Welcome to the first Friday in August! I have had an incredible week. So read on and see what I did this week!
Refocus and Recenter —
I have changed up my morning meditation time a bit. My time now includes reading a couple of Derek Walcott poems, ignoring the darker mornings, and setting my focus on August days. Ignoring the heat is a challenge, but then I look at all the tomatoes turning red and the heat does not seem quite so bad. So rather than wishing away the month… I am going to focus on the good things that August brings.
Likewise, I am going to recenter myself and my word. Last month my word felt very finished to me and I was contemplating five months more of…. coasting? Silly me! Enter the brilliance of Ali Edwards and her OLW Team of Word Super Hero’s! I watched the videos (yes, more than one) and took a page of notes about Beginning Again. August me… not January me… re-centering my word right now. Best phrase of all the videos… Welcome to the deep breath of August. I am taking that as my mantra for this month as I contemplate what beginning again looks like with all the work I have done this year! One week in and I am already seeing new possibilities for full!
Itty-bitty steps —
That would be me…as I paint…or don’t as the case might be. I did watch the second painting lesson but, more importantly, I listened. Surowicz not only shows the how of painting via the videos, he shares the how and the why in his words. This week’s takeaway… plan where you are going to go before you pick up your brush. Wow! Yeah. That struck a huge chord with me… huge! Linking ideas and actions are not things I thought about with painting! Good things to think about especially in light of my homework critique that I watched on Tuesday, it was good but…there was that moment when he talked about the importance of planning which I did not understand until I watched the new lesson. Light bulb moment for me!! I have several things that I wrote down to practice this week but you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and budding painters! (Please forgive my twist there, dear Robert Burns) If you guessed that there was no physical painting practice this week, you’d be correct. However, there was lots of thinking about planning and I have made time today to put the practice on paper! I promise to share next week.
Fluff into yarn —
What did entirely occupy my time this week? Plying up the singles I spun! And ply I did! On my new Starling! My goal was to spin thin… consistently… and for the most part, I did! Consistent singles makes plying so much easier. This skein took me roughly 3 hours to finish and it all went on ONE bobbin! It is getting a bit of a soak this morning, and I have no idea what the finished yardage will be but it will bloom and shrink a bit in the finishing. I am not sure there will be enough to knit a sweater, but I really love the muted colors of this skein! Stay tuned!
Friday Libation Ideas —
Every so often Happy Hour Libations seem… well… in the all.too.much.the.same. category. So this week I have been contemplating something different…something with Aperol! Last night we sampled my take on a Paper Plane. Oh gosh… so good! Citrus-y. Refreshing. Lightly herbaceous. So perfect for a hot humid August! Tonight though, I have another cocktail on the horizon inspired because I have a basil plant that is overly abundant right now, so for tonight’s sipper, I am thinking about trying a Basil Daisy. I will share how it turned out on IG later today!
And that is all I have for this week, I will see you all back here on Monday. Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
Happy Wednesday! I have a very brief update today, but one full of good things!
One sock is *almost* done! I have two “stripes” to go and then I just need to work out the heel depth, which should be easier than it was on Sam’s sock… since the recipient is conveniently located! Ha!
But what I have been spending my time doing is some spinning and I have three full bobbins to show for it! Two are ready for plying, which will happen later today! And then I will get back to working on my sweater spin… I have a good plan and hopefully will have the spinning done this month. My sweater spin… the fiber is from Hipstrings. It is their Buoy Signature blend – BFL/Shetland/Manx Loagtan and it is a joy to spin! Katie gave me some incredible inspiration on what to knit… DRK Everyday Sweater!
Spinning inspiration… a project and a new toy… exactly what I need to stay motivated on this project!
That’s right, this week I have a new addition to tell you all about. Several months ago I put my name on the list for a Starling… and last month, my name was called! Woot! I absolutely love my Sparrow but the bigger capacity of the Starling is much desired. Can you say ply all the singles? Wooo! The biggest bonus of these two e-spinners… they *both* fit in my Räskog cart! Seriously. That is the smallest footprint ever for two wheels and all their accessories!
No finished reads this week… but I am immersed in two fantastic books. first Ann Cleeves latest Vera mystery… which I got from Netgalley. It is classic Vera and so very very good. I am almost done and still have not figured out who did it!
