Working for flowery bounty

I know, deep down, there will be a time soon, probably on a 100 degree day in August, when I will look around my dry dusty and dead yard and wonder where my energy went.  I will question my sanity when I committed acts of prolific planting way back at the end of May as I struggle to clear out burned and neglected plant debris

Right now though I enjoy the warming dirt in my hands, the young shoots being planted, and am fed with the hopes of summer blooms.  I add an herb here and there, a few onions.  After all we can't live on the beautyalone, must have radishes.

The sweat feels good after a cold wet winter.  The pull of muscles promise to provide me with a sensory talisman in the next few days.  Its ok, better to garden and ache than to not garden at all.

Weekend Kntting

Bored with the Forever shawl I started a top down sweater with some wonderful handpainted silk blend yarn I bought at the Knit & Crochet show.  Angel, of course, is helping from on top of my head as usual.  The yarn is from Tootsiep, out of Laguna Beach.

no blog

I am sick and my symptoms are too unpleasant to share.  I am assured by online symptom checker (Web MD)  that death is not imminent.  I am not so certain.  My recourse is..no blog today and I return to bed.

I'm coming down with a metaphor ----o what a tangled web.

I spent almost three hours obsessed with untangling a tangled web of yarn. On the outside my yarn ball had looked like a perfectly normally wound ball, nice and neat.  About 6 inches into a simply lovely selfstriping silk yummy pair of socks, or at least they had the promise of becoming that, the yarn stopped.  I yanked.  I pulled harder, hoping the thread wouldn't break.  I started digging around for the source of the problem.  There it was.  I pulled it out.  With that one little stuck thread I drew about half the inner guts of the yarn ball.  Snarled.

I can do this, I thought.  SO I slowly, painstakingly loosened all the knots.  Grabbed at one little piece and tried to follow it, pausing for another that was knotted onto it, loosening that, seeing where another one led.

Three hours later the knotted yarn completely dominated the corner of the den.  My cat was eyeing me hopefully.  "A new game, a toy for me"  At least that's what I imagined him thinking.

A bit longer I lingered.  Sadly, I put the mess aside onto my desk.  Another day maybe I can find a way to salvage that wonderful silk thread.  

The metaphors this incident can elicit in my imagination are so many, I hesitate.  I think I will let the reader pull out her own.  Bet there is some corner of your life where the effort at untangling the thread could be used as a pedantic metaphor.  or something.  For me the metaphor will illustrate my life's efforts and hopes only when it gets untangled.  

Excerpt taken from Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Being of Lightness" (HaperPerennial 1999)

"The secret strength of its[the word, compassion] etymology floods the word with another light and gives it a broader meaning: to have compassion (co-feeling) means not only to be able to live with the other's misfortune but also to feel with him any emotion - joy, anxiety, happiness, pain. This kind of compassion (in the sense ofsoucit; współczucie; Mitgefühl; medkänsla) therefore signifies the maximal capacity of affective imagination, the art of emotional telepathy. In the hierarchy of sentiments, then, it is supreme."

Spring has Sprung!

Spent half the day with my daughter, driving up the Columbia Gorge to the picturesque small town of Hood River.  Of Course we went all the way up the Gorge to do a very un-extraordinary thing of visiting a local yarn store.  Now there is absolutely nothing a yarn store could have that either of us need. As I have said elsewhere I have more yarn than I can possibly use in my remaining lifetime.  We were not deterred by such things as not really NEEDING anything.   We petted many lovely, locally grown and spun yarns; some sock yarn popped into my hands and I found myself buying a couple of items before we left town in a hurry.

It has been one of those o so beautiful days when everyone walks around in a daze from so few recent experiences with sunshine.  This is the kind of day when everyone uses phrases like, "isn't it gorgeous?"  and "What a glorious day!"  Very original.  But what a beauty of a day, with a perfect temperature and the colors  crisp and bright.  Later the frequency of the sunny days will fade the vividness of the colors, but not yet.  Now the greens are vivid and the blues electric.  

Anyone reading this from another part of the country may not be familiar with the Columbia Gorge.  If not let me share a typical photo of Rowena in the Gorge from a brochure and another one found on the internet  A simple google search produces hundreds.  None of my photos, or these  do the Gorge justice. ITs worthy of a three dimensional 360 degree look.

