Heeeere’s Carbon! All done. I took a picture of a damp sock because I don’t know what the weather is planning to do later today, and I didn’t want to miss out on the good light. The pair matches pretty well (practically self-striping, Amie!), and they are very, very comfortable (not when damp, of course). I’ve been knitting lots of not-plain-jane socks lately, and having these simple stockinette stitches to work on soothed my funked-up brain for a few days.

The first Nor’Easter of the season blew through yesterday, along with the remnants of Wilma. All that barometric activity is like an electric charge to my brain, which doesn’t know what to do with itself, so it makes its Jane just plain crazy. I pulled books right and left for most of the day, and there are five or six healthy piles ready to be boxed up tomorrow. My hands were aching by the time I got home, but finishing the socks actually made them feel better.

I’m feeling better in general after spending a little time on the phone with my dear friend V. I’ll stay with her next week on my way to the Retreat, and she and I will figure out a way to cram months and months of girl-time into less than 24 hours together. We’ve done it before. We’re pros. We’re not like J and me, who talk a mile a minute and finish each other’s sentences and jump around from thought to thought, like sisters who have known each other forever. V and I do something different with our communicating, something that I can’t quite name, but that involves eliminating the small talk and getting right to the essence of things. There we stay, until our time together is ending. We’re sisters, too, of the heart.

I am also looking forward to spending a little time in V’s studio, which is one of the most wonderful places in the world to me. It is filled with yarn and fleece and looms and wheels and actual work in progress, and it smells wooly and sweet. It’s on the second floor of her house, overlooking a steep hill and a creek below. The light is magic. She would say that her studio is nothing more than a mess, but I always fine peace and comfort there.

Now that the Socks That Really Do Rock are done, I’m actually feeling a little aimless. I have another pair on the needles (the Rib and Cable socks that I was working on before I was seduced by the Carbon), and a scarf to finish (the one I will have to Kitchener eventually). There’s always the Manos Wildflower Michelin Woman sweater…

Instead, I think I’ll go to the PO and see if I have any interesting mail!