Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf.

-- Rabindranath Tagore

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The Pi Shawl continues. I would be further along, except that I decided to rip it out nearly to the beginning and start over, because the colors of the two yarns were too different. So, after ripping it out last Saturday afternoon, here is where I am now (I was just about this far along, less about 5 rows when I ripped):

You can just see in the very bottom of the photo the last section of the stockinette stitch sections, which I didn't rip out and the color difference between the yarns is quite evident. But, I'm hoping that maybe it will look okay. Because I didn't notice how really rather drastic the color difference was until I took the shawl out into the sunlight. Ah well. Maybe I'll overdye the whole thing brown when Im done.

Anyway, I'm moving into the final section of lace triangles. Not sure if I'll knit all three rows of lace triangles, because it will be quite large at that. But will see. Right now it's a large blob on my circular needles. Think I might need to get a longer needle to finish this. It's going to be a seriously warm shawl. I'm thrilled.

And here is my window, copper foiling all finished. Next week, soddering commences.

The glass for the sky is just perfect. You probably can't tell from the photo but the glass for the sky has the tiniest tinges of pink in it. Perfect early-sunset sky colors. The pastures are the greens, and the mountains go from blue/green, to green/gray/brown, to gray/purple, to purple.

Stained glass is serious fun.

Tomorrow morning I'm off to the Spinner's Day Out. Gotta go pack my gear.

Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

-- George Bernard Shaw, Writer

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Lots of photos to share today!

First, four bobbins finished, from left to right: bison, cashgora, alpaca, polwarth blended with exotics ....



Turned into this loverly 4 ply yarn.



I love it's schlubbiness, from the polwarth blend which is a more textury fiber blend. So far, I have about 800 yards with more to go ... need to spin a tad more of the polwarth (luckily I have just a tad more) and the alpaca (loads more of that) to spin with the remaining bison and cashgora. So, I'm thinking I'll probably have another 200 yards when I'm done.

More than enough to finish the Pi Shawl, with leftovers. I do have to say that the bobbin of bison was like the never-ending bobbin from hell. I bought this fiber from a bison farmer out west and had it processed. It's very short; rather like spinning dryer lint (not that I've tried that ;-D ). Very soft, but not a quick fiber to spin. I'm rather glad I'm done with it.

Speaking of yarn (which we were, yes?). I don't often purchase yarn anymore. I have a wonderful stash (which doesn't get used much) and a trailer full of yarn which I feel I need to use whenever possible (the constant need for more booth samples). However, every now and then a yarn comes along that I just have to have. These are two of them ...

First, I should mention that I am one with consistently cold feet (not figuratively, literally). This first yarn is a perfect solution. I purchased my first skein of it at SPA last year in Maine, knitted a pair of socks, and proceeded to obsess about needing more socks like this for the past year. I finally got around to tracking down the wonderful woman who creates these yarns ~ Diane Knowlen at Oasis Fiber Mill in Maine. She's awesome. Her yarns are awesome. She blends angora from her bunnies into different blends, and the one I'm particularly fond of is called Toasty Toes ~ superwash merino blended with angora. Ooh la la. I wash these in the washing machine, but don't put them in the dryer. They've gotten a little pilly here and there (normal) and have slightly felted on the inside (wonderful).

So, I couldn't help myself. I bought these:



There was one more, in a tealy / turquoise color, that I gifted to my Mom, because she has cold feet, too. One other skein might go to another friend (probably the pink second from the left, which is actually more salmony than the photo shows), but the rest are mine mine mine.

Second, I bought another kit from Kathryn Alexander for another one of her funky entrelac hats. This one was a special order in colors for the Darling Daughter, who particularly likes subtle colors like bright turquoise and orange (preferably together). This is what came along yesterday (I particularly like how Kathryn puts her kits together into pretty Yarn Bouquets):



My new hobby, making stained glass, continues. I'm now working on a window that will go in the opening of my meditation room which overlooks the living room. Here's me working on it:


(with Jackson the cat supervising me)

And here is progress so far:



I drew this picture, and then simplified it a bit so it would work. You might be able to see in the photo that there are open areas around the outside frame of different textures of clear glass; these are for air flow. I like it's rather "Dr. Seussian" look (Patty, my teacher, calls them Happy Trees). I love love love how it is turning out. Wait til you see the glass that will be the sky. So totally awesome. And thanks to Patty at De'Danaan Glassworks, for taking the photos for me.

Now that the more-than-one-hundred pieces of glass are cut, I am moving along quite quickly with the filing and copper foiling. It's so much fun. This is my first copper foil project, and I really like this technique.

Monday night and into Tuesday morning we had a light snow storm. This was one of those snows that makes great snowballs ~ sticky, clumpy, a tad slushy (typical Virginia stuff). But every once in a while, the snow falls just so, and the temperature is just so, and the world seems to come together just so, and we are gifted with a winter wonderland ...


view from the front door


view from the back door

With loveliness like this, we had to take a walk ...


the kids in the mountain laurel on the ridge, which is their new Fort.


the old logging road and bridge where we often walk. Brett fixed the bridge just enough for foot traffic to get across, or sit in the middle and watch the creek flow underneath you. Very Zen.


Our creek, where we swim in the summer (it's always SO cold, as it's spring fed from right out of the mountain).


this was my Thinking Rock when I was in highschool and we came out here on weekends. Now it's another one of the kids Forts in the Woods.


Brett, kids and Big Dog.

And lastly, lichen on a rock. We have alot of rocks, and small cliffs, on our property. We love them all.



The different colors and textures of lichen, tree mushrooms and moss consistently amaze and intrigue me. I love how this lichen is only about an eighth? a sixteenth? of an inch tall, but when you take a photo close up, without any corresponding context, it can appear to be a small, rocky evergreen forest ... okay, except for the pine needles in this particular photo, which rather provide some context.

Okay, so, enough photos.

Recently, Sheri at The Loopy Ewe interviewed me for her blog. She just posted it ~ check it out ~ The Loopy Ewe.

The Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam

This was a tough one. Mostly because I could NOT find the poem that has been on the tip of my tongue for the past several days, which is driving me crazy. If I find it, I'll post it later, but for now, 2 poems that speak to me ...

WILD GEESE

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk upon your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

-- Mary Oliver (1935 - )


I live my life in wandering rings
which spread over earth and sky.
I may not ever complete the last one,
but that is what I will try.

I circle around God, the primordial tower,
and I circle ten thousand years long;
and I still don't know if I'm a falcon, a storm,
or an unfinished song.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1976