As pleasant as the view of the green  forests, the mountains, and the Columbia River, the best part was having a lovely time with my daughter.  Nice to be able to say my daughter is also my very good friend.  As much as I appreciated the gift she gave me today (a clever, sweet bag she knitted and lined) ;the  best Mother's Day present..is recognizing what a great friend my daughter has become.  

I'll be deep, properly cynical,  and attempt  to be clever another day, I feel  simply very good and very grateful  today.

Knitter's Review - A Calendar of Knitting Events and Fiber Festivals

Throughout the Country there are knitting events this month.. Here in Portland the annual Knit & Crochet festival is coming to the Doubletree on May 14-17. I attended last year and expanded my stash with affordable and luscious baby alpaca as well as a wonderful pair of exotic and unique custom made needles. They also have a variety of great classes, but the exhibition is a big draw.
see this Knitter's Review - A Calendar of Knitting Events and Fiber Festivals for the larger event list and http://www.knitandcrochetshow.com/springshow.asp for info about the upcoming Portland event.

FOREVER SHAWL Half done

A good day to try FLYING - from Mt. Neakanie

The Politics of Knitting

I have had a few issues with typical knitting technique instructions. One has been their propensity for telling me that a twisted stitch is achieved by knitting through the back loop. More than half the time that is not true for me, I get a nice flat stitch when knitting through the back loop and a twisted one when knitting through the front loop. But not always. The key to my style is its consistent erratic nature; I can discern the method and the fabriced outcome meets the intent but the path of the work varies each time I pick up the sticks.

Another issue I have had with typical instructions is being told to wrap a thread "Clockwise" or conversely "counterclockwise" In my mind left and right or counterclockwise all depends on one's perspective and from which of many direction you are looking.

I seldom find anyone sharing my confusion, though.

Until now.

I am reading a book, titled "Knitting for Anarchists". The author tells me I am not alone, and that the important way to knit is through the leg of the stitch that is in front of the body of the stitch, closest to the needle point. ...and that works. She urges readers to avoid knitting from any particular ideology and develop the techniques that achieve the knitting fabric YOU like. Its good advice, but best followed after one has explored the various options. Personally I am practicing Peruvian Knitting. There is an interesting video of the Peruvian technique on YOUTUBE.

I thrive on change, and work at the discipline to establish some kind of consistency.

Like our political identities, we are defined as knitters by our attitude toward change. I am a confirmed liberal with a dash of revolutionary thrown in when the time is right for it...when faced with tyranny,

Haven't read many chapters yet the book, but this promises to be a good read.

But on an easier topic.....

Spring is here, as is evidenced by the rose shown in today's post.

A new day a new way

Pick a thread and when followed backward, the structure of the piece is revealed. Any thread will do to untangle it. Both hands are needed and if done with appropriate caution and lifelines, improvements can be made. Is there a parallel with my pattern of life?
One unravels too much and the yarn loses its integrity and starts to come apart. Not enough and the mistake may not be recognized for what it is.
The creator of the mistake is the one most likely to spot it when all is said and done.
Yes, I can belabor a metaphor.

On knitting and random ramblings

I am ready for another project to fall back on since the forever shawl seems to be going on FOREVER, I need something else for interest. I usually have a pair of socks on the needles, but as warm weather approaches its hard to get excited about socks.

However, I have some Panda bamboo silk blend that would make a very pleasing pair of spring socks. Maybe the periwinkle socks shown in Ravelry, they are pretty and several Ravelry members have them shown in completed projects. Heres the link, http://www.ravelry.com/projects/yenforyarn/panda-cotton-periwinkle-socks. But if I am knitting a pair of socks requiring thought I will also need a pair in process needing none. Three projects in process seems about right.

My mind is rather unfocused. It is traipsing around between my current book, a little housework, knitting and planning new knitting, and skyping with my daughter. All of course with a cockatoo on my head. I must find a moment to file her claws, My scalp is getting scratched.
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"The fruition of a committed yoga practice is the capacity to deeply relax the inner struggle with life's paradoxes" (from, INSIGHT YOGA, by Sarah Powers.).I must admit to rather enjoying the energy of exploring and struggling with paradoxes. I know I am guided to relax but I find it boring after a few minutes. I am afraid I am a long way from any semblance of enlightenment.
But perhaps the difficulty is with the word 'relax'. In English it sounds passive. I suspect peace and serenity arent passive. I suspect being joyous with paradoxes presented to us in life maybe another way of approaching the reality of them (the paradoxes).
When I can make better sense of what I just wrote I will be back to edit.