Apr 30, 2007

I think winter is comng...

...because it is gray and chilly every morning now. The sun comes out from behind the fog and clouds about 11 am, sometimes later. It makes it hard for me to get out of bed and get motivated when it's so gray. I need to hurry up and finish a sweater or capelet so I'll have something to throw on when it get cold. So far, it's still warm in the afternoons, but that won't last forever. Omar knows I get bummed out when it's overcast for extended periods, and these days, he's asking if I'm alright, if I'm handling it okay. The truth is that Celeste sees me through the days until I go to work. The gray, overcast winter is the single most important reason that I wanted a dog. I hate the cold, I hate feeling "caught" in the city, and I know that when I was down in Cheyenne, my Sunny always with me. Always happy, always smiling, always warm and willing to sit in my lap and help me be busy and warm.

This week, we are going to Ecuador for a couple of days. Tomorrow we'll be gone in the morning and return Wednesday evening. I have to get my visa validated and for some reason, in order to get a Peruvian residence visa, one has to travel to a dfferent country to do that. Of course, they wouldn't do that in the US...and I don't understand why. Celeste will be spending the two days with Ivan and Luz and their two boys. I hope things go alright there.

I have almost finished the first hat with Maggie's yarn! I need to crochet around the edges and put on the braided ties and tassels, and then get a photo to her for her approval. This is the first hat I've made with this particular pattern, and I'm sure that the subsequent ones will go more quickly and be a little more elaborate as I become more comfortable with the pattern. When Omar saw the pattern, he was pleased to see that someone wanted a Peruvian-style hat. I need to go to the artisan fair and pick up a REAL Peruvian something to share with Maggie.

Usually, when I knit a pattern, I do it several times, until I have it memorized and perfected, with each one progressively better and different. I hope this will happen with the hat pattern, too. I need to find some complimenting, but contrasting color to include with these hats to get those little sheep and llamas illustrated properly in the intarsia. This time, I simply knitted llamas in relief, using the purl stitch to create the llamas, but there is not enough contrast to see them if you're not looking.

We also have a barbeque to go to this afternoon. It's gray enough that I don't really feel enthusiastic about going. And I'm REALLY not looking forward to a cold shower before we go. It will, however, wake me up.

3 comments:

Abby Franquemont said...

Man, the stories I could tell you about "quick trips to Bolivia" for a residence visa in Peru -- so good call going to Ecuador instead! I never, ever went to Bolivia and *didn't* have some sort of epic tale to tell about it. It started with a train crash, and my parents said "Geeze, we shoulda taken the bus," but then it turned out the bus that day blew up... and it was pretty much always like that. Ah, the memories brought back simply from you saying "leave the country for the resident visa." ;-)

To be fair, that was all the 1970s and 1980s. I'm sure it's less hassle now -- I've been back to Peru a few times in the past decade and it's unbelievable how much it's changed.

Wondering Through Life said...

Cold showers, Yes that WILL wake you up, and perhaps put you into a state of shock that the dinner will be fun. Or kill you !!

Your hat sounds very cool.. perhaps you could use a darker outline on the Llama and see if that helps ?? Maybe also find a little Llama pin to attach, so she also has something From PERU to go with it ??

I love love love things made there, the colours and style are very cool. We have a vender at Frontier days from PERU and they always have cool stuff. I can't afford it, but it's cool.

Okay, have fun, find out about ordering a SUN LAMP so the dark days don't get you down too deeply my dear friend.

Love you and miss you here in WY. HUGS Lisa Catherine

Rani said...

That's right! Winter is starting down there - just ending up here. Can't wait to see the hat - post a pic!!