When I lay these questions before God I get no answer. But a rather special sort of ‘No answer.’ It is not the locked door. It is more like a silent, certainly not uncompassionate, gaze. As though He shook His head not in refusal but waiving the question. Like, ‘Peace, child; you don’t understand.’
- C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
I’ve started some new projects that involve trying new things. One of these new things is knitting. It’s not that I’ve never knitted before. On the contrary, in my teenage years I’ve knitted sweaters with colourwork and cables and lace patterns. But somewhere along the way I’ve put down knitting and spent all my time crocheting instead, and I’m surprised how much I’ve forgotten, how foreign knitting has become to me. It feels like I need to relearn everything from the start.
I was looking for a cardigan pattern and tried several crochet ones but ended up frogging all of them. I had been eying the Everybody Knows cardigan (so named because “everybody who can knit knows how to knit garter stitch”.) from Knitty for a few years now. I really like the simplicity and the shape of it, and when I think about making a new cardigan that’s the cardigan I want to wear, other crochet patterns just wouldn’t do.
So I started the project this week, it’s coming along slowly. Because I don’t usually knit I don’t have a collection of needles like I have with hooks. The needles I’m using were given to me by someone who no longer wanted them. I’m not even sure what size they are, but they seem to match (size, not colour) and work well with the Shetland Chunky I’m using. Actually, the different colour needles help me figure out the right side/wrong side. It just feels a lot slower than crocheting, but I’m determined to complete it, hopefully in time for early spring.
Another new thing I’ve started trying and learning is playing the ukulele. I bought a rather inexpensive (i.e. toy-grade) one yesterday with the help of my brother-in-law, who knows a lot about music (thanks Dan!). I didn’t want to invest too much in it because I’ve never been very musical and I don’t know whether I can keep it up, but I’d like to try anyway. Apparently kindergarten children learn ukulele at school nowadays, so if a 4 year-old can do it, I should be able to do it too! I found a useful tool to tune it last night, and tried to learn a few chords. I don’t have a very good sense of rhythm, so I’m having trouble with the strumming, but I hope to get better with practice.
And for the year of the rabbit I’m reading a new book, Watership Down by Richard Adams.
I’m still trying to get into the story, but it’s interesting so far. I love that it’s based on car ride stories – tales that the author has made up and improvised and told to his children during long or short car rides.
And finally, some good news! A sale came through my Etsy shop today! Hurray! I’ve had a couple of custom orders through friends since the shop opened, but this is the first order that actually came through the shop itself, from someone I don’t know! So I sent the Chinese Greens on their way today to their new home, along with lots of bubble wrap in case of a bumpy ride and an origami bird notecard for a sweet note that the Greens were asked to pass on.
Safe travels, my friends!
It’s a bit sad to see them go, but knowing that they can make someone else smile makes me happy.
The shop has been slow, and I have contemplated closing it down, actually. Honestly I haven’t really done a lot to promote it because, after all, I do enjoy sharing free patterns a lot more than trying to sell people things. But the first sale is a great encouragement, and I will continue to work on some ideas, and hopefully stock the shop with new things soon! :D
Thank you for visiting! Have a lovely day!
Pete Eckert is a blind visual artist. He was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, and lost his sight when he was 28.
via Living Design and Photojojo.
“I am only a tourist in the sighted world. Women talk about a glass ceiling. Blind folks face a glass front door. We can look into the workplace but aren’t allowed to enter. I do something else. I slip photos under the door from the world of the blind to be viewed in the light of the sighted. I view my work during the event of taking the shot in my minds eye. I “see“ each shot very clearly, only I use sound, touch, and memory. I am more of a conceptual artist than a photographer. My influences come from my past memory of art and what I now find in the world at large. I now ask to touch sculptures in museums too. That’s another long story.
“I am trying to cut a new path as a blind visual artist. Sighted people don’t help me make the art. They do give me feedback before I do the final large prints… I want sighted people involved. It is a good bridge between the blind and sighted. I want to be included in the world and accepted.
“It is important to me that the sighted think about blindness. What I get out of taking photos is the event not the picture. I do the large prints to get sighted people thinking. Talking with people in galleries builds a bridge between my mind’s eye and their vision of my work. Occasionally people refuse to believe I am blind. I am a visual person. I just can’t see.“
I saw this today, for which I am thankful.
