Natural progression ... of sorts

We've had a long stretch of uninterrupted bone-chilling cold.

The second heat lamp in the pump house has been kept on

[ not good to risk frozen pipes with our primary water source ]

but nothing stops the back pond from freezing over;

much to the chagrin, I imagine, of the small band of buffleheads

that paddled around in sweet abandon for a week prior.

Wonder where they've gone off to now?

The ice crystals criss-cross in a beautifully random manner.

Knitting seems to be primarily a winter habit for me ... dunno why.  

It's a soothing activity in the long hours of darkness.  I'm not much good at it

[ close inspection would reveal many wabi-sabi mistakes ] but I enjoy my time with it nonetheless.

The season has arrived, for this bit of lacy indigo recently came off the needles

and this green scarf-lette jumped on next.

Fell in love with this nubby yarn ... a blend of 70% silk 30% cotton

called  summer tweed in the colorway  Hedgerow

Very light ... shall come in handy on my summer travels when an 

evening breeze next to some bonny shore

has me reaching for an extra pinch of warmth.

Had to order an especially long pair of circular needles for this one

as my longest edge will be 52 inches.

Whoever invented the circulars should be awarded a Nobel prize,

don't you think?

So, late yesterday a pleasant walk with the dogs took us round the far back side

of the pond where we hadn't ventured in quite some time.  There are two

"wrapped trees" back there and it's been my practice to check up on them occasionally,

see how the cloth is faring ....

oh my

what a surprise

to discover the downed willow was missing its wrap!

And not only was the the cloth gone, but

the tree had been severely gouged by wandering deer

who'd used it for a scratching post

If you've been visiting here for awhile you may remember its earlier days ...

Here's the photo I posted four years ago showing the fresh wrap

[ notice the willow hadn't grown any lateral shoots yet ]

~ newly wrapped, September, 2010 ~

This piece of old cutwork cotton was from a tablecloth

I found at the thrift store.  So pristine, so   WHITE    back then ...

Then, just two years ago this is how it looked, greening up nicely from the lichen

and lord knows what else.

~ January, 2012 ~

~ May, 2013 ~

By spring of last year, the top portion had slipped some although the binding cloths

were still holding fast.  I contemplated removing it at this point but my curiosity 

won out and I decided to wait some more.

At that time, I was the last holdout amongst the members who'd

joined 'wrapt, tied and marked by nature' 

[ the blog has since been removed by its owner so I'm unable to provide the link to all the stories ]

... an interesting group project which involved about 8 of us from 

different areas of the world who wrapped cloth around parts of trees, 

leaving them for a period of  six months or more

in order to see what marks Mother Nature might provide.

We then recorded our results on the group blog, exchanged ideas, encouragement, etc.,

great fun overall.

Other climates produced very different results and

since I saw zero change after six months,

I decided to just keep going.

I wish I'd copied my original posts from the group blog

where I described in great detail the varieties of trees and the types of 

cloth I used for each.  Alas, all is not lost for I still have all the photographs spanning

the years, if not my written words.

But back to the fallen willow ....

After rooting around in the leafy detritus piled underneath,

lo and behold I found a scrap - ONE scrap of the original tablecloth !

I had visions of local deer galavanting about the woods with cutwork

dangling from their antlers -- what a sight that would be --

for what other conclusion was there than they'd scratched all

the rest away?

It's barely holding together.  Quite a fragile delicate thing now.

Once it's dried I'll carefully lay it out flat, assess what's really become of it

and make a decision about what's to follow.

First it was found,

then it was dyed ...

I may already know what comes next.

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What of great expectations...

I am not a huge fan of Charles Dickens.  More to the point,

I have disliked his work immensely.  Pardon me if that sounds too blunt, but that's the truth of it...

until now.

I recently watched the new PBS production of 'Great Expectations' on Masterpiece Classic

and my viewpoint has changed quite for the better.  Did any of you catch it?  Superb, don't you think,

on so many levels.

Gillian Anderson (from X-Files) plays the forlorn role of Miss Havisham...so delightfully creepy...

and the engaging Douglas Booth plays Pip, who "had come into great expectations

from a mysterious patron," and journeys to London where his hopes of becoming an English gentleman

seem to come true...

~ photo courtesy of PBS.org ~

The entire production (for me) was about the first perception of self as deficient...defined by what

one lacks, or is without...and as a result, subject to desire and all its complications, including guilt.

I have been thinking a whole lot about great expectations since then...

Here is a quote from Pip that I especially like:  "That was a memorable day to me, for it made great

changes in me.  But, it is the same with any life.  Imagine one selected day struck out of it, and

think how different its course would have been.  Pause you who read this, and think for a moment

of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you,

but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day."

Who would have dreamed that Mr. Dickens could set such a spark?  Not I.

As it happens, hours of (beadiful) knitting are very conducive to this sort of  introspection.

I think I owe dear ole Mr. Dickens an apology.

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My springtime salmagundi...

Over the weekend, on & off, I muddled around in an attempt to put a new post together.

But it was useless ... a little of this, a little of that, nothing was gelling ... you know how that is.
And now it's Monday and I still have no *plot*... so guess what?  There won't be one.

Blame it on spring ... thoughts like weeds, all over the place.

I like what it says on the steering wheel of my jeep:

resume
accel
cancel
COAST

... the phone app made the view look like a vintage cyanotype ... love that.


For those of the knitting persuasion, likely to swoon over improvised stitches, here's
a tutorial (and video) for Five Stitches Cast On with Twist ...
the author states she had a "zen moment."
Must try this with a bead placed on each ellipse, I'm thinking.

I do a lot of that at the kitchen sink ... thinking, that is.
That's where I spied the first hummingbird of the season, out on this floriferous lovely ...

usually I hear the hummers first and spot them later, but not this year.
Ribes 'White Icicle' ... irresistible.

