books

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.

Still Reading: The Raybearer and loving it!

Hope your week is going well and cheers for a good rest of it. ❤

Joining Kat and friends for “Unraveled Wednesdays” to see what everyone is crafting and reading.

I’m not ready to unpack 2020 yet. It still feels heavy and outside of COVID it was a tremendously difficult year personally. I’m a person who powers through, then unpacks when there’s a moment to catch my breath so there’s no doubt that you’ll hear about 2020 in the coming months now that I’m back in this space, but there’s time …

Reading has always been a huge part of my life. It’s funny, one day I was reading while commuting on the train in NYC and a former colleague who I hadn’t seen in 15 years came up to me and said “still reading I see!” I remember him now and that comment because reading is one of the things that got me through 2020. Reading comforted me at every turn. Every book felt like an old friend making space for me, reaffirming how much its there for me — in good times and in tough.

One of the books I received in 2020 (as a gift) from my friend Becca is Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko. It’s been reported that this YA author had been plotting this book since she was 13. In August 2020, she published it 2 days before her 27th birthday. I didn’t read this one in 2020 but I reached for it on January 6th 2021. Like so many of us, I needed to escape, I needed comfort. The book’s themes of change, equity, justice and righteous fight are welcomed as we usher in a new President and Vice President today. The cover art is stunning but more than that, it’s been a joy to read so far. The characters are vibrant, the writing rich! Although I’m only about a third the way in, I’m already excited for Book 2 in the series.

(Photo credit: TeniKomo Photography/Cover courtesy of Abrams)

Supported spindling is a newish addition to my yarn spinning arsenal and that’s what I did in 2020 craft-wise. Not a lick of knitting or crochet, just spinning — by wheel and by spindles — mostly supported spindling. As the lock-down lengthened (I’m still working remotely since March 2020), as COVID numbers surged, as flight after flight got cancelled trying to get my mom home before her holiday visa ran out, as the medical personnel in my family and everywhere else were crushed by the volume of patients, suffering and death, as people ignored the advice of professionals and the validity of science, as I watched the murder of a black man in broad daylight, as I learned of another black man being gunned down while jogging, as we got the news of Breonna Taylor being murdered in her home, I spun yarn. I spun, and spun and spun and spun. The meditative quality of spinning helped me zone out when the news, the state of the country and the world at large threatened to crush us.

The nuns of Inglenook Fibers fame are hands down, geniuses with fiber. I missed the sign up for their advent fiber calendar but as life goes, blessings sneak in between the tough times. A dear friend split her pack in half then sent me my own advent kit as a Christmas gift. I’ve been spinning the pack since the day after Christmas. Work interrupted my spinning but here we are: Comfort and Joy.

I finished the last color bump 3 nights ago and the goal is to ply them (2 ply) over the coming weekend … or maybe I might play hooky and ply during the inauguration today. The new administration brings a level of competence we were sorely missing during the last four years. More than that, it’s about time we’re comforted from 2020’s losses by a kind, empathetic President. It’s about time we feel more concrete, longer lasting joy.

Linking with Kat and friends today at Unraveled Wednesdays to share what we’re reading and crafting