Realization

Things you never bother to buy because your mom always has some on hand... and then you move out.

- Cotton rounds. I've been removing nail polish with Qtips for over a year (tedious, rather).

- Thread. Not just plain white thread, either; thread in a dizzying array of colors that will match whatever button you're sewing back on.

- Sewing needles (to go with the thread, for the button that fell off).

- Rags. The only problem with starting fresh is that everything is new and nice and there are just certain things that you feel badly using a good washcloth or tea towel for.

- Twine (don't laugh at me; yarn is different). Again, for tying up things that will be stained, soaked, cooked, or otherwise maltreated.

- Rubbing alcohol (and peroxide, and antibiotic ointment, and something for mosquito bites). Those things that you rarely use, but generally need when you need them.

- A vase. Odd sounding, perhaps, but it's not something you think of until you've got a dripping bouquet and nothing to put it in.

- Random spices and flavorings. My mum being the cooker and baker that she is, if a recipe calls for something like nutmeg, turmeric or mint, it's probably in the cabinet. Adam and I have made do remarkably well with primarily garlic salt and lemon pepper.

- Also, random kitchen utensils. The specialized ones, like a scraper or a garlic smasher, or a particular kind of knife.

- Office supplies. Like paper clips. Another one of those things you don't think of (until some electronic device needs to be reset).

- Clothes pins. For clipping cereal bags, and tiny packages of beads and other small crafty supplies that you'd prefer not to escape after opening.

- Safety pins. and bobby pins. and ink pens that work... let's just say pins and pens of all kinds (for every sort of wardrobe or writing emergency).

- Stain removing solutions (Tide pens, Goo Gone, that sort of thing). And laundry detergent. But we still do laundry at parents' houses, so we still use theirs.

- Old recipe books and cards, and reference books (all out-of-print or with vital handwritten notations).

I'm sure there are other things that I'm forgetting, because I haven't needed them and not had them yet.

So, Mum, for all the things I borrowed without returning or used up without replacing, for always having everything I need (from cotton rounds to good advice) thank you --- and Happy Mother's Day!

An Invitation To Be Beautiful

"even the grayest of rocks reveal delightful hidden shades when studied closely." -Kaffe Fassett

Adam and I had an impromptu date night Thursday night. He sweetly planned an evening out, and we drove to Eureka Springs and ate at Local Flavor for dinner. Just as we were heading that way, it started to rain and the drizzle had become a downpour by the time we got there. Eureka Springs being the picturesque place that it is, we ended up parking a good walk up hill from the restaurant - and getting pretty wet. But we were together, and that's what mattered. We chose to see the dampness as an adventure instead of, well, a damper.

Sometimes it's the unplanned and the unexpected that's most beautiful, though. I love Tina's completed storm drain project - as you're looking down at the sidewalk, you find a view up Dickson Street in an unconventional place. It also has the effect of making you immediately look up, to compare her vision with the actual street.

Another instance of unexpected adornment - for the Block Street Block Party on May 19th, Hand Held is yarn bombing the light poles (and trees, and parking meters), as we have for every Block Party. We initially did it true knit graffiti style and installed it very early in the morning and without permission, but last year marked the beginning of the event's coordinators actually asking us to do it.

But as wonderful as senseless beauty is, it's greater still when there's a purpose behind it. Just as Tina's painting reminds people that the litter they throw into the street ends up in our creeks and rivers, our yarn bombs will be taken down at the end of the day to become cage mats at the animal shelter. I try to do a special panel every year, eye-catching and deserving of its final destiny, and this year's creation is Graffiti for Humanity. I made several, out of different colors, for the event, but I'd also like to try the panel in different weights, as a washcloth and as a blanket panel.

