Goodreads

a level of recovery from some of the dings of 2020.

I was already moving back towards crafting outside of spinning and joining the Unraveled Wednesdays blog hop has really been helping me accomplish that. In addition to connecting with a new group of lovely crafters, the structure helps keep me on track with starting and finishing the craft goals on my Sigma 21 list (found here).

As per the list, my Sigma 1 entry is a crochet throw. I started this previously, was almost at the end but decided I wanted to make it wider. So what you’re seeing now is version 2.0 of this make. The pattern is pretty easy and I thought it would go faster since the yarn being used is bulky, but not such thing! LOL!

I’m really loving the texture on this and can’t wait to get this done, tasseled and on my bed. If I stay monogamous to it, I can finish it in another week, however, as a cheating crafter (LOL) I have other items I want to finish by the end of this month.

2020 was “interesting” aside from COVID. I was diagnosed with an ailment in 2019 that took almost all my time and energy in 2020. I honestly could not have made it through the year without a few special people in my life. Now that I’m crafting more, I want to do something for each of them. Just a small thing to show how much I really appreciate them being extra support when I needed it most. In light of that, I’m starting on my Hope Holders makes (also part of my Sigma 21 project list). First up are the hats. I’ve wound the yarn, stashed them all in one Hatopolooza basket and casting on my first one later today. The goal is to get the ones (4 of them) for the Executive team at my job done and mailed out by the end of the month. I’m not the fastest knitter, you could truly say that I’m one of the slowest, but I think I can get these done in the given time-frame.

Reading:

I’m done the Raybearer book and give it 5 stars! Even if you’re not a fan of the YA genre, this is a book you’d enjoy. I was told that the second book in the series drops in August, I can’t wait!!!

February is designated Black History Month in the US so in celebration of that, I’ll be reading books from only black authors this month. You can find more details on the origins of Black History month here.

First up is a book I received as a gift from one of my cousins from noted author Ta-Nehisi Coates — The Water Dancer. This is his debut novel, its gotten rave reviews so I’m really looking forward to delving into it.

That’s pretty much all from me from this end. Heading outside a bit later to check out the snow levels in my neighborhood. In my neck of the woods we got around 15 to 18 inches and there’s more on the way for Sunday. I’m a snow baby who’s working remotely so I’m loving it all.

Wherever you are, be well, stay warm and if you’re heading outside, for the sake of yourself and people like me, please wear a mask. ❤

Linking up with Kat and all the Unravelers today.

First of all, thank you so very much for all the spin and spindle love from the last post. The comments and private emails encouraged me to plan some “Meet The Maker” posts featuring the spindle makers so stay tuned for that.

Today’s post has multiple working titles — “In Support of an Instagram Fast”, “Nourish”, “Fast Finish”, “Spin, Spin, Spin” — titles which all make sense when I think of this week’s crafty finish. I can ramble on and on and on about Instagram, how much I love it, how many relationships I formed there, how much it upsets me at what the platform has become and how much I despise being at the mercy of an algorithm. What really got my attention was how much time I spent on the platform, how weary it was making me, how much the insta posting was not meeting my need to document my makes, reads or express my thoughts fully and how much I was not engaging in the creative pursuits I enjoy.

The push I needed came when I looked at the time record in my profile. I averaged 3 hours daily on the platform. To say I was shocked was an understatement — it never seemed that long in my mind, especially since I didn’t stay on in one long interval. I thought of all the mindless scrolling, all the comparison, the time wasted and I wasn’t happy. The weekend following my “revelation” I looked at the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma”. That was it! I wouldn’t say more about the documentary but if you have a Netflix account, take a look then let me know — I’d love to hear what you think about it.

So I quit … cold turkey.

I’m still on the platform, my account is still active but I worked my way down from a 3 hours, 15 mins daily average to 15 mins in 10 days.

In the time I’ve quit mindless scrolling, I finished the spin featured in this post, taught myself to use a double drive spinning wheel, finished 2 books, started a crochet project, done some meal planning and cooked more. In other words — I nourished myself, had a fast spin finish, spun, spun then spun some more and am fully in favor of Instagram fasts — no matter how little a person uses the platform.

I’ll show you the crochet throw next week, it should be finished by then but in the mean time: here’s Comfort and Joy — spindle spun and plied (2 ply). The resulting yarn is definitely light fingering and all that’s left to finish the skeins is to wash them. From the almost 2.5 ozs, I got 422 yds in singles and 211 in 2 ply. Next task is to look for a worthy project.