Hello, Happy New Year!
Sorry I've been away so long. The holidays were a busy time for me. I'm a Buddhist who was raised Christian. Dan's what I lovingly call a BU-Jew. Relatives of every possible combination. So we just celebrate ALL the holidays. Even Hindu New Year with an Indian friend, Kesh, some years. Now that I think of it, not since his wife passed away. Now that's sad. This year I'll have to make a point to look him up.
Result of all this holiday foolishness? About a hundred hand knit gifts. And a bout with bronchitis that did not help. But I'm back now.
This year I'm pruning the gift list and starting earlier. I already have 6 put away in the "magic drawer". Sigh, I say this every year. I never learn, do I?
Last night I finished a fun pair of slippers from yarn I got from my garage-sale-loving friend, Nhien. The ball band of one of the balls was dated 1961. Great, intense colors. These are very purple, darkly luminous psychadelic purple, even though they photographed more blue. The pattern is from the same era as the yarn, very retro.
I also recently (since New Years) finished a keyhole scarf with a ruffled edge.
And a pair of bright orange socks in a small women's size, with fufu yarn along the top edge to trim the cuff. In my mind, I have my friends classified by the size of their feet, LOL. There are several who might fit these small socks. Hmmm, I wonder who likes orange, I mean really likes 'em really orange. And has small feet.
And a Sutra case for an English language Sutra. I like the floral lining. The outside looks like Mexican tooled leather, but it's a suede-like fabric.
And another Sutra case sized for a Japanese language Sutra, much smaller. This one has a piece of Guatamalan fabric from my friend Kim's mother (who is Guatamalan) in it. The lining is the same pink and black floral that wraps around to the front flap: outside shot.
and inside shot. This one has an added extra inside pocket. My Nam Myoho Renge Kyo card for scale. I only had the one small piece of the great Guatamalan fabric, so I had to build up from there.
I have been reading Poetry in Stitches by Solveig Hisdal and now put colors together I never would have before, like rust and pink. The olde time fiber artists from Norway had a very different color aesthetic. I'm beginning to like it. I hope they would approve.
Tonight it was pouring cats and dogs, (winter in San Diego) so we decided we needed comfort food. We're both getting over colds. We went to the Souplantation in Point Loma. Hot soup and salad and muffins, perfect for a cold rainy night...
Keep warm and dry, where ever you are.
Lilo, busy reading the mail, looks up to say goodnight!
Ta Ta,
Julie
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