Project 333: Spring 2017

Let me just state at the outset of this post that my spring rotation is kind of a hot mess right now.  I realized after pulling everything out and taking photographs that I still missed two things, and the rotation feels a bit unfinished at the moment.  At least some of that is to do with the fact that it is in fact unfinished (I still have two projects to finish sewing, plus a knitting project) and some of it to do with having a bunch of new things in the rotation that are "untested" so to speak.

Far left: Rifle and Co. floral rayon dress (unblogged), Foxgloves dress (unblogged), navy knit dress, Raindrops dress + blue undershirt (unblogged)

Top right: kelly green elbow sleeve tshirt, navy undershirt, coral undershirt, navy waffle henley undershirt

Middle right: Hobby horse canvas skirt (unfinished)

Bottom left: navy cotton cardigan, coral cotton cardigan, royal blue lightweight cardigan, charcoal gray lightweight cardigan, light blue cotton cardigan (not pictured)

Far left: Midnight sky dress + black undershirt (unblogged), First Light dress + light gray undershirt, navy linen dress, Liberty #1 dress

Top right: Blue cashmere pullover sweater, charcoal linen dress, kelly green knit dress

Middle right: gray striped shirt, plum striped shirt, blue striped shirt, navy striped shirt

Bottom right: red twill skirt, denim skirt, red cowl neck sweatshirt (not pictured)

I mean to wear the striped shirts as undershirts with my linen dresses, but I might also wear the gray and the blue ones with skirts.  

I'm also making a wearable toile of Tilly and Buttons' knit Zadie dress with some knit fabric from the stash, so we'll see how we go.  I've not had great success with her patterns in the past, but the style of the Zadie is one that is similar to my ready-to-wear knit dresses, and I really like the style lines of it.   I noticed someone else added a self-belt to cinch the dress in more in the back; I might try that. I'm hoping it works out.

This rotation feels kind of weird; on the one hand, I do feel like it is well suited for the crazy weather extremes we get in the spring.  On the other hand, I feel like I have a lot of pieces in this rotation.  But most of them are layering pieces, and some are specifically for certain dresses.  I tend not to do a lot of mixing and matching with my clothes, so I think that if an undershirt is meant to be worn with a particular dress, it is part of that dress.

I do find myself wondering why I'm still doing Project 333 in the way that I do.  I do find it helpful in terms of keeping my wardrobe manageable for a set period of time, and it does help me greatly to plan my sewing projects with more intention and care.  I've also learned a ton about what sorts of knitting projects work well with my wardrobe, but it is still a bit of a process, as I noted yesterday.  I finished three sweaters during my winter rotation, but none was a great success.  The best new knitted object in my winter rotation was a simple garter stitch cowl in a wool-cotton mix that I made over the summer.  I wore it a bunch this winter. 

I think it is mostly that I'm not reducing my wardrobe much any longer.  Perhaps that is as it should be; my wardrobe is at a manageable stasis, and I should content myself with that.  There are some pieces that I don't wear very often, either because they are vintage and a bit fragile, or because I don't prefer to wear them every day, but I think it is okay to have one or two special things at the back of the closet. 

I do worry that I'm profligate with my sewing and knitting, and that I give away or recycle things too quickly.  I do realize, however, that garments worn more often are garments that will wear out more quickly, so having a smaller wardrobe doesn't mean sacrificing creative impulse either.  And some rotations take harder hits than others by the end.  Some of my summer clothes from last year are looking rather shabby indeed--my Nike dress and Blueberry dresses look particularly worse for wear.  I'm planning to retire a few things and carry over several of my spring dresses.   

I think a lot of that is to do with my style--I tend to wear a lot of printed dresses, and not a lot of solids or neutrals.  Navy and gray are my neutrals, but they are background colors rather than the main event.  I notice that a lot of people who do Project 333 mostly wear solid separates with a few prints thrown in for variety.  I'm the opposite--I mostly wear printed dresses with a few solids thrown in, and not a lot of separates.  Perhaps I need to make peace with the fact that I like to have a certain amount of variety in my clothing and just move on from the extreme minimalist ideal in my head.

