..and on the fiber front....

Saturday was a bit of a long day, on the road to meet up with my sister for our annual fiber overload day at SPA Spin & Knit VIII -- lots to see, to touch, to discuss, and as my sister put it, it is not only expected but almost required that you stop someone going by you wearing that ___(fill in the blank)....and yes, we have been so stopped..lol. I had on the Magic-shawl I had gotten verbal directions on some years previously: garter stitch, CO 50 sts on large needles (?17 or 19), work until run out of yarn. Do NOT block hard at all....pull it along the length and have a supersoft squishy scarf to wrap around your neck; shake it out by holding the long side and it expands to a very open, airy dressy shawl perfect for nighttime event (I had used a mohair yarn, ~800 yard skein, one skein was all it needed). Had a lot of fun, one lady was so intrigued with my scarf/shawl that she kept sending other friends over to check it out. I probably spent way too much $ at this event, including some new fibers to spin (one of which had sparklies in it and will become another Magic)...for some reason, I was attracted to purples this year, not sure why they called my name but there you go, when a fiber speaks, you listen.

Drove back home after stopping in at a local bakery, When Pigs Fly....yumm! Headed home in a bit of a messy/slushy snowstorm, visibility a little iffy and people driving 10-15 mph LESS than the posted limit (?not from around here or used to driving in this). After a short time at home to re-pack my bag, we headed out to a college hockey game -- hubby drove this time. He works at this college in IT; the men's team won their last home game the week previous, gaining them a spot in the Playoffs, home field advantage for Quarterfinals (the previous 4 weekends we had also attended games, prime knitting time). What a game this was! Two entire periods of play with no goals, but numerous shots on goal Third period started much like the previous two had, the only difference being in that the roughness of play was called out on penalties much more frequently...oh, and a number of broken hockey sticks littered the ice. Shortly after the period began the opposing team scored, which our guys answered within minutes. We should have had another score but the ref's ruled it as Not because the entire puck had not crossed the line (we were sitting in the corner above the goal, so we and the entire student bleacher area directly behind the goal say it did, but it wasn't our call to make)...of course, the question remains, can we call a player in the net a goal ...lol ? Long story short, period ended with score tied 1/1, ruling made for 20-minute Sudden-Death Overtime. I continued to knit until a few minutes into this period where it just got to wild to pay attention to both handwork (even a simple rib pattern) and the game. Our guys scored the decisive game-ender at 4:57 left to play...can you say pandemonioum on ice? helmets flying, pigpile in center ice, cheers and horns....kind of what I expect to see on TV this afternoon when USA plays Canada in the Olympic finale...hmmm, more prime knitting time...sounds good to me!

things to make you think.....

..found this on my Einstein Quote of the Day:

Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts

If Music be the food of Love, then Play On"

...or something to that effect from the Bard himself, good ole' Will Shakespeare.

This week's luck of the draw is musically inspired, choices were a rather eclectic mix (and this coming from an aficionado of New Age/Dance/Classical/Country/Celtic and ballads). Interesting choices all, but unless the music strikes that chord deep within it is usually passed over -- maybe that is something I should work on to 'extend" myself perhaps and go outside my usual spheres, but for this go round will go with what reached out to me...

..reached out with its rhythmic and resonating heartbeat, grabbed me and held me in place....talking about making a deal with God and swapping places...why does this resonate so strongly now? Is it because I have reached a crossroads where my faith which used to sustain me now feels so empty and unsatisfying? Have I come to that point in the road where Robert Frost says he is sorry he "..could not travel both.." and so he "..took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

Crossroads...now there's an interesting not-so-small thing....you come to a place where you feel the push/pull, ebb-and-flow within you and around you...you feel your heartbeat echoing in time to the rhythms of the earth beneath your feet, sitting quietly on that hillside transcends you to a place at onece here, but yet also on another plane of existence...you hear the grass grow and the rustling whisper of tree branches as they answer that heartbeat pulsing through the earth...the void fills, but not with silence as is first apparent, but with a roar and you rejoice in that roar because hearing it, and feeling it,... you live it, and the song plays on....

? new beginnings

...trying something new....signed on to a Ravelry group that has you writing something every week, weekly writers workshop! . The first week's theme is A New Beginning. We can be as direct or as generic or as outside-the-box as we please....Well, will try to keep up, though I may just write about the ones that "speak to me" ......

How appropriate that this morning's email from SP was a reflection on contemplating "...how much a smile can change a person's day..." Can I do that? of course I can, and so can you. All it takes is expending a few calories of energy to make your lip muscles curl up -- not such a hard thing to do at all. And, sometimes sending a smile someone's way helps take the edge off the unknown. Haven't you ever walked through a crowded mall and seen an adorable little cherub sleeping in his stroller as the mom tries to get some shopping done? the picture of innocence and serenity always brings a smile to my face....it seems to attract others attention who are so busy just being busy that they have to stop and see what lit up your face, and then they smile too.

So how does this relate to new beginnings? ...and still be able to tie it in with my needlework? Well, how many times do you start your day by logging into Ravelry to look at the new patterns or pictures others have posted of their ongoing projects in your mutual groups, some of which you will comment on? Doesn't the color and/or composition of some of them make you smile? Do you then go and post one of your own photos? ...and you know that someone did smile when they saw it because you find a comment that someone left for you....

So, my take on this is much like the marble game that chase each other around and around that adding another marble just continues the cycle of following the previous in the same pattern that seems to just spread out in an everwidening circle......So, start something, 'smile' at someone in actuality or in writing, and see what happens...