A New Knit Medicine Project

One of the activities from which I receive solace in these times in which we live is a new project, especially one that requires rigid concentration 'n' practice before starting the actual project.

So today I'm starting a test piece of the "City Kid" shawl; the pattern, the yarn, and the marker being the first installment of Indie Untangled's 2024 Where We Knit yarn club. Such, such fun. And the concentration it takes me to do this offers fab focus on a creative process I love 💕, and distraction from the rage 'n' sadness of the world. Such distractions are very good Medicine for me. ::nods::

I'll practice 'til I understand the patterns - written 'n' charted - and the process begins to feel innate. Then the hank of yarn for this shawl (in the upper left of the photo) will be wound into a ball so that I may begin the actual project.

Such, such fun. Such, such good Medicine.

Peace. 🕊

This, That and More Socks

Aside from some personal word 'n' art journaling on my "work" table, the bulk of my creative works have - of late - been on the couch, under last year's wool afghan, near the fire, where I can sip tea, keep warm, and enJOY my fiber crafts with music or streaming series 'r movies.

I started a while back with making a pair of chunky wool socks for my spouse, and continued with a pair for me. I tempered my knitting with a fingerling weight organic cotton crocheted lap blanket for a friend. Somewhere along the way I made a second pair of socks for me. Now, in these past few of days I started another pair of socks for my spouse (pictured above), and finished a fingerling weight crocheted wool shawl for another friend. In between I've made crocheted chair leg socks (can never have too many of these), and a wool sack for a rock to serve as a door stop. 

On another note, I've started Moonshine 2024, an art witchery course that feels a near perfect fit for me, as it weaves together Medicine (healing Work), Magic, creative expression (art), and a community of like-minded / like-hearted human beings. 

So that's the latest, and I'm sharing it with my creative What's on Your Workdesk friends over at Stamping Ground. If you're reading this, go check them out, you'll be glad for it.

And 2024 blessings to you. 

Peace. 🕊

T-Shirt Yarn

This morning I made time to go through my crafting bookmarks and I rediscovered this tutorial for making t-shirt yarn. Well, I was inspired to search through my Goodwill bags for t-shirts so I could try this technique, which is, by the way, simply brilliant. I'll be making more. I'm not sure what I'll be creating with these first few balls, but I'm sure some strands will find their way into some Spirit Cords and I'm thinking upcycled cotton place mats and pot holders are in my future.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Creation, Destruction

It's been a long while since I worked with the ol' knitting needles, so the other evening I figured I'd start by practicing my knits and pearls with a basic basket weave pattern. Then I moved on to more practice with other simple patterns.

Satisfied with my practice, I pulled them apart, wrapped the yarn back into balls to make ready for learning a new method of knitting.

My mom taught me to knit, English method, when I was something like eleven years old. A couple years back I discovered another method, called continental, and I want to learn it.

In many ways it's like learning to knit all over again. Aside from mastering getting the basic logistics of holding the needles, controlling the yarn, finger placements and motion, I'm finding the damned tension to be my biggest struggle … and this experience hurled me back in time and space to that eleven-year-old struggling with the same challenge. I wonder if that's the key hurdle for most beginners - the tension - be it with knitting or anything else?

When we're brave enough to learn something new it seems that an element of tension is usually involved, and it feels important, vital even. It keeps us focused on the challenge, on the desire, on the process … on the journey. We may feel some fleeting pride in an outcome, but it's the process of learning, of doing that nourishes and sustains us over the long haul.

In any event, I've made - and destroyed - several practice patches these past few days and find the process smoothing out a little, the stitches are looking a little better and the tension is finding its balance.

Peace.

A Cast On & Then Some

My charming goddess child, the very talented Pauline Rose, asked me if I would teach her to knit. Yikes! When did I last have my ol' knittin' needles out, I wondered? I've been on a crochet jag for ... years! So I dug out my needles (and I have plenty - some quite old, having belonged to my mom and Aunt Mary). My first challenge was to see if I could remember how to cast on ... and I could. From there, the two basic stitches - knit and pearl - were a cinch. So I started to play with simple variations to create familiar patterns, but mostly I was focused on finding my ideal tension. I toyed a bit in attempting the continental technique, but that's for another time. I'll play a bit more this evening and then see if I remember how to cast off. Once accomplished I'll make my appointment with Pauline.

I hope she catches on better than her mom. That - as I recall - and it was a long time ago - was a classic exercise in futility.

Anyway ... that's what I made today. Peace.