Its been a while since I posted any photos of the house-in-progress.
A year ago in May we were in the middle of a long haul of building; contractors everywhere, loud power tools, roofers, drywallers, plasterers, and I ached with all my being for it to be quiet and to work again in my loft. Now I must say, seven months to the day after having moved from the tiny house 500 feet up to the unfinished-but-signed-off house, amidst still tools and piles of lumber in the living room (which are still there)… I am feeling everything once again in its place, and throughout the house I hardly notice the lack of some trim and finish flooring. Especially in the loft, my workspace, a room that in the first days of last Autumn I was so eager to kit out, everything was just waiting for the sign-off with the county. Now a bit more relaxed and seven months later I am quite charmed at the trim, a knotted board for the doorway into the loft, a real polishing touch of finish work and what a nice surprise from Jeff knowing I love the knotted boards the most.
Last May I was knitting a pile of socks for a new pattern dedicated to Emma for she just had her fourteenth birthday and in celebration I had mowed a whole lane where I could “walk” with my old girl Emma, who wasn’t really able to walk much anymore. Well its May again, and I’m mowing a lot of wild grass again, and as the rain is most likely on its way out so am I watering like a maniac too. Working outside now is my big big focus. Less time for indoor things.
Oh but maybe this…. 
I am making slow progress on my Fishwives lace stole I started up again in March. Its been a difficult and rough couple of months with Emma gone and the whole pandemic thing , but I’ve been throwing myself into the yoke, figuratively and literally, as I’ve learned that hard work is the best medicine through sorrowful times and uncertain times.
And this, a sweater yoke ….
I guess its about time I mention that I’ve been working on a new design that in subject relates to all that I have been posting about in the series in recent posts “Gifts From The Sun“. For a few years now, I really do enjoy researching something as a mark of inspiration connected to a new upcoming design, while spending the hours knitting myself to exhaustion, with plenty of ripping out and starting over that goes a long with it. I have been thinking about a few things; the wool/yarn industry in Peru and its relationship with the people of the Andes, of tempering my yarn snobbery and trying to have an open mind about a yarn that frankly I never paid that much attention to. A yarn that I have used to make felted satchels for many years, and that as why I had quite a lot of it around, because a couple of months ago, I was knitting many sturdy basket tote bags and felting them for my new pattern Maiya’kma.
Now, again, the same yarn is on my needles for something entirely different. Words that come to mind ~~ moderately soft, quality, plies, strong, classic, and with a colossal selection of rich colors ~~ I must say its rather blowing my mind that this all-purpose and inexpensive one-hundred percent Peruvian wool yarn has made it to my top favorites as a colorwork sweater yarn, and very unexpectedly. I just never thought about it in this way.
More in the weeks to come!
Jenjoyce Design 
This is exCITING!
Truly!!!! xx 🙂
Jen your sweater yoke is beautiful, I am sure the whole sweater will be awesome.
How sweet that Jeff added a board with a knot in it to the doorway of your loft.
I hope you are having a great day.
Hi Wen. Slowly the windows and doors are getting trim, and I am very grateful to be celebrating seven months lived in. I hope you are enjoying Springtime and that your kitties are all doing well, and your flowers beginning to bloom! xx
Ohhhh, that lace is quite beautiful. Not a Knitflix kind of project at all though I’m sure, that looks like mindful knitting!
Um, except that (how could you know, you’re probably new to my blog) I knit much of it while hiking the mountain where I live. 🙂 Slow walking for this one. lol. Thanks so much, and nice of you to come by!
Lovely yoke, and as always, I enjoy hearing about your house and daily life. I am sure you miss Emma and her nails clicking in the wood as she follows you about, her cool nose against your hand. But she is still there, in the woods and grass and home you have recreated.
Sarah! Thank you so much for your encouragment for my posts, even though sometimes I feel like I am just filling in space between more meaningful ones, but that is okay. I still cry practically every day over my Emma being gone, and yet, all is well. I hope you and yours are happy and healthy and getting through this really difficult time of pandemic. xx
Even your “filler” is wonderful reading! We are safe here, though not especially loving this… sudden drastic change is so hard!
I know how much you miss your Emma. Only time will ease that. Or a new puppy, but that is a hard decision and commitment to make when your heart is broken.
Lol just getting to reading this now and laughing at the picture of you carting two huge dogs around in a car with no steering wheel!
I do speak from experience, a pet-free house feels so empty to me. I take after my grandmother, she had over 50 dogs in her lifetime, from the time she got her first puppy at age 5 until my dad had to move her to assisted living a month shy of her 103rd birthday, she never slept a night without a dog beside her bed. Or on it in lots of cases. The closest she came was when she had to suddenly put her beloved 9 year old german shepherd to sleep. At the time, she had only the one dog. But my aunt and the vet hooked her up with some puppies and she raised those two GS together. Her last dogs she adopted from a rescue when she was 100 years old.
So that is my heritage and culture. I have cats now because we aren’t home enough to give a dog a good home. I went one week with no cats after my sweet old girl died, and it wasn’t a good week. I was glad to get our new kittens, who are 8 now, even though it was hard to stop looking around for my Frankie, their bounciness was a good distraction.
But I know my experience isn’t everyone’s, and you are right, puppies take a lot of energy! The right dog will find you when you are ready.