The Year of Finishing Dangerously . . .

So, we are nearly 1/4 into the year and it is still going. If you believe some, we are headed to mass destruction in December. Personally, I don't believe it is happening that way. Instead, life as we know it will end, rather . . . is ending.
With time, we'll become more in tune with our own energy and that of others. We are beginning to understand how we are all connected and that our actions affect those of others. But wait, that conversation is much too deep for today - a Monday.

I laugh at all this talk of the end of the world (hence the image above). I am not truly laughing - I am just not taking it all that seriously. Instead of waiting for the world to finish, I am finishing a load of UFOs (unfinished objects) and I do have a load of them. This is the year to clean out the UFO bin. Finishing might mean that I actually complete the work but it might not. It may mean that I frog (undo) the item and reuse the materials. It might also mean that I just dump the whole thing by giving it away or tossing it in the bin.

I don't know why I don't finish items. Sure, I get bored. Yes, I see something I like better (ooohhhh, shiny) and move on to that project. Okay, I get grandiose ideas as to my mad skills; and trust me when I say I am more mad than my skills are mad.

Ah, but you ask "why dangerously?" and that is a great question. Well, undoing all of these projects requires scissors and other sharp tools. Tossing them requires going to the garbage bin, lifting the lid and risking life and limb (or, at least, finger and nose (smell)) to get rid of them. Finding the projects in the first place can be dangerous as they are hidden throughout the house. This was done to take them from my sight - out of sight, out of mind, so to speak. Also, I've got to find them and make the painful decision (sometimes) as to their fate. On a more esoteric level, some of the projects have emotional ties that I've got to face in order to deal with the project (and there is another deep non-Monday discussion) See, this path that I am walking can be dangerous.

So, raise your glass and toast the year. Better yet, raise your face and laugh as we move through it. Enjoy it and finish those projects along with me.
Carry on. . .

Renewal

Well, I actually did it! I made it an entire year (and then some) without a single blog post. That would be quite an accomplishment if that had been my goal.

It isn't that I wasn't well-intentioned. I have a stack of notes, a few emails to self and even a couple of calendar reminders made to spur me in to posted. I just didn't seem to be able to sit down to write a few lines. Oh well.

It isn't that 2011 wasn't eventful. It was. Maybe, though, it was too eventful - I was too busy in it to comment upon it. Having said that - know that I do not mean that folks who blog are not busy or aren't 'in their moments' or anything. It seems that I was just more consumed than usual.

Anywho . . . I am clearing more clutter in 2012. This is for a couple of reasons . . . if it is truly the end of the world, I don't want a mess around me when it happens. If it isn't the end, I want a neater space. It is, really, the end of the world as we know it (as each day is anyway) and I want clarity and clean-flowing energy. I won't get that with pockets of clutter and piles of things around me. The energy will eddy and pool and, in some cases grow stagnant. No good!!

For a moment, during the paragraph above, I caught a whiff of perfume of violets or lily of the valley (I am not sure which). It was lovely. I shall write of decluttering more often if the aroma is associated with my thought patterns. :-)

Carry on . . .

The one in which there are clouds . . .

Today is the kind of day where you don't know if you'd rather be at home or out and about. It is a beautiful day . . . it started sunny with few clouds. Now, though, the clouds look like an illustration from "The Simpsons" cartoon show. The colors are brilliant - almost unreal. The whites are perfect. I am smiling at the image of the coulds as them drift across the sky. I can, unfortunately, hear "The Simspons" theme song in my head . . . Yikes, what an ear worm!

There are a myriad of manners in which to describe sky and clouds. I've got two specific references. The first is like the clouds described above. These are lofty and bright and seem, somehow, unreal. Sometimes, though, there is a depth of field and a richness of hues and texture that is much like the Dutch skies that I associate with the paintings of Rembrandt van Rijn and artists of his era. These pieces have such richness that it seems a if I could reach out and touch the clouds.



I often wonder at the possibility of recreating these images in fiber. To be able to weave, knit or quilt them would be amazing. Of course, the fiber medium and my talent are so lacking that any attempt would only pale in comparison. Somehow, though, I don't mind that. I like looking up and marvelling at the beauty and the possibilities (will it rain?, is it cold?, are the winds coming?)

Instead, I think I want to be able to evoke the emotions that arise when I gaze upon the skies and the clouds. I am humbled by the vastness, amazed at the flexibility and constant change, and amused by the ever-forming shapes. Sure, sometimes I see cartoon skies and other times, I see the work of artistic masters. It makes me wonder of the artists who work in paint, those who we revere; did they doubt their talent in trying to recreate those visions.

Hmmm... now I ponder.

Carry On.

The one in which I find myself . . .

