chipping away

It’s Wednesday! I’m linking up at Kat’s to see what everyone’s making + reading this week.

Here’s what’s up in my little corner —

part i {the yarn, etc.}

It was a ‘chipping away’ kind of a week, in making:

I ‘got gauge’ for Elsa’s cardigan. (Yay.) I pulled out my grandma’s needles for this, even though I’ll be using circulars for the project. And I have to say, those straight aluminum needles with this acrylic yarn felt so…easy. Smooth stitching, easy to maintain tension. There’s something to be said for ‘basic’! I may or may not cast on before Honduras next Friday. (Leaning toward not…there’s a bit to do before then.)

I was so — so — happy the sun was shining, I didn’t even care if it messed up this picture.

I’m pacing the finish on my mountain throw. I have nothing ‘mindless’ queued up, and with just two games left in our basketball season, I’d hate to have idle hands for the last of it!

Friday night, Elsa, a friend, and I spent a few hours here —

E. worked in her bullet journal, K. learned a new crochet stitch, and I carved a lino block from one of my oak sapling sketches.

I tested it on an old (dirty!) tote last night. I thought I had the block pretty clean, but not quite. I’m fine with some carving lines present (I like them!) — but this just looks splotchy. Fabric ink is kind of sticky, so it’s not easy to touch-up-as-I-go.

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Last up in making, this made me chuckle:

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part ii {the yarns}

My second spiritual read of the year was the Tao Te Ching: A Book About The Way and the Power of The Way, A New English Version by Ursula K. Le Guin. The Tao is a classic Chinese text credited to Lao Tzu, dating back to 400 B.C.E. The more you try to define the Tao, the more complicated it becomes. So it’s best…just…not to. Maybe leave it at this:

At the heart of Taoism is harmony, union, non-action. Letting things take their natural course. The best approach to 'getting it'? Don't overthink. Allow. Like water flows.

I first encountered the Tao in Intro to World Religions, a night class my sophomore year of college. It filled a requirement; my expectations were…standard. However. The trim, reserved professor, never a hair out of place or wrinkle in his shirt, turned out to be engaging! Eye opening! Thought provoking! My single memory of that class is of him walking among us, reading from his own worn copy, and when he passed my seat, I blurted: Why isn’t everyone Taoist?!

(I still sorta wonder.)

When my first child was four, I read The Tao of Pooh with her at bedtime. It’s a wonderfully told ‘Taoism for Westerners,’ framed with A.A. Milne’s beloved characters. (Think of Pooh’s nature as the epitome of Taoism. Eeyore? Tigger? Not so much.) True to The Tao itself, Hoff’s book is simple — and deep. Published in ’82, it spent 49 weeks on the NYT Bestseller List.

I came across Le Guin’s ‘rendition’ by chance, after my disappointment in a previous selection I told you about last week. (She’s careful not to say translation; it’s her poetic rendition of *someone else’s* translation. And she started her st.)

The Tao (‘the Way of the universe’) is a collection of 81 verses. What’s special about this version? A a few things: Le Guin began interpreting the Tao in her twenties!..she did a little more work every decade…and the book you see here was published when she was 68. Fair to say a life’s work! If on + off again. And readers are treated to the poet’s footnotes along with most verses. These offer insight, background, and, occasionally, a laugh. 

Having read the Tao in three different phases of life, it’s resonated a little differently each time. While I flagged and reread a number of verses here, those regarding power and leadership stood out the most. (No doubt because 2016. And, it’s an election year.) I can’t say the words were a balm for today’s political scene (I’m not sure what is?), but the wisdom of harmony and allowing calms the nervous system, offers an alternate way. A favorite footnote made me laugh, so I read No. 53 something like 3 or 4 times —

The verses are brief. Accessible. Easy to pick up; read a few; let it sink in; set it down. Hoff’s Tao of Pooh and Le Guin’s ‘rendition’ would be a nice intro, if you’re brand new to it.

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