Pictured: Brown knitted yarn with knitting needles in place and a blue glass skull stitch marker.
Sleeve Island part 1 started.

My reading list is coming along well for the month. I finished up An African American and Latinx History of the United States today, leaving two full weeks to finish The Conjurer, which shouldn’t take anywhere near that long.

  • Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick – Zora Neale Hurston Status: Finished
  • Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man – Emmanuel Acho Status: Finished
  • An African American and Latinx History of the United States – Paul Ortiz Status: Finished
  • The Witch’s Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit – by Arin Murphy-Hiscock Status: Finished
  • Added:  The Self-Care Prescription by Robyn L Gobin, Ph.D. Status: Finished
  • The Conjurer – Luanne G. Smith Status: Not Started

I wonder if anyone would be interested in my impressions of the books. I hadn’t intended to do reviews of any of the books I read, but if someone said they were interested I could do that.

I’m progressing along well on my cardigan, but I’m not sure if I will quite finish before the end of the month. I cast off the body on Friday and started the first sleeve on Saturday, but there’s still another sleeve to finish, ends to weave in, and buttons to sew on before it’s really done. If I continue to make good progress, I think it might be possible to finish by the end of the month.

I’ve tried the sweater on in progress and I’m happy with the fit of it thus far. This will be the fourth sweater I’ve ever knit for myself, and only the second that’s really fit the way I wanted. I think that’s knitting progress.

February’s Theme is self-care and I have to admit that I’m still struggling to build a self-care practice. Any kind of self-care practice. Everything gets put ahead of it for everyone else but me.

The thing is, I’m not just tired anymore. I’m exhausted. Depleted. Overwhelmed.

I’m tired from feeling like I’m not connecting at work, and I’m not connected to my work at this time. I’m still looking at derecho damage we couldn’t get repaired yet. I feel like I never have any privacy at home due to always having a guest around. I’m sick of the pandemic and never feeling like I can get out or go anywhere.

Maybe I need to go further and just turn off everything for a bit until I can build back balance.