A Series of Extremes

It's impossible to sum up the last few weeks. A lot has happened in our lives since I last wrote in late December. In honor of a very special man who wanted his family to live their lives and find joy, I will focus on the things that give me joy, peace and fill me with gratitude. First there is my wonderful husband who makes my life an adventure. Through difficult times, I have the support of my amazing family and friends. I am also very grateful to work with the best team of people I have ever had the good fortune to be associated with. In the last few months they have really come through for me which has allowed me to come through for my family.

I've had several good times in the last few weeks too. New Year's Eve was spent in with friends and good food in front of our fire. A little before midnight we walked up the hill to Prospect Park to watch the fireworks. How lucky we are to live in such a wonderful place!

The next day we headed off to the winterwonderland that is Vermont in January.


I had never been to Vermont, and I loved it. It was all like a postcard. David, as always, patiently waited while I visited a couple of yarn shops. I really liked Black Sheep Yarns in Dorset. It was a lovely shop and I picked up some locally spun Silk / Wool blend. It was undyed, and I thought I'd use it to try my hand (finally) at natural dyeing.

Here are a few more glimpses of the snow covered town

Talk about an extreme shift . . . a couple of weeks later, we were in Barbados! The trip had been planned for a long time. It was a 50th birthday trip for my friend Tim. It came at a not entirely ideal time, but then again, David and I really did need the rest and relaxation.

We stayed at my friend's bosses house. It was really lovely.


Right inside the front door, there was a shelf full of beach treasures that guests had collected.


This little garden was just inside the front door. It had no ceiling, but instead a screen roof. This meant when it rained, it rained inside. Very cool.


The sitting area behind the dining area had no walls, just screen. It is so strange to have a house in such a temperate climate that a section of your house can have no walls!


Here's Tim and I in the living room.


The pool, just out back


David and I arrived late afternoon. We headed to the beach right away to take a dip while the sun went down. That's the birthday boy far right (Tim), and his friends Richard & Daryl (and me). This was the first of three spectacular sunsets.


The late afternoon light on the beach and the pink clouds were amazing.


The next morning we sat poolside for a bit. That's David's Tweed Boyfriend Sweater I'm working on. You don't think I'd go anywhere without a few projects, do you??


David spent most of that first day correcting homework by the pool, while we went into town. He was so behind from the week he took off of work, he had to take a ton of homework to paradise.
The rest of us took a short bus ride into town. It was an adorable little town, with some cute shops. There was a nice art gallery featuring all local artists. I picked up a rum cake for Tracey & Michelle back at work. I was missing both of their birthdays, and I wanted them to have a little bit of the island.



Later that afternoon we went back to the house and pried David away from his homework. We walked down the beach a bit to a lovely little beach bar. We had cocktails and watched spectacular sunset #2.

Sunday we made ourselves a fab lunch poolside


Sunday afternoon it was back to the beach for our last sunset.

Our traditional, take a picture of ourselves, picture. Even though any of the guys could have taken it, it would have broken with tradition.


There were these tiny little sand crabs that would come out of the little holes in the sand. They were adorable.
Our last, and perhaps, most spectacular sunset


For our last night, we made ourselves (mostly David) a wonderful meal and watched the Golden Globes. It was a magical place and very hard to leave.

This weekend I managed to finish a few things. I finally finished the cowl for the Fluffly Lace Camisole with Pull off Cowl.

I finished another two pairs of the Wool-Ease Thick and Quick socks. One for me (finally) and a pair for my pal Nell.


I also finished fixing the sleeves for David's Anniversary Sweater. It bothered him that the top of the sleeve and the bottom of the sleeve was so wide. I made this back in the day when I just chose a size and knitted, before I was changing patterns to fit people better. Luckily, it was an easy fix as the cast on edge was the top of the sleeve and then you decreased down to the cuff.

So, I took the sleeve off, and with a careful cut, I took about four inches off the top of the sleeve. This made the top of the sleeve much narrower, as the row that I now bound off was at a much narrower part of the sleeve.

Next I unbound off the bottom edge (the cuff) and knit the four inches I lost at the top, while continuing to decrease. This made the cuff narrower too!


Then, I sewed it all back together. The nice thing is my finishing is so much better then it was 2 1/2 years ago. When David gets home I'll take a new picture of him wearing it. I hope he likes it.