Nothing says First Day of Lent like Dental Surgery (Project 333 Winter Wrap)

I think the post title says it all.  I got a viral infection in my mouth a few weeks ago that resulted in a sudden and painful gum recession on my bottom gum line, and I had to have a tissue graft this morning.  All in all, not too bad, but the anesthesia is starting to wear off and the motrin hasn't kicked in yet, so I'm starting to feel it.  The actual graft doesn't really feel too bad, but the sutures are wrapped around the tooth above and have moved that tooth further back from surrounding teeth, and that does hurt.  Imagine having several lines of floss stuck on either side of a tight-fitting tooth and not being able to take it out.  It does feel particularly penitential.

Far left: Bluebird dress, Mammoth Flannel #1 dress with green henley undershirt, Daisy Chain canvas dress, Folk Tapestry canvas dress with olive undershirt

Top Right: Geo flannel skirt, Zwei Leben denim skirt, wool plaid skirt (vintage)

Bottom right: Banana Republic cream wool sweater, Ramona green sweater, berry cashmere sweater, Clouds in my Coffee sweater

I decided to wrap up my winter rotation a few days early because I have several things going the next couple of days and today was the day I had time to switch things around.  I've kind of been ready to do it for about a week, which is different from last year.  I think it is mostly to do with the mild weather we've been having--my winter wardrobe is mostly ill-suited to spring-like temperatures.

Far left: Mammoth #2 dress, garnet knit dress, olive knit dress, teal knit dress

Top right: berry waffle henley undershirt, navy waffle henley undershirt, cream henley undershirt, cranberry cowlneck sweatshirt

Middle right: Fair Isle wool cardigan, blue cashmere pullover sweater, coral cowl, off-white cowl, kiwi cowl

Bottom right: Teal-blue cashmere cowl neck sweater, gray wool pullover sweater, cranberry wool cowl neck sweater, navy heavy cotton pullover sweater

I had this outfit in my winter rotation, but I only wore it a couple of times.  I like to think of it as my Elizabeth Jennings outfit (Keri Russell's character in The Americans).  I like how it looks, and it fits very well.  I really like the top, and wore that a fair bit with my denim skirt, but I can't really decide about this skirt.  The main problem is two-fold.  First is that the skirt, which is wool, is unlined, and very static prone.  Every slip I've tried with it just sticks to the skirt and to me, and the anti-static spray I use to help these things just doesn't seem to work well on this skirt.  The other issue is that the whole outfit isn't quite warm enough for deep winter.  On the other hand, it is nice to have some in-between clothes for days like today that are chilly but not freezing.  I also like to have some clothes I feel a bit dressier in, and this combo definitely fits the bill.  If we had a cooler fall, it would be a natural fall pairing, but we tend to be warm here well into October, and then only get a few coolish weeks in November.  I'm going to keep the skirt for now. 

A few notes about the rotation:

Keen-eyed readers will note that the wool skirt in the collage (top photo) is different from the one in the outfit photo above.  I include it mostly to note that it just now fits me.  I bought it last summer on etsy (it was deadstock vintage) and it was too snug in the waist.  It now *just* fits.  A few more pounds gone and it will be a nice fit.  I didn't actually get a chance to wear it this winter, but it goes well with the cranberry wool top, so I'm hoping I'll get some wear out of it next winter.  

Both my denim and flannel skirts are too big on me now, so I'm going to have to address that before next fall.  I've washed and dried them both in an attempt at controlled shrinking, but they are still a bit roomy.  I will probably wear the denim skirt through the spring and then recycle the fabric and reuse the hardware; it will have been through six hard-wearing rotations by then.   I have some more of the same denim to make a (smaller) replacement.  Ditto for the flannel skirt; I bought some replacement fabric this winter and will recycle the old fabric and reuse the hardware on the new skirt.  

I had a hard time settling into this rotation and I couldn't really say why.  I wore everything in the rotation at least once, and all my dresses got heavy wear, but my separates languished a little.  I was making myself wear them because they were there, instead of wearing them because I really wanted to.   The rotation felt at times too heavy and other times too light.  I also started counting undershirts in my final count since it felt like cheating to have four or five shirts in the drawer that didn't get counted.