Artosphere should be my next design published. It'll be an infinity scarf, inspired by the yearly arts and nature Artosphere event that's just kicking off here in Northwest Arkansas. In celebration of the natural beauty that I can admire but cannot control, the entire thing (60" of laceweight alpaca/silk blend yarn knitted on size 6 needles - roughly 65000 stitches) is going into the washing machine on hot wash/cold rinse when it's finished. I know it will felt in some way, but I'm not entirely certain what will happen exactly. But I plan to embrace whatever I find when I open the washing machine lid.

I've been trying to focus on projects like that lately. I want to teach Little Bee, by example, to live a life of renewing the little Kingdom corner we've been entrusted with while we wait for the return of Eden - but I also need to remember that that vision looks different for everyone, and that while I can provide tools and encouragement, I cannot attempt (successfully) to control the outcome.

"One of the biggest handicaps that occurs with both trained and untrained artists is a kind of reverential attitude toward making things beautiful, accurate, and perfect. In this approach the final product becomes more important than the process." -from Mess by Keri Smith

The tiny soul we've been entrusted with will have a passion and a will and a sense of beauty all their own - and all that we can do is guide them upwards, praying that God will provide the guidance that we cannot, and rejoice in the beauty that frames both tragedy and triumph.

Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces, 
calling out the best of who we are...
it comes in small inspirations,
it brings redemption to life and work,
it comes in loving community,
it comes in helping a soul find its worth -
and this is grace: an invitation to be beautiful. -from Add to the Beauty by Sara Groves

FOs and WIPs

Or, to translate for the nonKnitters, Finished Objects and Works in Progress. :)

The quick linen side-project, complete. Fresh Faced is a washcloth - I love how the nubbly yarn and the twisted stitch pattern work together to make a gorgeous texture (that's also gently exfoliating :)

I've been working on Frisco Trail for awhile (a pox upon the allure of sockweight cardis - they're so nice, and then I don't remember why I don't like sweaters until I'm too far into it to turn back). I finished it on Spring's first 80 degree day, but this being Arkansas and all I think it's supposed to be 50 degrees tomorrow so I'll be able to wear it then. At least the warmer weather made for a pleasant photo shoot...

People keep asking me what all I've knitted for Little Bee, and up to this point my honest answer has been "just a pair of duckie booties." I don't knit Other People's Patterns very often anymore (it's easier to justify the purchase of yarn if it's for a pattern I'll be able to sell) and I am my own model most of the time not so much because I couldn't probably find someone (much prettier and much better at modeling) who would be willing to do it, but because I have an iffy grasp on theoretical numbers and I need a live subject to hold my WIP up against to see if it will fit --- I realize that there are charts and standards and that's great, and I use them when I'm making something that comes in multiple sizes, but my original is always measured against an actual person (aka, me). So it's not that I don't want to knit for Little Bee - it's that I need to be able to see and measure Little Bee in order to knit for him/her.

Hats, however, are something that I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on, so I made Little Sprout. The prototype became a gift for a friend who's due in a couple of weeks, but I didn't get a picture of it, and I needed an excuse to make a green one anyway. ;)

It was so much fun that even after making two, I got yarn to make a couple more (also as gifts). I've been trying to cultivate habits of generosity and gratitude... I feel like those two things go hand in hand. Gratitude isn't something I've ever been good at expressing (I was incredibly entitled as a child, and by the time I outgrew it I had already established a habit of Not Being Grateful that is rather difficult to break) but it occurred to me that if I wanted to teach gratitude and generosity to a Small Person, the task would probably be made easier if I was already modeling both of those qualities.

So I've been trying to write thank-you notes as soon as I have something to thank someone for (which has been a lot recently - everyone's been so sweet and generous with helping us get ready for Little Bee), and then pushing that a step further to not only express gratitude but also to be more giving.

I'm a Maker by nature - I show love through touch, and that can be a hug or it can be something that I've created with my own hands (eg: knitting.) That's probably why I'm resistant to production work and don't do a whole lot of commission knitting (what's that Beatles song? Can't buy me love?) and don't really give knitted gifts often. But I'm trying to change that, and what better place to start than baby hats? Remaking my habits is going to be a process, but it's a good process and more than worth it in the long run.

