Sublimating Rage/Grief/Fear Through Making

I know I don't need to say what so many of us have expressed over the past few days, but it has been heartening to read so many posts and comments about the election* and know that we are there for each other and readying ourselves for the battle ahead.

Other than the potential loss of liberty we're all facing, I've been obsessed with making things and planning them out.  To that end I've recently purchased the following patterns.  Sure, I have a lot of patterns already, but if I really transform the big feelings I have right now into completed projects, I'm gonna whip through that stash tout de suite!

I finally did it and bought this culottes pattern.  Everyone seems to be offering discounts, and since I'm not engaging in most types of retail therapy, this feels pretty good.

Andrea Mowry of Drea Renee Knits offered a 50% discount on one of her self-published patterns, and this one had been in my Favourites folder on Ravelry for awhile.  Can't help but think the name "Sheltered" is appropriate here.

Photo by Andrea Mowry

And then, I got an unexpected gift of this pattern from Olive Knits for commenting on her Instagram post about how we were going to make the world a better place after the election.  As if there weren't enough things to make me cry; at least they're tears of gratitude.

Photo by Marie Greene

I have another cowl that's waiting to be blocked as well as some wrist warmers and a cape/shrug that are almost done.  Last weekend I made the West Water Tunic by Sam Lamb (photos to follow, really), and this weekend I'll be working on another sewing project (a holiday gift).  Plus, I think I just might cast on for these legwarmers with the YOTH Mother yarn I picked up at Squam in June...

Photo Interweave LLC

In fact, I'm going to buy the book November Knits because I took it out of the library and there were at least ten patterns I wanted to knit from it.  Of course I'll be trying to get the book through my local bookstore (although I just saw it was on deep discount from Interweave itself...).

And yes, I've already given to the ACLU, and the ladyfriend set up a monthly donation to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto because we're all going to need some mental health help.

*To the person who commented on Fringe Association recently about having survived 8 years of Obama, I want to say, "Oh, you survived providing health care for those who had none (like my son), social services for those who needed them (maybe even you), and getting us out of a recession caused by Dubya and his cronies?"  I had other choice words, but I'll practice restraint.  I didn't say anything on the Fringe Association blog because it wasn't the place to do so.  I want to respect Karen's space.  She handled it well.

Squam Art Workshop - Spring 2016

As mentioned, I went to Squam at the beginning of the month.  For those of you unfamiliar with the Squam Art Workshops, I invite you to think of a summer camp for crafty adults.  You're in an idyllic setting in the middle of New Hamphsire, you share a cabin with fellow campers, you're fed three meals a day in a dining hall (they ring a bell at mealtimes), you make all kinds of great stuff, and you do a regular tick check.  Clearly I loved it.

Exterior of dining hall

Mealtime

Dreamcatcher

The cabins were rustic but comfy.  I only had four other roommates and had opted for a single room for my first time (the cabin had three double-occupancy rooms and one single) .  Each cabin that was on the lake had its own dock, and each had fireplaces whose wood boxes were refilled each day.  We also had an actual ice box, which was also checked each day and refilled as necessary.  They harvest the ice from the lake in the winter and keep it in, yes, ice houses all summer.

This was how they delivered the ice.

And here's our iceman, standing in front of the ice box.

Community & Bartering & Crafting

As has previously been discussed on this blog (I like to pretend that we're discussing things here so please keep the illusion going), I am involved in a year-long project to knit and sew an average of one item (one knit, one sewn) a month, using materials from my stash.  A caveat I built into my side of the story is that I can trade stash items because, let's face it, we all have some yarn that we'll probably never use or was a novelty purchase.  Of course, I have both.

The boy was here recently for a two-week visit, which really was the best thing ever.  Can you hear my heart squeak?  (Yes, squeak.)  Anyway, no visit to Hamilton is complete without a trip to Value Village where I picked up this awesome skirt:

Yes, the bathrooms have the best light.  Yes, the skirt, made in Great Britain, was $4.99

Of course my mind goes to "What sweater can I knit to go with this?" and Kate Davies's Owls came to mind, a sweater that I've been wanting to make for some time now.  Of course, using up stash yarn was important, and I thought I was onto something when I saw that a number of knitters had used Alafoss Lopi for it.  What do you know?  I have some of that very yarn in my stash!

I Spoke Too Soon

Ah yes, the thrill of starting a new project...only to discover you don't have enough yarn for it.  So the Soho Smocked Dress will have to wait, but not indefinitely.  The ladyfriend, moved by my plight (or my endless mumbling about yarn for the project), stepped in and bought me the yarn for the project.  I've decided to go with Cotton Fleece from Brown Sheep (wool/cotton blend).  How can I go wrong with a colour called Nymph?

However, I'm in the mood to knit NOW so I'm making a shawl using the HandMaiden Sea Silk in a lovely moody grey my friend Celine gave to me for my birthday last year (look! something from my stash).  It's a little challenging, but it's also going rather quickly.  I started with one pattern but was confused by the "no stitch" squares on the chart and found a different pattern - Fylleryd.  I'm hoping that it will be finished by the time I get the yarn for the dress.  That would be ideal.

A Sense of Accomplishment

This past weekend I ended up replicating efforts on a couple of recipes (one of which will be documented soon in a guest post on Recipes for Trouble).  One of the projects that didn't require an automatic "do-over" was this sweater that I started way back in November.  The sweater has, in fact, been knit in its entirety for months now, but I have a habit of procrastinating on the sewing together.  This weekend was the perfect time for it - do a little sewing, engage in something else, weave in a few ends, make lunch.  And then, I had a new sweater!

I found the pattern via Ralvery and used some yarn I'd gotten in a sweater kit.  The buttons are from a stash of vintage ones I inherited via the ladyfriend.

I think it'll have great utility.  It swings out a little and is thick enough to act as a jacket.  On a budget?  Get crafty!