(mis)adventures of spindlerose

Rhinebeck 2016

Going to the New York Sheep and Wool festival has always been a treat for me. Even when we lived in the northeast, I did not attend the festival every year. The first year I knew about it (mid-1990s), David and I flew over the festival on a Saturday afternoon adventure in our small plane, but I didn't get to explore on the ground. David and I made a trip or two when he was in school. I drove up with friends from DC in 2009. Three years ago, I ran away from the chaos of getting our house ready to sell to bid farewell to fall in the Hudson River Valley and many friends.

This year, the stars aligned me to to to Rhinebeck. My vacation time balance has been hovering near the maximum all year thanks to no SOAR. I have a big bank of frequent flier miles thanks to too much business travel. Most important, friends invited me to stay with them in Red Hook for the weekend. I worked until 2 hours before a red eye flight to New York Thursday night. I took the train from NYC to Rhinebeck and savored the beauty of the Hudson River and the bare hint of red at the top of the cliffs across the river in New Jersey on Friday.

This year, I focused on spending time with friends. I spent a lot of time at a picnic table catching up with my Ravelry tribe. I wandered the barns with the friends I stayed with and saw everything through 9 year old eyes. I soaked up the riot of color in the barns, on the fair-goers, and in the trees. I looked at yarn and almost always thought I have something just like it at home. I fondled fleeces without buying; it's easy to resist when faced with stuffing 8 pounds of raw wool into a tiny suitcase and hauling it back across the country. I admired sweaters but cannot recall any in detail. I probably missed seeing and talking to more friends than those I bumped into. I took surprisingly few pictures. I unwound and played in the leaves. I ate all the treats: apple crisp, cannoli, bratwurst, lamb stew, artichokes French, maple cotton candy, and apple cider donuts.

After Rhinebeck, I spent three days in New York City. I saw a few colleagues, ate well, went to the Cooper-Hewitt, and walked all over the place. It's been a long time since I spent any non-work time in New York.

In the end, I did buy one bump of fiber, the festival tote bag, some soap, and an irresistible curly maple Travel Kate. More importantly, I came home full of hugs and joy and inspiration. 

 

Ten on Tuesday: 2015 Intentions

I've already written about my words for 2015—practice and finish. Choosing guiding words for the year is the first step in making changes. I've spent the last week or so reflecting on exactly what I will practice and finish this year.

Since Carole's theme this week is intentions for 2015, here are 10 concrete things I will practice or finish in 2015.

1. Practice writing daily. Writing well requires practice. The only way past writers' block is through.
2. Finish 2 blog posts a week. I will let go of perfectionism and send my words into the world. 
3. Practice commenting on other people's blog posts. I am a big reader and infrequent commenter. The best way to maintain the community of friends I initially met through blogging is to keep reading and commenting.
4. Practice photography. I enjoy taking pictures; I'm sometimes good at it; and the only way to improve is to take more pictures. The whole family gave my niece Miss M a DSLR for Christmas this year. I'm looking forward to seeing the world through her camera--and I hope she enjoys seeeing the world through mine.
5. Finish processing pictures soon after I take them so I can print a few to fill the vast empty spaces on our walls and share the best pictures with the blog and the world.
6. Practice yoga 4 times a week (two classes and twice at home). Why is taking better care of myself so challenging? Regular practice brings better sleep and better physical and mental flexibility. In my life right now, both are incredibly important.
7. Practice knitting a few projects frequently. I mean knit only two or three projects actively at a time instead of five to ten. Make steady progress on those two projects every week.
8. Finish projects that deserve finishing and rip out those that do not. Ripping out the projects that are not going anywhere is liberating. It removes the psychic weight of a to do from the back of my brain. And threatening to turn an almost garment into a big ball of yarn brings readers out of the woodwork.
9. Practice cooking dinner from scratch instead of from boxes and restaurants. Life may be calmer this year. We bought this house because it has a spectacular kitchen that I love; if I'm not going to use it, we should have bought a completely different place.
10. Practice spinning. For me, spinning is more about the meditative process of turning fluff into yarn and less about the eventual finished yarn. Spinning also calms my monkey mind and improves my focus and flexibility, and I need as much of that as I can get.

