3/5/16

Spring Days

Springtime is the land awakening.

The March winds are the morning yawn.

~Lewis Grizzard

Spring is in the air

This is one of my favorite seasons ...

More light is pouring in from morning to evening

Grass starts to spout a little all to be dumped on again by snowfall until June here on the 48 parallel

little buds on the aspen and the pussy willow with their little fuzzies..it's all so beautiful.

I think this might be why I chose lavender and yellow the colors of crocus I see around here. I bought yarn online for the first time in many years and was SO pleased with the quality and service. This yarn is not only yummy but it's squishy, soft and yummy.

Craftsy.com has a really good selection

especially if you're on a budget

The lavender yarn is being knitted in the White Pine pattern

Found an old favorite my Green Mountain Spinnery knitting book from my book shelf

lovely pictures, patterns and they offer exquisite yarn

this time around I will use the yellow yarn and knit

"Moriah's wild flower cardigan"

Heading out to Sherbrook Quebec to visit chefs family this spring break

we are spending 2 days as per my request in Vermont.

Burlington and Stowe is on the itinerary.

The kids want to visit Ben and Jerry's...who doesn't?

As I was looking through my book I noticed that Green Mountain Spinnery is located in Putney- unfortunately is just to far for this visit but I did see that Burlington is loaded with neat fiber shops this one in particular is on my list

NIDO

I can't wait to explore and travel it's been a year since we were in Taos and Santa Fe

Any plans for spring break friends?

3/1/16

Red and Pink Sweater fini

Well here it is .... red and pink

weather it goes together or not is in the eye of the beholder

however the colors are a mood lifter in grey Montana these days

Modeling it...well, this is as good as it gets

with Lilly and Wolfie twirling around it's hard to keep track of what's going on around my legs

one wants to go in the frigid glacier water

one with a fakery smile to distract us ( Lilly)

Joining Ginny today

2/25/16

Perfection kills creativity

Have no fear of perfection — you'll never reach it.
~ Salvador Dali

Perfection kills creativity.

I have been noticing especially this year 2016 how much perfection is a “bully” how it kill’s joy and creativity in my life, let me explain.
As a knitter I find some yarn (I go for the yarn first) then find a pattern, I try to pair them up both as best as I can, because I never do anything by the book….then as the sweater progress the angst sets in. I see that this is not perfect. I have knit the body and as the sleeves are coming along it’s either not enough yarn or the yarn I chose doesn’t look as good as I thought it would.

And it becomes another half knit sweater in the half knit grave yard.

Pattern, something I look to for inspiration and also seek perfection- if I only use this lovely pattern it will be perfect. But it doesn’t. It’s no fun when this disappointment strikes again. As a kid I never used patterns and I wore every gosh darn sweater I knit- because I wasn’t seeking perfection I was creating, enjoying that process. And that was the journey not the end goal- perfect.

I tried out baking for some time this fall I even enrolled in a fancy French pastry school online. The pictures looked perfect, I checked my ingredients once, twice three times to make sure the measurements where correct too. It truly is a miracle I have any hair left on my head after pulling out locks at a time. The cookies, cakes, puff pastry N.E.V.E.R came out as expected, they were either taste less, undercooked or could be used at building material (hard as a brick). When I was a kid baking was fun, mom and I would bake “boller” or something easy and even if it wasn’t the prettiest sweet rolls in town- it was still pretty sweet because again I wasn’t looking for perfection- I enjoyed the warm soft cardamom flavored buns with hot cocoa....and whip cream.

I am also finding this now as I have started to paint. I am petrified of screwing up- making the ugliest marks on my canvas- even starting a canvas I feel as if I need a good shot of whiskey or two.

What is with this???
It’s a white cloth stretched over a wood frame and I am too scared to touch it with paint in fear of not being good enough- so I either verbally beat myself up or I walk away with my heading low
-from something that is supposed to be fun and enlightening not to mention creative!

" Thank you perfection for draining all that is good in my life – creativity."

So I gave up!
- I can’t win.

Perfection is simply unattainable.
IT'S SO FREEING!

As I am knitting a red & pink sweater- you know, these colors “don’t go together” there is really no pattern to this sweater so I am just having fun, though a mindless easy knit- it is giving me pleasure to sit and knit listening to music or talking with my kids instead of counting stiches and tensing up for the probability of a crappy end result.

