Greetings Gentle Unraveler’s and Happy (??) Wednesday.
This is our time to gather to share our making and reading. This week the thing that is most unraveled is me… and I am in the process of rewinding myself. This week is slightly better than last week when I really felt like a giant pile of “kinked” yarn all over the floor. I have begun the slow process of picking myself up and slowly winding so that I can carry on.
Local life has not helped my unraveled feelings. This nonsense happened on Veteran’s Day… and, sadly, several schools in our area have had students who were the recipients of racist text messages. I am working on resetting my thought process about the differences between being “in community” versus living in a community. One is a good thing, the other can be a freaking nightmare. I am also very stuck on the 53%… that damned 53%.
Franklin, on his way home from the vet… he is 15 weeks and 10 lbs and is a very healthy boy!
The thing that is helping me the most (after Wee Franklin, that is) is some very mindful things… like a brilliant sequence of knits and purls. I have added in the 5th color change and I am delightfully happy that this project has been patiently waiting for me. It is just enough thinking – I have to pay attention to knit and purl patterns – but no pattern to read or think about. It is so meditative… especially with Franklin curled up sleeping next to me.
Simple knitting is exactly what I need right now.
The other thing that has garnered my attention is Imagined Landscape’s “November Gnome” pseudo knit along. So over the course of a week, I have sat down after dinner and wound a skein of yarn. The pattern had a “marled” suggestion… and that just really made sense to me. Holding two yarns together will also make a bit of a bigger gnome… which also fit well. I have been looking at poor Gnock sitting alone on the mantel… I hear whispers of him wishing for a quiet companion. I am not sure I am quite ready to cast on… but the yarn is all wound and ready to go… now to just get my brain to the point of being ready to read a pattern!
Hand winding yarn is the most calming exercise…
And so… reading this week has been sparse. I am struggling to focus on the words on the page. For bits of time each morning though, I have sat with Jane Cooper as she regales me with her Lost Flock. It almost feels like I am sitting across from her as she shares about life on Orkney with her Boreray sheep. The book is truly a slice of perfection… and as a lover of all things wool… I really want to get some yarn from St. Kilda and knit something with it!
And there you have my very unraveled thoughts this week. My big question is this… how are you all doing?
As always, if you managed to string your thoughts together this week please leave a link to your post below and thank you!
I will try and be back again on Friday.
I’ve knit with Blacker Yarns, and they are beautiful. proper woolly wool.
I’m so sorry for what you (and your country) are going through.
I am digging into my knitting and being out in nature. I’ve dialed down the news consumption considerably. Love your knitting!!
I’m glad you’re finding ways to re-wind yourself, Kat. With little Franklin (ohmygod, that face!!!!), I’m sure you’re finding some comfort in the right-here-right-now moments of the day. Be gentle with yourself. Take your time. XO
With your yarn wound for a quiet gnome, your lovely shawl, and Franklin at your side, I’d say you’re in good company and on your way to figuring out your best way forward. My coping has been knitting simple cable crosses and working on a Hitchhiker. I’ve found reading difficult also. I don’t know why I can’t focus but I hope that skill returns! Take care of yourself and adorable Franklin, too.
You are not the only one who’s had trouble concentrating on reading this past week! Franklin is adorable, and I’m sure he’s a very reliable source of joy. (I would be snuggling the heck out of him if he were my puppy!)
Franklin!!! What a sweetie. And, 10 lbs already (he weighs more than Mabel!!). I do love your hand wound yarn for your new gnome. I’m sure you will be inspired soon to cast on (Gnock DOES need a companion). Your shawl is also gorgeous Kat. So many nice things surrounding you! I’ve felt a bit scattered but I’ve gradually begun to read again and knit. So, that’s progress. We do need to carry on!
Franklin is so cute! Enjoy you little guy!
Franklin is sooooo cute! I’m also loving the ideal for a marled gnome, looking forward to seeing it whenever you get it making it.
Franklin is adorable! I’m also having trouble concentrating on things I usually enjoy doing and so are some of my friends. I’ve been walking everyday and limiting my news intake. Be easy on yourself and enjoy your sweet puppy!
That Franklin is so sweet. I love the idea of you knitting while he is curled up beside you. I imagine that curled up and quiet moment doesn’t last all that long. I enjoyed The Lost Flock. Hand winding yarn is so meditative. I am also pulling myself back together but obviously not enough to add my link to this post. I find myself quite lost in some complicated thinking.
Little Franklin is so cute! I’m doing better this week, I suppose. Still up and down and we’ve had those racist text messages to students in a community year us as well. At least I’m reading and blogging again and that feels like progress.
I am keeping myself sane by spinning….a lot. Pedaling that spinning wheel has given me something to concentrate on. Also, all spinning is done outside in nature, nature being the only thing that makes sense to me right now.