Scarf It Up

In a fit of total insanity, I decided some time in November it would be a good idea to give fiber gifts. I have a lot to show, but until the gifts are actually distributed, I have to piece and parcel out the FO. So, here are the six scarves I created for The Things' teachers and principals.

I made two Kata Felicity Scarves from Mindful Knits. The burgundy one was made of 1.5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport on size 8 needles. The blue one is made of a half a skein of Knit Picks Merino/Silk fingering weight and was hand dyed. I used size 8 needles on that too. I was afraid the Merino Silk would roll if I made the scarf by the pattern, so I did this one in garter stitch.

The dropped stitch scarf is made of 1 skein of hand dyed Patons Merino Wool with size 9 needles. The thing really grew during the washing and blocking. It wound up being 8" x 70".



The Fern Bank scarf was basically lifted straight off the pages on Barbara Walker's Treasury, vl. 1. It's also made of 1.5 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Sport on size 8 needles. Yes, I have a love affair with that yarn.

Branching Out from Knitty. Also of BSA sport, in charcoal. Took about 2 skeins for this one, on size 8 needles. I decided to make two sides and graft at the center so the vines would travel up on both sides. I liked the symmetry.

And, basic block weave pattern in 2.5 skeins of ONline Linie 157 Tessa. It's a superwash, and not the softest yarn I've ever worked with, but it blocked up rather nicely.

And, there's still more to be shown, after the gifting is over.

Note to self: start the fiber gifts earlier next time....like December 26.

One Tough Cookie

It's been a while, and it's not all my lazy fault....REALLY! I have a lot of fiber stuff to talk about, actually, but that's not the main topic of conversation at the McD house these days. Tonight, MUC has his Cub Scouts banquet, and Necropolis informed me earlier in the week that I was volunteered to create 4 trophy style awards. I have to ruminate on these kinds of things, so while I was ruminate and marinating ideas, Necropolis decided to up the chaos factor a bit.

That, my friends, is what was, until Wednesday morning, Necropolis' mode of transportation. Now, it's an expensive piece of twisted metal. Luckily for everyone concerned, Necropolis had no life threatening injuries. He did get a trip to the ER, and he's still got some nagging spinal, knee and kidney issues. He thinks he's going to work tomorrow. I think he's scrambled his brains in the wreck. He couldn't even tolerate an hour at church yesterday, and he thinks he'll manage at work?

So, here it is the day before the banquet, and I finally get an idea.

The Cookies and neckerchief are made of polymer clay and painted with acrylics. The 'chips' are formed a la Van Gogh, with a little impasto technique, straight from the tube.

If I'm Talking, You Should Be Taking Notes.

On Ravelry, I started a group called Into the Labyrknit. It's short description says: Do you use labyrinths, candles, prayer beads, and of course, knitting or crocheting as tools for meditation and spiritual enlightenment? Share your ways to find peace and mindfulness in the journey. Primarily a Christian group, all faiths are welcome.

At any rate, there hasn't been a lot of chatter in the group, so it's mostly been me posting things. The other day, I got a request from one of the members of the group (CoffeeYarn) if I minded being quoted in her blog. I told her, have at it, and I was glad that someone was enjoying what I posted. Truthfully, at this point, what I'm posting is more what I like, since I'm not really getting a lot of feedback. Apparently, my post about Advent hit home with a her though.
In my mind, and I posted some of this yesterday, Advent is about waiting. One of my posts to the group said this.

In my life, Advent is the perfect example of being mindful and
meditating.
We are expected to wait and prepare. We reflect and open our
hearts.

What can you hear if you listen with your
heart?

I then realized that I spend a lot of time on the group talking about being mindful, which is really a Buddhist concept. That doesn't mean it can't have applications elsewhere, and I wondered if the group really knew what I was talking about, so I posted this for the next day's meditation (liberally lifted from beliefnet.com).