And I am just over halfway through a most curious book… Build Your House Around My Body. It is not at all what I expected… a mystery, a ghost story, and so much more! I am on a very twisty and winding path… and I am loving it!
What about you all? What are you loving this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please live your link below and thank you!
Of course, painting. I am just having so much fun. I have no expectation for the results… outside of learning new things! This is delightfully freeing! My inner perfection demon has been curiously silent!
Some sewing… not just talking about it. I have almost finished the cutting… so let the sewing begin!
And this weekend I re-organized my spinning and I even did some spinning this weekend! I am looking forward to more spinning this month. I have a SQ of fiber that I really want to make into yarn so I can knit a sweater with it! So I have a a good bit of spinning to do this month! Stay tuned for a little surprise update later this week on the spinning front!
As you can see, I have many ideas of what I’d like August to hold… but then I saw this on IG from Emily P. Freeman and I stopped dead in my tracks when I got to this bit:
I love this so much, I wrote this in my journal this morning. And so my list and… change?
While I wait for what August will bring… poetry. Because, of course, always poetry! I have been working through two poetry books this summer but this poem by Derek Walcott has spurred an urge to fill my August days with him. I leave you with some beautiful Walcott imagery to fill your Monday. See you all back here on Wednesday!
Midsummer, Tobago
by Derek Walcott
Broad sun-stoned beaches.
White heat.
A green river.
A bridge,
scorched yellow palms
from the summer-sleeping house
drowsing through August.
Days I have held,
days I have lost,
days that outgrow, like daughters,
my harbouring arms.
from “Sea Grapes,” 1976, published by Jonathan Cape.
The start of July came and went… and despite me placing a notification in my electronic calendar, I entirely missed the notification reminding me that July brings another “Currently” post. Thankfully, Carole gently reminded me this week with her timely post on her current world!
So while this post is a bit late… July is practically over… how about a peek into what my world looks like! So get something to drink and let me tell you what has been going on around here!
Contemplating: Change… in so many things. One thing that has a big change happening wis the On Being podcast, which I was a faithful listener! It is changing… no longer a weekly venture for Ms. Tippet, but when it returns in the fall it will be different… but still centered around mind-opening conversation. But for the summer… Krista is bring us The Summer of Pause. And I must tell you… it is the perfect pairing for my word this month. I have been focused on filling my days with the simple, and what is simpler than to take a pause. This quote struck a deep cord and I have written it in several places as a reminder to myself…
When we pause, allow a gap and breathe deeply, we can experience instant refreshment. Suddenly, we slow down, look out, and there’s the world. — Pema Chödrön
Allowing a gap is a beautiful thing… and I am really loving it! So while change can be a struggle… I am such a creature of habit… there is something good about change as well. This focus on simplicity has allowed me to spend some time in the gap… pausing… relishing the simple… and in the process appreciated what all this has done for my mental health! Less reactions to stress. Better sleep… such better sleep. Feeling better about myself. Small wins with an immense impact!
Learning: I have completed my first watercolor lesson. And I have learned so much. I watched the video and took many notes. I then got my paper ready and started the video again… and started trying the new techniques I was learning. I can be very self-critical… and I see many mistakes. Too wet…. too much paint… not enough paint…. too dry. But I am counting a win that I can identify my challenges and will submit my homework for welcome critique. And I will keep practicing… I can tell you all this… time just flies when I am painting. It is a welcome pause in my day!
Starting at the very beginning…
Listening: Some weeks ago, I read that Heather McGhee was going to do a podcast and the first episodes dropped this week. It is called The Sum of Us and is available on Spotify. I have listened to the first two episodes and have enjoyed them tremendously. If you liked her book by the same name, you will love the podcast. Heather is traveling across the country and talking to people… something I think she does incredibly well. It is very different from the normal listening I do… it is not like listening to an audiobook and it is very different from a poetry podcast. A welcome change in my listening rotation!
