Chaos yarn for Abbey
I’ve finished spinning Abbey’s yarn scraps into Chaos Yarn.
There’s 104 yards for her to play with.
A close-up:
I feel like I’m getting the hang of spinning yarn scraps.
1 comment July 28th, 2010
Silver City
After El Paso, Thebes and I drove back to NM.
There’s some fun gas stations in this state.
We had heard Silver City was a cool town and decided to visit.
Northern New Mexico was still snow covered in March so we were looking forward to warmer temps in the southern part of the state.
Yeah I know!
We still had a fun visit. We went to some art galleries.
And visited some thrift stores. This jacket was super groovy and reminded me of my friend Ellen:
It was quite the arty town.
This cabin was by the visitor center and was used in a movie that was filmed there.
After Silver City we drove back home.
4 comments July 27th, 2010
Sock progress
I’ve gotten some progress on Thebes’ kilt hose.
Mostly I’ve been working on The Portal so I haven’t been knitting much. This sock makes for great car knitting though.
Monsoon season has started and we’ve been getting downpours. Sieben and I took a walk in the forest when the rain let up.
He was a happy boy!
Add comment July 26th, 2010
First thick and thin yarn
I’ve spun up my first thick and thin yarn. The roving is a wool and silk mix from Looking Glass Yarns.
I have 80 yards.
Spinning thick and thin is not easy. I found it tricky but maybe that was because I was also spinning a silk blend for the first time.
I’ve crocheted this up into an ice chain for The Portal waterfall.
1 comment July 25th, 2010
Mother project: Epilogue
When Abbey and I started our Mother projects we wanted to heal ourselves. I am awed at the level of healing that has happened. Thebes’ and I’s trip to our families was intense and healing for both of us.
After Missouri Thebes and I drove to Michigan and Indiana. In Michigan we stayed with Thebes’ sister. We visited Thebes’ Grandma who we hadn’t seen in years. Even though it was made clear that Thebes didn’t want to see his Dad he showed up anyway. They’ve been estranged for years. Thebes has done some healing work of his own and has started remembering chunks of his childhood that was formerly blacked out.
When the doorbell rang I knew it was his father. I think we all did. Thebes and I looked at each other as his Dad walked into the room. Because we’ve been together so long we had a whole conversation just with our eyes. I asked if he wanted to leave. He said we’d stay as long as his Dad was cool. There was tension in the room but his Dad really made an effort to be nice which was surprising and touching. There was a moment where Thebes’ Grandma was all teary as she watched her son and grandson talking. I got teary too. I really felt the visit was healing for both of them.
The night before visiting my family I was starting to get nervous. My stomach was doing flip flops and I was having trouble getting to sleep. Seeing Thebes’ Dad be nice to him was such a gift from the Goddess I felt like I couldn’t ask for anything more. If my Mother refused to see me then so be it. Whatever was to happen would happen. I meditated and focused on sending out love and acceptance.
We got up early and drove through southern Indiana to my parents house. They had moved out of my childhood home into a new one. My Grandmother lives with them. It was really cute and absolutely spotless. (My mother is a clean freak. I’m not but I do have moments where I clean manically.) It was technically small but laid out really well so it felt spacious.
My Dad looked wonderful. It was so good to wrap my arms around him and give him a big hug. He’s a great dad. As a girl we were really close. And even though I’ve lived an unconventional life he’s always accepted me. My Grandma looked great as well. She’s shrunk in height and is the skinniest I’ve seen her. I got a good Grandma hug. I wore my lace and cable socks to show her. She used to be a knitter and liked them.
After that my Dad said-let’s go say hi to your Mom. He came up behind me a gave me a little shoulder rub. I almost burst into tears right there but managed to control myself. The moment of truth had arrived.
I walked in and saw my Mother. She had straight hair. It’s hard to convey to people the importance of this. All my life my Mother had perms. She had a poofball of hair, a sort of afro or halo of short curls. She always hated her straight hair and I never saw it until that day.
She looked at me and asked if I saw my Grandma. I said yes. She asked how I thought she looked. Gorgeous was my reply. It was true. She just looked so adorable-the picture perfect image of how a grandma should look. Then I told my Mom that she looked really good too. That was also true. I told her that I liked her straight hair and that it looked good on her. She commented that my hair was really long. Not a glowing compliment but I’ll take what I can get.
My Dad then took me and Thebes for a house tour. As we were going upstairs I was thinking-wow that went really great with my Mom. But more was to come. My Mother joined us upstairs and participated in the conversation. At one point she turned to Thebes and asked him something and they talked. She had only said one word to him before. At our wedding she said hello.
After the tour we started talking about dinner. My Dad had a restaurant gift card and wanted to use it. That made me smile because that is so him. I saw my Mother fiddling with my purse but didn’t think anything of it. I stopped in my Grandma’s room to say goodbye to see her once more. While I was doing that Thebes was talking to my Dad about driving to dinner. He suggested I ride with my parents to the restaurant. Yes, my Mother came to dinner with us. I was shocked and grateful.
The ride to the dinner was magical. I could feel my skin tingling. It felt like I was 12 again riding in the back seat listening to my parents just be themselves. We chatted some about family members. My Dad asked me about my Endometriosis. My Mother suggested I get a hysterectomy and to leave my ovaries in. I explained my alternative treatments. I prefaced it with the fact that Taos is new agey and that we live a more natural lifestyle.