Baking – even though I have a few good recipes I found a fabby lemon pound cake ( box cake) Krusteaz, takes 5 min. and we all have something wonderfully lemony and yummy to enjoy with our tea.
I don’t really care anymore- I make the cakes that I know and bake well or the simple cookies-
Not here to impress any one and man, it’s such a relief.
My kids compliment me on the baked goods and that’s all that matter anyway- weather it’s from scratch or a box.

Now the painting- well that’s tough- I see it and myself as a work in progress…baby steps. Lots color exploration and marks what will become of it, I don’t know – challenge is good.

I try to ease up and let myself go…slow and steady wins the race.

I will get off my soap box now, thank you for reading.

May you all enjoy a most beautiful creative day as you see it.

You see, when weaving a blanket, an Indian woman leaves a flaw in the weaving of that blanket to let the soul out.

~Martha Graham

9/30/15

September Yarn Along

A Norwegian sweater in progress, using yarn I bought in Geilo at the supermarket 2 years ago and yarn I naturally dyed with rhubarb, walnut hulls and Saxon Blue, it's a perfect soccer knitting, TV watching sweater- it will take it's its time- I'm in no rush.
I have just started reading Trust the Process by Shaun McNiff, I am hoping to get some creative juices flowing again.

Joining Ginny today

4/28/15

Socks on the chopping block

Socks are done, they were knitted in the airport, in the car and outside when inside was to noisy from the power tools renovating the kitchen- a saving grace at times. I also bought "Big Sky Cooking" as a kitchen house warming gift to my self. Using seasonal local fare...I have every intention of cooking up a storm when the kitchen is done. I love reading cook books.

...and then there are those who care less about knitting and reading cookbooks. As long as there is a shady spot with some soft grass to rest her little body- Lilly's a happy camper.

What are you knitting?

Joining Ginny today

3/17/15

Blessing on the blossom

When my children were little we would say this little verse at the table before our dinner

Blessings on the blossom,
Blessings on the root,
Blessings on the leaf and stem,
Blessings on the fruit

Perfect for my little plant dyed cardi
Its all encompassing of the plant
and now I am knitting the reward
I have one arm left
crossing my fingers it will be done for my trip

Enjoying the new issue of Taproot issue 13 Song, came in the mail today.

Two quick things I noticed (haven't had time to read all yet)

A yummy "Warming Winter Soup" a delish Fish soup.

Another article on re -purposing yarn from already knit sweaters.

Which is near and dear to my heart

something my mother did when she was young,

and then.....showed me how to

a great way to build up your stash and get high quality yarns when times were tough.

Now that we are all a little more earth conscious

might be and idea before we throw out that old sweater or go thrifting?

So what are you knitting and reading?

Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

2/14/15

~ A wonderful thought ~

What a wonderful thought it is

that some of the best days

of our lives haven't happened yet

....Isn't that a good one- love that

happy Sunday!

I am over at Ginny's

hop over and take a look.

2/3/15

Barn sweater in progress

Thank you all for your suggestions which side to face outwards. The purl side won me over I think the colors blended better. Started on the pockets and nearing the end. If I can be completely honest here, I LOVE the pattern, but I am not crazy about knitting stockinet stitch for so looooong.
It takes for evvvah!
Hoping it will be worth it in the end- we shall see.
I finished reading The Gift of Little Things-very charming and enjoyed reading about local history.

This week I started on Women's Guide to a simple life by Andrea Van Steenhouse
...might be a reflection of feeling slightly overwhelmed these days.

What are you up too?

Joining Ginny and Frontier Dreams

1/27/15

~ The gift of little things ~

Barn Sweater still in progress
- a small quandary though, maybe you can help me?

The pattern calls for the sweater to have the purl stitch facing outwards...but I also like the knit stitch
- what say you?
Any suggestions. I need to make a choice soon the pockets are going in shortly.

Reading a remarkable book
" The gift of little things"
Alice S. Hutchens
About Alice, herself, moving from Minnesota, thru California and settles in my neck of the woods- Whitefish, Montana. A true story, vividly she writes about homesteading near Lost Creek. Encounters with bears and bad weather, a school teacher she lives a beautiful and simple life in the mountains a stones throw from my house. I recognize names and places- for me it's like a Laura Ingalls book- so it 's definitely becoming a favorite.
When I finish reading the book -I hope to locate her homestead. I appreciate this type of non fiction, local authors preserving and teaching us the history that we are part of.

Joining Ginny & Frontier Dreams