gray Saturday

I just sent Omar back to work with a request for vitamins. I think that the dreary gray days are beginning to pile up on me a little bit. I'm the proverbial chicken...up at the crack of dawn and to bed at sundown. The problem is that there is no real sunup, just less darkness and a whole LOT of gray. And then dark, but not REALLY dark, because the street lights are VERY bright. So I never get the idea of actually having much of a day or night. This chicken is confused and a little bit deprived of sleep.

I just started a poncho for myself in gray alpaca blend yarn. I know they are not that popular in the US anymore, but they are a wardrobe staple here, as much as a sweater or a shawl is. They aren't really fashion statements, but just another layer of warmth for people, mostly women and children. Mine will be longer than the average poncho, so I can cover my arms. I don't have a lot of long sleeved tops, so I have motivation for making it longer. I also have a sweater in the works, that I am making from Lion Brand Homespun yarn. I had already made it, but it turned out too big and just kept GROWING because I had knitted it in a garter stitch on size 10 1/2 needles...the sleeves had turned into gorilla length appendages and I couldn't keep it close around my neck to stay warm. So I ripped it out and am starting over. I love the colors. The last one I did in this colorway and style turned out beautifully, but I sold it at the Windsor craft show last year.

I've also begun a third hat for Maggie. It's also being done in her beautiful wool with the fair isle designs done in white alpaca blend yarn. I've just begun all of these pieces, and there's no sunshine anyway, so I'm putting off taking pictures until there's more to see and until the sun comees out a little bit more.

So far, the day has been uneventful. Celeste and I went to the ATM for money today. Another artisan fair is opening up in the big lot a few blocks down the street. We might walk down there this afternoon to see what's happening. Last time, I bought a pair of mittens and socks to match. I might splurge and get a knitted poncho for myself, if I can find the colors that I like.

I wear skirts to work. I have four long skirts that I love, and that I wear to work. I only wear skirts to work because I have no nice pants to wear, and jeans are not allowed. One of my co-workers asked me if it is that way with all American women who work - that they only wear skirts and look very formal. When I explained that I have only jeans at home and it's skirts or nothing to wear to work, I think I ruptured part of her stereotype of US women. The other part of her idea about American women is that we don't cook or that maybe we know how to open a can of something to throw in a pot. Since we don't know how to cook, we just run to the nearest McDonald's for every meal. And everyone in the US must be fat, because we never walk, only drive, whenever we leave the house. I think it's kind of odd that when they see one person doing something, or dressing a certain way, or eating something, they don't question it - they just assume that EVERYONE does the same thing. I wear skirts to work, so naturally, ALL women in the US only wear skirts to work. Of course.

I think I'll go put on my skirt and go have a Big Mac now. Oh, wait, I can't. I left my car in Cheyenne. I guess I'll just sit here and starve, since I'm from the US and never learned to walk.