This last week has been extremely busy. I spent the week doing mundane stuff and getting ready for a magickal weekend. The mundane stuff included a regular monthly Royal Oak Animal Shelter Committee meeting. That is good work.

Sweetpea and I went to our first knitting guild meeting. It was the Black Sheep Knitting Guild in Berkely, Michigan. It was fun and a bit intimidating. There was so much wonderful talented energy. It was a room full of what seemed like 75 knitters all chatting and knitting and enjoying each others company. I got a load of knitting finished and I'll be excited to go back.

Mostly, I spent the week getting ready for the weekend. House Shadow Veil held a rite of passage called the Warrior Ritual or the Hunt. It was about finding and 'killing' those things about yourself that you want to eliminate. It can also be about finding and regaining a part of oneself but for me, it was identifying and eliminating.

There was a load of preparation work for the 'hunters' and for the Hunt Mistress and the Community. Sweetpea and Bunny were involved in it so the week, at our house, was a little frantic. My time was spent trying to complete my preliminary tasks and figure out what I needed to focus upon during the hunt. The latter was the most difficult. I know I have issues - we all have issues. I am not so arrogant as to think I don't need the work; I just wasn't sure where to start.

It took until the actual event to understand where I needed to go and what I needed to do. So much of life and my path is about patterns. My watch words are to live by balance, context and priorities. Within these concepts are patterns that change over time. Balance amongst the various elements of life changes as well. How I fit into life and into what I must do this time around and what is important also changes. Trying to be aware of the changes, to let go of the old stuff and to acknowledge and accept the new route can be hard. That's what the weekend was about.

I returned home dead tired and amazingly renewed. I have a much better idea of how to implement my mission here. I am so grateful to those who organized the event, those who hunted with me and to those who made it possible. I am, too, grateful that I was willing to swallow my pride and understand that I needed to do this work. I am not finished, I've just started this path. This weekend was turn on the path.
Thank you.

Carry on.

Sisterhood of the Travelling Socks

Okay, I didn't go to Sock Summit 2009. I was sad; I felt the loss. I knew that sock knitters from all over the world (okay, maybe not - I don't know) were gathering in Portland, Oregon and I couldn't join them. Some of the most famous, creative and amazing knitting personas were in Portland without me. Me, I was working hard having just acquired a new job and having recently seperated from Yorble. I was knitting socks but I was doing it in Michigan. There was a load of change in my life in 2009 and it took a bit getting used to all of the changes.

Fast forward to 2010 - life is a bit more settled. Sweetpea lives here and we both knit. Me, I knit socks. Her - not so much; at least, not yet. There is no Sock Summit this year. I suffer no loss, no stress or worries knowing it is happening without me. Whew!

Now, there will be one in 2011. It'll be at the same time as the First Harvest (Lammas) sabbat. Maybe next year will be time for me learn more about knitting socks. Maybe it'll be time to head back to the west coast; it has been so long since I've been out that way. I believe that is the case. 2011 will be the year of socks for me.

Okay, some of this enthusiasm and desire for travel a year from now is fueled by the discussion threads on Ravelry. I saw some folks' entries about hotels and restaurants and how amazing the classes were in 2009. I got to thinking about hotels and started to panic when I noted that many people were already making reservations. Oh No! It's only 11 months away! What if no rooms are left!!?!?!?!

I know that sounds crazy and doesn't sound a bit like the calm and cool person that you know me to be - but, there you go. Anyway, I checked a couple of hotels in the area and then just made a reservation. Some of the nearby hotels (near the Oregon Convention Center) were unable to give me a room for the entire stay. Oh no!!! I found one place that had rooms like I wanted and had them available. Also, their rate was reasonable. The reasonableness might be scary because I don't know the quality of the place but my wallet likes the idea. Whew, once again!

Now I've got to figure out how to get there. I checked into the train. Wouldn't that be amazing?!? I'd love to sit and knit as the country sped by. It is a reasonalbe cost to take the Empire Builder from Chicago to Portland. It means, though, 45 hours in a seat. I could get a room on the train but that adds a hefty $600 per ticket (and, hopefully, Sweetpea will want to go). I thought about driving. All told, it is a 35 hour drive. There are two of us to drive and we could see some family along the way. Hmmmmmm.... we could share the driving and each have some time to knit. If gas prices remain stable, it would cost around $600 in fuel plus wear and tear on the car plus hotels (if we stop). All that gets to near the cost of a flight. Right now, some of the airlines have deals on flights. I am hoping that that'll keep up for a while. Fingers crossed!

Anyway, I have a room and I have the motivation to be able to get to Sock Summit 2011. What's next? I've got to convince Sweetpea that we should go, that we can afford it, that it is a good idea and that there are other wonderful things in Portland.

