Dark Days Still Ahead

The skiff of snow we had last night is mostly melted in the rain. Too bad, it was pretty. But the ice made things pretty treacherous out there for everyone’s morning commute. I was thinking (don’t laugh!) about this time of year. Is it hard for you if you live where it’s dark a lot of the time and the weather is cold and dreary? We don’t have much snow so that light reflectivity doesn’t happen. Instead we get a lot of dark rainy days which just adds to the depression factor for a lot of people. There’s no coincidence that one of the doctors who studied Seasonal Affective Disorder and worked on perfecting the light therapy is a local dude.

I’m one of the lucky ones though — I don’t mind the darker days. My only symptom is that I tend to want to sleep even more than normal, which is already more than most people. 9 or 10 hours a night is not unusual. And I usually sleep well too, not fitfully. I just go with what my body wants though I’m sure I’d get a lot more work done if I didn’t sleep so much! However I really believe that most folks are chronically underslept. Otherwise why are they always so darned moody and grumpy! Life shouldn’t be a race to cram as much into it as possible. Something always gets lost and it’s often the most important things that get short shrift.

This is the time of year when I usually get the most projects done. I don’t have the garden calling me and I don’t have the inclination to go anywhere. As long as I have enough lights to see what I’m doing, I’m fine. But I have to admit that these aging eyeballs need more artificial light than they used to. I have floor lamps that I can drag over to focus on my work wherever I am. They have “daylight” bulbs in them which helps to keep the colour shift to a minimum. My desk lamp also has a magnifier if I need it to help with the really delicate stuff.

I’m nearly finished the Auntie90 gloves. Those fingers take about an hour apiece or at least that’s what it feels like! It’s kind of fun in a tedious sort of way. I’m at the thumbs and almost done. They should be able to get their celebratory bath today if I keep at it. It’s good practice because I plan to make myself a pair as well but first I have a few birthday socks to complete.

I have to admit that I might have been sick, but that didn’t stop me from a little online retail therapy. I’m currently waiting on several deliveries from Canada Post. The downside to the ease of ordering is having to wait for snail mail. Only one is cross-border though so it shouldn’t be too bad. And books don’t usually have a customs problem. More on this when I get them.

Speaking of deliveries, I finally got my Winter issue of Knitter’s magazine. It was in the shops for weeks and I was left waiting for the mail! I’ve got 2 more issues in my subscription and then I’m going back to buying them. I have every issue and I think it’s really gone downhill in the last few years. Not so many technique articles (which is what I crave) and the styles are kinda meh. I’m blaming it on Dragonboy who is a serious drawback that XRX needs to address. (Didja catch his unfortunately unflattering photo?) However there’s always just enough that interests me so that I keep buying it anyway. I almost never use a pattern as it is written so it doesn’t really matter if there’s anything that I would actually make verbatim. In this issue I’m intrigued by the pink seaweed-y scarf in intarsia (Tickled Pink) , the double edge layers (Chased Silver) and the Victorian coat by Deborah Newton (HoneyGold). We will not discuss what is on offer as “men’s” sweaters. Suffice it to say that no man I know would be caught dead in them. Except maybe the one with the gadget pockets for the younger crowd. So. What can I say? I’m a sucker for magazines. And complete sets.