happiness is ...

One project off the needles ...

my new shrug ...

Another one on ...

A third waiting in the wings.

Nothing makes me happier than experiencing the delight of beautiful wool caressing my fingers, lingering in my hands.  I  express my love through wool.  There is great pleasure in the making and more pleasure in knowing I have the perfect person in mind for the particular piece I am working on.  

How I love Autumn!  Time to cuddle up, cozy in, a mug of something spicy and warm by my side and the sense of short days filled with my most favorite of things.  Perhaps it is knowing the days are shorter, I tend to plan less but focus more intently upon what I do love, what does matter.

Quick now, here, now, always-
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything) 

T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding

hitting the reset button ...

In countering the downward pull of Winter inertia, sometimes the only thing to do is dive right on in ...

2014 Mandala *

It takes discipline and a great deal of clarity to discern where I want to put my energy and what truly restores me (reading one of the many good books stacked by the bedside versus vegging out before the television; creative practice versus facebook chatter) and then implementing routines to support those choices.

Yes, I am putting myself to bed early (thank you dear Mel) which makes so much sense given I am winding down with Cowgirl anyway.  So now I segue from reading with her to reading my book in bed, preferably with a cuppa Sleepy Time by my side.

Then it is up early (again, thank you Mel!) for some meditation/mindfulness practice.  Easing myself into the day with candle light, smudging, and time to listen for the shy, quiet, small voices that speak the essential truths needed to fortify me for the challenges ahead. Enjoying the stillness of the day before the others are up and about.  Taking time to return to my art journals and play which is how I often stumble into the deeper matters that bang about the hallways in my grey matter.  Painting those conversations and clearing space for new ones to enter and educate me.

Don't get me wrong ... I am still set to slowwww motion ...

But finding my way back in, finding my rhythm and making the moves towards new growth, new expansion and fun projects.

Already cast on another knitting adventure (oh, the fun of felting!  You'll have to wait and see!) but a peek at completed pieces ...

My cap is Dustland pattern - super fun and easy

Cowgirl wearing slouchy version of knit hat found in Issue 8 of Taproot Magazine

So yes, change is in the air. Adventure surely will follow ...

And speaking of pigs (didn't you know that's what we are talking about now?) just a couple days left to get your name into the hat and possibly win an autographed copy of Misfits of Love by Katherine Dunn.  And the author has promised to send the winner an art card with artwork from the book!  All the details are here.

No doubt the upswing in my mood is the result of this amazing bundle of Winter Self Care goodies created by the equally talented and amazing Mandy of attualmente.  

I hardly ever win anything (I once won nurse's timer at a work sponsored Holiday party) so this was the mother lode of goodies and given my winter funk, they arrived in the nick of time!  In fact, I am off to enjoy a trifecta of treats: bath bomb, vanilla creme lotion and homemade limoncella.  Buona notte miei amici e buona fortuna!

(* My mandala madness is in preparation for my contribution to  21 Secrets Art Journaling Workshop which will be released April 1, 2014.  It is a a stellar array of artists offering techniques and ideas for creative art journaling and when you sign up, you get all 21 programs in one handy & beautiful eBook to keep and return to forever!  Sign up now for the special pre-sale discount of $89!) 

Crafting under pressure ...

I have never been one to procrastinate (I can't handle the stress), but something about the holiday crunch brings out the crafty mama in me. It could be the caffeine overload (my little "reward" for being a good holiday elf is a hazelnut latté) or it could be the barrage of holiday music pulsating through my brain or it could be chocolate-induce mania, but I've crossed a threshold and am blazing a trail through patchwork, wool draped, paint splattered Neverland of holiday gift making. 

To give an accurate idea of the extent of my mania ... I came home the other day and found myself with a couple of hours on my hands.  I ask you: what else do you do when you find yourself with a window of unclaimed time?  Sew an apron, right?

Reading the Little House Books to Cowgirl, I was seized by this idea that an apron would be just the thing for holiday 2013 (if it was good enough for prairie 1885, it is still in style now, mais non?) The above photo crops out the pile of holiday crap cards waiting for me to address them (right hand corner) and the photo album with pictures stacked off to the side (under the plastic bag) and the clutter of journals and paint supplies left waiting for that perfect day ... But all of that was easily pushed to the side so I could use the corner of the table to cut fabric. (And yes, I am a dare-devil who cuts fabric on top of a table cloth without cutting board or ruler which might explain the lack of straight edges in my sewing projects.) 

it's lined!  i know - i am that kind of crazy!

The next morning I awoke with presents to take to the post office, but not before adding an embroidered bookmark to one package. (Full disclosure: I have sitting on my sewing tray an piece of embroider that has been in process since last Spring.)

As the knitting needles rest empty, I had to cast on a hat project for Cowgirl's stocking ...

And today I bought more wool for another holiday gift which I am conceding will be a New Year's gift.  (Along with another sewing project I have in mind. I mean, hey - the fabric is out from the basement and ready to be used!)

Even Cowgirl has gotten in on the crafty holiday spirit.

 

Happy elves are we.  Happy holidays to you all!  I'll see you when the weather thaws and the wool is gone.  xo

I totally blame these two women for my madness.
 

unfamiliar feeling ...