Another process is a nonknitting blogging project I've been sporadically working on for over a year - it's evolved quite a bit, but Study/Stitch/Sip still holds true to its original intention (sparked by reading Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life) - to keep me accountable in my daily reading, and to make me not just skim over a passage but to think about it, as well, and to share those thoughts with others, both believers and nonbelievers. The (surprising, to me) fact that 63 people follow it also makes me think more carefully about what I write, since I don't want to mislead anyone. It's been an enjoyable project, and it's nice too to be able to go back and see how a particular passage effected me - I'm hoping to keep it up, even post-baby.

After I finish the hats, the next project in my queue is a tote bag design, and a wrap skirt (I think) - we'll see how it goes!

Put a Bird On It

Adam's been out of town this week on Army business, so I've spent the nice days exploring the outdoor beauties of Fayetteville and the more recent cold ones exploring the indoor delights. This is such an awesome city...

Several of the manhole covers/storm drains in the Dickson St area have been beautifully painted, and I'd been wondering who'd done them. Monday, I found Tina Oppenheimer in the midst of one in front of the Walton Arts Center. I haven't been by since she finished it, but I'm anxious to see it. Her crocheted life-sized self-portrait serenely occupied a chair at Hand Held for several years and startled everyone who came around the corner, it looked so real. She's very talented.

Another amazing local artist is Hannah Brinson. I've known her for awhile and have always loved her work (especially the foxes!) so I was delighted to find out that she was selling stationery and wood-block prints at The Four-Legged Bird.

The shop has been open in Fayetteville for less than a week and is located on the curve of Archibald Yell Blvd next to Ultra Studios, Vintage Violet and Polish-A-Holic. I noticed an article on their grand opening last week in the Fayetteville Flyer and was planning to stop by when I had a chance. Today was a thoroughly icky day, weather-wise, and my favorite passtime when I'm bored and/or slightly unhappy is to promote a local business, so I stopped by after work.

It was adorably inviting, and they had an awesome selection of art, Ts, jewelry, stationery and dry goods, all handmade and a lot of them not only made by individual artists and artisans but also locally-made. I appreciated their appreciation of local talent.

I'd like to go back with Adam and get him one of the Ts - they had several colors that would look good on him (and several amusing ones that he would probably appreciate :) Until I can wear a normal-sized shirt again, I bravely refrained from getting one for myself.

Scarves, however, are something I can always wear. Long, stretchy infinity scarves are so pretty but take so dreadfully long to knit (don't get me wrong, I'm in the middle of designing one right now, but it'll be awhile before it's finished) so I always love finding cute ones that other people have made. Hopefully the white printing on the minty background will help to lighten up my predominantly black and indigo closet.

Relieved of the need to rush the scarf (it's Artosphere-inspired, so I have through June to finish it), Frisco Trail is coming along nicely (just the hood and the neckband to go!) but this linen/cotton blend was so beautiful I couldn't resist starting a new design with it (and I have an intense need to finish something right now, because big projects are lovely and all but they get old after awhile). Small and simple - I should have the pattern up soon.

I found these buttons at Nightbird Books and couldn't resist - and, they inspired another design for the Local Flavor collection. It was hard to choose, they had so many clever ones, but I felt that "Food for thought" was particularly a propos of me, and I liked the Read Local one.


So many things to knit... so little time to knit them... and I can't blog and knit at the same time, so I'll wrap this up. The next post shall be finished things!

Green Growing Things

The flowers are starting to bloom and the lettuce selection is beginning to include varieties other than iceberg - two things that make me very happy! (photo credit goes to Adam)

It's starting to be warm enough to do the things outside that you've been doing inside all winter. I spotted this reader on the Square and couldn't resist snapping a shot - she was so studious, and color-coordinated. I also loved that she was doing the sort of thing that I would have been doing had I not been sent on a quest that morning.

