It is dawning on me that keeping pace with knitting a full repeat each day on my ADVENTurer shawl is going to be a challenge. Last night, as I sat down to begin my Not-So-Peaceful Knitting again the reality of that fact became very apparent.
And, that is okay…
Because what could be better in the waning days of December to have something to look forward to beyond Christmas!
So, today on my list is to do some Peaceful Knitting and focus my mind on the joy of making.
And, to get outside to do some Peace Walking in the brisk cold air today – a very good way to clear out the cobwebs!
Happy Tuesday everyone! May your day be marked by spectacular moments of peace!
This image should be a reminder of how I should start every day – really. It entirely changes the perspective of Monday from something harsh, to something most definitely not.
Calm. Quiet. Meditative. Restless.
I had some moments of doubt as I began knitting over the weekend.
Ambah’s ADVENTurer wrap got off to an uncertain start. KSH is lovely, but it’s entirely unforgiving of mistakes. You can carefully un-knit a stitch or two, but ripping back is an exercise in futility. My early and hopeful start on Saturday was in reality slow and needed to be repeated – I had cast on the wrong number of stitches. I also had momentary doubts about knitting with KSH…k2tog and ssk’s are easy stitches, until they are not… and with KSH they are definitely not! But my perseverance and working with my restlessness and this morning as I gather this soft, gossamer fabric in my hands as I knit, and all doubt vanishes. This is just what I want to knit right now!
Saturday, I also started the Project Peace Cowl – foolishly thinking this would be a wonderful last-minute and easy Christmas gift. Last night I got in bed to knit a bit while Steve watched the start of the Steeler’s game and I discovered I had an issue with the number of stitches not matching up with the chart – and so I ripped out my fitful start and will begin again today. What I thought was going to be an easy knit, is absolutely not having an easy start. I will try and begin again this morning.
While none of this sounds calm, quiet, or meditative…there is a sense of restlessness that I am welcoming in my Advent journey and this morning as I consider Bonhoeffer’s advice on waiting… “Not everyone can wait: neither the sated nor the satisfied nor those without respect can wait. The only ones who can wait are people who carry restlessness around with them.” I hope to spend my Advent learning to be restless so that I can become better at waiting!
It has been a rough couple weeks at Casa del KatKnits, Gentle Reader… I passed my 5th anniversary of moving to Pittsburgh on the 19th and shortly after that a case of Homesick for Holland hit…hard. And, honestly – I have shed a few tears by myself and even allowed myself to have a bit of a one-person pity party. This is not a good look, trust me, and I have been working on getting myself out of this funk. I don’t do melancholy well… at all, but every thought seemed to be focused back to all the things I think I am missing.
Thanks to Kym, I did have something else to try to focus on for some of this week! When I wasn’t drowning in self-pity I thought about what I want this Christmas to be. Honestly, Merry and Bright just sort of rang hollow and, while I love Bing’s White Christmas – it just is not what I needed to focus on.
But, then last night… out of the blue Steve sent me a link…
As usual, he has the perfect reminder for me… he does make it feel like Christmas, and so that is going to be my focus for the season. The blues might not be entirely gone, but I can see my silver lining shining through…and that is a very good thing indeed.
That is all I have for this week. Have a wonderful weekend and I will see you all back here on Monday!
Despite the crazy weather of last week, there are still a few very determined leaves on our bushes! They have withstood rains, some wet sloppy snow, and even crazy winds! This morning they are a wonderful reminder to me that determination wins the day.
Too often I give up because of adversity – or even more likely, I will avoid it all together – not trying, not attempting, not even failing…but today I am putting on some of that determination and getting some things done that I have avoided far too long!
Oh… and my elbow is feeling much better after a little rest – there might even be some knitting today!
We still have a few leaves on the trees and bushes, but most have become a lovely jewel-toned carpet for the ground. And, I think that is beautiful no matter how you look at it!
Last week’s refocus on gratitude has improved my outlook (and my inner-look as well) and my plan is to be mindful of that focus as I move through the holidays!
I hope your Tuesday is full of new optics as you look at the world around you.
On the last day of this lovely long weekend, I am remembering, planning, and pondering.
First up, I am quite certain that Blaer will be a challenge (if not impossible) to complete by the end of November. I spent a good bit of one on one time with Blaer yesterday and I am NOT TO THE SLEEVE DIVIDE YET. That’s right… and I have a good 3 inches to go before I get to that point. Cue the deep sighing… lots of deep sighing! Perhaps I can salvage this situation by flipping gears a bit. I have “plan b” formulated and if I get gauge, I might pull off a successful NaKniSweMo yet! Stay tuned…
On Friday I went to the fabric store (aka JoAnn’s… how I wish there was a Fields Fabrics here!!) But I did have some success… I see in my future a Thea Rachelle Raglan shirt, an Ann Carolyn Smock, and a Dress No. 2 with a sleeve variation!
Saturday’s visit to the Vintage Mixer was AMAZING!! The people watching! The nostalgia! The clothing!! The glassware! Oh, and who knew that our grandma’s pyrex would be so popular! We picked up a couple of bar finds that will make Friday night’s a little more special. We shared a slab of pie from Piebird and wow…so.freaking.good! I also loved that the bar was open at 10am… One suggestion I would make to the Mixer Masters is that they really need a sitting area…it would make sipping a libation and watching the people so much easier! I loved seeing so many people all decked out in their vintage duds! For lunch we headed to church… and ate WAY too much!
All in all, it was a great weekend! How about you… how was your weekend?
