My quiet knitting corner.
All in all , things are incredibly quiet up here in the hermitage.
Normally there are a frenzy of things going on, and posting becomes a rhythm of marking creative process, in the days striding out into weeks. Although lately, not so much, I wonder is this perhaps the calm in a storm?
A year ago life seemed utterly bursting. Last year at this time I was immersed in a couple of exhaustive & major pattern-writing projects, helping Jeff get his old house ready to put on the market, rewriting several musical compositions at practice & playing gigs in the duo, still meeting my family often in Calistoga for visits while my nieces still were totally keen for photo shoots & sleepovers, new fleeting friendships bubbling up out of a mysterious internet abyss, and Emma and I were trekking the mountain ridge up to the precipice, together through the wild, and through the seasons. So much was going on in fact, that I couldn’t imagine how anything would possibly change, nor how quickly things shift, creativity cycles, relationships recede, nor how stifling those changes would feel.
My corner reveals a feeling of quiet solitude that I must admit is not entirely relaxing…. nay, it is inwardly stressful. I am always fighting clutter as my nemesis, as it is a tribute to an indecisive and worrisome state of being, so surfaces are nearly stark naked by my best efforts, and yet I now long for gleeful active mess which abandons any idea of order.
melon in the eclipse
Just knitting the rows & rounds of two sweaters for nieces, for some future day well after the equinox, when I will pass them on and post another Sweater Success which marks the end of a job well done only to hop on to the next. But this time, I am actually not sure what is next.
Emma is keeping watch over the woods so that there are no unsettling strange things able to lurk up from behind. She is doing much better moving about and we are walking together more, strengthening our weaknesses together.
Emma in the eclipse, Aug 14, 2017
* * *
Anyway, I have continued to discover old films about textile industry, this being a cheery silent one very apropos for my quiet days. It also seems to reveal a new direction of interest that I am exploring…
Jenjoyce Design 
Sending you hugs in the quiet afternoon. Enjoy it while it lasts! There is nothing so certain as change, right?
Aww, thanks, from both Emma & moi. The cool is definitely coming and all the leaves starting to fall from the maples is transformative!
Isn’t it? I feel like I better get my wood in or I’ll be weathering a storm without a fire and its not even October yet!! What the heck! But I love it
We are working on our woodpile this weekend…
I think you should take on a couple of apprentices and hire a biographer. You are a coffee table book waiting to be written. And you need title of some sort. If you acquire another skill (which you will do, no doubt, if you explore “a new direction of interest”), I might hyperventilate. Great photo of Emma and your lovely backdoor view. You can almost see the crescents in the shadows. Have fun, though, you prodigy. Don’t change a thing about yourself, even if, as Sorcha Grey so sagely points out, change is the only certainty.
:» }
Terry, you are seriously & slyly tracking my words, you vixen! I am only hinting that I would like to explore another new thing in the knitwear, no crazy new hobbies, be assured. Thank you hug-fulls for all of your rooting and encouraging! But what is most important ~~~ have you survived Irma??? Did you get my other note worried about you? (( our internet is so off & on here, I am having trouble getting messages to people)). xx
So sweet of you to think of me! Yes, my trees were polite, staying upright and holding all of their branches intact. My electricity and communication devices (says Mr. Spock) were out for about 12 hours, but compared to what so many are suffering, I have no complaints. Do you have applications for your apprentice positions for Sorcha and me? :» }
Terry, I am SO relieved your trees did not fly away, or any pets or your home! Wished you lived nearby Sorcha & I up here on the mountain, the tree of us (wait… did I say tree? ) the three of us would get along very well, but she’s a lot more interesting to talk to in person than I am ~~ because I am just a rabid knitter and a bit squirrelly too. 🙂
I second that thought! She IS a coffee table book waiting to be written. That’s brilliant,….Hmmm, a title. Something to mull over….
LOL… you two wonderful women… my fan club…. awwwww. 🙂
I am definitely in your fan club. I haven’t checked the comments for a bit . I am a tree neighbor and admirerer of the immense talents you possess. Also shout out to Sorcha Grey ♥️♥️😍
Michele, you are so sweet to come forth… and I wish you would come hang out in my corner and contemplate creative waves with me. xx
((to shout out to Sorcha, simply reply to her comment, she will see! ))
Jen, remember your Nordic friend so very far away but ever so close in mind…. Love your spinning thoughts on life and nature, admire your wonderful pics AND WISH I COULD SIT IN YOUR SWEET CORNER….contemplating creativity, order and disorder.
I am so happy about Emma being well, too.
A big HUG from a big fan❤️❤️❤️
Such an amazing thing, that you would comment on this little philosophical bit, I was sure to delete it this morning, but the rare encouragement from someone I so very much admire , you Yvonne from the wilds of Sweden!!! Thank you dear, we are close in spirit, knitting through the order & disorder, that is for sure. xx
Yvonne, I crave to have the family surround as you do ~~ how was your amazing crayfish feast? Did you all gather and eat in your Garden Room?
So enjoyed watching the linen video. The process at that time was so labor intensive it should have cost hundreds for a yard. I love sewing with linen……such a crisp and responsive fabric, but I never stopped to consider how it is made. I love reading your blog and seeing your photos.
Anina thank you very much, and how great of you to comment! I have a Thing about linen myself, and there will be a lot more to share in forthcoming posts, watch this space!
I always distrust the quiet moments myself, although I find myself craving them when I’m swamped as I am currently. Funny how that works, isn’t it?
I couldn’t agree more! I will find myself going all day most days in total silence, while I’m working away furiously on something, but then when the work stops, and the silence becomes loud, that’s when it takes some bracing.
The wood in your house is lovely.