Stasia's Place Of Grace

Friday, October 25, 2002

 

Grateful For...

• Practicing mindfulness today. I remembered to do it on my walk on the rainy, leaf-strewn grass yard path, and while knitting.

  The Isabella catalog has a "mindfulness bracelet" to remind the wearer to practice (it comes along with a book by Thich Nhat Hanh). I think that's a neat idea! Seems I always forget to remember...

• Finishing up some more holiday shopping. I ordered a bunch of Orange-Clove soap from Goodies Unlimited, as well as some of Aubrey's yummy lip-balms (the chocolate is flavored with real chocolate and is amazing!) Orange and cloves were always simmered by my family at the holidays, so these soaps seemed very appropriate.

  Between those and the tops and vases from John Berglund, I'm pretty much set with family gifts.

• Hearing the "REEE, REEE" of Bluejays and the "Bit, bit, bit" of the Chickadees today on my rainy walk. They were flitting all over the place, seemingly enjoying their bath. Once cooler weather hits, our neighborhood becomes silent of the dronings of humans and machinery. No one ventures forth here when it isn't summertime. I love to be outdoors now that everything is quiet... except for Nature! It is so peaceful, especially in the rain or snow.

• Stopping at Culver's Custard and finding they had pumpkin shakes - yum!

• Planting a whole lot of crocus bulbs yesterday. I thought I'd better take advantage of the rain-soaked ground being soft, and get the bulbs (which arrived this week) into the ground. You know my idea of gardening - dig a wedge with the shovel, throw the bulbs in, stamp the dirt down. Well, it's worked before!

  Come spring, before the snow has even melted, our yard will be full of yellow, purple, and white crocus with their green foliage. Just the pick-me-up I'll need after the winter doldrums. And the earliest natural pollen for the hungry, just-awakening bees!

  Your garden center should have them now, and they're super easy to grow. Why not get a bag and give yourself a pleasant pick-me-up next spring?

Have a wonderful weekend! Have fun with your Trick-Or-Treaters!

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Wednesday, October 23, 2002

 

Peace And Quiet And Sorting

The past couple of days have been kind of crazy around here. So I was already slightly stressed when I realized I had no idea where the fiber I'd gotten from The Fleece Artist, which I mentioned in my last post, was stashed!

I went to look through my fiber bins once... twice... three times. No cigar. Well, I'd about had it with having to open all of the darn things every time I wanted to find something, so I promptly sorted through each and every one, and labelled them with what was currently in them.

I also put all my Ashland Bay fibers together, my Bountiful Alpine Meadows fibers together, and my Sandy Sitzman Woolgatherings handpainted rovings where I could be sure to find them, as I want to spin them as soon as I'm finished with the yarn for Jeff's socks.

But still no dyed Wensleydale from The Fleece Artist! Well, I finally checked the paper bags in which I keep my own dyed fleeces, and sure enough, I'd put them in one of those. Phew! They now live with the Sandy Sitzman Woolgatherings fiber, and will be spun promptly afterwards, for socks as well.

I am not the cleanest person, but I like to be relatively organized. I am, however, positively psychotic when I can't find something I know I have, and I will obsess about it until I unearth it! I'm glad the fiber turned up! (So did the sunglasses I'd misplaced several days ago... under the bills in my bill basket!) :-)

Organization is a good thing (if you don't let it control you!) When you know where your stuff is, you can get to it whenever a creative urge strikes... and not waste time sorting!

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Realizing that I will not be able to bike outside any more because of the cold, I dusted off an ancient exer-cycle that has been hiding in our basement. I WD-40'd the chain, got the seat to the proper height, and put it next to the treadmill, in the wool room.

I'm hoping that I'll be spending more time in there, fiber-ing or exercising, as the cold weather really hits.

I'm very grateful for the fact that Jeff's grandfather gave us the treadmill, and his parents gave us the stationary bike. Hand-me-downs are a good thing. I'm also grateful I didn't throw them away when I wasn't able to walk a few years ago, because I hope to put them to good use now that they're set-up - again, organization is the key to actually using things.

