Home … and new rules

I had my fiber group over last Friday. In the non-summer months, we take turns meeting at people’s houses. When it’s my turn, there’s a lot of cleaning involved. Normally my partner and I don’t take much care tracking garden dirt into the house and letting spiders take up residence and having tools and projects everywhere. Even though there was a lot of cleaning in preparation, it was a great gathering. And the feeling of a clean house is so relaxing. I still need to clean the upstairs though!

I bought this vase years ago and always meant to fill it with winter berries. As soon as I saw the vase, I was very attracted to it. The smooth brown upper area, where the glaze is a little smeary with tones of blue shining through. The crisp demarcation between that area and below, where the white glaze pools a little. And the rough multi-faceted shapes below with some texture carved in – I find the whole thing very pleasing. In the store where I bought it, they displayed it with winter berries, and maybe that was part of the attraction. So I was very happy to forage for some winter berries and display them here.

Lots of knitting going on. I finished a hat and a cowl. The hat is made from Nutiden, a very rustic unspun yarn from Sweden. And the cowl is made from a souvenir skein I brought home from Iceland almost a year ago. I think this pairing of cowl pattern and yarn is very successful. The tag on the yarn had the name “Asta” and I told someone it was the name of the sheep. Upon looking more closely at the tag (I don’t speak Icelandic, but I could decipher some words), I think it’s the name of the handspinner. Anyway, thank you, Asta.

The new rules have to do with time, and my use of time. I realized I’ve been mostly knitting for myself and I’m neglecting commitments I made to friends. I really want to honor those commitments and it’s been bothering me that I’m not getting to them. So I made up a concept called “Afternoons for Others.” So far it’s working – I’m making progress on some afghan repairs that I volunteered to do for my neighbor, and completed one website adjustment that a friend requested. Next week I’ll spend some time working on a book design project for my friend S. It’s a lot of work, but I need to get started.

I also need to get more realistic on what I can actually do in a day, and still have time to relax and appreciate life. What else is retirement for?