Back into the light

I feel like this lovely anenome that is flowering in the garden - as though I've been down in the dark, underground, for a while now. It's one of those things that I don't always recognise until I start to come out again. Not a depression, I think, but a head-down, coping-by-putting-one-foot-in-front-of-another period.

Things at work have been very hard for a while - I got the job, we had an inspection and had to weather with the response of some colleagues to the inspection findings, lots of things have been difficult and everyone has been very tired. It's been a long, hard term and I'm glad it's my two week break!

I have responded to the stress of it all by eating chocolate (consequence - weight gain of 4lbs, I was lucky!), sleeping and getting in some knitting - not as much as I would have liked, but it all counts.

I finished my Chinese lace pullover. No pictures yet, but I'll get some done this week.

I have cast on for my International scarf Exchange 6 scarf.

Here it is:



I'm doing a pattern called Forest Shawl or Scarf, which I printed out from t'Interweb. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark the page or note the creator. It's in James C Brett Merino. The colour is darker than it appears here - more a dark Merlot shade. I love the way this yarn shows the lace pattern and love how soft it is.

I've been making small (and I mean small) woollen hats for Save the Children. They are easy to do and can be finished really quickly - even when my brain is fried and I can't keep my brain focused on anything complicated.



I read, on the Save the Children website, that half of all babies born in Tibet die in their first week - mostly due to hypothermia. What terrible statistics!