Playing Catch Up

Photo by Josef Stuefer

This is just a quick post to say hello and let folks know I’m still alive and well. I’ve decided it’s time to renew my blogging efforts (again). I have let it slide once more since I haven’t really been doing a whole lot in the way of crafts this summer. For one thing, the record heat we’ve been having has not exactly made me want to have hot wool in my hands, and pretty much all of the things I do require me to do that in one form or another. Also, I’ve actually been quite busy with personal stuff this summer, from weddings to music festivals to family reunions. It’s been a lot of fun, but it’ll be nice to ease into Fall and a pace that’s a bit more relaxed. And I’m really looking forward to dedicating more time and energy to my crafts and my Etsy shop again. I’m working on some great pieces for Fall – mini-ponchos made from Alpaca and Mohair and squishy, colorful Merino neck warmers are the first of many warm snuggly things to come. I love Fall and Winter for the chance to really explore my knitting and spinning, and I can’t wait to get going again!

In the meantime, I’ve said that I want to make this blog a bit more personal and offer a whole view of myself, my thoughts and my life. So I am going to do some posts that aren’t necessarily related to Etsy. I’ll probably start by writing about the things I’ve done this summer. There’s no time limit on telling stories of fun times, right? Thanks to those who still read this sad little blog… I hope to have more interesting posts coming at you soon! Wish me luck!

Green Means Go – Handspun SW Merino yarn

It’s taken a little while but I’ve finished the yarn I was working on spinning from my own hand-dyed roving. I’m really pleased with the way this turned out!

“Green Means Go” is 179 yards of sport/fingering weight SW Merino 2-ply. So soft and squishy! I’ve just added it to Black Mustard Colorworks, since it’s made from fiber I dyed myself. I’m really liking this color combination!

Next I’m going to try another single-ply yarn. I may start this evening after it cools down a little. Wish me luck!

My first single-ply yarn!

That’s right, I finished my first singles yarn and I’m pretty proud of it! Ta-da!

I’ve been wanting to try making a single-ply yarn but I’ve put it off because I found it pretty intimidating. I know that to make a decent singles yarn you need to treadle slowly, and I tend to spin at quite a brisk pace. So I didn’t know if I’d be able to achieve a nice low-twist yarn. But lately I’ve been working on being okay with making mistakes. Coaxing myself to try new things even if I can’t be sure I’ll do them well. I had just received some gorgeous BFL dyed by Kristin at All Spun Up on Etsy, and I couldn’t wait to spin it. The colors are quite dark and they’re over-dyed on ecru and natural brown mixed BFL so I thought it would be a good fit for a single-ply yarn. I had a feeling that using this for a 2-ply might muddy the colors a bit. Here’s a picture of the roving (borrowed from the Etsy listing).

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Relaxing At Home

Today was a gorgeous day and I spent the majority of it outside in my backyard, relaxing and enjoying the sunshine with my animals. I did a fair bit of writing and gained some understanding about the source of the anxiety and stress that have been weighing on me lately. It was one of those moments where you realize the underlying issue at play and see why changing the external circumstances doesn’t create any lasting shift in your situation. For me it has to do with remembering to appreciate the moment and not focus on the uncertainty of the future. I don’t mean to sound cryptic – I will go into it in more depth in another post because I think it’s something that may resonate with some people. For now I’ll just say that I made a point of enjoying the day for its own sake today. My pets seemed to appreciate it – they chilled out with me all day and set a great example. I mean, does this guy look like he’s worried about things to come?

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Recharging… with Art!

Lately I’ve been finding myself in need of some serious recharging and renewal. Without really doing it on purpose, I ended up withdrawing from all the things I normally love doing (knitting, spinning, blogging, etc). And I think it’s because I’d managed to turn my hobbies into “work” in the sense that I was starting to feel guilty and stressed out if I wasn’t doing them almost all the time. I was putting so much pressure on myself, by turning ideas and goals into obligations and deadlines, until I just had to take a break for a little while. For the last few weeks I haven’t done a whole lot in the way of crafts for my Etsy shop – instead I’ve just been letting myself do whatever interests me. And now I can see things from a different perspective and I think this is exactly what I needed to help breathe new life into my shop and my craft. So, here are some of the things I’ve been up to…

I’ve been watching tons of videos on YouTube about art and keeping an art journal. There are lots of great videos and channels dedicated to art but the one that caught my attention first and served as my gateway into the world of art-themed videos was Suziblutube. I especially love her Art Journal Playshop videos, which offer prompts, ideas and inspiration for journal pages. Her enthusiasm for art is so infectious that I had to go out and get a journal for myself. Another really great one is Willowing. Her videos weave together art and spirituality and present the idea of an art journal as therapy, which is exactly what it’s been in my experience.

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