Sunday, September 3, 2017

Back to Bloggin'

Dear readers,

I'm sorry to say I've been very lax in posting these past two years.  It has taken me quite some time to turn the corner on my grief of losing my late partner of 12 years, J.  I also had a 'bout with a serious illness (all is well, now).  I feel like perhaps I can start posting now.  If you have experienced the loss of a family member, spouse, partner, parent or (god forbid) child - I have found certain things helpful.  A therapist, a widow's group, friends, travel; for podcasts, I liked "What's your grief?" and for books, for me (and I have probably read enough to get a Ph.D in grief) I particularly liked A grief obseved by C.S.Lewis, and Second Firsts. I also liked the (Joan) Didion books, and could appreciate Cheryl Strayed's book on the PCT but not until after a year had passed for those memoir type of readings; I needed some perspective.

Two of my favorite quotes are "No one told me grief felt so much like fear" (C.S. Lewis) & "Grief is sneaky, very sneaky  . . but life is sneaker and more alive than grief could ever be." (Second Firsts).  Although when you are in the raw mix of emotions, any quotes feel trite.

So back to the point of this blog:  I have been doing all kinds of craftsy things, and meeting my fiber goals.  I've been an active (somewhat) member of the Ventura County Handweavers and Spinner's Guild.  I have learned to weave on a rigid heddle and spin (see pictures below).  I've even been spindling, and finally I have a Mirrix tapestry loom BUT have not been successful (yet):














I've been doing all kinds of knitting, mostly hats as gifts (more on that in a later blog) and am finishing up a sweater now.  On Ravelry my name is pammieandtheps, here is a teaser but again, I will do a blog post on my adventures in knitting:
My sewing has taken a back seat to my other fiber goals but I've made a two skirts and a four blouses.  I've even made some bad forays into bra making (one successful -- one not so much).
My skirt, a rugged linen from stash, followed by a lined sequin skirt - which I completed last minute right before a party:


In other fiber-y things, I even started rug making (latch hook -- remember that?).   Yes, perhaps I've lost my mind!


Dear readers, I'm not ashamed to tell you I know a whole lot more about sheep than I ever used to.

I hope you all are well, and I've been diligently reading my bloglovin' with your wonderful posts.

See you all very soon (A presto!),

XOXO,

P.

9 comments:

Rachael K. said...
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Rachael K. said...

Dear Pam,
I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad you had / have some good resources to help deal with the grief.

Thank you for sharing.

Be well and big virtual hugs.

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Welcome back!!!! I LOVE your knitted sweater, your sequin skirt, the rose skirt with green shoes (those aren't Fluevogs, are they?), the yellow striped tea towels! Beautiful work! And look at you with that loom - I assume you made the gray yarn yourself? How cool - our local yarn store started weaving classes and it looks very fun. You're doing all kinds of stuff now - congrats. I read some books when my Dad died at 58, and I liked one called Gone from My Sight written by a hospice nurse that I wish he had read before he died, as it explained a lot of stuff people go through when they're dying from cancer, etc. I had "grief attacks" for years but they finally went away. Thanks for listing those other books. Well, glad you're back, and I'll have to head over to Ravelry to find that sweater you made...

Pam said...

Thank you everyone; I'm happy to be back! Sister, I've been following your blog for awhile now -- and loving your pieces. Ready for Fat Tuesday sewing coming up? I haven't been weaving using my own spinning (it took awhile I have an Ashford Traveller and it's a bit tricky -- plus I didn't put the time in either) yet. But will do so probably first! Weaving classes are fun -- making cloth. . . I'm still a beginner for sure. I need to take some skills classes. I'm using a rigid heddle but many folks in my group using floor or table looms and they are no joke! I wish I took textile engineering when I was at Auburn, darn it!

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Oooh - I didn't know there was such a thing as textile engineering! I can totally see you flying out here for a Gulf Coast Girls' Sewing Weekend, and I can rent a rigid heddle (so you don't have to bring yours) for you from Heidi at Mobile Yarn, who joined us for our last one, and you can show us what you got! Seriously, if you're coming to the Panhandle or anywhere in the vicinity in the next year or two, you have to let me know so we can set something up!

Pam said...

Yes, I would love to stop by -- preliminarily I am planning a trip to the Panhandle in Fall of 2018 but if I can get there before then I will! That would be fabulous - let me know about Gulf Coast Girls' Sewing Weekend! I would love to come! Thank you!

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Just so you know, we're getting one together 12/1-3 (Fri-Sun) for this year. Of course we'll do it again next year - if you know your dates of travel, let me know and we'll see if we can work it out!

Dr. Fun (AKA Sister) said...

Just in case you still get replies - we’re doing it Feb 22-24 - I’ll look for your email address to let you know!

Ali said...
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