I've been feeling odd lately ... strangely contented, my days more or less puttering along at a comfort pace with a blanket of ease warming all that I do.  Recognizing there have been projects long on hold - stacks of paintings started and now marinating; files in blurb and shutterfly accounts awaiting my attention; art journals in progress (one for Cowgirl that has languished for over a year now) - all that sits piled around the edges of my awareness and still I feel relaxed and at peace with the status quo.

Shifting gears doesn't feel likely at the moment.  I've been enjoying what are for me the leisurely arts - knitting, sewing, slapping bits torn from magazines and catalogs into my Smash journal. Perhaps I am connecting with a previous life as an educated lady awaiting my turn for the grand tour? (oh, how I wish!) 

one sleeve still to go ...

 

The continued cold weather actually excites me because I keep bookmarking new knitting projects while busily finishing up current ones.  There is only so much wool one person can wear, but I am determined to push the envelope on that front.  Possibilities ... ah yes, my word for 2013 ... possibilities and enticements keep popping up in front of me.  

In the spirit of encouraging more cultured practices, Cowgirl has been keeping up some penpal activities and so I made her this pouch to store the mail bounty that comes her way.  

 

I made a second one for her buddy and have fabric awaiting a third creation (spoiler alert for one reader - shhhh ... don't spill the beans!) 

the directions for these "satchels" came from the book Handmade Home

 Meanwhile, we've (well, okay, me) have begun what I hope will become a regular practice: a family journal.  

In years past Cowgirl and I would spend long drives home discussing our top 5 or 10 moments from our days.  Low or challenging moments where also shared and it was a lovely way to capture the moments that might otherwise slip away.  Now Cowgirl's school is a mile away and the habit vanished.  Hence a journal which I intend to pull out after dinner and in it record the stories of our days.  The Husband has already predicted this will last a few weeks (he's seen all my journals scattered about) but he forgets my stubborn streak (I know, me?!) and determination to prove him wrong (hey, I will admit when I'm wrong ... when it happens ...)

Perhaps I will soon record in our journal a leisurely and luxurious painting session?  So far the only thing I've worked on in recent months is this piece attempting to capture the moment when our cat, Frida, left her body and flew (yes, I felt it!) into her next adventure.  

That was almost 4 years ago (her passing, not the painting), but the memory is vivid and I want to honor the teachings she shared with all of us about life, determination (no is not a possibility) and -  ah, yes! - contentment.  (Our previous dog, Bandit, has been nosing his way into my consciousness and perhaps his will be the next memorial?)

So that is where I am ... for the moment.  I know from experience that this place is the top of the wheel (much like reaching the top of a hill on a bike) and I am enjoying the coasting feeling which I know all too soon will hit a bottom and require mad pedaling for the hill up climb.

But by then, perhaps I will have a newly knitted shawl to comfort me as I go ...

I think the difference is maybe I'm busy doing and not indulging in excessive thinking or worrying.  Taking the compulsive navel-gazing out and leaving the fun in.  I am getting wiser in my old age? Or just tired and better able to let things go?

cozying in ❋

This morning the possibilities of the day seem shrouded in secrecy.

I walked Moose in the dark dawn mist, coming home dewy damp and steaming warm after trudging in heavy boots, snow pants and coat.

The day spreads out before me ... I hear the drone of the heat pump, the click of the coffee maker, the snores and sighs of the dog. (What burdens his soul?  Where do his dreams take him and what adventures require such snorts, yips and twitches?)

I have been in cozy-down mode.  Lots of knitting, finishing up holiday gifties and realizing there are more I want to make/send as I love the idea of being a kind of craft-crazy Robin Hood spreading wealth through the postal mail.

i finished this shawl ... the yarn was purchased pre-Cowgirl for a more complicated pattern but i welcomed simplicity into my life and followed this easy peasy pattern (i could swear i had started this only a few months ago but in the course of finding the pattern i discovered i cast on back in ... april?)

Possibilities ... possibilities ... 

 

Every day I wake up and feel excitement knowing that I am staying wide open to adventures and growth.  Trips are being planned. eek! ... one to New Zealand as a belated 50th wingding celebration of sisterhood; and now a family trip to a cottage somewhere - Devonshire? (ancestral stomping grounds of the Husband) Scotland? (my mother's side of the family) or Ireland? (where we honeymooned 24 1/2 years ago) Wherever we go, Cowgirl has been reassured dragons and fairies are there.

My girl who described herself in her school autobiography as skill, love, fast, happy.

yes, more knitwear completed ... girl not available to model but her stand-in from school  was very cooperative! (pix for their tongue-twister project)

Lover of dragons
Who fears spiders
Who needs shelter
Who gives friendship 

How would my autobiography read? All about Lisa: laughing, loud, eclectic, joy. Lover of love, who fears separation, who needs color & song, who gives all of her self. 

Ah, yes ...  a True Joy Warrior, Ninja mom with camera.

 If this post seems a little jumpy it is probably because I am on a water challenge which means I am constantly stopping to sip water and constantly jumping up to pee!

How's all that for a week?  And I've got more brewing for you all next week! ;)

Until then ...
 

 

wednesday pause

Slowly easing back into things ...

january 4 & 5 selfies:

total geek, i know ... matching hats made over the break

polaroids:

The Impossible Project's PUSH color film ... so far, my images come out magneta

artcards:

actually a ATC (i have been mailing a piece of art out every week - snail mail rules!)

and taking time for reflecting:








Not bad for a first week back.

How about you? How's the new year treating you so far?