Doldrums

According to my American Heritage Dictionary:
"pl. n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)
1. a. A period of stagnation or slump. b. A period of depression or unhappy listlessness.

2. a. A region of the ocean near the equator, characterized by calms, light winds, or squalls. b. The weather conditions characteristic of these regions of the ocean.

ETYMOLOGY: From obsolete doldrum, dullard, alteration (influenced by tantrum ), of Middle English dold, past participle of dullen, to dull from dul, dull ; see dull"

A more detailed and interesting description is here. Yes. Now. Really. Go read it. It's not like the rest of this post is all that interesting.

They're early. They don't usually arrive until February. That exasperation with greyness. The ennui. The restlessness. The vague malaise. The inability to rouse up enthusiasm, even when I figured out what I was doing wrong on John's sweater.

The solution? Provided courtesy of Eat. Sleep. Knit. No, not yarn. Well, yes, first there was yarn.

But then there was the 7 Deadly Spins. Finally, a yarn club for that select few of us who find the idea of knitting a sock a month shudderingly antithetical to their knitting mindset.

Okay, there will be some socks, but I can give those to Clare. It should be fun.

Like a fresh and non-baffling wind from the west.