Lines and Squares

Most recently finished first! I made an Elemental Raglan a few months as a shop sample for Kandy, and when I saw that she had the yarn in this great red, I decided I had forgiven it for being garter stitch in the round and wanted one for myself. I think it's going to be a great garment for an Arkansas fall, which is honestly more like Summer Lite.

Before I made the Elemental, I did get to the third (of six) color on my Exchange Wrap. I don't hate it yet, and I'm looking forward to wearing it - and confident that I can finish it by November (which is when I have something that I want to wear it to). I also found an awesome hammered brass crescent moon hair piece that I plan on using as a shawl pin with it.

After mentioning last month that I don't crochet much but enjoy it when I do, I was contacted about a possible commission. Someone saw Tom Daley wearing a rainbow jumper and was willing to pay a fair price for one, so that's my current project. I haven't actually met them, because we're going through the yarn shop, but I have to say that so far they are the best person I've ever worked with on a commission. They bought the yarn and pattern, paid a deposit for labor, and provided a favorite sweater to use for sizing (I am having to adjust from the pattern). They also gave a reasonable deadline - at the beginning of September, they asked for it by the end of October. It's a big piece but granny squares are half air and crochet really is much faster than knitting, so despite only starting on it last week, I've already finished the front and back panels. I'd like to add a little tapering on the shoulders to make it fit more comfortably before I put them together and get started on the sleeves, but it's coming along nicely so far.

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3.3 - Forage

I recently looked up the rest of the Mary Oliver poem that ends in "tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" because that was the only part I had ever heard, and it turns out the rest of The Summer Day is about going for a walk and lying about in the grass. That's what she planned to do with her one wild and precious life. I feel like it gets misapplied a lot. As the weather grows cooler, I've been thinking about foraging, as a concept. I am a terrible gardener. Even as a child I loathed getting up early and tramping through the dewy grass to the dusty garden to water and pull weeds. As an adult, I stumbled onto the one plant that likes the climate of my front windows but claim no personal credit for their flourishing. If we ever move I may have to leave them here, to ensure their survival. There's also a pot of mint by my front step that survives on rain water or when one of the kids points out that it's a bit crunchy. Plants...

Reading and Writing

#attunedpracticetuesdays: where we share the rituals and routines that are aligned with our sense of peace and wellbeing A couple of months ago, while working on a commission project , I started a new practice. I was listening to audio books while working since the project required my eyes but not my full attention, and since it was fairly labor intensive, I took the weekends off (not something I would normally do). Lacking something to do with my hands, the first Saturday I decided to put my speedy reading to good use and read a novel in one sitting (my preferred method, anyway). Then I read another novel the next Saturday. And now it has becomes a weekly thing. The only rule is that it has to be fiction - I read enough non fiction that a novel a week isn't going to hurt anything (and it wouldn't anyway, reading is reading). Helping out with Paper Heart Books and attending a bring-your-own-book-club meeting last week helped restock my dwindling supply. I like to get hard cop...

Festivals and Fairs

October is the Month of Fun Outings. The weather is generally pleasant, many things are less crowded than they are in summer because school has started back, and there are also an array of local events. We try to make the most of it, since I got used to not getting sick while we stayed in for a couple years so now we ride out the germiest months at home. But before that, we frolic. We'll miss our favorite fall festival due to scheduling conflict, but there will be a small one at my eldest's dance studio, and we're all going to the state fair this year. There are street fairs and at some point soon we'll go and each choose a pumpkin to stack on the front step five deep, and my littlest will name each family member while pointing at their pumpkin every time we go in or out the door. I've started leaving windows open at night, and sometimes it's been cool enough to have them open during the day, too. My desk candle has expanded to three candles on a cheese board b...

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