Hello, friends. How was your weekend? Mine was pleasant and spent . . . entirely at home.
We had Friday Night Snacks with a bit of an Irish theme.
I wound up some fabulous skeins of Malabrigo Rios for my Nightshift shawl.
We hung out and read books and worked on a puzzle.
And I baked homemade dinner rolls. Because when I’m stressed . . . I bake.
So let’s talk about that stress, shall we? I’m feeling some anxiety right now with relation to COVID-19 and I imagine many of you are, too. I know some people have described our forced isolating as similar to dealing with a snow storm. And I get that. Time at home, staying safe indoors. The difference, and this is huge, is that when it’s a snowstorm you (a) know roughly when it’s going to end and you can get out again and (b) you can hang out with your friends and family if you can safely travel.
The situation we’re in now feels more like waiting in a jury room. Sure, I don’t have to go to work and I can read and knit while I’m there and that’s good. BUT. I don’t know if I’ll be put on a jury. I don’t know how long I’m going to have to wait. And I don’t know when it will be over. That’s how I feel waiting out this pandemic. And uncertainty of this nature raises my anxiety. A lot. So I’m taking care of myself by meditating regularly, sharing my fears with Dale (and anyone else who will listen), and keeping myself grounded in any way I can think of.
And that’s the status of things this Monday.
P.S. Blog emails were working briefly Friday morning but the issue has returned. I’m hoping GoDaddy will have it fixed soon because I really miss emailing you all!
I think anyone not feeling concerned at the moment is either lying or poorly informed. But getting out for a walk or doing a bit of early Spring yard work is good for us mentally and physically. I also touched base with an elderly neighbor (from a distance) to make sure they have my phone number and see if they needed anything. The gratitude for that simple gesture was humbling, but also grounding as I realized there are folks with much more to alarm them than I have. Be well!
Gorgeous yarn, though.
I’m feeling much the same way, Carole. I’m finding it so hard to focus. I am feeling more scattered than anxious, I think. But that yarn? It’s beautiful — and will bring you comfort in these very weird times. XO
I am unbelievably thankful for how “electronic” we live. I can facetime with my kids, and texting has increased dramatically! Small things to savor… and “being” calm for my kids has helped me stay calm. The uncertainty is surely no fun, but perhaps by being vigilant now, it keep this short!
We have never gone through anything like this before so dealing with it is something we all have to figure out as we go. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but meditation, stress baking, and knitting can help. I’m personally looking forward to seeing that lovely yarn turned into a Nightshift!
These are strange times for sure. I like to cook when I’m stressed and baking helps too. Love your yarn for Nightshift. It will be fabulous. I agree completely that not knowing when this will end is a bit unnerving. Like Kym, I’m finding myself scattered and not able to concentrate fully. Hopefully things will ease soon.
The colors of your Nighshift yarn are SO GOOD!
(I am ignoring the elephant in the room in this comment. Xoxox)
LOVE the yarn Carole! We didn’t do a bit of work for the first two hours today as everyone (there are only 22 of us here spread out in a very big building) is just talking about this! We’re laying low too and riding this thing out.
Ditto to all the comments, including the beautiful combination of yarn. I have been considering knitting that pattern too. Here in California we are self isolating, which is not a problem for me personally but it was difficult when my adult son came by to pick up some paperwork and I couldn’t hug him. Made me feel like a bad mother, but he was more concerned that he’d give me something, since he was still going to work last week. Now he has started working from home. The anxiety is high! Knitting is my salvation and finding shows on Netflix to binge on is a good distraction when the news gets to be too much ?. Best wishes for your whole family to stay well.
Sounds like a relaxing weekend despite the virus concerns. We had a grandbaby and couldn’t visit her because the hospital was on lockdown. I thought it was going to literally kill me waiting to meet and hold her.
Stay well!
Your tulips from Friday and your yarn kind of match 🙂
I love those colors of yarn, Carole. That will make a beautiful shawl, so get to it! I read something today that said all knitters and crocheters should take advantage of this respite. True, but it is anxiety producing to know that you can’t go out at will, and I know for an extrovert like you that is much harder than it is for me, the extreme introvert. I am trying to look at this as an opportunity to create some new and better habits since I have more time at home. I am taking an online course to refresh my sewing skills, learning new breathing exercises, and trying to get back to my meditation. And I am trying to practice gratitude. I am anxious, but lucky. I have plenty to eat, drink, and a warm, dry place to live. And as you should be able to tell, trying desperately to do lots of positive self-talk! LOL I hope things continue to go well for you and yours. Hopefully all of us will make this time work for us.
Carole, you’ve described perfectly what’s making me so anxious about this situation. I don’t want to get sick, of course, but realistically I know that if I did, I’d probably come out of it okay. It’s the uncertainty and the complete lack of an idea of when it will all end. I don’t deal well with feeling out of control like this, and on top of that, it feels really silly to continue to do things like work.
You are so right, I was looking at it very similar to a snow storm-be prepared, have what you need. Let those who need to be out there doing their jobs-do their jobs. However, now that you mention jury duty I was recently called and had to report on 3 separate times during the jury selection for a horrible criminal case. Yea-now that’s a lot of not knowing and not knowing what to prepare for cause the whole thing is a worst case scenario! You know how I feel about our payroll . . .