In My Backyard: Recently I shared that “our” regular bunny pair had made a nest near our patio. In fact, she made her nest in a “Tomato Bag” that I had recently pulled out the tomato plant that was not doing well, but I neglected to empty the bag of the dirt and put it away… because lazy – or perhaps lucky?? Serendipitous most certainly because it was just so much fun watching them care for the wee little bunnies. Anyways, last Sunday was Baby Bunny Move Out Day, and we watched the littles (there were 4 of them) trying to figure out how they were going to get out of the bag! We watched them all day as they hopped around… peering over the edge and wondering which might be the first out. The daddy bunny was in the yard, watching them closely… patiently waiting. Sadly, we did not see The Great Escape and by morning the nest was empty. Sigh. We have gotten glimpses of them around the yard several times though! Sometimes it is the simplest little things that bring the greatest joy… and those little bunnies certainly brought so much joy!
Joni Jamming: On my bucket list is to someday be in person at the Newport Folk Festival… someday. However, the surprise visit of Joni Mitchell to this year’s fest has had me wishing I had been there and I have been Joni Jamming ever since. The only word that comes to my mind is miraculous… and tonights happy hour is gonna be all Joni!
Some of my all time favorites: Both Sides Now, Just Like This Train, and Big Yellow Taxi…
Over-done: As in the never ending heat. I try so hard not to waste the season I am in wishing for the next season to get here.. but gosh! This heat has done me in… I am really ready for it to be over. There is little joy in sitting outside in 90+ degree temps trying to be comfortable… so we have spent far too many days indoors with the AC blasting. I am ready for a break… although, all this heat (with very little rain) means that Steve has not had to mow the yard in weeks… so there’s that. But still… I am longing for 70-ish degree days that I can have the AC off and the windows all open!
And there you have it, gentle readers… a slice of my current life! Have a great weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
I have much been thinking about all of you this week and how, for me, these posts… your posts… really feel like a weekly knitting group. We share what we are making and what we are reading and more… and I love that feeling!
This week my making was sort of all over the place. I dug out an appropriate handbag to bring to Jury Duty and found tucked away inside an old project… you know from the days when I actually went places during the week and would have the occasion to sit and knit? Yeah, well I found a half completed Rikke hat inspired by Bonny… long forgotten in a bag that had been put away. Thankfully I had someplace to go recently (despite having to give up my needles) once I saw the hat, I could not leave it uncompleted. Once I returned the needle, it was quickly finished! It just needs a bit of a spa treatment and will be ready for cooler weather!
I have 3-ish inches to go on my sweater back… and then I do some shaping of shoulders and binding off the neckline. So I am making some headway! However, there is still a long way to go to completion!
I also knit two more pop squares for the blanket. It is my new thing to do when I am really wanting to cast on something new. It is working well on keeping that urge corralled! LOL
This might have been the finest reading week of the entire summer! Three incredible books… and all so very different.
Once again, I am drawn into a story simply by the characters in this sort of Stockholm Syndrome tale.
It is loosely based on the Japanese Embassy crisis in Peru that happened in 1996-ish.
Stepping outside of all that reality, Patchett reimagines what might happen within the walls of the lavish home. The lines blur between hostage and hostage taker in a fascinating story that profoundly beautiful. The characters are so very believable. I could not put it down!
An incredibly beautiful memoir to Zauner’s mother… it is tender, profound, and yes, painful at times. The writing is really wonderful… intimate. Perhaps more so since I listened to the author read it to me.
The story is delightful… and so very real. I cried frequently. But can we talk about all the food for a moment? I have this burning desire to spend several weeks eating Korean food… breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
It struck me that this story could not. be told without the food… and that simple fact is what makes it so very relatable. Food is the thing that binds us all together… sharing a meal, sharing conversation, sharing the joy of life… and sometimes death.
The struggle was real to get settled into this book. I tried multiple times to find the rhythm and almost gave up. But then a bit of “forced reading”… aka Jury Duty … and I eased past those first 100 pages and then the story carried me along.
The writing style is really so beautiful… different, challenging, perfect. The story of two orphaned sisters, Caro and Grace, and how their lives are inter-twined with those around them… for good and for less than good. There is enduring love, loss, good choices, bad choices, heartache, and more in this really epic story.
The last 75 pages… oh my.
If you are looking for a book that will make you think… read this book. This book is so full of so many tidbits that if you are not reading carefully, you will just gloss over and miss out on the brilliance that Hazard brings to this story!
And there you have my Knit Group update! What about you all… what do you all have to share this week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
