a couple of episodes of Smallville.

The yarn is Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 in Bumblebee and Moon Purple, and may I just say that this yarn is an absolute dream to knit with.  It just glides through the fingers so sweetly.  Absolutely one of my favorite yarns.  The pattern is Triffid by Meghan Jackson and was the first Zen-Butterfly mystery knit along.  Hopefully it will not be the last.

I am hoping to get both projects done this weekend.