Hmmmm.....maybe I can lure her there with the promise of attending Fairieworlds. I hope it'll work.

Carry on.

Tea and Company

Tonight, once again, Sweetpea, Bunny and I are going to the tea shop after dinner. We'll go and listen to the musical artists because it is an open microphone night. Last week was fun and we had a great time. I also got a load of knitting done. In fact, I finished the first of the pair of mittens that I am knitting (more on that later).

We tasted a new kind of tea; it was a black tea called "First Love". While I enjoyed it, there were undertones to it that were unusual to me and I am not sure I liked it. The name of the tea was what drew me to it. Isn't first love just grand? Somehow, it doesn't matter if that love is a new person or place or a new activity. It might even be a new yarn, a new food dish or a new tv show. There is wonder in the promise of something new. We marvel at the potential of it. We admire the new thing or person and just take in the beauty of it all. That feeling is amazing.

So, last Friday was the first night at the tea shop and the first time that I had the "First Love" tea. It was the first time that the three of us have done a knitting gathering outside of one of our homes. We had fun watching the people, listening to the music and making note of the night life. We shared the joy of creating together even though we were working on different items. We had each others' support if something went wrong or we needed help.

It was a joy to share that creative energy - there was the energy of the night life, of the musicians trying out their new songs and voices and our energy in creating knitted items. Tonight, we'll have someone new with us. Bunny and Panda just started dating. Tonight we'll have the energy of their new relationship merging with our creative energy. What joy!

As with the "First Love" tea, all of life has undertones. Sometimes we miss them and sometimes we become caught up in them like the undertow of a body of water. I am sure that there was drama at the tea house last week. There were probably some relationship issues amongst the patrons. I'd bet that some of the musicians were nervous about performing. A lovey aspect of last week is that I didn't sense any of those undertones (except in the tea). I skated on the superficial and joyful energy of creativity and just went with the flow.

First love is about potential, about the unknown and about being in the moment. Creativity is about those as well. Ahhh, I am excited to experience aspects of it again.

Carry on. . .

P.S. The lovely picture, above, is from Mellow Monk Tea company (www.mellowmonk.com). It is a Japanese green tea company.

P.P.S. We've been going to a lovely shop called Goldfish Tea. You can find info at www.goldfishtea.com.

Dirty, Sexy, Knitting

Knitters are sexy! Yep! I said it and I meant it. Anyone who can take an item that looks like rolled up spaghetti or worms (I mean the yarn) and make it into a garment or a blanket or some other lovely, useful item is dead sexy! I am so tired of the 'my grandmother knits' line of discussion that I realized that it is time to represent. Finding this photo (and the associated calendar project) made me realize that I'd heard it again recently and I didn't react to it. I usually react and respond to such generalizations with polite, though often pointed, comment but I didn't that time. Shame on me!

I simply cannot tell you the number of times that someone has approached me when I am knitting in public and said those 3 dreaded words "my grandmother knits." I know that they are trying to relate and that seeing me knit might be taking them back to a lovely memory but really folks! What do these folks think? Every woman learns to knit when they become a grandmother?? Some might say that this is just to make conversation but I don't really think so. Do these same people go up to groups of older knitters and say "my cousin knits", "my teacher knits", or "my little brother knits"? No, they do not. This happened the other night when I was knitting with Sweetpea and Bunny (two young knitters) at the local tea house.

There is a renewed movement to knit lingerie - as was done decades ago. There are wonderful books out there with some great patterns. Just have a quick look at this book. There are some beautiful pieces in there.

Like creating in general, this is sexy to me; making sweaters is sexy and knitting lingerie is sexy. Gardening and sculpting and welding are sexy. Anything where one uses their imagination to create is sexy. Cripes, making furniture is sexy to me.

There isn't time or space to go into the arguments that we are all sexy regardless of age, size, etc., etc. We can be knitters (spinners, weavers, stitchers, quilters, etc.) regardless of age. When did the link between knitting and maturity set in? There was a time, not so long ago, when women had to master (mistress?) these skills before they wed in order to keep their families clothed and warm. There was also a time when knitting was a man's business. When did this change? Why do we need to categorize?

The photograph of the beautiful, sexy knitter at the top of this post came from a knitting-related calendar project you can find at Kickstarter.com
(http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1583990304/off-the-needles-a-knitting-pinup-calendar?pos=1&ref=search)

Go and give a dollar or two in support of this calendar. It is fun and seems like a great idea. Also, the concept of Kickstarter is great. Post a concept to get funding. Wow!

So, remember . . . knitters are whatever they want to be.

Carry on.


(P.S. I am not saying that grandmothers aren't sexy. I am simply merging a few concepts and attempting to increase awareness for the calendar project and the website.)