a SMART update

in which our plucky heroine takes a look at the SMART results from September...

September SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	tunic muslin for B	carport cleared	yardwaste bin
2	gown muslin for M	shelves in SCA closet	5 yardwaste bags
3	2nd Pegasus embroidery	herb planter improved	funky red dresser
4	2 very tiny Roman enamels	housefront plantings mulched and weeded	old baby stroller from garden shed
5	8 Roman buttons	disassemble and clean venerable box fan	clay flowerpots
6	sample for Fox Paws	*	4 Goodwill bags
7	*	----------	2 paper recycling
8	*	----------	1 paper recycling
9	*	----------	4 Goodwill bags
10	*	----------	cardboard boxes
11	*	----------	----------

I am surprised that the results so far this year are rather the opposite of what I would expect, with things made trailing behind. And in the entire month I didn't make anything for myself at all.  I need to pick up the pace of thingmaking, if I intend to meet my goal by the end of the year...

:::

October SMART goal challenge

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	*	*	----------
2	*	*	----------
3	*	*	----------
4	*	*	----------
5	*	*	----------
6	*	*	----------
7	*	----------	----------
8	*	----------	----------
9	*	----------	----------
10	*	----------	----------

:::

Inktober

...in which our plucky heroine takes up the challenge tossed by her pal Vandy, and agrees to participate in Inktober

No, Inktober is not a celebration of wearable ink, though in Portland one might be forgiven for thinking that, as seemingly everyone has body ink of one sort or another. Though I have done drawings over the years that have ended up as permanent artwork on other folks, my own skin remains uninked...

Actually the challenge is to draw every day for the entire month, and to post the drawings online. So, this is my first drawing, done from a photograph:

Kipenzi, the beloved Basenji companion of my sister Gigi and her family for twelve years. They said their goodbyes yesterday, now he waits on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge...

The House-Dog's Grave

I've changed my ways a little; I cannot now
Run with you in the evenings along the shore,
Except in a kind of dream; and you,
If you dream a moment,
You see me there.

So leave awhile the paw-marks on the front door
Where I used to scratch to go out or in,
And you'd soon open; leave on the kitchen floor
The marks of my drinking-pan.

I cannot lie by your fire as I used to do
On the warm stone,
Nor at the foot of your bed; no,
All the nights through I lie alone.

But your kind thought has laid me less than six feet
Outside your window where firelight so often plays,
And where you sit to read‚
And I fear often grieving for me‚
Every night your lamplight lies on my place.

You, man and woman, live so long, it is hard
To think of you ever dying.
A little dog would get tired, living so long.
I hope that when you are lying
Under the ground like me your lives will appear
As good and joyful as mine.

No, dears, that's too much hope:
You are not so well cared for as I have been.
And never have known the passionate undivided
Fidelities that I knew.
Your minds are perhaps too active, too many-sided...
But to me you were true.

You were never masters, but friends. I was your friend.
I loved you well, and was loved. Deep love endures
To the end and far past the end. If this is my end,
I am not lonely. I am not afraid. I am still yours.

~ Robinson Jeffers

solitary foxen

...in which our plucky heroine returns to sticks and string...

Using my cardweaving fingering yarn, I knit a sample of the Fox Paws pattern one repeat deep and two repeats across, so as to get some idea of how this unusual and fascinating pattern works:

This flavor of knitting itself is quite anti-social, as I will need to really focus on the Very Complicated pattern to get all the increases and decreases correct, so no daydreaming, or hanging out chatting on this one… the pattern is mostly garter stitch, aside from the simple plain stockinette chevron section, with a most wild combination of increases and decreases to create the wonderful interlooped "fox paws".

Last week I ordered an assortment of yarn from KnitPicks in my favorite colors... all heathery darks and subtle tones, with a bit of opalescent bluegrey turquoise as an accent... This is going to be a beautiful coordinating light warm wrap, a new accessory for my cool weather clothing. No idea how long it will take to knit up, but it will be most satisfying in both the knitting and the future wearing...

Today I am grateful for knitting, which always brings an ongoing happiness in the process, a happy memory of being a child and learning from my mother the skills that serve me well my whole life long, a warmhearted glow at the kindness of a friend who gifted me with this pattern, and a steady foundation knowing that who I am is who I came in as; though scarred by the fires I've walked through, I am still that handicraft obsesssed child determined to add bits of beauty to the bright world by the works of her hands, and taking joy in the times I can share that knowledge with other folk on their own pathways...