After I got the bike set up, I was so motivated that I got on it and rode for a bit, even though I was in street clothes and my Birkies! :-)

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I found another good use for Wood Beams. I'd ordered a new stick shuttle, a pick-up stick, and a warping paddle. The paddle came with residue from a price sticker on it - ick! (Sticking things on wood is some kind of crime in my book!)

I put my wood-polishing washcloth, which is completely saturated with Wood Beams from frequent use, around the handle for half an hour. I was then able to get the sticker residue off, without harming the wood. All three items were treated to a good rub-down, and they look all enriched! Yay, Wood Beams!

Now I'm ready to weave a couple of holiday table runners, in the blue-and-white colors which seem to represent the holiday season to me this year... I am all obsessed with blue and white, and sparkly silver snowflakes, and snowmen. Must be my new Lollipops! spindles (dutifully wrapped up by me, from Jeff to me, waiting for Christmas... no, make that Chanukkah!)

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I'm sure it wasn't the peppermint, eucalyptus and rosemary essential oils I was diffusing this afternoon - those were intended to give me energy and clear my mind (which they did)...

Perhaps it was the Celtic Legacy CD I played which was so soothing...

Or maybe it was the afternoon walk I'd taken each dog on. We went around the yard, under overcast skies with an occasional blue patch peeking through...

Well, for some reason, amazingly, there was utter peace and quiet around here this afternoon!

Thinking they were up to no good, scheming away as they often do, I went to see what the pups were up to, and found the following:

Chester and Val were resting quietly on the futon.
Val was uncharacteristically unglued from my side for once.

Fiona had made a warm nest on my pillow.

Tori was snoozing with her duck.
Look at that moosh face!

Most people like to watch their kids sleep. Well, I get all weak in the knees when looking at my babies all snuggled up for a nap. They just melt my heart, every day.

I guess the afternoon walk worked! The good thing about a walk is that it energizes me, but relaxes the beasties!

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I hope you are as comfy as my pups today - have a great one!

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Monday, October 21, 2002

 

More Things Finished

I have finally gotten around to updating our beekeeping website. The final page of the year has been added. Please click here to see our honey harvest.

Phew! I'm glad it's over!

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This is me in the ruana. I told you it would be short, as I'm pretty tall! (And pudgy, but that's from FMS and steroids! Well, that's my excuse, anyway!) :-)

Jeff told me to wear it when we met our friends, Dave and Di, for Dim Sum, and they said they liked it too, so that made me feel great.

I wore it with my sheep pin from The Fleece Artist as a closure, and it looked neat. (The Fleece Artist has very nice handpainted Wensleydale rovings, by the way!)

I finally got up the courage to wash the ruana today. It didn't fall apart, which was encouraging! It really softened up and is more "drapey". It's very comfortable and not so "old lady" feeling to me as a triangle shawl... though I love how they look, I'm not really a shawl-y kind of person. Wearing them, I mean - I'd love to make one! (Though to be honest, I'm right now wearing my triangle shawl with the glass bead trim from Tall Grass Mohair Farm as I type! It is cold here tonight!)

All in all, I'm happy with the ruana, especially as I made it up on my own. Today I got my copy of "The Ashford Book Of Rigid Heddle Weaving" and wouldn't you know, there is a pattern for a "cloak" in there that is very similar! But I'm grateful that I experienced the process - it gave me a lot of confidence. (As did Linda - thanks for all of your help!)

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Here is a hat which I made yesterday, modeled by Valentine:

I made this up, too, but it's based on hats I'd seen a few years ago in a Vogue Knitting magazine.

Question: the bottom wants to roll up too much. How can I prevent that, in future, while not having any different stiches visible? A few bands of purl stitches? A few bands of ribbing? I tried that, but the ribbing showed when it rolled... suggestions appreciated!