I got to ask what age my Mother was when she had her hysterectomy. She was 31. I’m 34 now. For awhile now I’ve felt like I had to get past the age my Mother was when she had hers. Like if I could get past that age then I wouldn’t have to have the surgery. And I have. I still have to treat myself but I know I can do it now. I know it’s going to work.
We met one of my aunts for dinner. She’s my favorite Aunt and is my father’s sister. She’s also a great talker and at dinner we all talked about funny family memories. My father’s father was quite the eccentric and there’s a lot of funny stories about him. My Aunt also gave me some family mementos which almost made me cry. She gave me a wooden bead necklace that belonged to my deceased Uncle. He was my favorite uncle when I was a girl and to have something that was actually his is wonderful.
No mention was made of the previous years of non-talking between my Mother and I. I would look over at my Dad and almost start to cry. It was so good to see him! And there was my Mom-at dinner with us and participating in the conversation! I had to go to the bathroom a couple times to give myself a pep talk. I looked at myself in the mirror and said-hold it together! You can cry in the rental car missy! Seriously, my body was tingling the entire time.
There was a moment when I looked over at my Mother and she had her head propped up on her hands. I was doing the exact some thing. It was then that I realized I get a lot of my animated motions from her. Because of the Mother piece I could appreciate the good things I inherited from her. It was a special moment.
To segway for a moment-I have to give props to Outback Steakhouse. We didn’t think Thebes would be able to eat there because of his allergies. But our waitress was extremely helpful and made a special trip back to check ingredients and he was able to have a meal. It was pretty plain but still-a meal he could eat! We gave her a good tip.
After dinner we posed for pictures and my Mother stayed back, not wanting to be in the photos. She always hated to have her picture taken. But she did volunteer to take a couple pictures. As we were leaving I called out to her, thanking her for coming to dinner. She turned and gave me a little wave. I wasn’t expecting a hug. But I also wasn’t expecting on of her little waves. I got one though and was grateful for it.
As I hugged my Dad goodbye I told him thank you. I could feel the tears bubbling up and managed to hold them back. We said hugged my Aunt goodbye and walked to the rental car. As soon as I got into the car I burst into tears. I was shaking. Thebes was great and comforting. My body was tingling but my fingers and face were tingling especially hard. It’s as if I could feel the emotional healing happening in my body.
All the emotional and art work I did around my mother issues made this visit happen. It was magical. My Mother and I aren’t best friends now or anything. But she made a real effort to be pleasant and cordial and so did I. After being estranged for so long I’m overjoyed with that.
That night I sent out thanks to the Goddess, thanks to my Mother, thanks to Abbey for doing the mother project with me, thanks to everyone who supported me in this journey. It was quite an emotional experience.
The next morning we drove back to Missouri. It was an intense trip. It wasn’t a thrilling vacation like we prefer but it was a good for the soul type of vacation.
3 comments July 24th, 2010
Portal progress
I’ve been working on The Portal. The waterfall background fleece is felted down and the cavern and rock yarn is finished.
My furry art critic likes my new piece.
A close up of the waterfall with Prana paws:
I’m knitting I-cord and doing a simple crochet chain for the ice.
I’m doing some embroidery details now.
1 comment July 17th, 2010
Yarn sneak peek
After seeing my latest Chaos yarn, Abbey asked me to spin up her yarn scraps. She is bribing me with homemade cookies.
I’ve been doing a lot of spinning lately! I think I’ll ask her for another batch of chocolate chip cookies.
2 comments July 10th, 2010
Back to Missouri
After Indiana we made our way back to Missouri. We got to visit with Jesse (Bliss) this time. Since she was the bride she was super busy at the wedding. Her new hubby Josh was at a music festival that day so we missed him.
The back of Bliss’s car:
It was so fun to hang out with her in person again.
That’s one of her awesome paintings behind us.
Her dog Jimbay.
It was hard to get him to sit still to take a pic. He’s a very happy dog.
We stayed at Grant’s place again.
Thebes and Grant:
Grant suggested this video for a redneck look.
This is Gonzo, an M37 truck that Grant got in exchange for repairing our old landlords’ bridge.
He has beautiful Wisteria growing over his porch.
After Missouri we drove back to New Mexico. It was an exhausting trip because it was so much in so little time. But it was a really good trip. Next travel post I’ll write about the family visits.
2 comments July 7th, 2010
Slow knitting progress
Remember the Sugar Lotus Blossom tank that I started in May?
Here’s where I’m at now:
This project has been kicking my ass. I got one repeat into the medium size and then realized it was too big. So I frogged and started the small size. Then I wasn’t paying attention to the lace chart and had to frog back some. I’m still on the first repeat.
The lace chart is not terribly hard but the repeat moves slightly over on some rounds. Very confusing-to me at least.
And here’s a cute picture of Sieben as a puppy.
This was taken in the fall of 2007. He was such a cute puppy.
2 comments July 3rd, 2010
New Chaos Yarn
I finished spinning up my latest batch of Chaos Yarn. I have 206 yards this time.
I spun up the scraps into a single and then plyed it with some thin Peruvian yarn some friends brought me back from their vacation.
A close up:
Lori from the Yarn Shop saved up a lot of yarn scraps from the store. That really helped with the yardage and variegation.
I’m thinking of knitting up a funky bag with the yarn.
Here’s Prana posing with the yarn scraps that Lori gave me.
1 comment June 28th, 2010
