Many have asked me how retirement is going and it’s going very well. In addition to knitting, spinning, crocheting, blogging, and coordinating the men’s knitting retreat, I have also started doing quite a bit of leisurely bicycling in the beautiful area of the World where I live.

What Occupies My Time?

This seems to be an important question for many who want to know how I’m doing…although their question reveals more about what’s important to them, I think.

I’ve realized I don’t need to “occupy” all of my time.

Don’t get me wrong, I have always enjoyed keeping busy, but I’m also loving not having to do anything if I don’t want to.

I honestly worried a bit about all those alleged people who felt completely lost without the structure of a job to fill their time, but that hasn’t been an issue for me.  Early on, I wrote a list of things that I can do if I feel bored or jonesing to do SOMETHING.  I used the list a couple of times early on, but find that my day goes just fine without it.

After having written this, I have to admit, I’m incredibly busy at the moment.

The upcoming Men’s Spring Knitting Retreat coordination is in full swing.  Arranging ride-shares for local transportation to the retreat, printing name-tags and agendas, providing final lists to the retreat center manager, getting last-minute thank-you gifts for the workshop leaders, updating final financials…and on and on.

And then add to that, finishing the blanket (see below) and all my other knitting/crocheting/spinning efforts (see below).

In summary…I feel perfectly buys.

Current Knitting, Sewing, Crocheting, Spinning

First of all, I have finished the Easton Logo blanket!

It’s not as perfect as I had envisioned it, but it’s amazingly warm and soft and cozy.

The flannel was an excellent option for lining the back of the blanket.  Given my sewing skill level, I’m overall pleased with how it came out.  I may do a few tweaks on the quilting aspects of the blanket, but even if I made no other changes, I’d be pleased with the effort.

I also started a new lacy mohair wrap design with my handspun with Mindy’s mohair/Shetland blend.

I’m considering adding a horizontal stripe of dark charcoal before the last two wide rows of blue so that this will be a proper wrap as opposed to just a wide scarf.  I’ll let you know how it looks.

I also started another Interlocking Crochet Scarf using an almost black alpaca sock yarn.

The drape of this stitch pattern, combined with the silky/heavy drape of alpaca is a perfectly rich combination.

Finally, Dan’s (Gnomespun’s) combed Dorset is being turned into a luscious and spongy single.

I can never say for sure what the final yarn will be like, but if it’s anything close to the lush singles I’m making, it will be an incredible yarn.

And finally…less than a week to take advantage of having any sales from my patterns on Ravelry donated directly to Lambda Legal.

…gotta get back to leisure!