Sitting And Knitting And Thinking

Last Sunday - as in a week ago - I woke up to excruciating pain in my left foot, particularly in my big toe. Apparently, with all the bending I'd been doing I'd been over-extending it to the point where it'd had enough. This is not any kind of glamorous sports injury; it's a repetitive motion energy - and one that makes me feel like an old lady hobbling around fretting about her toe.

The work that's waiting involves either more bending or climbing ladders and reaching upward so I've been mostly sitting and knitting. Right now, there's a huge thunderstorm rolling overhead and the sound of the rain on the roof is quite beautiful. The drops are so huge I even managed to photograph them and the pond is getting buckets of fresh run-off. Perhaps the rain will also help the fire situation. I hope so.

Sitting and knitting would be more accurately described as sitting and knitting and thinking. I've had a lot of time to ponder the creative work I'm waiting to get to as well as think about the women who have influenced what I'm doing. Three stand out. I met Marcy Tilton and Diane Ericson at the first two Design Outside the Lines retreats that I attended in Oregon, USA. They were a wonderful teaching couple as they approach their work from different but complementary angles. I met Katherine Tilton - Marcy's sister - at Sew Expo in Seattle Washington shortly after. She designs many of my favourite patterns - in that architectural style that I really enjoy.

While I've never studied with Katherine, we were both students in the same class earlier this year and I took two retreats with Marcy and numerous more with Diane as well as working one-on-one with her for several years. Through them I discovered a way of being creative that I'd been searching for for a long time. Together they gently - and sometimes not so gently - pushed and encouraged me toward finding my authentic style and working in the way that is me. I am forever grateful to them for guiding me along that path and for continuing to encourage and support me. Who are you grateful to?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - inspiring mentors

Where A Tickle Will Take Me

This is my third summer since moving to this house and I'm still in the processing of making it mine which has involved learning a lot of new things - like how to build retaining walls and decks - and how to landscape and create gardens. New is good. Trying new things builds on what I already know and stretches my brain in different directions.

Last week, I finished the deck on the upper back level and so far this week, I've been landscaping around it and moving plants from different parts of the yard. It's probably too hot for moving plants but now is the time that I have and they'll either live or not and I deal with that then. They're being watered regularly. This should help.

This garden moves down the hill to the left of the deck. This is the access for the jewelry studio when it is finished.

 

The 12 x 16' shed came with the house and I love how it looks like an English country cottage. It was a previous owner's wood working shop. The first time I saw it, I thought studio. At the moment, it's not level and sits on a rather sketchy foundation. Once it's properly placed, I can put in the brick patio between it and the retaining wall and then determine the height of the stairs which will then let me finish the walkway. For now, this is as done as it can get.

One of the main goals for this summer was to convert the shed into the jewelry studio and instead I seem to be doing all the other things that have to be done first. My current project is to paint the door and trim around the stairwell to the suite so I can advertise and get a new tenant. Thankfully, I haven't had one while all this work has been going on as I'd have felt bad about the mess and noise. While I'm at it, I'll paint the "studio" door at the same time - a start.

In his book Listening to Design: A Guide to the Creative Process, author Andrew Levitt writes "... we need only one idea to start and having one idea is more productive than having many" and "... in our techno society, with so much information available at our fingertips, the greatest adventure can increasingly be in the not knowing".

When you get a tickle, do you try that idea or do you find some way to talk yourself out of it looking for a better idea or a sure fire success or a known result? At one point in my life, I was always looking for the one right answer and for guaranteed success and now I enjoy the mystery of the unknown, following the path of a mistake, and seeing where a tickle will take me. I'm warm, dry, safe, fed, clothed, and loved. I need an adventure more than a guaranteed success.

Burda 7546 is from their Burda Young series. Young is relative depending on who you're standing next to although I doubt they intended young to be 56. However, in my case, that's what young is today. I have no idea if these pants will work for me but I'm intrigued to see if I can work it out. I'm testing the pattern using remnants left over from two other projects and some bits of elastic. Nothing is lost following this tickle and something will definitely be learned and that something will be a stepping stone to the next something. It's an adventure. What sewing adventure have you taken lately?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a shorter to do list