Making Progress

The Wheel of the Year is turning again.  Since I am one who loves the changing of the seasons, this gives me great delight.  I will admit the transitional seasons of Spring and Autumn seem much more abrupt lately.  This year Spring seemed to stay for only 2 weeks and we were in a hot humid summer.

This seems to be the case for Autumn this year as well.  From very hot (we had a VERY hot September this year) and then, almost like the flipping of a switch, temperatures plummeted.  We haven’t exactly reached the depths of winter yet as far as what the thermometer says, but the change was a bit jarring.

One early morning, as I got ready for my day, I got out my hiking boots (necessary footwear when chasing a 4-year-old and 2 dogs all day) and I started digging in the sock drawer for my old favorites and then I stopped, my gaze lifting to the top of my dresser to the large bowl into which I had been adding completed pairs of socks over the summer, only waiting for cooler temperatures to arrive.  TODAY was that day!  On my feet they went.  There are people who wear a secret smile because they are wearing their favorite pair of rocket ship underwear (or so I’m told) for me it’s from marching around all day in my own hand knit socks.

Later that evening, we had finished our evening meal (Dinner? Supper? Tea?  depends on where you live, I guess ) I was getting settled for an evening of tv watching with my husband and not unlike that morning, it suddenly dawned on me that I had a recently completed pair of flannel pajama pants that were draped across the ironing board in the studio just waiting for a chilly evening.  This was a good day.

Earlier this year I wrote in Towards a Handmade Life about how much joy I get from making things myself and my goal of expanding on that.  Although I will have to spend a good deal of time working on my sewing and knitting skills to reach this goal, I would love to move toward a wardrobe of clothes of mostly handmade items.  As I stood there with my lower half clothed almost entirely in items I had made myself I was delighted beyond words.

There have been plenty of moments of ripping back a knitting project or using a seam ripper on a sewing project that I felt I was a loooooooong way off from such foolish notions of making my own wardrobe, this moment made me realize that it was actually an achievable goal.   One source of encouragement I get in persisting in this idea is not only moments such as these, but also the knitting and sewing podcasts I listen to or watch.  The knitters and sewists on some of my favorite podcasts, people who seem VERY skilled and professional, also freely talk about the mistakes they’ve made, the number of times they have had to completely start over on a project.  This is very good to hear.  It flips the script from “maybe I’m just not getting this” to “everyone has to do this sometimes”.  I can live with that.

Just a few of my favorites:

• Inside Number 23
• YarnGasm
• Love to Sew (audio)
• Yarns at Yin Hoo (audio)

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In Progress

I’m still working on the Jack O’Lantern Scarf I showed you in A Restored Peace.  I’m very ready to be done with it.  I have been working on the long section of simply solid color before reaching the section where I add the design on the opposite end.  On a double knit project such of this, it takes a good bit of time.  Like most makers, I rarely feel I have enough time to really devote to my projects.  Most of us are carrying a number of responsibilities both at home and abroad that eat into our crafting time.  But at this point, I’m fairly confident that I will have this one completed before Halloween.

Every now and then I take a break from this project and work on a pair of socks I’m almost done with.  You know you really have the knitting bug when you take a break from knitting by knitting something else.  But to be fair, occasionally it will be sewing or reading instead.

While working on these projects I’ve been able to spend time binge-watching October worthy shows.  Some people would consider me a lightweight when it comes to the scary, spooky genre (both watching and reading) but I like fun, thrilling scary (roller coaster) rather than terrifying (lying awake with the lights on clutching some sort of talisman for protection) so my choices may seem rather mild.

Currently, I’m watching the Supernatural series, even this one gets a bit dark for me, but I still like it.  My husband and I recently started watching Grimm for the first time and we intersperse with other movies that aren’t too over the top.  And any time I am driving there is a more than even chance I’m listening to the My Favorite Murder podcast.  But that is an activity not limited to October.

I decided on A Secret History of Witches for my reading.  Honestly, it’s not really scary so far, but I’m enjoying it.  I may follow up with something more creepy, a Poe or Lovecraft I think.  I have anthologies of both of those authors that include tales I have not yet read.

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Completed Works

Only a few items completed for this post.

The aforementioned pajama pants:

I’m pleased with them and hope to make some more for family members and friends as I can.  I would love to have a pair each for Christmas, but that might not happen this year.  I love all the flannel prints that are available so I hope to get started soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also added another project bag to my collection.

I look forward to exploring the fabrics that come out every year as Halloween approaches.  I have some new ones I picked up about a week ago that I hope to get started on soon.

 

 

 

 

And finally, a few skeins I recently dyed up, although there are more in the works:

On the left is Winter Twilight, in the center is Fingerpainting, and the right is an unnamed child at the moment although I have a couple of ideas I’m mulling over.

It is a very gray day here, so the colors aren’t coming through as vibrantly as they truly are, but I think they will make a lovely addition to White Swan Coffee Lab that features locally made items including mine.

Since the cool weather is persisting I think I will do some baking today.  There are some new recipes I want to try.

To Progress and Peace,

Jamye

P.S. Salute to all my fellow Murderinos SSDGM

 

 

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