To understand mindfulness, imagine yourself doing something very simple,
something that doesn't arouse a compelling interest--like, say, eating an apple.
You probably eat your apple not paying attention to how it smells, how it
tastes, or how it feels in your hand. Because of the ways we're conditioned, we
don't usually notice the quality of our attention. Done this way, eating the
apple is not a fulfilling experience.

So you blame the apple. You might think, if only I had a banana, I'd be
happy. So you get a banana, but eat it the same way, and still there's not a
lot of fulfillment. And then you think, if only I had a mango--and go to
great expense and some difficulty getting a mango. But it's the same thing
all over again. We don't pay attention to what we have or what we're doing.
As a result, we seek more and more intensity of stimulation to try to
rectify what seems unfulfilling.

So, are you being mindful of YOUR
apple?

The last thing I did was to challenge the group. I challenged them to bring some mindfulness to their knitting/crocheting/spinning (after all, it is a fiber site). I gave them some loose instructions to do the following on Monday afternoon:

I've spent a good deal of time considering the season of Advent, which is big on reflection and anticipation. So, I've come up with an easy, short term project that I want everyone to experiment with, no matter what you're working on.

Here's the plan. We're all going to continue working on whatever projects we currently have going. Work at your
normal pace, doing your normal fiber thing. The only "new" thing you're going to add is a couple of mantra type words.

For any knit stitches, the word you use, either mentally or verbally, if you like, is
"wait". If you crochet, I think a single crochet should work for this.

For any purl stitches, the word is "listen". If you crochet, perhaps double crochet may work for this.

For spinners. If you single treadle, use "wait". If you double treadle, use "listen".

Do this for some time. When you feel so led, come back here and let us know how this worked for you. Tell us how you used it, how you learned, what you learned, how it guided you, etc. Also, good and/or not-so-good responses are acceptable. The whole point of this is to see what works and what doesn't.

I haven't heard any responses from the group just yet, but it's early. I can tell you what I've found so far. I almost get hypnotised saying "wait". That is until one of The Things come tearing through the room wanting something. But still, there does seem to be some basis to this. So, if you're reading this, I challenge you as well. If you don't have fiber or knitting or whatever, choose a really mundane chore...washing the dishes, sweeping, mopping..something with repetitive movement like that. See if it keeps you centered and in the moment as well.

A Little Fiber Is Good for You

I've been knitting relentlessly. Ceaselessly. Tirelessly.

Okay, not so much the last one. I still need copious amounts of sleep. But I have been knitting a lot, when I haven't been playing with my brand new toy. (No, it's NOT a personal product, Dr. Lucy.) I'll show you more of the toy on another post. Today is for fiber.

I knitted these Noro hats some time ago, but just got around to washing and blocking.

Because knitting and washing and blocking is infinitely more enjoyable than spending the day after Thanksgiving in Atlanta with Necropolis and The Things doing Christmas shopping. You can not imagine the horror that was my life that day. All I can say was by the end, on the ride home, I could do a very lifelike and realistic version of Madeline Khan from Clue. "Yes, I did it, I killed Yvette. I hated her, so much... That... it... it... flam - flames. Flames, on the side of my face, heathing... breathle - , heathing breaths. Heathing breath... "

So, unless it's online, it won't be bought by me, except for some toy purchases for The Things as it gets closer to Christmas. We've (read: I) have also decided that we're actually going to observe Advent as it is intended this year. That means Christmas will be observed, well, on Christmas. Not before. No rushing around. We will take our time getting there. We will reflect and enjoy the journey. And, to be even more off the beaten path, we're forgoing traditional ornaments. I'll putting the lights on the tree to night, but after that, every night, after lighting the advent wreath, The Things will put a few origami peace cranes on the tree each night. We may string some popcorn as well. I'll put up the nativity, but that's about it. At Christmas, that is, December 25...THAT'S when we'll celebrate. And, we'll get 12 Days of it, all the way to Epiphany.

This is a shot of our Advent wreath we made a church yesterday.