Also irresistible.  To some.
Amazing where spring color can pop up.  I think those gals who work at Ana-Cross Stitch
have way too much fun at their job.  Earlier in the year this pole in front of their shop was wearing blue.
Paid to YARN BOMB?!?  oh yeah.
When you think about it, what better free advertising for a yarn & stitch store?
Click here for an entertaining collection of yarn graffiti ...
scroll down to the military tank covered in pink, my fave.
Some think of it as, "improving the urban landscape one stitch at a time."
I'm fine with that.

Trying my own hand at some stitched shibori.  For this one, mokume (woodgrain effect).
I haven't a clue what I'm doing yet ...
just following the pictorial how-to trails through the internet and spending time
with like-minded gals to work on our stitching projects together.

To be followed by glorious messes with dye baths!

I'll be swearing off the chemicals and may be flying solo in our group in my determination to
use natural dyes.  Maybe one or two will eventually join me.
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for some WOW factor results (to better coerce them).

While following those internet pictures I was sent the link to Mieko Mintz
and her exquisite kantha work.  Do be prepared for swooning.

Shall I add some cherry blossoms to this potpourri post ... for the young trees by
the railroad station in Anacortes were glorious in their pink petticoats.

The sun has come out and now it's time for walking with you-know-who...

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Pockets of paradise

Of Goodness


How good
that the clouds travel, as they do,
like the long dresses of the angels
of our imagination,


or gather in storm masses, then break
with their gifts of replenishment,
and how good
that the trees shelter the patient birds


in their thick leaves,
and how good that in the field
the next morning
red bird frolics again, his throat full of song,


and how good
that the dark ponds, refreshed, 
are holding the white cups of the lilies
so that each is an eye that can look upward,


and how good that the blue-winged teal
comes paddling among them, as cheerful as ever,


and so on, and so on.....


~ Mary Oliver ~

When I am outside, it is far easier to see (feel) the big picture than when I am sitting here in my chair, sometimes worrying over what isn't helped by worrying.  You'd think I'd learn after all these years to stop wasting time on useless habits.  All it takes is changing my perception - and sticking to it.  But how to hold on to that?  I think our deepest frustrations arise when reality doesn't mesh with our deepest desires.  How to let go of that?   

The other day, my dear friend wrote to me, "you have to find pockets of paradise."  I have not been able to get this out of my head.  How perfectly true.  More than that...how attainable.  I started to think about where my "pockets" might be and once I started to pay attention, they were not hard to find.

Here is an amazement --- once I was twenty years old and in
every motion of my body there was a delicious ease,
and in every motion of the green earth there was
a hint of paradise,
and now I am sixty years old, and it is the same.


~ Mary Oliver ~

Paradise....an illusive wish-I-were-somewhere-else place....a place of outstanding natural beauty that serves as a buffer to the out-there-over-there world....somewhere one has landed due to much good luck and the fortunate movement of the stars?  Ha.  It's what I make of it.  Nothing more.  No matter where I am.

: : :

I found a very heartfelt interview with poet Mary Oliver over here.  It's from March of 2011, then age 75.

She reveals some astounding truths about herself

and offers a few glimpses into why she is braver now...

: : :


Still learning & working with textures in PSE...for the cloud photo, I used two
from Distressed Jewell and for the bracelet, one again from DJ and another from Tim_in_Ohio.

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Energizing

by beading up a storm...

needles called Size 0...six beaded stitches equal 3/4 of an inch.

Can't say I'm loving this thread...very bling-ie and a little too flash for my taste,

not at all natural to work with either.

So maybe it will be silk thread for the next one.  I'm open to your suggestions...

maybe a perle cotton?

I can't even explain how energizing this process is,

how such quiet, methodical work can completely recharge that part of me that goes *flat*...

: : :

Found a list over here that sounds really good,

although it could be just my mood.

Hope you like it...it applies to any of us working towards something.

I am especially fond of item #1

and being one of those "over-thinkers" myself, I'm now thinking (hah!)

that I don't want to tie myself up with that nonsense anymore...

Wanna get more   %$@&   done instead!

And now I'm going to just STOP over-thinking this blog post and hit

publish.

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The light...oh, the light!

Light is at a premium in December...

we all begin starving for it,

run out into it whenever it makes an appearance.

And because the sun stays so low in the sky, never even reaching the tops of the trees

at this latitude,

illumination happens - details appear - that can't be seen at any other time.

Seed heads show off their fancy petticoats.

Gotta love a plant that flowers non-stop for six months

and does THIS for the other six!

She's Clematis tangutica 'Golden Tiara'...and I adore her...

she was planted to cover a pergola & she's making quite the valiant effort.

After de-leafing themselves, the trees reveal some hidden plumage of their own...

so much lichen...I'm not sure how some of the trees continue to hold their arms up!

I grew some lichen in my window.

Not really.

I am finally learning to knit and this is a new project...lacy scarf...more like pea soup in color

than "lichen" but it has a similar wispy quality when held up to the light like this.

You knitters, don't look too close - it's ridden with  big mistakes  beginner's errors.  

The best way to learn anything, I suppose...

keep on going.

It's been a long year of learning about stitches, of all sorts.

Stitching together and stitching apart.

Remember early in the year when we were all choosing our
Word For The Year?
I chose FOCUS.
I'm not sure why.  It seemed important at the time.  Sometimes you just have to stick with a thing.

I hadn't thought about that word for a long time until I took these photos yesterday...
made me ponder...
started me thinking that if I haven't gained more focus, at the very least
I know that I've paid more attention.
And that's just fine.

I hope you're enjoying the light, too, wherever you are...

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