The moral of this experience is that when you see a yarn that speaks to you, even if it is acrylic, and even though you are a handspinner, buy it! I had so much fun working with this yarn that in less than two weeks I'd made all that stuff, and made it up myself. I am never that creative or productive! I'm really grateful I just happened to see this color at Wal-Mart one day!

I have yarn left. I think I now need a tea cosy...

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Today...

• I am keeping a candle lit for my Spindlers friend Mary H., who had gallbladder surgery.

• I sent my He-Man slipper socks off to The Ships Project. I found some black acrylic in my stash, so I may start another pair soon.

• I found myself with nothing on the needles when it was time to go meet our friends for dinner tonight! Emergency! About every three months, Di and I like to knit at the Von Rottenburg Bier Stube, and the guys watch the football game there with us. Well, I looked around, trying to find some yarn and needles to bring. Argh! Nothing appealed to me! I wanted to make another hat, but couldn't find anything appropriate to work with, so ended up with some Regia yarn and some size 0 sock needles as Jeff rushed me out the door so we wouldn't be late.

  Although I have become determined to not have more than one project going at a time (that is, one weaving, one spinning, and one knitting project), I definitely need to always have a pair of mindless socks (or a hat) on the needles for take-along knitting.

  Trying to cast on on size 0s in a dimly lit German beer pub was not relaxing, to say the least! I won't get caught short-needled again!

• Went to bank, Post Office, and food store, all in one day. Major accomplishment for me. Won't be repeated any time soon. I'm tired. But I'm glad the errands are finished for the week.

• Stayed out of a family fracas (Jeff's family). Nothing big, but stressful "junk" that I don't need to deal with. I successfully reminded myself of that - yay, me!

  I will always be there for someone who really needs me, but when people are just idly gossipping or trying to create trouble, I can have the strength to take care to remove myself from the situation.

  I overheard a bit of the "Dr. Phil" show the other day, and he was saying that although there were "loonies" in his family, he didn't avoid seeing them, because of this: he trusted himself to be able to deal with them. That really hit home for me. I realized that that is what I really fear about times with my family or Jeff's, or just with people I don't particularly enjoy... not so much that the other person will be rude or unreasonable, but that I don't trust my own reaction to them!

  Knowing that made me feel empowered... I know, after thinking about it, that I am capable of responding in a controlled manner... that I don't have to break down or get insulted or have my heart hurt by others, no matter what they do. I don't have to blow up, to confront them, or to go home and cry... even if their behavior is awful.

  I never thought about that consciously before, and now I feel better able to handle any stressful situations the holidays may bring.

  I don't have to trust them not to hurt me. I just have to trust myself to be able to deal with it.

  Whether I have to imagine I'm dignified Jane Austen or Audrey Hepburn, or I have to take my knitting along to de-stress myself, or I have to go get a stiff shot at Starbucks afterwards, I know that I can trust myself to react to "unreasonables" in a manner of my own choosing!

  It is a great feeling.

• Speaking of Jane Austen, I am now reading a wonderful book called "Evelina" by Fanny Burney. Written in the late 1770s, it is very similar to Austen in style and content, and utterly enjoyable. Very funny and interesting.

  I was reading a rather strange book about a modern-day Englishman who had decided to replicate the first "grand tour" of Europe ever made (it was in the 1600s). He outfitted himself with a purple velvet suit and a Rolls Royce to do so, and had all these adventures in France and Italy and such.

  But the book was too full of "British-isms," and all the funny parts went way over my head. After weeks of avoiding reading it, I finally abandoned it for the Burney, and I'm so glad I did!

  I often push myself to finish things I'm really not enjoying. I would like to stop doing that, and this was a step in that direction. It is important to persevere in life... but for goodness' sake, not in areas of rest and relaxation!

  It is funny, though, that an eighteenth-century book is more enjoyable, and easier, for me to read than a modern one. Between that and my spinning, weaving, and knitting, I was definitely born in the wrong century!

Have a great Tuesday! Get rid of something that you're not enjoying, and get inspired by something unusual - even if it is acrylic!

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