waking up from COVID

I can relate to my cat in the morning as we open the door to the great outside. He stands and just sniffs the air- not moving one paw forward for some time. Then the cautious head movement, but still no body. Eventually ONE paw steps cautiously forward as his head lifts to scent the air again. He is prepared for danger. He is alert and cautious. While he is very eager to be out there frolicking, but the first thing is ensuring safety.

Only recently have I felt as though the door to the great outside has been opened for me. The numerous funerals I have performed for those who died from COVID, and now nearly weekly from POST COVID Syndrome leave me exhausted. I am still trigger shy of my parents barely surviving it. And then there is the whole "society lost its ever loving mind" over politics and basic human decency for one another. I want to be outside. I miss hugs. A lot. And I am NOT (emphasis not an understatement) a hugger. I miss eating out and not worrying if I am being exposed. Goodness, I miss not being terrified of having to go to the Emergency Department and risking exposure there.

Of course, instead of doing things like blogging and sharing all my fiber fun over the last 2 years, I have sequestered my whole life. I think I needed to just shut it all down in order to survive the emotional turmoil. And now I am ready. I miss spinning with other spinners. I miss gatherings to knit or sew. And I am ready to take that cautious first step out the door to the great outside once again. So, to kick us off, let me tell you a little of what I was doing. For today let's talk about where I am... and then each post I will share what I was doing. My wheels spun nearly all lace-weight or fingering weight yarn-until this week. And now I am spinning gorgeous chunky Romney cloud of a natural warm vanilla color into a 2-ply bulky yarn.

To the left is the unwashed Romney. I thought for sure the vanilla color would wash out.

As you can see below, the color lightened some, but by and large remains a warm buttery color.

The finished product is quite lovely- and I cannot wait to see it after a final wash and set to be ready to knit or weave. As expected from Romney, it is not next to skin soft, so at this time, I am debating between weaving it into an altar cloth or knitting it into a winter poncho. Either way, the change has begun, I am on my way, one paw in front of the other, testing to the great outside once again. I hope I will see you there my friend.