These 10 intentions aren't my only plans for 2015. I hope to read more books than I did last year and watch a lot less television. David and I have a few trips planned already, and I'm sure we will plan more once we survive our big work commitments early in the year. I'm going to keep working on my curling game. And there is quite a bit on my professional plate that will stretch my skills and keep my job interesting.

Story of a Scarf

I went to Rhinebeck in 2009 with many friends. We had a lovely weekend of chatting and eating and enjoying all the joys of the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. I bought a bump of cormo roving from Briar Rose Fibers and a mini from the Bosworths and started to spin. My general goal was to match Malabrigo Lace. 

The spindle and fiber lived in my travel kit and were my travel spinning for almost three years. By the spring of 2012, I had a pile of yarn—about 600 yards of soft squooshy possiblity.

By June 2013, I knew what the yarn wanted to be (or at least what I wanted it to be). I spent my summer travels turning all that lovely yarn into a lightweight wispy scarf I called Windblown. I cast off with only a few inches of yarn left on my flight to Maui for our 20th anniversary celebration last August. I blocked Windblown in September and wore it throughout the fall. In December, I left it in a restaurant in Portland; lucky for me a kind person rescued my scarf and mailed it back to me.

I continued to wear my scarf all winter, even though it was barely cold enough. In April or May, I carefully washed Windblown with all my other woolens in preparation for summer storage. And things went horribly wrong. I set a load to soak and spin in the washing machine. I hung up the sweaters and socks, leaving Windblown and another handspun lace scarf behind. I intended to go back and pull them out to block on wires and pins. In my rush to finish all the laundry that day, I forgot they were still in the machine and ran another load.

I was sick to my stomach when I unloaded the washing machine and found two crumpled forlorn scarves at the bottom. I pulled them out and stretched and prodded and prayed, but water and agitation had worked their magic on the wool. The orginal Windblown was light and airy and maybe a bit too long; the new Windblown is cushy and snuggly and the perfect length.

Yes, I'm looking for the bright side in what felt like a disaster at the time. But I really do love the fulled scarf as much as the original. I just wish that I had intentionally fulled something else and not a project I spent nearly four years and hundreds of hours making. And now I always double check the washing machine before loading it up for the next load.

Goals week 2

I did OK on my goals last week.

• I blogged every day and included quite a few photos. 

• I did not spin every day, but there is more yarn on the bobbin today than there was last Sunday.

• I did not practice yoga or do PT exercises every day. Three days is not seven.

• I did not unpack every day I was home, but the big push yesterday made a big dent and moved all my boxes out of the guest room.  

• Most of the stuff is out of the guest room, but there is a bit more to move out.

My goals for this week are similar, with one key addition.

1. Write a blog post every day. Take a photo for at least 4 of them.

2. Spin for at least 20 minutes every day on the merino-silk.

3. Take care of myself by practicing yoga or doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning.

4. Move everything left in the guest room to a permanent location. Unpack the boxes in the guest bathroom. Before Tuesday.

5. Have fun with Mom and Dad. We're planning to get out and do fun Bay Area things. Dad wants to visit the Ghiradelli Outlet. Mom wants to see coastal redwoods. We'll probably spend a day doing San Francisco tourist things. We'll watch the Packers-Patriots game on Sunday.

Goals

Research shows that writing down your goals (writing a blog post every day in November) and then telling people who can help you achieve them (all the readers who comment so I know I'm not just throwing stuff out there into the ether) makes you more likely to reach them.

At work, we have put this into action for the past year or so. At the beginning of every week, everyone I work with records 2-5 goals and the specific things we will complete to reach our goals. We make this record in a public forum—everyone can see what I'm planning to accomplish and I can see what everyone else is working on. At the end of the week we give ourselves a 1-3 score: no progress, progress but not finished, achieved. It does actually help me as long as I don't get too ambitious; I'm terrible about being realistic about what I'll be able to accomplish any week I'm traveling. If you have never really thought about goals, this Beginner's Guide to Goal Setting is a good place to start.

In my creative work, I have done this for many years by participating in the Productive Spinners group. For the past year or so, I've dutifully updated but made almost no progress. I enjoy seeing the diversity of projects the group members undertake, but I need to do a better job working on all of my projects.

