“Every storm runs out of rain.” ~Maya Angelou
Hello dear readers—
As I write this yet another storm is tossing rain and wind our way here in northern California. What a crazy winter-into-spring it’s been! Another reminder that my expectations bear little relationship to reality…
At any rate, welcome to my new home on Substack. It will take me some time to feel comfortable with this new format; although I remind myself frequently that change is a constant, deep down I seem to believe that I should only have to learn something once and then be done with it. If this were true we’d all still be using rotary phones. 😉 At any rate now that I’ve stopped procrastinating I have great hopes for publishing here, and I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to bring my newsletter archives with me (although not all photos migrated with the posts). It’s amazing, really, that I am able to communicate with you this way and that you can respond. As always, thank you for reading.
Treat yourselves and each other with exquisite care.
Love,
Janine
Thoughts on finishing a project (or not)
So, I’m stuck. My Moonstruck Sweater is SO CLOSE to being done. But that damned god Perfectionism has struck hard! I’m not quite happy with how the sleeve gusset meets the body. Mind you, this doesn’t show when the sweater is worn. And my solution—which involves unpicking the 3-needle bind off that connects the sleeve to the body, ripping back the sleeve 4 inches, re-knitting the sleeve with a different increase ratio, and then re-attaching the sleeve—would involve many hours of work. So I’ve sat in limbo for two weeks now, trying to figure out if it’s worth doing, rather than saying “good enough!” and getting on with attaching the second sleeve.
I’m sharing this because saying it out loud is one way of pushing back against the idea of perfection—pushing back against worries of negative judgement of my work. In fact, my concerns now seem rather silly!!! Time to get on with it….
Ireland and Iceland
Jillian Moreno and I lead tours to fiber-rich places—the photos were taken on last year’s trip to Iceland. This year we’re traveling to Ireland (May 23-June 6) and Iceland (September 9-24). We have great fun designing trips that introduce our travelers to local artists, farms, mills, teachers, and yarn shops. A few places remain in each of these itineraries—we’d love to have you join us. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Things That Have Been on My Mind
Music producer Rick Rubin recently wrote a book called The Creative Act: A Way of Being that has blown my mind! Short chapters on art, creativity and what it means to be human in relation to the universe. Each page forces me to pause and reflect and then read it again….
“When you learn to make things with your hands, you begin to awaken an awareness of the beauty and value of things in your life. Handmaking teaches us about slowness: the antidote to brevity and efficiency. It shows us, through the patience and skillfulness of our own hands, what goes into a thing.” ~Toko-pa Turner
Thank you for your book recommendations last month! I’m looking forward to making my way through your suggestions.
Andrea Haws gave me the most beautiful book: Iro: The Essence of Color in Japanese Design by Rossella Menegazzo. Each page shows a very specific color with the most evocative name—for example, sakuranezu/cherry blossom mouse grey 🌸🐭. As I leaf through the pages I am reminded that truly paying attention brings unanticipated joy! This book is expensive, so see if your library has it.
By the way, if you respond to the idea of giving colors personal names you will definitely enjoy The Color Collector’s Handbook: A Journal for Discovering the Colors in Your Everyday by Leah Rosenberg.
“The goal of art isn’t to attain perfection. The goal is to share who we are. And how we see the world.” ~Rick Rubin
While on the theme of making colors our own let me once again direct you to Stephen Beal’s needlepoint piece The Periodic Table of Artist’s Colors. I love this so much!
One novel I read last month that I loved (I mean, the I-stayed-up-late-to-read-it kind of love) is Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Trust me on this one! The evolution of friendships is such a rich focus.
“Look for what you notice that no one else sees.” ~Rick Rubin again
The inspirational Sarah Swett—tapestry weaver, spinner, knitter, dyer, and all-around creative person—now has a newsletter on Substack called The Gusset. Sarah’s approach to creativity never fails to delight me! I can’t figure out how to link to it but you’re smart enough to figure it out.
I’m going to stop faffing around and hit publish—better to send something not quite complete than to keep holding onto it. Thank you again for being on this ride with me! ❤️ Janine
Do the second sleeve in the other way of doing it that you thought of, and then see which one you like better. You'll still have to do one sleeve again, but you'll be able to compare them both.
Welcome to Substack! My husband has joined as well discussing his reasons of retiring from medicine. I have been following you for a while for the joy your work brings me and the knitting universe. Hope it works well for you. I sooo relate to your comment concerning perfectionism. It can be a good yet demanding beast!