bee creative

not quite the "to-do" list

There was a lot of knitting this weekend, tangled yarn, tangled thoughts, chickadees, and soup. Also a couple naps.

Squash + onions + broth + pumpkin seeds toasted in olive oil + salt and pepper

it grows

I am thinking about percentages and fractions.

I know that's vague but it's what I've got tonight.

That and a bit from Wendell Berry's poem " Manifesto; The Mad Farmer Liberation Front."

"So friends, every day do something that won't compute."

 

two projects, knitting reflections

Last night, looking in the basket where I keep the two knitting projects, the knitting needles caught my eye.

Size 11 bamboo needles slowly being stained by the indigo dyed yarn that I am knitting with.

Size 4 wooden needles already stained blue.

The large needles I hold loosely in my hands, purling along without much thought. Making a poncho.

When holding the smaller needles I tend to tighten my grasp as I go along, need to remember to loosen up. Knit, purl, knit, purl. Pay more attention.  Making a sweater.

I think about my hands, flexibility and grasp.

A lot of knitting is about tension. 

Especially if fit matters.

 

story telling requires scones

I make scones so often that the recipe is memorized.

This morning I really needed scones.

Really...

 I had some jam to sample from Hazel!

What a sweet surprise to be able to say hello...

There also has been a lot of knitting today.

I've started on the stripes,

each carrying a part of a story and a sense of place.

 

 

 

soft colors

It's early in the morning.

Somewhere out there is the full moon but I haven't looked out the window into the darkness yet to find it.

The velvet I dyed in goldenrod with white wool behind it for a little color contrast.  I poured hot water over the plant material (stems with minimal leaves + flowers) and let the fabric steep with it for a couple days.

The yarns that I am beginning the sweater with, all local to the surrounding 100 miles or so.

The Snoqualmie yarn was dyed with indigo and marigold, the yarn in the middle (Aviary from Abundant Earth Fiber) is an alpaca/wool blend, and the yarn on the right was bought locally (no label and I can't remember from who) and that I dyed with indigo and eucalyptus. 

Occasionally, as I knit with the brown yarn I pick little pieces of straw out of the yarn.  I believe this was some of their original yarn when they started.  It was from my local yarn store and I've had it for quite awhile.

There will be other colors, other yarns for this sweater. More on that later.

A few more days of sunshine and then we move back to rain and cooler days and nights. 

It's time.

 

lifeline

In knitting a thread can be run through a row of stitches to keep the stitches from unraveling. It creates a stopping point when you need to unravel.

It's called a lifeline.

In boating terminology is the line that a crew member or passenger on a boat might be attached to so that they don't fall over.

I am starting to add stripes to the "next" sweater, starting with green.

Green for growth.

Green as a lifeline.

2 projects

Side by side.

In the basket.

A few rows here, a few rows there.

Thinking about texture.

dark rainy mornings

Thundershowers again this morning.

I've been untangling a skein of yarn and listening to "On Being." 

The latest episode is "Poetry Unbound" and has so much. 

Maybe the most important to me, at least at this very moment:

"Poetry is a fairly solitary art. While it can, sometimes, get shared in books or in readings, mostly poems are written by a person, alone, with a computer or with a pen or a pencil. And that can be lonely, but, also, it can be a magnificent way to find a language that suits yourself, in those alone hours, maybe in the morning, maybe late at night. But, in so doing, you can find a language for yourself that can help you survive." Pádraig Ó Tuama

 

knitting lessons: knit 2 purl 2

Knit 2 Purl 2, it feels a little like a dance step.

The foundation for the next sweater, the rows that keep the edge from rolling.

I know there are some stitches that don't follow the pattern.

It's okay.

 

 

verbs

Rumination (thinking about cows digesting not obsessive thinking), fermentation, thinking, composting, pondering, processing, making, creating...

List making,

verbs of transition.

Actions.

Monday's windstorm dried the leaves on the shrubs.

Windburn.

I am home today, had considered going to the park that runs along the bay to sit and knit; early in the morning, before it might be crowded.

But...the air quality seems to be getting worse, not better. And again, after days of wearing a mask I want a day off.

There is the dehydrator to load up with plums, celery, a bit of kale, maybe some more carrots, a few more tomatoes.  I am stocking up a bit more than I usually do to make it through the winter eating locally. 

The goal for the weekend is to deal with a stack of scraps piled in the living room.

Another Good Enough COVID 19 square.  In reds, oranges and gray...a wildfire square.

And I will knit more, both on the poncho of seawater blue/green that makes me think of smoky skies now too and the next sweater that I have started.

Stir the indigo vat, put more fiber in.

I like that indigo dyed yarn stains wooden needles as it rubs along.