Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It's not the Guadalupe, it's the Styx.

I underestimated the Hell that this place can be. We moved from a tropical rain forest climate that wreaked havoc on my skin, to a desert climate that is so oppressively hot I feel like my bones are breaking when I walk outside. We do have seasons, and no they aren't Summer 1 and Summer 2 like all the uber cynics here tell us. By October of last year S and I were stepping outside and squealing with glee over the fact that the mercury had gone below 75 degrees. Now the temperature regularly hovers around 105, which I hate with all my being. There's no point in going outside. It's too hot to live. Every day around 6:30 PM I find myself aimlessly wandering in the kitchen for no reason that I can come up with. Then I spot the pitcher of peach iced tea that has become standard fare in our fridge, and I realize that if I don't drink something you'll be able to make croutons out of my dry skin (ugh, there's some powerfully awful imagery for you). I guzzle a huge glass of tea, and immediately I feel better, even though I didn't think I was feeling all that bad to begin with. The dryness of living in a desert climate totally sneaks up on you.

In about three weeks (I'm not paying attention to the calendar, I'm on vacation.) we'll be in Boston, where the temperature is currently a delightful 71 to our obscene 101. I plan on packing all my handknit socks and my new Mary Janes so I can show them off. I told S to remember to pack his sweatshirt, to which he replied, "We both know I'm not going to remember that." I'm sending some things ahead of me to my parents' house (the wedding present of DOOM is too bulky to pack in a suitcase and still have room for my things), so I suppose his sweatshirt will be included in the box. I'm knitting a shrug, because I can't seem to ever finish an entire sweater, so I'm assuming finishing just the sleeves will be easier. It's Malabrigo, which equals aw skeet, skeet in the knitting world. This is the kind of yarn that I buy just because I can, not because I have a use for it. It's actually too pretty to knit. And this particular colorway I'm using is brown, which is boring, but sometimes looks a little purple, has slight hints of blue, and at one point appeared to be green. Color me stoked. It will be done in time for our vacation.

I finished spinning around 4 ounces of merino, which was also plied, and the twist was set, and it's now drying in my room. That all translates to: I made a functional skein of yarn that you could actually make a socially acceptable, completely useful scarf with if you were so inclined to do so, and I did it with a bunch of wool that wasn't spun yet. From the age of 23 on I have managed to surprise the hell out of myself with what I am able to do. I still have to work on the DOOM (pictures up after it has been given to the intended recipients), which isn't really making me very happy, but I did my best. Then I have a pair of socks on the needles (yellow, because I have about thirty yellow shirts, and no socks to match), and I have some roving given to me by friends for my birthday. Always exciting.

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