Late Winter WIPs
Hello from Sleeve Island!
February 23, 2024 12:31
53ºF/ 12ºC, light rain, pressure 997, waxing gibbous
There’s a full moon rising tomorrow and I feel my intentions and creations coming on up too. This shift reminds me of bungee jumping off the Victoria Falls Bridge in 2011, falling upward, wondering how much further I would go before gravity took hold. At this time of the month, I look forward to the clearing, tidying, and weaving of loose ends that I steward while the moon wanes. Each phase of this celestial cycle serves to create a gentle paddlewheel for my work and life. For most of the last four years, I have juggled a small few priorities. Now there are many of irons in the fire!
There was a bog of depression and PTSD waiting for me after our final miles through the Great Dismal Swamp. Thank goodness I learned how to use a machete in the jungle and hold fast in rough seas. Our little life beside the James River is taking shape in the form of weekly routines and easeful gatherings and a reduction in the flow of newness. I continue to integrate my experiences at sea and on land, sometimes in a rush, sometimes slowly meandering. I suspect it’s the work of a lifetime!
I just got home from the Refugee and Immigrant Volunteer Services summit hosted by ReEstablish Richmond. Virginia has the second largest population of folks from Afghanistan and there are many organizations here that provide support with language, housing, transportation, and other services. I meet with an Afghani woman at 7 AM on Monday mornings to practice English before her kids wake up. We have a symbiotic relationship, passing tips for getting settled and telling each other about our lives. Our journeys are different, and yet we are both here, looking for the best place to buy sewing supplies and interesting ingredients. I loved gathering this morning and learning more about the ecosystem that supports folks who have found their home countries turn uninhabitable and made their way here to start again.
I got in the car to return home and decided to go without GPS. I flipped on the radio and Right Back To It by Waxahatchee was playing on WNRN. It’s time for me to get back to it. I hope you enjoy my works in progress!
Fiber
We went up to Michigan for Thanksgiving and I was reunited with a mystery sweater. I showed it to a few friends and asked for their ideas for finishing the neckline. One friend recommended looking for the pattern in my Ravelry library and bingo! Purchased December, 2011. I printed the pattern last week using our newly acquired machine and have been off to the races on the sleeves. The yarn is light lopi.
Here’s the row-a-day blanket as of yesterday — the purple stripes are time spent at our house, the white is at our sailboat Azimuth, and the green is visiting my folks in Michigan. These 366 stitches remind me that days are long but weeks are short!
I cast on this Balan cardigan in July, intending to sling it over the back of my desk once I started working again. It had served as a tangible thing to work on as we played our hands and waited for chips to fall on our new life.
Brooklyn Tweed featured Old Salt Studio’s sleeveless version during the height of the pandemic and it has been in my queue ever since. My knitting skills are rustier than I realized, and these cables and bobbles have gotten a bit off-kilter at times. Add in a game of yarn chicken — now resolved after a bit of sleuthing and sourcing. Momentum is building! I intend to tuck into it this weekend.
Book stack
I have a nightstand again after seven years of boat living. I cozied it up with unlimited books, a tea station, and my Nana’s basket for odds and ends. We use Lowe’s carpet samples for coasters and pieces of coffee bags for bookmarks.
The vertical books are in progress. I started The Quickening last night and stayed up way past my bedtime.
will be discussing it soon! I’m in Week 9 of Julia Cameron’s Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance.
Bonus finished objects:
Sausage and egg bites recipe from my cousin Liza and a simple balaclava knit in chunky lopi, a hand-me-down from my housemate’s partner’s trip to Iceland. Perfect for my walking to go lap swimming.
My desk is also newly adorned with a lighthouse lamp, turned by my husband Scott, plus my great grandpa’s tire patent, dueling whiteboard and bulletin board, and a frame thrifted on our recent wedding anniversary. The lighthouse is made of a birdseye maple from a friend in the Upper Peninsula, Brazilian rosewood, and guanacaste purchased on the last non-US stop of our sailing route.
