Fiber Security

/ Lisa / 2 Comments

My friend and fellow author, Susan Schreyer, met me for coffee last weekend and we started talking about our works in progress. First it was stories, but then that quickly moved on to fiber projects. She knits; I crochet. Is one better? Is one easier?

Me: Only one hook. Lower risk of stabbing your eyes out.

Susan: I’ll give you that.

Me: How the heck do you control thread, yarn, tension, when both hands are busy manipulating two needles?

Susan: Not so hard! You wrap the yarn around your fingers – either in the left hand or right, depending on if you’re a picker or thrower. Of course, if you knit with the Portuguese method, you wrap the yarn around your neck. Oh wait. I may have to give you this one, too. It does require some figuring out.

Me: You lost me at ‘either in the left hand or right…’. Counting is easier with crocheting, right? The stitches are only on one hook.

Susan: Counting is counting. And if you use circular needles, the stitches are on “one” needle, anyway. To be really honest, sometimes I don’t think I can count at all. I have to use “hacks” to make sure I’m accurate. Talk about feeling like you’ve failed kindergarten!! Jeez!!

Me: I still don’t understand how a knitter can make something longer than the length of a needle. With crocheting I can just keep going and going until I have a chain long enough to wrap around the whole family plus the dog.

Susan: Well, you just keep going with knitting, too. I can make a scarf as long as I want, and wrap around the family and cats! Back in the old days of using only two straight needles (instead of circular needles), you’d knit the pieces of a garment and then join them like you do with sewing. Come to think of it, you can do that with crocheting, too.

Me: Crocheting is holy. Well, okay, holey. You can make lace with crocheting but can you with knitting? Can you? I think not. Plus, you can say out loud that crocheting is holey and people will think you mean there’s a spiritual connection between you and the hook.

Susan: Too funny! As for lace: Yes! I can make lace via knitting, too. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between knitted lace and crocheted lace.

Me: Honestly, I have seen knitted lace and it’s beautiful. I suck at choosing colors that go together. I have no eye for that. The best advice regarding color that I ever received was from you when you said to not worry about whether something goes together and just choose colors that speak to me. That, I can do!

Susan: Aw, thanks! Choosing color for a project is a great way to express your personality. I love color. The way it can be used is endlessly fascinating to me. I’m a very visual person, which is odd considering I have no ability to close my eyes and imagine anything, much less color. On the other hand, maybe that’s why I find what is in front of my eyes so interesting.

Me: And yet, you imagine stories and turn them into books. That’s interesting though, and we might have to chat about this one day – the difference between what we see in our minds and what we see in front of us.

Me: I wonder which came first, crocheting or knitting. I think I’ll say crocheting so my craft feels more ancient than yours, even if you can make warm clothes for cold winter nights.

Susan: I think it was crocheting that came first, although there is something else called ‘Nalbinding’ that predates both. It uses a needle with an eye and short lengths of fiber.

Me: I have to look that up. I’ve never heard of it. Maybe we need to learn yet another fiber craft.

Me: Who in the world looked at fiber and first thought, ‘what would happen if you wrapped that around a hook? Heck, let’s make it harder and try two!’

Susan: Seriously, right??!! I often wonder, when working on a project, how did someone figure out the particular technique? I don’t really think knitting is harder than crochet – it’s just different. Regardless, the people who have come up with all the associated techniques had to have remarkable brains – real engineers!

Me: The whole concept of creating a pattern is beyond me because it’s so mathematical. Last week I watched a friend knitting this absolutely amazing blanket-size piece of fiber from a classic painting. She had spun the wool, dyed it, and was creating the piece as she worked rather than having a pattern. A river, trees, landscape.

Me: Yes, there’s counting and yes I need a pattern to pay attention to, but crocheting is oddly hypnotic and allows for daydreams and new story ideas. Maybe it’s the repetition, or simply keeping hands busy that allows the brain to disassociate from daily stress. I find it incredibly relaxing.

Susan: Me, too. Very meditative, which is good for your brain and your health.

Me: And let’s not forget the paraphernalia! All sizes and types of hooks. Cool containers to carry them in. Fun bags and baskets for the works in progress. Stitch counters with beautiful beads or charms. Beeswax in fun shapes for thread and needles. Notebooks for patterns. The perfect chair. The perfect cup for the perfect tea. The right music, or even finding quiet. And of course, patterns. So many, many patterns to try. Not to mention events like annual fiber shows with even more paraphernalia for sale that you didn’t even realize you needed. My baskets full of paraphernalia are your fault, for taking me to my first Fiber Fusion event.

Susan: It’s addictive. And people are so brilliant to come up with all of that.

