Tag Archives: Misc

An anti-climax⤴

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I didn’t have high hopes for GISH – I didn’t know what to expect. But I had hoped for some sort of collaborative creating and remixing with some like minded people. So I paid my $25.01 (why the .01, I wondered) and waited to see what the challenges would be like.

GISH is a week long event, and this year it ran from 30th July to 6th August. So on Sat 30th I logged in from my PC. First I tried to update my profile, but the web pages kept crashing, so I gave up on that. Next I headed to the Teams tab, expecting to find a chat room or a forum, but there was just a list of names with links to email them individually. Meh, I assumed the captain would be in touch.

And that was pretty much it. I scanned through the challenges and picked up a couple I could do alone from my desk (many of them either specified a specific location in the US or required interaction in busy places, neither of which were possible for me), and wandered off to do other things.

During my busier than usual work week I occasionally wondered why nobody was getting in touch – was I missing something? I checked the Teams tab again, but there was still nothing there. But apparently I was missing everything, as I found out after the event had ended. It turns out that there was a ios/android app, and that’s where my team were chatting. Somehow I’d missed mention of it on the web pages. I know this is all my own fault, and I could have got in touch with the captain (who I did not know), or other team members, but there it is.

And I can’t help feeling a little sad that nobody thought to ask me where I was.

Processes and products⤴

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Pi shawl

As I read Anna’s post about how she is struggling to find the patience to read, I thought about how I knit. Specifically, I thought about how often I turn my knitting projects into races – how instead of enjoying the process of knitting, I rush to get them finished and off the needles. Here’s an example: the shawl above is one that I started in order to have some easy knitting for when my mind or my hands were tired, but I have spent the last few days counting the rows and minutes until it was finished. And, of course, now it is done I am immediately thinking about starting a similar project.

I don’t make resolutions at new year, but I am making  a mental note to remember to enjoy the process of knitting, and stop thinking in terms of finished outputs.

Christmas 2018⤴

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Christmas lunch – vege roast and all the trimmings for me, Niall, Niall’s mum and aunt Lesley. Served on mum and dad’s dinner service, reminding me of Christmasses past with family – busy days with everybody piled into mum and dad’s house a surfeit of food, noise and happiness. Today was quieter, but just as happy. Setting the table I felt so lucky for all we have: uur wine glasses were a wedding present from a friend, and the tablecloth was a gift from a student to Niall’s dad. The mats and cutlery were bought with money given to us when we married. So many memories, such good food, and such good company.

Now I am in my study relaxing. I have a new drawing book to inspire me, a new knitting book to tempt me, new pens to draw with, new notepads to write in.

And a cat who thinks it is time for food. She is right.

Curtains⤴

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Two years ago I bought the material to make a pair of curtains for my bedroom, but the holidays passed and the curtains didn’t get made.  The material sat around for a while with Lacey using it as a cushion, and then I packed it away in a bag and shoved it under the sofa. Not quite out of sight or out of mind. I could see the bag out of the corner of my eye, guilt-tripping me, but still they didn’t get made.

Finally, this year – almost two years to the day since I bought the material, I have new curtains. This holiday I have more energy (I have been boosting my B12, maybe that helped; I am happier at work, that definitely helped; a few little motivating things happened, I am sure they also helped).

So here they are. Please note that in order to make these curtains I had two apprentices – one to help with the linings, the other to help with the main material. They were diligent with their help and loyal to their chosen material. Note how cleverly each of them takes the smooth material and ruches it. It’s that attention to detail that I love.

cagney curtain

lacey curtain

And here they are, hanging at the windowsill at last.