Jackie E-S is the owner of HeartStrings FiberArts, a showcase for her growing roster of original pattern designs. As a certified master knitter and teacher, Jackie continues to share her love of knitting and knowledge through design and publication of skill-building pattern instructions, and conducting workshops, programs and demonstrations. Her interest in the fiber arts extends beyond knitting and spinning to include weaving, dyeing and all needle arts. She also enjoys contract bridge and music.
As some of you know, for years I have occasionally taught a class titled “Looking at Yarns in New Way”. Actually, that class has had various titles along the way (like “Yarn Shopping Trip”) or parts of the class taught thereof (like “Knitting with Singles”), but invariably it comes down to understanding “what the yarn wants to be” so that you have confidence in selecting a suitable project for the yarn, enjoy the process of knitting the yarn and are satisfied with the end result.
My days are invariably filled with interruptions. I am easily distracted, so it is no wonder I often stray from the schedule I had planned for the day. One such particularly notable day happened last week, but what a delight in many ways. I started off the morning as I usually do and checked the early emails that had come in since the previous evening. I had one from Jean Moss, one of Great Britain’s leading knitwear designers.
She was preparing an answer to the question of “her top five knitted Xmas gifts” to be included in the December issue of the UK magazine Knitting and was featuring my little “Bells On My Toes Mini Holiday Sock” … Continue reading A Delightful Request from Jean Moss→
Besides the hypnotically soothing relaxation I feel when spinning, I think that a great joy in handspinning your own yarn is practiced control over the creative results. There often is the serendipity, too, and this leads to even more adventures and exploration. Moody Blues, handspun dyed pima cotton roving plied with silk, has been one of those examples. Here is the completed yarn –
Do you sense the ‘slightly washed-out faded denim jeans’ look? I am so pleased with this yarn even though in buying the dyed roving, I thought it might have been a mistake!
I’ve FINALLY picked up the knitting needles again, and boy-oh-boy does it feel good. I had just a little bit more to complete on the Faceted Gems Lace Wrap for which I am using Lorna’s Laces laceweight yarn called Helen’s Lace in their new colorway Red Rover.
Here is a sneak peek at a sample swatch for this lace wrap. I’ll have pictures of the completed wrap when I get closer to release date of this new stole pattern (stand by — it won’t be too long!).
It feels good to be ‘back to work’. This reminded me of some sage advice given by Georgia to her friend Cat in the book The Friday Night Knitting Club (excerpt from page 306).
“…I’ll let you in on a little secret. We don’t all love our jobs every day. And doing something you have a passion for doesn’t make the work part of it any easier … it just makes you less likely to quit.”
Sorry to be offline for so long. First I was tied up with traveling, then life threw me a curve ball. I normally am an upbeat person, so trying to write while my mood has not been the best had been just too painful. But I need to look forward and have faith that things happen for the best, even if we can’t understand why at the time. Onward …
I haven’t yet even been able to pick up my knitting needles — I am still feeling so stressed out. Although sometimes I find knitting helps relieve stress, this particular emotional anxiety has quelched any motivation towards creativity. That’s bad! So I need to do something about that because I DO love to knit.
A nice thing happened yesterday and I want to share it with you. I stumbled across an email that my friend Margaret Pittman (Heritage Yarns) sent me several years ago. I believe the original might have been posted on her Christian friends yahoo list. Yesterday I quickly read through, but today I am going to re-type every word here so that I can better reflect on each point. I think there is some really good stuff here, and I hope it might be helpful to you somehow, also. Thank you Margaret.
36 Christian Ways to Reduce Stress
Pray.
Go to bed on time.
Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
Say NO to projects that won’t fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental health.
Delegate tasks to capable others.
Simplify and unclutter your life.
Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don’t lump the hard things all together.
Take one day at a time.
Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you to do and let go of the anxiety. If you can’t do anything about a situation, forget it.
Live within your budget; don’t use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.,
K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut.) This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
Get enough exercise.
Eat right.
Get organized so everything has its place.
Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
Write thoughts and inspirations down.
Every day, find time to be alone.
Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don’t wait until its time to go to bed to try and pray.
Make friends with Godly people.
Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good “Thank you Jesus!”.
Laugh.
Laugh some more!
Take your work seriously, but yourself not at all.
Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
Sit on your ego.
Talk less; listen more.
Slow down.
Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
Every night before bed, think of one thing you’re grateful for that you’ve never been grateful for before.
