Making and Being
Knits! I’ve been focusing on clearing out things I don’t want to move and trying not to add anything new, but knowing that I’m going to a place that gets colder and stays that way longer gave me a few justifiable projects. At one point I had a solid collection of hand warmers but lately every pair I’ve pulled out has had one big hole in one of them, so I made a quick chunky pair, no pattern just holding them up as I went to check the fit. I haven’t worked with a lot of superbulky yarn, but I like how soft and squishy these are.
I also made a hat (again, no pattern) from a single skein of Spincycle. It’s such a fun yarn, I love being able to watch the colors shift without being interrupted by texture or another yarn. I also managed to finish the hat before an ice storm, which is opposite of how it usually works out for me.
Now I’m slowly working on a sock-weight cardigan. I’m using the unraveled sweater yarn, and a pattern I’ve done before. One issue with my shifting sense of self/gender identity/style is that my affirming wardrobe shift has excluded some hand knits, but I know how to make new ones.
I’ve been having fun with my journaling this month. This is the beginning of a spread I did for Imbolc, the observation of midwinter on February first. I made my Brigid’s cross out of paper rather than reeds, but I love how the candle stamps fit around it, and it was a pleasant exercise to light a bunch of actual candles and fill in my desires for the coming season. I also welcome any excuse to make a tassel doll.
I’m still working through my internalized belief that I’m not an artist. I’ve enjoyed choosing one thing each month to practice with paint (this month was rainbow lightning bolts and filler doodles), and also seeing how I can incorporate magazine pages (Popshot Quarterly is perfect for my purposes) and ways to alter them - for this one, I added the stamp on the middle text block, and also painted the orange and pink accents. I’m really happy with how this spread turned out, but I also learned through it, which is the more important outcome, I think.