A Spiritual Journey Is Not About Perfection.

WE'RE HOME!  I've slept in my bed, made a pot of my delicious coffee and unpacked.  Dick's surgery went so well, almost perfect.  Our stay in the hospital went as well as a hospital stay can.  Hat off to the doctors, physicians assistants,  nurses, techs, cooks and well, everybody at St. Joe's Hospital in Ann Arbor who took care of us.  Now I want to share with you what got me through.  It is done, but it isn't steamed.  At first I thought I should wait until it was perfectly steamed and then I remembered, "A Spiritual Journey Is Not About Perfection."  

This is where I started my journey with this fabulous pattern Everyday by Jenny Failfel and this yummy ball of gradient yarn from Etsy seller Wollelfe.  The yarn is called Ocean Breeze and goes from deep teal to barely-there teal.  I put this kit together when I was organizing the Stash Studio and decided to put all of the patterns with the yarns which went together.  I thought these two together were absolutely perfect.  Then I noticed Everyday took 800 yards of yarn while my skein had 1312 yards.  I didn't want it all deep teal and I didn't want all barely-there teal.  I wanted it all.  I emailed Jenny Failfel and asked what I should do.  She said to make one extra pattern.  I wanted to make sure I got into the yummy pale so I cut off about 100 yards of deep teal and was ready to go.

I started Everyday on June 30 when Dick went in for his heart cath.  My plan was to work on Everyday everyday finishing when Dick came home from the hospital.  As surgery kept being delayed because of raging poison ivy, I was afraid I would finish Everyday before Dick even got to the hospital.  My new plan was to knit on Everyday only when I was stressed, afraid or hanging on by my finger nails.  I must admit that Everyday got me through.  Whenever I would feel on the verge of tears or like drinking a whole bottle of wine, I would pour one glass of wine, get out Everyday and things would calm down. Everyday was my spiritual journey.

I had big plans while Dick was in the hospital.  I thought I would make daily trips to Spun, my new favorite LYS in Ann Arbor and take a couple of classes at the Apple Store so I could take better pictures with my iPhone.  I  must admit I did none of that.  I didn't want to leave his side and he didn't want me to leave his side.  I thought I would read lots.  Really, it was just Dick and me and Everyday.  I knew Everyday was getting us through this tough ordeal but I don't think Dick did.  As I knit, I watched Ocean Breeze change from deep teal to teal to pale teal to barely-there teal.  All of a sudden i thought, "YIKES!" I realized it was going to be a pretty close call.  Did I have enough yarn or didn't I?  

There it is!  Isn't it beautiful!?!?! It will be even more beautiful when Marilyn (the hot mama steamer) does her thing.  We got home on Monday and I finished Everyday on Tuesday.  Marilyn had been living at Ann's By Design while we were in the hospital in case anybody needed her.  Yesterday I brought Marilyn home and was going to steam but quite frankly, I didn't have the energy.  Dick isn't the only one who is worn out and tires easily.  My goal was to have Everyday steamed for Knitting: A Love Story today.  Then I realized it had been a very long time since I posted and if I waited until Everyday was steamed you all might grow tired of waiting.  So here I am with a 2-part story. It is great to be back.  I have been planning my next things to write.  Blogging is better than waiting for a loved one to heal.  Did I have enough yarn or didn't I?  Is Everyday a specimen of perfection or a spiritual journey to ZEN?  Join me this weekend for the answers.