A friend gave me some matcha powder earlier this week, so I decided to test them out today. We started the day with some green tea latte. I’ve never made one at home before, but my first attempt tasted pretty good.
2 tsp matcha + 2 tsp sugar + fill mug half way with hot water and stir
Fill mug with milk and microwave for 1 min and, voilà! Green tea latte.
And then I baked some green tea cookies. I followed this recipe because it seemed straightforward. Look! So green!
I decided to make them leaf-shape after I saw Martha’s green tea shortbread. I don’t have a leaf-shape cookie cutter, so I cut them out with the back of a butter knife, and each leaf is different, which I like very much.
The veins were also made using the back of a butter knife.
They turned out a bit puffier than I wanted – I was thinking about the bunny cookies I made and how they didn’t expand at all, so I didn’t expect these ones to expand or rise, since it’s pretty much a sugar cookie recipe. But I didn’t pay attention to the fact that this recipe has both baking powder and baking soda, plus eggs, so I guess it’s supposed to rise. Hmm. Perhaps next time I’ll just follow the plain sugar cookie recipe and add a couple of tablespoons of matcha.
But I’m still rather pleased with my tea leaf cookies. There’s a very subtle green tea flavour, and the cookies are light and flaky.
And to top it off we watched The Secret of Kells tonight, with the richest, most glorious emerald green, and each scene an exquisite watercolour with layers and layers of vibrant colours and brush marks. Very inspiring film, I must say. I highly recommend it.
Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!
(Happy Year of the Rabbit!)
Today is Chinese New Year, and it is the year of the rabbit! So I thought it would be fun to do a round up of bunny plush.
It is customary to do some cleaning and organizing for Chinese New Year. So maybe it’s time to do something about that stained sweater or shirt that is neither good for wearing nor donating. It might make an awesome rabbit, like these ones…
Sweater turned rabbit, tutorial on Craftzine.
Men’s suit turned rabbit, instruction from Martha Stewart Living.
This crochet white rabbit is too adorable – must make!
Pattern for Alice’s white rabbit from Crafty is Cool.
And rabbits for the knitters too! I think it would make a great baby shower gift, with a jingle bell tossed into the stuffing.
Pattern for Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger.
And a rabbit rattler! *jingle jingle jingle*
Pattern on A voir etc…
This is not a plush, but I thought a change of scenery for the new year would be refreshing.
Download reedbunny wallpaper on Jinjerup!
Wishing you a healthy and blessed year of the rabbit!
Today is Groundhog Day and we have a snowstorm, just like in the movie. And because of the snowstorm I got to stay home all day. Since I have all that free time I thought I should celebrate the day by making a groundhog. But I couldn’t find any free pattern, so I decided to make my own.
For this groundhog I used some tan acrylic yarn and some fuzzy brown wool, the 2 strands of yarn held together. Both appear to be sport weight, but I can’t be sure because they were given to me without labels. I used a 5mm hook. I think 1 strand of bulky weight yarn with 5mm hook would also work.
I also used 2 4mm beads for eyes, some white felt for teeth, and some needles and thread for sewing.
Groundhog is about 3 inches tall. Not very big and doesn’t take long to make.
Head and Body:
Row 1: ch 3, 5 sc in 3rd ch from hook, sl st. in top of beginning 2 ch.
Row 2: ch 2, [2sc in next sc, sc in next sc] 3 times, sc in top of beginning ch.
Row 3 and on: sc around until desired height (mine’s about 2 inches), end with last st in centre front (I just eyeballed it, but one could count the stitches to make sure it’s centered if desired). Take hook off stitch, keep loop on marker and don’t fasten off.
At this point it would be a good time to sew on eyes, embroider nose and mouth, and attach ears.
To make ears:
I made the ears with one strand of the acrylic yarn with a 3mm hook. One could probably use a thinner yarn in a similar shade and smaller hook, or if using 1 strand of bulky yarn continue to use same yarn but use a 4mm hook.
