and for the annual RETURN OF THE LIGHT (winter solstice)...which I didn't really acknowledge here on the 21st of December...the part of me that becomes a bear in hibernation each winter is now very happy our days are getting longer....and the light is returning
so a much BELATED
to EVERYONE!
I love singing Christmas carols and hope you do also! I'm off now for about 10 days to attend a dear friends' memorial/life celebration and then share some holiday cheer with my family...don't know if I will post here during this time...but check back right after the 25th! I will have a creative surprise! for you all...
currently on the needles : a red vest for me! knit with lovely wool/silk yarn from art fibers...
and recently finished : a scarf and hat (gifts for a special friend)---the scarf knit with 2 skeins of lovely Noro wool yarn, and the hat I used various wool scraps....
New Motto: STITCH YOUR STRESS AWAY
For awhile--several years in fact--I was obsessed with bead crochet and during that time I made numerous beaded crochet bracelets and necklaces...I haven't made any of these in awhile--right now I seem to be on a knitting spree, but here is some of the JEWELRY I made then...
ingenuity, noun, pl. -ties.
1. skill in planning or inventing; cleverness.
(SYN) inventiveness.
2. skillfulness of contrivance or design.
This letter ("I") had me stumped ....(hence my lack of posting here); however this morning the topic of inventiveness or ingenuity popped into my head. We are all blessed with ingenuity---I think my ability to tap into my ingenuity was honed by living in the Alaskan "bush"--with no stores (except a very small grocery store)--so one saved everything, and recycled most items---and became very inventive when one needed something not readily at hand.
Everyone in town had some area of expertise, so we also traded goods and knowledge--rarely did money change hands, but I might trade a handwoven scarf for an outboard motor repair job. Ingenuity was the key to a comfortable survival.
I think living in a larger city--with all the services readily available for money---stamps out ingenuity---unless one is seriously dedicated to recycling or buying nothing new, it is much to easy to just buy what you need (or want---there is a big diff between needs and wants, but that is another topic).
Here are some wonderful examples of ingenuity that I have recently found online:
mini paper wreaths from the blog Scrumdilly-do!
Sweater Balls
from The Sweeter Sweater
A Button Bracelet from Creative Kismet
Recycled Slippers from SEW GREEN
I am currently working on my own inventive holiday project--one that I can gift to everyone on my gift list (and that is ingenuity!)---but I can't show you it yet--that would be a gift surprise spoiler...but I will be sharing this project once the gifts are in the mail...meanwhile here are my hands clapping to making your holiday gifts or at least buying handmade. For buying handmade may I suggest HERE....and do have fun either creating or shopping.
I love knitting hats--so quick--instant gratification (almost). So here are a few of my latest....
this one I call "flower power"---(the flowers were embroidered on after the hat was knit) the pink yarn is yummy handspun angora...
here is is little hat for a little baby girl I know...
and this one is for my grandson, Jasper (15 months)...
this past year I have knit so many hats I was beginning to manifest the mad hatter....
Gratitude has been my theme this month---since it is the month we give thanks as a nation on Thanksgiving Day. (Giving thanks is a form of gratitude.) For years I have kept a journal--more a doodling and art ideas journal than a writing journal--but most days I do write a page of my "gratitudes" in my journal. I just list everything in my life I am grateful for and even if I have had a very bad day this process restores my sense of well-being.
I also have been trying to foster a new habit--when I feel grateful toward someone else --for whatever reason--I try to express it either verbally or by writing them a thank you note.
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it"(---William Arthur Ward.) I have discovered the more I express my gratitude, the more grateful I feel.
I believe our mostly greedy culture here in America could benefit greatly from all of us forming the habit of exspressing our gratitudes on a daily basis. What are you grateful for?
One hand painted watercolor textile design
and one textile design created completely on the computer in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
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