chrysanthemum

Anthem

Relax. I say it constantly. Whenever there's a kid freaking out because another kid is interrupting or teasing or hijacking a toy. A grownup edging toward the madness. Another grownup here for a cup of tea or a glass of wine. Or just me, ready to sit a while. Relax.

I had some Blue Sky cotton left after my sweater was done, and that stuff is too soft and nice to just sit around waiting. I'm on a mission to cover my couch with cushions, so I just started knitting a not-too-big square. When the knitting got boring, I started thinking of designs to knit in. Then I started to worry that my design wasn't going to be centered, because I didn't really know just how much yarn I had, and what if it was lopsided and crazy, and then I just thought, "Jennifer, relax already." And there I was.

I downloaded some knitter's graph paper, charted up the letters and knit them in--once I was certain I was well past the place where it might possibly be assumed that I wanted my design to be centered. After that I made a pillow insert with some plain muslin and then stitched the knitted bit to a couple of fabric pieces for an overlapped back. It is far from perfect, but from here, you totally can't tell. Now, I'm off to relax...

What I love - Saturday

A breakfast with plenty of fiber. Wooden toast and sliced pear with a tiny bit of Velcro®. Mmm...

What I love - Friday*

I bought this small woodblock print in Kyoto just before I left Japan in 1997.  At the time, I had kind of a thing for dragonflies. We used to hang out at this little neighborhood pub called Akatombo, red dragonfly, and tombo was one of the only Japanese words I knew that might fall outside the realm of totally mundane conversation. I could smile and nod or look serious and thoughtful as the occasion required, but I pretty much had no idea how to talk to anyone. Anyway, on this particular shopping day, I was with my excellent friend Giselle, who had had the great good forethought to be fluent in written and spoken Japanese, and she translated the poem at the top of the print for me. Of course, I failed to write it down, thinking that I would always remember her translation word for word. Mmm-hmmm... But as I recall, it says something about the dragonfly flitting about without thread in his needle but still making beautiful stitches in the air. It reminded me of Emily Dickinson's Hope is the thing with feathers / that perches in the soul / and sings the tune without the words / and never stops at all. It hangs just outside our bedroom door in a spot where it's practically impossible to photograph without glare. Sorry about that, I guess I could have moved it, but I probably would have gotten some glare there too. Someday I'm going to learn to use Photoshop...

* This post mysteriously disappeared after I (thought I) posted it. User error? Surely not!

What I love - Thursday

The backyard: fenced, shady, big enough to play in. The free swing set--well, we gave the neighbors a six-pack of beer for it. The odd little fear/thrill I get singing to Lyra while I push her on the swing, knowing that any of the neighbors could hear me, and "jam song, mama" probably isn't on any of their favorites lists. The back neighbors' chickens, not visible here, but visitable anytime, and wow, fresh eggs are really yummy, though we haven't had too many of those. The long narrow patio with tables for dining al fresco. The outdoor fireplace for roasting marshmallows for s'mores. The small Japanese maple, partly visible at the far left, that looks like it's on fire in the fall.

What I love - Wednesday

Crafting at the dining room table. There's plenty of light and room to spread out. Scissors, tape, glue, pens are all nearby. After a tearful false start last week (during which Ben says I severely told him he had to cut out perfect hearts-- my god--I swear that isn't true), the valentines finally worked out.

The initial trouble, as I remember it, was that Ben wanted to use my big pinking shears to cut out hearts, but they're unwieldy, even for me, and he was having a really hard time. Anyway, I found him some all-plastic kiddie scissors with interchangeable "blades" at the Japanese dollar store, and they worked just fine for cutting out pinked and scalloped rectangles. I folded up some long strips of animal-print wrapping paper from Ikea and cut out a bunch of hearts. He glued them on, pasted on the names of each of his classmates, signed his name, and viola! Valentines!

OK, everybody have a sweet now!

What I love - Tuesday

Polish pottery. These five canisters were a wedding gift from an old friend, and I adore them. Flour, sugar, rice, tea, matches. I have a little collection of baking dishes too and some new serving pieces. Another friend, a newer one, gets us a new piece each year for Christmas, and it's always one of the most exciting presents I get to open.