wee bits

I was doing this yesterday. (see above.)

Which felt like more…anticipation…than anything else.

Truth be told, it wasn’t so bad! At all! And I was expecting…let’s just say…more.

(But I’m not complaining.)

Here’s the rest of my unraveling this week :). Thank you to Kat for hosting…and to all the talented makers + smart readers she gathers!

part i {the yarn}

Just a wee bit today.

I

finished the ribbing and bound off my second Buff Creek Cowl with this stretchy bind off. (It truly is stretchy. I’ve been duped more than once!). After blocking yesterday, I tossed it in the dryer and wore it the rest of the day. (Even though it’s really for winter. KnitPicks Swish in Mimic.) This time around, I added another round of the repeat; I also went up a yarn size and stayed on size 6 needles. A little taller and a little snugger. Mission accomplished.

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And —

punch needling is lots of fun!

I see where I have room for improvement. (Density, consistent loop size.) And at the same time? I’m not so that matters to me, at this point. Maybe on a bigger project.

I do have a thing about usefulness, though. So whatever I punch, I also want to use (in some way, shape, or form!).

In this case, I’m turning my 5 ½” ‘Sunset at Sea’ canvas (technically called monks cloth) into a hot pad.

Like the rest of my family, I have a stash of my great-grandma’s potholders I’ve been using — gosh, I guess I’ve used them my whole life. Growing up and in my own home. (She made a lot of potholders, until she couldn’t.) Some are as good as worn out, but I can’t bring myself to toss them so we just double-up to avoid getting burned.

It makes me happy to put an old one to new use as a backing, turning ‘Sunset at Sea’ into a hot pad for our cottage. It’ll fit right in at the lake — as well as protect new countertops going in this month. I’ve stitched the monks cloth to the potholder; now, I think some binding tape. (Any other ideas for the edge?)

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part ii {the yarns}

I never tire of Anne Lamott.

I’m pretty sure I’ve read this before. It was published in 2007 — so I probably have read it, I just don’t remember:

True to form, this is Anne’s signature voice, described here* as her ‘signature blend of confessional memoir, irreverent Christian homily, and stand-up routine.’

The chapters in Grace (Eventually) are told from the perspective of Anne as recovering…as adult daughter…friend…Sunday school teacher…volunteer…voter…dog owner…mother. In this volume, it was those stories of being a mother to her then- teenage son that I particularly appreciated. (Her line comparing the adolescent’s phone to a pacemaker made me laugh especially hard.)

This was a perfectly light and resonant read in a week where I found little time for anything much more than that. Like all of her books lately, it’s [too] quick. Anne Lamott’s voice is one that I always want to be hearing. Speaking of which — has anyone read her just-published Somehow?

*Bonus: Here’s an interview with Anne and her husband, Neal (m. 2019). In it, he says this about being married to her: ‘Annie is a very, very easy person for me. Because she’s so kind. And also, of course, she’s incredibly smart. And she’s so funny. Her books are like what she’s like in person. It’s like I’m in “Saturday Night Live” skits all day long.’

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And now I’m off to you-know-where to do you-know-what. If the procedure’s twice as easy as the prep (like everyone tells me it is), I’ll be thrilled!

What are you up to this week?