Tag: Kate Davies

Moments of Inspiration

There are a lot of people who can inspire you, but how many can put their challenges into words that inspire?  Here, above, we have the book Handywoman, by Kate Davies.  Eight years ago she had a stroke, and went from an agile, athletic, academic woman to someone whose world was suddenly in upheaval.  This book is about her recovery, but more than that, it is about the trials and tribulations, the mental and emotional and physical challenges.  Being inside another’s mind in all this turmoil is one of the gifts of this book.

Simply put, it’s one of the best books I have read this year.

And, that made me get out my needles and yarn.  I decided I was going to learn to knit with both hands.  My preferred method is English – throw the yarn with the right – and have struggled numerous times to use my left hand to any useful degree.  Continental knitting leaves me befuddled if I only use my left hand – but using both is pretty simple.  (Mirrors? – read Kate’s book to find out more!)  I have a problem transferring learning from the right side of my brain to the left, probably remnants of a very serious head injury when I was a kid.

Kate went from being an academic to a woman running her own business, writing books, creating patterns, and developing her own line of wools.  Take a look at her blog if you don’t know who she is – I’ve been following her for years and always enjoy what she has to say.

Some Yarn at Last, or, Asta Sollilja

Asta Sollilja

Beginning mid-December, I started this sweater, designed by Kate Davies, and available in her book Yokes.   Asta Sollilja is a sweater derived from traditional Icelandic sweaters, but with waist-shaping (not that I have much of one!) and short rows to make a distinctive front and back. Traditional Icelandic sweaters have neither, but are wearable in any direction, although with regular wear, take on, perhaps, more of the owner’s body shape.

I used Cascade 220 and changed the colorway a bit, cutting down on one color and using navy blue for the dark brownish color as well as the navy.

I just finished this sweater and was soooo excited, I just had to take pictures of it! I used Jeny’s Stretchy Bind Off, which is fantastic in that it is tidy, and stretchy, and can be done quite nicely with 2×2 ribbing at the neckline.  You can see the video here.

I still have ends to weave in and armholes to graft before the final wash and blocking – but this is the first Finished Object of the season – my New Year’s resolution – the BIG ONE – is to finish up my plethora of UFOs.

 

 

Project Inventory

Today is nearing the end of the spring break.  The weather has been wonderful, with a day of rain to clear the air, and sunny days with wind and fair skies.  The trees are budding into leaf, the birds are making love songs, and the squirrels, well, are going nuts.

And in the middle of all this, I have managed to get a grip on things, meet up with people for lunch, read a bit, knit, and think about (but not do) some gardening.  I have a fig tree and plum tree which need attention, a vine to move, and so on.  And a lot of knitting projects.  When I have time to play, I like to begin things.  But do they get done?

Owls

All I need to do is sew on the buttons – but I made a mistake in the darts so, rip it or not? This is a pattern by Kate Davies at Needled.

Buttoned Cardigan

Only a few inches left on the sleeve and I am done. What’s taking me so long?  This is a cardigan by Eva Weichmann, owner of Eva’s Needlework in Thousand Oaks, CA, which I’ve mentioned before.


Top Down Beret from Hell

I’m beginning the decreasing toward the brim . . . not soon enough!

Hat in Design Mode

I found an issue here – bobble placement. Back to the drawing board.

Golden Autumn by Lucy Sweetland

Just a gorgeous hat, but I got sidetracked.  Lucy is one of my favorite designers and photographers.

Gloves

One hand down, another to go.

Mittens in Design Mode

Out of my Cascade 220 stash.

The Relentless Scarf

So boring I can’t stand it.

Socks

Lots of socks.  Too many.  And this is not all the inventory, either.

Socks to be Ripped

The yarn is from Riihivilla in Finland, naturally dyed with cochineal and indigo.  I’ve decided that the yarn is too pretty to hide on my feet, so now all this is sitting on my desk while I reconsider how to use the yarn to show it off.

Victorian Lace Shawl

Nearly done. It’s been sitting on a shelf for two years. I don’t know what is taking me so long, but I think it will get finished pretty soon.  It is a beautiful yarn, perfect for the pattern, and the colors have a lovely iridescence.

What’s a girl to do?

Perspective

These past few months I feel I have been drowning in a sea of stress, most of which has been precipitated by external events.  The main event was the springtime RIF (reduction in force), which in education is becoming an annual event.  This pushed me to take the CBEST, which is the “California Basic Educational Skills Test.”  I did this to add to my credential – but until I get a job in any one of my qualifying areas, I’ve just got a letter stating I am qualified.  I added eight adult subjects.  All this took up most of January and some of February, with my attending classes every weekend until I took the test.  The Ides of March date for RIFs (in California) passed me by, but over 200 colleagues in a district with 900 teachers received RIFs.  The final notice date will not be until May 15th; the classified will know on April 30th.  While my period of employment / no employment has passed, others are still in line.

Stress takes its toll.  Blood pressure rises, sleep becomes overwhelmingly desired or impossible, depression and a sense of helplessness are constant companions.  Fatigue makes functioning a challenge at times; for me, this fatigue is mental.  The making of a decision is hard.  To focus on one thing is elusive as restlessness causes me to pick something up, and then put it down.  Reading, moving, thinking, doing, accomplishing are too much effort even though I know that once I start actually doing them, and determined to finish them, much of that hill of inertia begins to disappear.  However, that hill is really a Mt. Everest in size.

Perspective, though, does make an opening through all of this.  I am not as bad off as some, and certainly worse off than others.  I know what I want to do, and I know how positive completing something – reaching a milestone, putting another step forward – is.

All this came together for me when I read Kate Davies’ current post on her blog Needled.  She suffered a sudden, unexpected stroke several weeks ago.  Reading her writings of her life post-stroke are painful and inspiring, a solid reminder of the fragility of our own daily existence, as well as our ability, and need, to move beyond the current limitations of life, whether physical, mental, emotional, circumstantial.  Today’s post, invisible metaphors, spoke of many things and works she was reading.  Kate requested input for reading material, and that is when I remembered this poem I read in my teens, found in an old schoolbook of my father’s, that has provided a light in the darkness for me over the years.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

–William Ernest Henley

Human history continues, individually and collectively.  Perspective can shift attitude.  “Fake it ’til you make it.”  Pandora’s box.  1 Corinthians 13.  Viktor Frankl.

Forget this, and all may be lost.