Yesterday bit. That’s all. It was one of those days where (if you are an optimist, and I am) then you just keep investing. Keep looking for that moment when it’s all going to turn around. You know?

I walked Sam to school (in the rain) and Sam did that new Thing that she is doing. Have I told you about the Thing? She walks five paces behind me. Exactly. Not more, not less. She doesn’t fall anymore behind than that, because we are walking at exactly the same speed. It drives me insane. I stop every few minutes to let her catch up (because she is a child, not a puppy and it feels wrong to be out front of her like that) and then I take five steps and she does not. So I stop. So she catches up. So she stops.

We go all the way to the school like that, starting and stopping and starting with me becoming more and more angry about The Thing. (In the rain. I hate rain).

After dropping Sam off I realized that I was feeling a little hostile, so I decided to walk through the park, turn it around you know? Get a little exercise, try to improve the day. You know. I was halfway though the park when a dog the size of a Hummer ran after me, jumped on me, knocked on my arse (in a puddle) and bit my Latvian Mitten. Cujo was called off by her owner, who asked if I was ok and then told me that this 300kg biting machine was “excitable” and “liked me”. I *did* resist the urge to ask what the slathering beast does if she dislikes you. I *did not* resist the urge to suggest that the demon sent hell-hound should be on a leash. This was when the owner told me that “I don’t need to get all bitchy about it”. I decided on the way home that I don’t like her.

From here, things really picked up. Mr. Washie began making a noise that probably signals a deeply personal apocalypse, the back of the vacuum fell off during my one pathetic attempt to clean up (thus naturally creating far, far more work than I was thinking about doing) I developed a spasm in my neck that wants me to put my right shoulder into my ear, and my editor phoned to tell me that I suck so bad that I should immediately give up writing and take up recording wind speeds in the Artic or some other job that has no contact with humanity or at least, for the love of God keep my drivel away from her. (She phrased it differently though..Something about me thinking about “reworking that section”. I knew what she meant though.)

Then I picked up Sam from school (in the rain) and she gave me a hard time all the way home because someone spoke rudely to her at school. Me? I’m an optimist, so I kept my head above water until I dropped a container of extremely old red pepper dip on the kitchen floor (where it exploded) and then knocked over a cup of coffee while cleaning it up. Still, I thought things might be Ok until Sam, trying to help me with something raised her arm quickly, exactly as I was turning around – thus punching me squarely in the face. At this point, I may have lost my temper. (Fine. I did lose my temper.) I stomped off (red pepper dip on my socks, coffee on my pants…with Mr. Washie making that sick squeaking in the background) and went upstairs and decided (sort of on impulse) that I would feel a whole lot better if I slammed some stuff around.

That was when I slammed my finger in the door.

Just a note here? I had three babies that weighed more than eight pounds without so much as an aspirin and I have to tell you that slamming your own finger in a door is so spectacularly painful that I had never lived a moment like it. I saw colours. I saw blackness and then I cried like an enormous suck, or I would have, if I hadn’t have been gasping for air. It was so painful that I couldn’t think in words for about 5 minutes. Then I channelled Norma and managed to remember to take Arnica and Rescue Remedy. Then I chanelled Margene and thought to myself “There’s a lesson in this. I need to slow way down. Slamming your own finger because you are angry about getting punched because you were cleaning because you were going to fast because you had hostility….means you need way, way more yoga.”

Then I got a *&^%$# beer.

(For the brave, there is a picture of the

finger.jpg

front of my finger here, and the

finger2.jpg

back here. Do not click on them you are squeamish. Colours are mostly accurate though the vivid nature of it just isn’t there). I imagine that Lorette will expect me to recover fully.

Understandably, given the seriousness of the finger injury (I cannot believe I typed that) There was no knitting last night. Today, the finger is still spectacular and rather a surprising size, but feels better. It still has a throbbing pulse, but I can now form complete thoughts that do not consist only of obscene swear words strung together with stunning alacrity and talent. I will attempt to spin today. Do not hold your breath for stunning results.

In order to restore some balance to the universe, Today we will do more TSF presents.

Yvette has these to give out. Two pairs of beautiful earrings,

Little sweaters, to Rachel W. and little balls of yarn to Andrea G.

Yvette also has these super funky stitch markers

They will be travelling to Adrienne M.

Chris has a really cool one to offer, though it’s a bit of a mystery to me. Chris is offering 10-20 hours of time to “Secure a website”. Chris explains that this includes stuff like ” looking at a site from a code/access/vulnerability standpoint, produce a nice report and then help fix any issues. (out of date code, non validated fiends, SSL incorrectly installed etc. The idea is, especially if you take credit cards or have a machine that stores personal data…this can be done to secure it.” Chris explains, but basically it helps keep bad things from happening. Very, very bad things. (Am I the only one who thinks that “non validated fiends” sounds especially bad?) Since I don’t know which of our lovely TSFers has an online shop or need for this, why don’t we do it this way. The first person to email me wanting it…gets it.

Julie has 4 hanks of the new Knit Picks “Alpaca Cloud” in Iris that she is willing to part with. (She’s a better woman than I am). She’ll be mailing it to Beate W.

Hayley has sock yarn,

so I hope that Christie H. knits socks!

Kerrie has finished this beautiful shawl,

knit from Koigu with a beaded edge. It will be round the shoulders of Toni F.

Rabbitch went into the stash and came up with this.

It’s 18 oz (about 500g) of a Lincoln fleece in coral. Since I don’t know who spins, I’ll draw from among the KWB keeners who email me wanting it. I promise not to pick myself.

Denise has a copy of Mindful Knitting, written by Tara Jon Manning which she is graciously passing on Sue A. one of the clearly mindful knitters in TSF.

(As an aside? I have it on really good authority that the Mindful Knitting Retreats are a darned good time.)

Finally, last but certainly not least. Sandy’s mittens.

(Picture stolen from Sandy’s site without permission but not hotlinked, which should be worth something.) Sandy was the first person to come on board with Knitters without borders, and that makes her, and these mittens very, very special indeed.

Pamela R., You take good care of them…ya hear?

and Sandy? Nod.

Tomorrow, an important public service message about a guest blog. Get ready.