I have been so tired lately. Between the exponentially growing belly this week and not having any appetite or desire to eat since the beginning of this pregnancy, my body is finally asking for more energy. I'm sleeping 8 hours a day--something I was never able to do before because of insomnia; and yet by 5pm-ish, I feel like I'm ready for bed again. Heck, I wake up feeling like I should go back to bed already =P
So lately, my fix has been visiting all the yarn shops in my area. Since I started knitting more seriously 7 years ago, there have been many LYSes that opened, renovated, and closed. I haven't been to a lot of the LYSes in the past 2 years, opting to order stuff online since I worked so much and never had time to go visit shops.
I live 15 minutes away from Purl Soho's warehouse in Tustin, CA. I heard that when the owners decided to open Purl Soho, one of the owners didn't want to move to NYC, so they decided to keep the warehouse in California. It's not a full-service LYS (no classes, no social knitting circles, etc) but the employees are nice and you can even order stuff online for in-store pick up. When I first found out about the warehouse 3~4 years ago, I thought the yarns were outside my budget but now that I work and can afford nicer yarns, this has been my knitting heaven. I got a new set of Addi's Sock Rockets but had such a wonderful time with all the yarns they carry, especially their own line of yarns.
Yesterday, I still managed to go to my ballet class in the morning, and I went to a yarn shop right after class. Sheared Sheep has been around for years, I think even before I started knitting seriously. But since they moved to the new location and renovated their website, I needed to pay them a visit. I was not disappointed. Their website is still not complete, but at least the new location is a lot more artsy and cozy. The shop is so beautiful and the plaza has a lot of interior design stores and cafes, it's a perfect place to hang out.
Visiting both stores this week has cheered me up considerably. This pregnancy has been very very kind to me, physically (and I'm very proud of the fact that I'm still dancing), but emotionally, it has been messy. I don't have mood swings like other women but facing my body image issues and getting to the bottom of my general feelings about motherhood and babies have taken a toll on me.
Knitting has been the constant source of the healing process. I like the fact that when I'm concentrated on knitting, reading charts, writing patterns, even writing about my knitting on this blog have all helped me feel calm and stress-free. Not to mention, the wonderful people on the Ravelry forum with March due dates! It is so nice to know that Ravelry is not just a knitting help website but so much more. We got designer groups, attorney/law student groups, expecting family groups... Just as the attorney/law student groups helped me through law school and the bar exam, the March due date group people are there for all my questions, concerns, and general venting. :)
So knitting is my thing. I love the community of knitters, shopping experience, and the things I create. It is that one stable thing in my life right now.