Wool Gathering, 1883 by Henry Hetherington Emmerson
Indulgence in aimless thought or dreamy imagining; absentmindedness, daydreaming, reverie, musing, preoccupation, absorbed.
I have learned a new word and it rather defines me in my life as though I invented it. Meandering in thoughts, as if walking through hilly meadows collecting tufts of wool, I do ponder, always one thing or another. I guess, it is ” woolgathering ” that I am up to; contemplating life-to-be when our house is finished being rebuilt. I am embracing the woolgathering, and in more ways than one.
In the painting, there are three women stuffing found things (wool) from bushes, or the ground, into their bags. One of them and her dog seems to have come upon and surprised a small group of sheep.
I am bemused by gathering actual wool too. Knitting in a frenzy ten-at-a-time, on my new birch wood dpns, and writing and testing a new pattern, and collecting wool in yarn form (mostly sock yarn presently) and in dyed roving form (for blending on my remade blending board) and to spin on my wheel (a gift, which is destined to be freed from a tightly packed shed) … to fulfill that quest which consumes me. I gather wool, thoughts, ideas, and the tools of the trade for the work in the territory ahead. Woolgathering is just what I do for now.
I am definitely a woolgatherer (noun), out woolgathering (verb).
What are you woolgathering about?
Jenjoyce Design 
Hmmmm…I’ll have to think about that for awhile, but it does make me imagine being a wool gatherer. Gleaning tufts of wool wherever you can find them as you wander the hills.
Hey, you are a word person, have you ever heard that word used in conversation? You are most definitely a woolgatherer….yes you are!
I mean, by profession. xx
Nope I have not heard that in conversation, but then again, I don’t work around terribly literate folk. HA!
Wool gathering!
you discovered a word treasure…..
I am collecting / gathering, beside wool, dreams. Dreams about all things wooly, what pattern and where to knit. (and with whom in accompaniment – my preferred knitting group is spread around the world: from California and Canada to Sweden and Germany)
Thanks Jen, for sharing your woolgathering thoughts
Mein Petrachen, du bist ein uber Woolgatherer! xx
🧶😊
😘
My Gram used to use that word, it’s a lovely one!
Your Gram was a cool lady 🙂 xx
She was, indeed!
I couldn’t think of what I might woolgather about. So that made me realize I need to allow myself more time for woolgathering…instead of finding things (like crosswords) to keep my mind occupied. A goal for the coming week….allow space for woolgathering.
Angie, yes, I think a pause now and then through the day is essential, and maybe even the secret to longevity!
I do go a woolgathering daily, in my knitting and spinning quests… gathering ideas for patterns to knit, fibers to spin. My blending board of 2 years or more is still only slightly used and calling to me. So are my Moy McKay books of tutorials on how to create beautiful felted and stitched scenes of colorful fibers.
Miss you, Jenn. But have many fond memories of our spinning woolgatherings at your beautifully remembered mountain home, my mountain home, and other lovelies homes from our local fiber group. I’m so thrilled your new home is underway and can’t wait for the moment you announce its completion.
Hope to see you one day.
Debbie Emery
Debbie, how heartwarming of you to say! Yes, I think I should reinstate the gatherings of wool-gatherers…lol…. as soon as the house is able to welcome you all. Lately I’ve been woolgathering also of what things I might start blending on my blending board as soon as I set up studio again, going to try pastels, so drawn to them lately. Thank you! ~~ xx