My overarching theme for the rest of the year is to

Be less busy while to making forward progress on my creative projects.

Here is how I plan to get there.

1. Set weekly goals for work and home. Share the work goals at work and the home goals on this here blog. When I'm at work, start every day by focusing on one of my goals for the first hour or two of the day and the first hour or two after lunch. Get the big important stuff done before I start reacting to the incoming emergencies.

2. Reduce my screentime. Limit television to 1 show per weeknight and only the football games I care about on the weekends.

3. Spin or knit during that limited TV time rather than multitasking and reading Ravelry or Facebook at the same time.

This week's personal goals.

1. Write a blog post every day. Take a photo for at least 4 of them.

2. Spin for at least 20 minutes every day—on the merino-silk when I'm home and the Abby Batt while I'm in Seattle late in the week. This week, I'll remember to pack the spindle and one of the socks in progress to keep me entertained while I'm on the road.

3. Take care of myself by practicing yoga or doing back PT exercises daily—ideally first thing in the morning. If I get out of bed and do this the minute I wake up instead of dozing for an hour after the alarm goes off, it will be done before I'm usually in the shower.

4. Unpack 1 studio box or bin every evening I'm home. And this means unpack completely—find a home for the entire contents or get rid of it.

5. Move everything out of the guest room back in to the studio by the end of next weekend. Mom and Dad need a nice place to sleep when they visit for Thanksgiving.

If you want to join me in this exercise to be less busy and achieve more, leave a comment and share your plans on your own blog, or in the comment. We'll make a little community of friends commited to working on the things that matter and supporting each other as we do that.

Halfway

We're halfway through November. I've written fifteen of the thirty blog posts in NaBloPoMo. I'm halfway through setting my end of year goals. I don't have a whole lot to show for it yet—just some thoughts on paper. So no promised list tonight. Like the lava, making achievable goals is hard.

I was not busy today. I bought groceries and made onion-free veggie broth and pumpkin soup; sadly, the soup is just OK. I spun a little. I watched some football. 

And D and I rented a truck so we could move the last few things out of the garage at our old house and buy bookcases at Ikea. Now I'm tired from lifting and hauling and completely overstimulated from the trip to Ikea. Every person in the elevator to the garage looked completely beaten down by their shopping experience. It's time for some restorative yoga and then sleep.

Stuck. Or maybe finally unstuck.

Sometimes the muse leaves. Sometimes, my knitting and spinning mojo vanishes for months at a time. During those times, the blog goes silent, the demons of doubt lurk in my head, and I wonder why I keep sending money to Typepad.

Writers block (or knitters block or whatever block) happens to all creative people at times. As a writer, I've always felt like I'm in a perpetual state of block with glimpses of inspriation. When that inspriation strikes, I write well. I love the joy when the words flow effortlessly and my inner perfectionist editor is briefly silent. I just wish it happened more often.

The first 10 days of NaBloPoMo has reminded me that I need to write more. I need to practice this craft just like I practice knitting, spinning, and cooking. As Laurie said the other day, this (daily blogging) is getting harder and harder. Will it get easier with more daily practice?

I added the picture to spruce up the blank wall of text. And because it reminds me that inspriation is everywhere if I open my eyes. The first time I saw the Chihuli installation in the lobby of the Bellagio, I had to pull out my pocket camera (my iPhone), take a picture, and share it because the colors and textures stunned me. Looking at the picture again brings back clarity I felt when I framed, snapped, and cropped the picture nearly 4 years ago.

To be honest, I've been stuck creatively for the past few years. Three moves in 30 months would do that to anyone. It hurts because creating and making is central to my sense of self, so I lose part of myself when I'm not actively creating. Work has been challenging. Most of my daily brain has been dedicated to doing my job. There hasn't been enough juice left at the end of the day to knit a simple sock or scarf. Writing, designing, or even planning something challenging has been beyond me. It's been even longer since I've felt truly inspired to write. 

I do sometimes write when I'm stuck on an airplane. In rushing from here to there in a metal tube, I relish the unplugged silence that helps me plug in to my own voice. I have a few drafts of essays meant for the blog lurking on my computer, my iPad and in my notebooks that flowed into that silence. By the time I land and life pushes back in, I forget that I had a great idea for a post. I haven't reviewed or considered publishing on any of those, but maybe I should. I do have to write 18 more posts this month.