With a separate ball of yarn attach yarn at top of head where you’d like to position ear, ch 1, sc in st where yarn is attached, ch 1, sl st in st where yarn is attached. Fasten off, weave in ends. Repeat for the other ear.
Legs:
Place hook back in loop at the end of body, ch 2, bring the ch across the opening of the body and sc in a st in centre back (I just eyeballed it, but one could count the stitches to make sure it’s centered if desired), like so…
Then, sc in each sc until the ch 2 in the middle, sc in each ch, then sc in each sc for 2 more rounds, sl st. in each of next 2 sc, fasten off.
For the other leg, attach yarn to the same st in centre front at the base of the other leg, ch 1, sc in next sc, sc in each sc until the st in centre back at the base of the other leg, sc in the st in centre back, sc in each ch of the ch 2 in the middle (one would have to crochet in the back loops of the chain), sc in the beginning ch 1 of this leg, sc in each sc for 2 more rounds, sl st in each of next 2 sc, fasten off.
Now would be a good time to stuff the groundhog through the openings at the bottom of the legs. After stuffing, close the bottom of the legs by weaving through the inner loops of the opening with yarn and needle, like so…
Pull tight, tie off, and weave in ends.
Arms:
Attach yarn to where you’d like to position the arm, ch 3, sl st in 2nd ch from hook, sl st in next ch, sl st in st where yarn is attached, fasten off, weave in ends. Repeat for the other arm.
Tail:
Cut multiple lengths of yarn (I used around 8) about 4 inches long each. Thread a separate piece of yarn and use it to tie the lengths of yarn together in the middle, like so…
Then sew the tied strands of yarn to the back of the groundhog, like so…
Trim tail to desired length, and unravel the individual strands, so it’s all fuzzy.
And we’re done! We took some photos on the balcony, which was covered in snow…
“No shadow in sight. An early spring this year, I predict. Now, must we linger in the cold outdoors?”
When we came back inside I thought he might look good with some buckteeth, so I sewed on some white felt for teeth. Now he’s patiently waiting at Mike’s desk for him to come home, because Mike is an enthusiastic celebrator of Groundhog Day but he doesn’t get to stay home for snow day today.
Happy Groundhog Day everyone!
p.s. I realize that the leg part of the pattern may be a bit confusing – please leave a comment if you need any clarification or if you spot any mistake and I will get back to you as soon as I can.
We took a short trip up north on the weekend. I found out after I got there that Zumi was out of battery. I was a bit disappointed, but still happy with the pictures the pink camera took. There are more photos in my flickr set, but here are some of the ones I liked.
Sunrise over Muskoka.
At lunch time, icicles glimmered in the sun off the roof of the dining hall.
Late afternoon, the sun started to set over Lake Rousseau.
I painted a tile in the art cabin. (The paint never dried properly in the cold and later melted along with the condensation on the tile – just like a real snowflake!)
The next morning, more explorations by the lake. There was a circle of unfrozen water near the dock, and it was so blue.
Homebound. I was mesmerized by the dust-frosted school bus window and how it filtered the sunlight and shadows.
Back on city roads again. The school bus basking in the warm glow of the setting sun.
So, what I learned from this trip, is that over the years, though my comfort zone has been stretched in certain ways, it’s also become restricted in many areas. As I became older I learned more about myself and I learned to better avoid stress and stressful situations. I learned to avoid situations that would potentially trigger unpleasant memories. So it’s rather uncharacteristic of me to take this trip, but somehow I felt that I needed to do this. And I guess I needed to do this so that I know I’m not as adaptable as I thought I am and I still have a lot of spiritual and emotional growing to do.
Anyway, I think this makes some good reflections on Chinese New Year’s eve! A new year begins and hope is renewed as we look forward to spring. (Er, despite the snowstorm that blasted through the city last night…)
Have a happy Wednesday!
He was one of the most compassionate people I knew. A true artist. He believed in the artist in me, even when I had given up on every aspect of myself.
And he said to me as we parted ways, “no matter what you do, never stop making art.”
And I wish I could tell him that, over the years, how much his words had helped me nourish myself and the artist in me. That even though many years have gone by, his words still encourages me. That I haven’t stopped making art, and I will never stop making art.
And I will always remember your kindness, C. I hope you are at peace.
