Stasia's Place Of Grace

Friday, January 16, 2004

 

Having Faith

Sometimes, in the busy-ness of living, we forget to give thought to our hopes and dreams. When we�re stressed out, or ill, we don�t remember to envision our goals and wishes. Trouble is, this only makes us more stressed out and ill. If we don�t have something to look forward to... well, what is there to look forward to?

Sometimes, in a world with too much stimulii and too many negative images, we forget to think good thoughts or give prayers for others... for our country... for the world. We end up thinking only of ourselves... and our stresses... and our illnesses!

Sometimes, when we�re so blessed as to have overwhelmingly many choices of yarns to enjoy and projects to make, we forget to let our yarns and tools speak to us... to let them join with us on on a journey of becoming... to step outside the fences and leave patterns behind.

I have been working with a skein of Colinette Point Five in the �Jamboree� colorway. After seeing the skein in a store and not buying it, the colors absolutely haunted me. I would go to the website just to swoon over the swatch. After a few weeks, I found myself still thinking about the skein - not a project, just the skein. So I went back and got it.

I tried to force that skein to become something - a hat that I�d seen while picking up the yarn. The yarn most definitely did not want to be that hat. I tore it out and wound the yarn on a nostepinne while I thought...

Suddenly, I remembered my Kingwood Hummingbird crochet hook from Grafton Fibers!

Now, I�m not a big crocheter at all - this is a tool I usually use for weaving in ends. But as I held it and the yarn - the funky, gorgeous, bright, fanciful yarn - they "told" me to have faith.

I�ve been seeing a lot of wish candles, and dream and prayer boxes lately. I wanted something like that in my home - an object on which to focus while meditating on the manifestations I hoped would take place in my life. And though many appealed, none felt right... none were me.

Well, meet my Vessel Of Hope!

Need some magic yourself?
Click the pic to get your own Tom Diak Hummingbird Hook!

In this "prayer pot" I will place slips of paper with prayers, dreams, wishes and hopes written on them. Those slips of paper will remind me to keep special people, our government, and our world in my thoughts. They�ll inspire me when I�m feeling low or in pain and don�t know why I should keep on keepin� on. They�ll help me to clarify my thoughts when I give thanks to, or make requests of, The Creator.

I didn�t have a pattern. I didn�t even know what I was doing. But the inspiring yarn and wonderful crochet hook guided me on a personal journey of creativity - on that made something that, though a little funny looking, will enrich my life.

Today was a good day. I let good things happen creatively, and now I will step back and let good things happen from The Creator.

Have Faith.

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Latest Cool Thing

Not sure whom to vote for? Just go to PresidentMatch.com and take a quick little survey to find out which candidate shares your views. I was surprised at my results!

The decks of motivational cards I mention in my "On The Nightstand" section are from Hay House. They are awesome! The beautiful artwork and words combine to give me a lift in my day, something to focus on while meditating, some insight for a problem, or some positive thoughts with which to close my evening. The prices from the publisher are less expensive than bookstores as well. They also offer many books and audiotapes to help you improve the quality of your life. There can never be too much positive thought in our lives!

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On The Nightstand

Zen Cards - Daniel Levin
Power Thought Cards - Louise L. Hay
Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats II
Quentin's - Maeve Binchy
Simple Abundance - Sara Ban Breathnach
Cecilia - Frances "Fanny" Burney
The Passion Of Artemisia - Susan Vreeland
Choosing Happiness - Alexandra Stoddard

On The CD Player

Trio Norte
Weaving The Strands - Music by Contemporary Native American Women
Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 - Ralph Vaughan Villiams
The Indispensable Django Reinhardt
The Quintessential Reinhardt & Grappelli

On The Needles

Colinette Point Five Jamboree Vessel Of Hope - FINISHED!
Creatures Of The Reef Zephyr Shawl
Cottage Creations Rambling Rows Afghan

On The Agenda

Noro Kureyon Booga Bags and Perfect Pouches
Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan
"The Purl Stitch" Cottage Pullover - CANCELLED - anyone looking for a lot of rust Lopi Lite?
Pumpkin Tam

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Wednesday, January 14, 2004

 

Be Careful What You Wish For

After my Martian Flower experiment (see previous entry, below), the lovely Leah came to my rescue and told me how to properly increase to make a flat-topped hat.

Did it do what I wanted? Yes!

Does it look good? Definitely not!

What's wrong with this picture? Well, I should have done a skinnier I-cord - three or four stitches instead of five. Leahs' suggestion to increase to eight stitches below the i-cord, and then to increase by 8 stitches every other round made the top come out just like I wanted it. However, I don't like the way the two yarns I used look together.

I also don't like how the "ridge" I made at the edge of the top looks, though I'm glad I accomplished what I tried to do with it.

Val is so embarrassed to model this fiasco.

I think the Colinette Point Five "Jamboree" deserves better than this. Also, since what I really want to do is look at the yarn, and not wear it (I don't wear many hats), I think I will just make "art" with it, rather than clothing.

