I haven't the foggiest idea
what to write about today.
Oh no!
I've been awash with those.
I mean,
a paper gansey dress?
a suit of Somewhat Slanted armor?
There is much to talk about
in the realm of my making existence.
Yet this is actually my third try
at trying to be coherent.
may have been
that "somehow"
all sorts of non-blog things
have arisen to take over my Tuesdays,
and, deciding to be efficient
the first two blogging attempts
were made yesterday.
Not a single coherent sentence
could I write,
and most of the photos
turned out badly lit
or poorly framed--
poorly framed, that is,
unless your hearts desire
is. to see a corner of my
Sarah-Dippity clad butt
and the bra/underwear pile
of my laundry-in-waiting?
are old lady (and gentleman) day at the Food Coop
(actually member over 55 gets a 10% discount),
and what with the layers of gloves
and careful spacing and all,
it seemed a good idea
to keep grocery-getting
and blog writing
separate too.
my husband's new chemo day
(used to be Monday)
and since I usually try to do a little tidying
while he's off getting infused,
I figured if I wrote the blog on Monday
I could take my time
with the scrubbing,
the shopping
and the writing.
as I said,
refused to cooperate.
After a bunch of confusion and angst
it became clear
that while there are times
and places
when thinking ahead
and being practical
(wearing rubber gloves
out in the world etc etc)
is just the thing.
the thing it wanted to be,
full of tunes and pink coffee filters,
and I headed out to the Food Coop this morning
where,
be-gloved and bemused,
I had several magical moments of
distant socializing with dear friends--
our plastic coated hands waving madly
from one end of an aisle to another--
and also got to feel
a good solid sense of gratitude
for all the beautiful produce
and marvelous, helpful coop stuff
who are keeping us supplied
for our once-a-week excursions.
Well, I shook out a few rugs
but mostly skipped it entirely,
save for washing
and blocking
the coffee filter Gansey dress
because my imaginary elf self
wanted to wear it
and anyway
I can mop things tomorrow.
But that, the elf comment, reminds me
of what I really wanted to say today,
and why I was trying to take selfies yesterday--
has designed the coolest hood
for the Somewhat Slanted sweater
and I finally get to tell you about it.
Somehow she managed to combine
both the utterly practical
(cozy, easy, protective, snuggly),
and the utterly "im"--
(I get to be a wood elf
and a Monty Python Knight
at the same time),
while making something that is
totally in the "make it as you go" spirit
of the sweater itself.
And now,
on these cool spring mornings
and uncertain days,
(and despite my previous conviction
that I am absolutely not a hoody person),
it is my favorite thing to wear.

that I'm giving you a second opportunity
to critique my slovenly laundry ways,
my pink Sarah-Dippity butt,
and the polka-dotted apron I forgot I had on,
so you can see the whole thing,
backlit and all.
is Vicki's so is only available on her Ravelry page
and she's sharing it for free.
(are those underarm stripes glorious or what????),
so if you already have the Somewhat Slanted,
you can just hop over there
and check out the instructions.
If you don't have it
and suddenly need a suit of armor--
or a wood elf outfit,
or even a great big collar to hide behind.
I'm having a Somewhat Slanted Sale
both on my Ravelry Page
and on this website:
from $11 down $7
(the next prime number
cuz -- all my prices are prime ;-)

works at any gauge,
this Monty Python look
seems particularly effective with bulky yarn,
so I'm already half way through
another one for my husband Dan
for whom a new suit of armor,
and especially a super warm merino one
seems just the thing right now.
(though he'd probably rather I didn't)
I do want to say
how VERY much I appreciate
all your wondrous words and hopes and thoughts
in the comments in last week's post.
I was going to try to answer them all,
but it only made me cry,
and also feel so very grateful
that you are all there,
that we're all in this together
in many different
and many of the same ways,
and that I get to write to you--
even going on and on
despite thinking I had nothing to say--
and that we can madly wave,
our carefully gloved hands
at one another
from across the world,
and the other side of town,
and feel connected
with our yarn
and our thoughts
and the joy
of the fragile,
the lovely,
and the absurd.
So, ah,
thanks.
And, onward we go.