Fiber & Projects, Ahoy!

“The pages afforded glimpses into my soul where I'd hidden it, behind masks of paper and ink.” 
― Rachel L. Schade

Phix's Curiosity: what sparks my interest

Watch this space to see what's sparked my interest this week.  A random grab bag of delights!

So the team that presents theMastering Leadership coursethat I took a number of years ago is opening up this next round to prior participants to retake for free.  I'm... sorely tempted to take it again. FREE, people! When I took it the first time, it was dawning on me that I had some significant social (and situational) anxiety stuff that I needed to take to a mental health professional. While the class was amazing, I also had a bunch of stuff I wanted to revisit after doing some of the anxiety work. I think the anxiety work will always be ongoing, but I have a better handle on a useful tool set and a solid therapist, and since they're offering... I know they've also refined their content and gotten new certifications which will no doubt contribute to the class. AND - this time it's in the afternoon instead of horrible o'clock in the morning! :D

I also feel like I need to get a game plan together for the next 15 or 20 or however long I'm going to have to stay in the workforce.  Which is a semi-related piece that's associated with this.  
  

Medusa's Garden

When you need every one and everything around you to just stop.

We need the gun violence to stop. Seriously. 
 


Ariadne's Yarn: playing with threads

What I'm up to with fiber and possibly how mythology and stories all tie together.

Onward!  I have wrapped up the red and black Romney - it looks fabulous & I ended up with just shy of 350 yards of it.  Now I'm looking for the right pattern for it. 

Which means I started new yarn!  This one is a merino-alpaca blend.  Back to the super soft stuff. :)  And, actually, I got another new spindle for reasons (shush, I can stop when I want to!) - and for some unknown reason I thought it would be a good idea to do silk hankies on those.  I am remembering why silk hankies are sort of a pain to spin, regardless of spinning device... Is good practice to shake things up every once in a while though...



I also started a new weaving project.  I got the warp set up on Monday, but probably won't have time to get it actually on the loom until sometime this weekend... on the upside, the weekend is almost here. :)


I'd say of the three pictures here, the one where the yarn is on the swift (that weird round merry-go-round contraption) is probably the most true to color.  The bottom right is the warp setup & I was trying to capture some of the color variant that went into what is mostly a light blue yarn. I love this yarn color, though, as is often the case, it's not really a color I'd wear much of.

 

Mythic Librarian: the art of arranging a life 

Thoughts on ontology and ways to organize a life.

Sometimes I need to sit and write in my journal.  I actually need to do it more often than I get around to, but it's an excellent way for me to try to make sense of what's going on around me.  Or at least do a brain dump and get some cathartic release from looking at it all on the page in front of me.  

When I was in college, I used to buy books on journaling. Prompts and questions and suggestions, recommendations, and open spaces.  Those can be useful, but so much of what I need to get out is... brain dump.  The dumb stuff that is building a rut in my brain.  Or the things I'm really worried about. Or something else that I'm trying to pick apart and figure out.  

It's weird to look back at what I remembered to write about and what I didn't.  Sometimes I regret not having captured everything when I go back to look.  I remember clearly some moments - I SEE YOU - and then when I go back to see what it was because surely I would have written about that... I didn't.  Isn't that the way of it though? Momentary-ish catharsis, I guess.  But maybe it's time to start digging out some of those old books on journaling and see what comes to me thirty-or-whatever years on. 
 
With love, and structure, and organization, and curiosity - may Ariadne's ball of yarn guide you through the labyrinth safely until next time!

--Susan