Things are difficult in a variety of ways for many of us at the moment, so I know I am not alone. As I was beginning to feel the stress mount up inside me as today passed and I realised that I was still no closer to a solution for my own woes, I stumbled across this quote … 
Life is definitely about perspective (Although my donate button being pressed a few times would certainly help … lol)
❤ ❤ ❤ x
❤ xxx
I’m plagued with a very painful arm and shoulder at the moment, so the needles and hook have been forlornly abandoned. The frustration is palpable as I have a very tight-scheduled list, screaming at me through the pages of my notebook… ‘Make me, make me, make me!!’
To try and allay the piercing voice a tad, a gentle stroll through ‘Universe Pinterest’ seemed in order.
I began by browsing beautiful patterns and drooled over the gorgeous lacework, the chunky knits, the adorable childrenswear… I coveted the stunning granny squares and the fabulous free-form work, reminiscent of sculpture, I sighed at the sight of inspiring colour combinations and textures… all the while trying to ignore my itching, twitching digits. Torture!
Quickly, I turned my attention to the humourous illustrations, ditties, and one-liners that abound about almost any subject you can imagine, to try and occupy my mind with other things…And of course, I landed in a whole fluffy pile of them about the fibre arts.
Giving in, with a sigh, my eyes scanned over the pins. Many are pretty lame to be truthful, and were read and instantly forgotten. Some raised a wry smile and a few others made me laugh out loud, even if I really didn’t want to….
To my chagrin, a constant theme of these japes, appeared to be the mental well-being (or lack there of), of ‘Yarn Lovers’…
Apparently we are all MAD. MAD I TELL YOU!! … How Very Dare They?
According to the authors of all this ‘funny’ stuff: We have a house full of cats (and no man), we amass enough yarn to sink a large bungalow and if something stays still for more than 10 minutes it will definitely not escape without a knitted/crocheted coat or hat.
Further more, we are depicted thus:
Our hair is pinned up with a crochet hook or dpn, (OK, guilty on this one, it gets in my eyes and I can never find a scrunchy…keep meaning to knit some!).
We stay up all night and only sleep when the eyelids really wont stay open any more, (maybe this one too…it’s easier to count stitches when it’s quiet!).
We wont use a favourite ball of yarn but would rather sit and stroke it’s yummy softness instead (alright, I don’t actually have a cat!…)
They even intimate that our emotions and moods are totally ‘tied up’ with how well the yarning is going…
I mean, how silly is that?
There are even comparisons drawn between us and drug users … has something to do with the prolific talk about our stash apparently.
Well, after all this, ‘mildly insulting’ jollity, I shall go and chuck some painkillers down my neck, dig a hook from my tresses and grit my teeth whilst I keep crocheting those ‘oh so essential’ pine-cones for the Christmas tree. Then I may just follow the final images advice and prove all the stereotypes wrong!
You are all very welcome to join me…..
😛
My Father always said that if it wasn’t for the weather, the English would never speak to one another…
That remark is pretty close to the truth, the state of the climate is more often than not the topic of conversation between strangers at bus stops and shopkeepers and their customers. I reckon it is a good thing, it’s innocuous, none offensive, breaks the ice in a friendly way and of course our rapidly changing seasons provide plenty of fodder.
Then, of course, there is the richness of the English language, that old (and untrue) adage that Inuits have over fifty words for snow would make you assume that there must be at least that many to describe the British weather. However, it isn’t the quantity of words that allow our obsession to be conveyed, but the colour and enthusiasm for the subject.
Take today for example…
All day it has been cold and rainy. Now you would think that would say it all wouldn’t you? Precise, succinct; takes two seconds to say. But why say just that when you can use words like, drizzling, pouring, deluge, shower, precipitation, stormy, flooding. Then there are the fabulous expressions like; raining stair-rods, bucketing it down, pelting down, raining like cats & dogs, chucking it down, pissing it down (for those of a more colourful persuasion) or liquid sunshine.
And we haven’t even touched on the wind element yet. Is it breezy, blustery, stormy, gusting? Is there hale the size of golf balls or is it blowing a gale or howling like a banshee?
Then there are calm days, glowing Autumnal days, snowy days and days blessed with sunshine… All wonderfully ‘safe’ subjects to fill those awkward silences we British appear to dislike so much.
Of course, we mustn’t forget the stacks of poetry and prose dedicated to the topic either, sometimes the weather itself is all that is explored but more often than not it is inexorably tied up with the emotion it evokes..
This is one of my favourites that often comes to mind on days such as this.
“On the late afternoon streets, everyone hurries along, going about their own business.
Who is the person walking in front of you on the rain-drenched sidewalk?He is covered with an umbrella, and all you can see is a dark coat and the shoes striking the puddles.
And yet this person is the hero of his own life story.
He is the love of someone’s life.
And what he can do may change the world.
Imagine being him for a moment.
And then continue on your own way.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration
I hope that wherever in this Beautiful World you may live, that it is a ‘nice’ day, not too chilly, or damp, or sweltering, or humid, or freezing, or…… 
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
A recent study has indicated that yarns give off certain pheromones that hypnotize women and cause them to purchase ungodly amounts of yarn. When stored in large quantities in enclosed spaces, the pheromones in the yarn causes memory loss and induce the gathering syndrome, similar to the one squirrels have before the onset of winter.
Sound tests have also revealed that these yarns emit a very high-pitched sound heard only by a select few, known as stitchers. When played backward, the sounds are heard as chants…’Buy me! Knit me!’
Furthermore, pheromones seem to cause a pathological need to secrete the yarn purchases away when one takes them home and blend them into the existing stash. When asked by a significant other if the yarn is new, the reply is, “Oh, I’ve had it for a while!”
In order to overcome the so-called feeding frenzy effect that these yarns cause, one must wear a face mask when entering a storage facility, and use ear plugs to avoid being pulled into their grip. It is also beneficial to enter these storage facilities without the presence of cash or credit cards.
Sad to say, the addictive qualities of this compulsive behavior are cumulative, and are ameliorated only by the purchase of more and more and more yarns.
No cure is known at this time …
Miriam knits and thinks and seeks enlightenment in yarn
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