Me: And of course, the friends. The circle of companions with fiber moving through their hands, old crafts with history and tradition, and the beauty that comes as a result.

Susan: Well said. Fiber arts, regardless of one’s niche, is way more than just something to do with your spare time.

Me: Spare time? With so many projects waiting for our hooks and needles? Good thing winter is on the way.

Try Again Tomorrow

/ Lisa / Leave a comment

I’m listening to a song called ‘Try Again Tomorrow’ by Audiomachine. It’s on my Creativity playlist on Spotify and it was the first one to start playing when I decided to come up with something to write about today. The title made me smile because, wow, what a temptation. Isn’t that the easy way out? Every photo here is a way I have found to put writing off lately.

I’ve been waiting for the next story to show up and tinkering in the meantime with what I call ‘snippets’. Little moments of dialog that a character is whispering to me occasionally. I don’t know what her story is yet but she has an intriguing voice and an even more intriguing question.

A visit to the rose gardens in Portland, Oregon

I’ve also been waiting for an idea to write about here that isn’t something I’ve already shared. I mean, it’s not like my life is fascinating and full of adventure to blog about.

So maybe I will try again tomorrow.

Except, putting things off is becoming an excuse. Which is why I laughed a little when the song started playing. All writers know if you want to write, you need to put your butt in the chair. Waiting for the muse rarely works as well as creating a routine and working on something, anything, to prime the pump.

A walk in the woods.

So what have I been working on? I’m learning to make journals. My excuse is that I’m still working with stories in a way, hands on paper, with just the pen missing. And the words. Also, the daydreams.

Last weekend I chatted with my son’s partner and she was telling me about a story she’s writing. We had so much fun talking about characters who suddenly decide they are going to take off on their own path and leave us following. It made me miss the excitement when that happens. Or when you are so sucked into the story that the world disappears until you suddenly come up for air and realize the whole day has also disappeared.

Driving to work this week, I thought about how long it’s been since I posted here. I don’t think I’ve had enough time lately to spend in my mind, if that makes sense. Too busy, too many changes, too many worries. Daydream time has been put off until tomorrow. Or the next day. Or next week. You know how it is when life gets busy and luxuries get forgotten along the way.

I don’t want to force a new story before it’s ready to come into the world. No premature book babies. I’ve learned that never turns out well. But I’m starting to feel antsy and missing writing, which is a good sign. I think the kettle of cold water is beginning to simmer.

So what song is playing now? ‘On the Nature of Daylight’ by Max Richter. One of my favorites on the Creativity playlist. But I think I’ll skip ahead to ‘I’ll Meet You Halfway’ by the Partridge Family, one of those guilty-pleasure songs you’re embarrassed to admit you still love to sing along to. And then I’ll put my butt in the chair. Maybe. Or maybe tomorrow. It’s getting kind of late in the day…

How to Outsmart a Cat

/ Lisa / 4 Comments

Invader Zim, Ruler of the Universe (Zim for short) came to us as a tiny kitten found in the woods with his mother and promptly named by our son after a cartoon character. He is now around fifteen or so, and refuses to live in comfort in the house. He will come inside, but only if the door is left open. Because we live where it snows, my husband built him a box on the porch that has a heat lamp, bed, and even a small window.

He also has a cat perch where he loves to sit and look in our living room window. My husband says we are his fishbowl and he likes to sit there and watch our activities. I think it allows him to be part of the family without being inside.

The thing is, he has my husband trained and unfortunately, my husband’s recliner is right next to the window and the perch. Zim waits patiently until he sits down and finally gets comfortable, and then bangs his head on the window. Not gently, not a polite knock, but a bang that you can’t ignore. I don’t know how he hasn’t ended up with brain damage. Zim, not the husband. Although, who knows. Because it drives my husband nuts.

Zim bangs when he wants food. When he wants cream. When he wants my husband to come outside and sit with him. And my husband is very well trained. Plus he has a finely developed sense of guilt so he can’t just sit there reading while Zim whacks his head on the glass.

So this weekend we moved all the furniture in the living room. Completely swapped the whole thing so that the recliner is now next to a window that does not have a porch or a cat perch and is not where Zim can see the husband. I wondered how many people rearrange their whole house to accommodate a cat that doesn’t even live inside. But it gave my husband peace of mind and allowed me to deep clean before winter.

So we outsmarted the cat.

For one evening.

Zim can no longer see us so he has started yowling. Loudly. For me, it’s no big deal as I can just take out the hearing aides. For my husband, with acute hearing and that guilt complex, he’s back to jumping up to get cat food.

Zim, ruler of our universe, has prevailed.