My sister used to crochet these wild "fertility dolls" when she was in art school, and my mom has them on display around her home. Maybe that would be a good option. Well, not a fertility doll, of course... but, a gratitude doll, perhaps?

Stay tuned, if you can bear to watch my ugly experiments. And thanks again, Leah - the next hat I make will benefit from your knowledge better than this one did, I promise!

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Latest Cool Thing

Ron Quattro's hair accessories are 25% OFF through January 31st. The discount is shown on the individual items' pages, and you can just note it in your order.

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On The Nightstand

Zen Cards - Daniel Levin
Vogue Knitting Caps & Hats II
Quentin's - Maeve Binchy
Simple Abundance - Sara Ban Breathnach
Cecilia - Frances "Fanny" Burney
The Passion Of Artemisia - Susan Vreeland
Choosing Happiness - Alexandra Stoddard

On The CD Player

Trio Norte
Weaving The Strands - Music by Contemporary Native American Women
Symphonies Nos. 3 & 5 - Ralph Vaughan Villiams
The Indispensable Django Reinhardt
The Quintessential Reinhardt & Grappelli

On The Needles

Lion Brand Homespun Winter Nights Afghan - FINISHED
Blackberry Ridge Sport Toe-Up Socks - FINISHED
Lana Grossa Caldo Mittens - FINISHED
Colinette Point Five Jamboree... Something Or Other
Creatures Of The Reef Zephyr Shawl
Cottage Creations Rambling Rows Afghan

On The Agenda

Noro Kureyon Booga Bags and Perfect Pouches
Peace Fleece Everyday Cardigan
"The Purl Stitch" Cottage Pullover - CANCELLED
Pumpkin Tam

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Sunday, January 11, 2004

 

Making Progress

I had wanted to post a photo of my dad's Blackberry Ridge Sport socks for you, but I was so anxious to get them to him that I packed them up before getting a photo - oops!

All I have left to show you are the yarn leftovers and the size 3 Brittany birch DPNs I used:

I did end up ribbing them all the way up, and they did maintain the striping pattern shown in my earlier photo of them. I used my generic toe-up pattern. Jeff tried them on and we thought they'd fit my dad's size 13 feet.

If you want to make a Knitted Martian Flower, here is how: knit a 5-stitch i-cord to desired length. Increase to six stitches and begin knitting in the round. Double your number of stitches every other row and you will end up with a curly, frilly edge that looks like a carnation:

I, however, was trying to make a hat with a flat top and a little stem to be tied in a knot on top. This was obviously not the way to do it!

I have to frog it and then figure out the proper rate of increases in my rounds so that I get a flat-ish, rapidly-widening crown.

When I finish the crown, the edge of this pillbox-type hat will be done in Colinette Point Five yarn in the "Jamboree" colorway:

I've been lusting after that skein every since I saw it in Ruhama's. Thank goodness they still had it when I visited yesterday. The colors alone are worth the price - it is the kind of skein you want to frame and hang on the wall to brighten your day.

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I've been mad about hair sticks lately. They're so easy to use and they don't damage my fine hair. I made this one from a scrap piece of snakewood:

I found some wonderful ones from Treasures From The Tree. They are called Ketylo Hairsticks and are made from beautiful woods carved into corkscrew shapes!

Click Here To Shop!

They are very inexpensive, there's no charge for shipping, and they're mailed out immediately. The service is wonderful and friendly.

What a nifty, natural-looking solution to keeping my hair out of my way while knitting and spinning!

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Now we come to my progress with my home-grown cotton. Here is the flower after the boll has been plucked:

Here you see the boll just as it came off of the flower; an individual cotton seed and the lint that formerly surrounded it; and a commercial cotton ball from the store:

This is the amount of cotton and the amount of seeds from my big cotton boll:

Here, I have carded the cotton from my grand total of two bolls into a puni with my cotton carders. I have my takli spindle and bowl all set to start spinning the fiber:

Here's a shot of the cotton being turned into yarn:

And this is the grand finale - the total yarn produced from my home-grown cotton - almost a spindle-full!

I have to ply it and then I'll see how many yards I got.

The dogs are not impressed:

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I'm thankful for a couple of things in particular today. We have two new members of the family - fantail goldfish named Ou-ning (a song of peace) and Kai-lun (initiating discourse). Their names are meant to remind me of my wish for peace in the world in 2004.

Since goldfish are of Chinese origin, I thought these should have Chinese names. They were created at Get A Chinese Name, where you can get one, too!

The other thing I'm thankful for was getting to see a moon halo the other night - three complete circular rainbows around a full moon.

It was amazing and beautiful and this photo doesn't begin to show all of the colors or rings. In reality it was the brightest, roundest moon I've ever seen with brilliant rainbow circles surrounding it like ripples on a pond. Truly an awesome sight.

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I hope you have been making progress, too. Have a wonderful week and please say hi in the Tag-Board to the right!

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