I don't have a good answer for getting through creative blocks. Open your eyes to inspiration. Get enough sleep. Keep practicing whatever it is that you do. Eventually, something good will shake loose.

This post brought to you by today's NaBloPoMo prompt. I opened my eyes to the inspriation in my inbox this morning. It prompted something good, or at least something better.

On (one of) my spindle(s)

Here's proof that I do still spin on a spindle. For the past week or so, I've spun at least a little nearly every day. I may only manage one or two makes on a spindle while I wait for the water to heat for my morning cup of decaf. Slowly, I'm spinning this pair of lovely batts from Abby (purchased in 2011) into singles on my zippy Spanish Peackock spindle. Eventually, I'll ply all the singles and knit something small and lovely. For now, spinning this yarn spinning calms and centers me.

I'm off on a trip for the rest of this week. I have posts planned for all the days I'm away. I've made space in my suitcase for this little project. And for the second flamingo sock. And for my yoga mat.

Inspired to spin and knit

Even though I have too much wool, I cannot resist Tina Newton's monthly surprises. I have tried to give up the Rockin' Sock Club and the Rockin' Whorl Club, but I keep returning.

The distinct color patches in August's fiber offering inspired me think creatively about how to spin a multicolored top. A mystery knit along requiring two or three colors of yarn pointed the way. I spent a beautiful evening splitting the braid into the individual colors and then sampled a few tufts on my Matchless. I fondled and pondered three little skeins. I knit those lovely skeins into a big swatch before I could take pictures of them.

Then we found the house, and everything except for getting all the purchase and move ducks in a row got put on hold. The clues for the shawl are all out, but I've avoided looking at any but the first one, and I haven't stalked any other projects either. I want to maintain the big surprise, even if it takes me an extra month or three.

Now that we've moved, I'm back to it. I decided to spin this BFL-tussah silk blend more worsted than woolen (from the end with a short forward draw rather than from the fold with a long draw). I'm still deciding how to blend the green/blue and red/pink spots into two different colored yarns. For the sample, I tried two blending methods: I drafted the two colors together and I spun one ply of each color for barber-poled yarn. Top is blended, bottom is barber pole. Which do you like better for a garter stitch crescent shaped scarf/shawl.

Ten on Tuesday: Things I Want to Do in 2012

1. Knit with cashmere. I have cashmere blend yarn for several sweater-sized projects in the studio. This is my year to use it. I will earn a bit of luxury knitting every time I complete a fitness goal. First up is Sabine in Superior.
2. Run a 5K race in March or April. D and I have started running again. If we survive our cold winter morning runs, stay healthy, and stick to the plan, we will be ready for a 5K by St. Patrick's Day.
3. Run a 10K race in September. If we keep training through the spring and summer, we will be ready to tackle a longer distance by the end of summer.
4. Finish 12 sweaters. This is much less of a stretch than you might think. There are at least 10 nearly finished sweaters hiding on my shelves that stalled for some reason. It is time stop procrastinating, solve the problems, and finish them.
5. Finish 12 pairs of hand knit socks and give most of them away. My sock shelf is overflowing, but socks are still my go to project for travel knitting. Since there is a lot of business travel in my future, there will be a lot of socks.
6. Spin every day. Even 10 minutes a day with a spindle adds up to quite a bit of yarn after a few weeks. Daily efforts at the wheel lead to more consistent finished yarn. My spinning focus this year is spinning for a purpose rather than just spinning. I have made myself a personal fiber club of 6 bumps of fiber that I will spin for a specific project.
7. Knit with handspun. If I am spinning with the end project in mind, I need to knit the project when the yarn is finished so I can evaluate my progress and figure out what to do better next time. I also need to make some space in my handspun bin for the other yarns I plan to spin this year.
8. Learn how to weave. The more I talk to weavers and handle hand woven cloth, the more I want to weave. I am going to start looking for a used loom in May and take a weaving class or two later in the year.
9. Go back to Hawaii with D. We have not been there since 2009. It is time for a visit.
10. Post to this here blog at least once a week. I will start with Carole's Ten on Tuesday this month, and see where that leads me.