Everybody has stress in their lives, right? Some events are of course far more stressfull than others. Right now we're all dealing with a pretty big stress that I probably can't actually talk directly about just now. If you call in and we're distracted, we have an excuse, and probably I'll be able to say more about it later.
But I was thinking about how good knitting and spinning and weaving are for stress relief. Course, not all projects work for stress relief - some of them add to it in their own wicked and conniving ways. Last night I was wishing for miles of stockinette stitch to comfort me. All I have are some socks that are each at a stage that is not mindless, but need attention... I also have a couple of sweaters that need attention... one that's been on the needles so long it's an Epic Sweater - like they say in that big movie voice - "Four Years In The Making!" (and you can even hear the capitalization in the voice). My sweater, alas, is not a mere 4 years in the making. I started it when I moved to Oregon. In 1994. Ahem. It's got some cables and doodads going on, and it gets set aside more often than it gets worked on (yeah, no kidding), so I have to concentrate to figure out where the heck I am, let alone what I'm supposed to be doing. The body is done, and I'm working on both sleeves at once - well, at least occassionally anyway. Sigh. But it's not a comfort sweater for right now.
I filled out a questionnaire once for somebody that was writing a paper about knitting and stress relief. Like most questionnaires, the multiple choice options weren't quite right. I can't remember exactly what the wording was on them, but I remember writing in that I like to use knitting to focus my mind so that I CAN think about whatever is stressing me out, rather than using it to distract away from my problems.
Last night I stupidly used TV to distract, stayed up entirely too late thinking that then I'd be good and tired and would just fall asleep. TV distracted wonderfully! But then my brain needed to process that problem I'd tried to tuck away in a corner, so ZAP! There go the thoughts, skittering about, kicking each other into a fast rotation around my mind. Oh well, so much for sleep. I think I'll locate something requiring miles of stockinette, so I can sort it all out instead of trying to ignore it.
The horizontal stripes are such a nice fashion statement... I was trying to look pitiful, but kept laughing, which sort of spoils the effect. I still don't know who turned me in. You can still donate money to this good cause at 
The yarn is Balance from the good folks at O-Wool. It's 50/50 organic wool and organic cotton and it's YUMMY. I adore this yarn. Knitters Review did a great review of it too, and had very nice things to say about it. And the pattern is very straight forward, very easy - just what I wanted. And I know I'll wear this sweater a LOT, short sleeved sweaters are perfect for Oregon weather. I used to have a short sleeved sweatshirt which was also perfect, but I can't find those anywhere. If someone knows a source, I'd sure love to know about it.