I still got to have my indoor-activities-outdoors, though, since Adam and I took Blockus to the park yesterday. (It was the only game we had that we didn't think would blow away in the breeze. Scrabble isn't much fun when it resets itself every few minutes, and Uno or Skip-Bo would have quickly devolved into 52 Card Pickup.)

Nightbird Books is a lovely place to wait for the rain to stop (while finishing the socks for the photoshoot that you're planning, post-April-showers.) Even if I'm not reading them at the moment, I still like to be surrounded by books. I was supporting Nightbird's birthday celebration/fundraiser while Adam was at UBC for an As Our Own pancake breakfast - it was nice to both be able to give to causes we support in ways that we would both enjoy (since I couldn't eat non-gf pancakes, and he wouldn't have had nearly as much fun digging through piles of Advanced Reader Copies as I did :)

The rain conveniently paused just as I finished my toe, so we were able to walk over to Arkansas Ave and take pictures in front of Old Main. The Spring Greens socks were an unplanned side project - I get this grand idea to start a pair of socks ("because they're so great and portable!") and then I end up just finishing them (because they're kind of addictive...)

As we finished, it started to rain again, but it waited until Adam was packing up his camera. And it was still a pleasant spring rain to walk back to the car in, not the nasty driving icy rain we've had up to now that makes me want to hibernate until it's over.

This week Adam is out of town for National Guard training, so I'm planning on finishing that hoodie and hopefully making some good progress on the next design. Or I may end up getting no knitting done at all but happily reading through the two Ted Dekker novels I picked up at Nightbird...

Spring has Sprung

April - now that's starting to sound like Spring! (I realize that Spring technically happened a few weeks ago, but it was snowing that day so it didn't seem very real at the time.)

While it has started to warm up, it was still a bit cool to be standing sock-footed in a creek. But it was worth it - the Mud Creek socks were a successful experiment in gusset and toe decrease placement, and a chance to play with a beautiful hand painted yarn from an American company.

A photoshoot during which not only were lots of excellent pictures taken, but no people, accessories, or expensive electronic devices were dropped in the water may be considered a success (there were several close calls, though!)

The rain we've had for the past few days raised the water level in the creek nicely and made pretty rushing ripples, but it also made sliding down a muddy bank and figuring out to get shoes and socks off and back on an adventure.

Remember the ill-fated Kaona that's been in time out for awhile? It got unraveled, and rose from its own crinkly coils as Patio Jam - much more fun, much more cooperative, and I'm really happy with the finished piece (if for no other reason than that I managed to work a tassel and a cluster of gypsy bells into it, so it jingles pleasantly when I move. Yes, I am easily amused.)

This is not my pattern (unusual, I know!) but a sweet fellow knitter gave me the yellow yarn, and it just begged to be made into a pair of duckie booties for Little Bee. The mental image of tiny feet kicking [them off, in all likelihood] and flapping was irresistible. :)

With that, I actually finished everything I had going (not including the time-out basket, but I never include that in my calculations - it's demoralizing), and I've begun the next design. Frisco Trail, coming soon!

Teach Me to Know

About 6 weeks into my time in New York, I told Mum (in a moment of stress) that I just needed a hug. The next day, I was standing in the foyer after church talking to one of the shyer girls in my Lifegroup when the worship team walked through. Zach, the lead, stopped and announced, "Group hug!" I was swarmed by about 8 people, and that got me through until Adam came. I was immediately struck by the action because I hadn't prayed about it or really taken my stress to God in any way, but He unexpectedly provided the encouragement that I needed.

I've been feeling a bit discouraged lately, but when I went in The Mustache yesterday afternoon on my way to work I started humming along with the refrain "and you get carried away, carried away" and it took me a moment to realize that it was a song from Zach's band - The Lone Bellow's - latest album. Teach Me to Know reminded me of the much-needed group hug, and I was "carried away" by the way that God always comes through, even (and especially) in my moments of weakness.

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. {Psalm 25:4-5}