I also had some knitting fails this rotation--the Ruby Stoker was just not a great sweater for my needs, and while I wore it to sleep in, it didn't work otherwise.  The Cypress Rincleau is too big on me (I tried to wear it again on Sunday and it was sliding all over my shoulders and torso; I had to change before I even left for church).  So is my blue Clouds in My Coffee cardigan.  I did wear that several times with the Daisy Chain dress, but it just is too big on me.  I'm hoping to knit a more fitted cardigan in a similar colorway before next winter.  The fails were instructive in several ways in terms of educating my knitting process, as well as what sorts of profiles I tend to like in finished objects, so I guess they weren't a total loss.  I also got to work with Quince and Co.'s Lark yarn, and I will definitely be working with that yarn again.  It is soft and squishy and lovely.  I should have used a bulkier yarn for the Rincleau, however.  The Lark just wasn't quite heavy enough for the finished sweater, I think.

The canvas and flannel dresses were the clear winners from this rotation, and I think if I had to pack a bag for a long winter trip, I would take those four with their attendant sweaters and undershirts and call it a day.  They are comfortable, warm, and look nice at the end of the day.   That said, I did like having the knit dresses for some nicer church options.  I wore the garnet one for Nativity and the olive one for our parish's Christmas party the day after.  I took the trouble and expense to have the teal one taken in quite a bit in the bodice and I'm glad I did.  It fits much better now, and I will get at least another year's wear out of it, hopefully.  

I will discuss my spring rotation tomorrow!

Yarn Along: Frog it Good

~knitting~

There was a lot o' froggin' goin' on this week.  

First, I decided that my second attempt at the Sapphire Sherwood Cowl was coming out too big and my tension was all over the place, so I frogged it and started a third time with smaller needles.  I also decided to do a double moss stitch for some visual interest.  So far, I'm much happier with this version.  It does seem to be the never ending project, however, since I've been poking away at this thing since late summer.  For such a little project, I just can't seem to finish it!

Next, I was working on my Rent/Tess shawl, and I noticed a mistake, way far down toward the beginning.  It was maybe only obvious to me, but it ruined the even visual line of increases in the middle and it bugged me.  I decided that I didn't like how the yarn over increases up the center back looked, and I also didn't like how square the shawl was coming out.  I wanted something that would wrap around to the back, and while a triangle shawl can theoretically do that, there were just so many problems by that point, I decided it was better to start fresh.  So I pulled it out (and I was nearing the end of my second ball of Malabrigo at this point) and rewound the yarn.  I decided to go back to the Tess D'Urbervilles shawl pattern, since that is really what I want it to look like when finished and go from there.  I like the center back increases on that pattern better, and I found that it wasn't as bad as I had initially thought to keep up with.  I am only doing a two-row pattern, so increasing four times on the right side and knitting the wrong side, so I'm not increasing the edges quite as quickly as the pattern calls for, but I think this will end up a nice compromise between the Tess and Rent Shawls.  I'm also slipping the edges for a clean look. So far, so good.

I am *thisclose* to frogging my Lena linen Tee, but when I pulled it out, I realized I had made more progress than I remembered, and being in fingering weight yarn, I am sort of hesitant to chuck that out the window.  I was considering making the Donner sweater instead because the miles of stockinette in the round is really getting to me, but I'm also realizing that pullover sweaters are really not my jam for wearing, so I'm strongly considering making the Gemini sweater, since it can be either a cardigan or a pullover and is reversible.

I didn't frog anything else, but I did dither a lot about what pattern to use for my Ramona cardigan replacement.  I'm using Swish yarn this time, which is slightly less bulky than my previous yarn, so the Ramona pattern won't work with it.  Plus I'd like to try something else just for variety.  I wanted something with a little bit of a pattern to it, but not so much that I'd get frustrated and give up.  

I ended up going with the Yellow Brick Road cardigan, which is going to be perfect, I think.  I'm through the second chart of the yoke pattern and on to the third set of short rows, and I'm really liking this pattern.  I'm going to make the sleeves long and add chart a around the cuffs (another raveler did that and I liked the effect a lot) and I'm going to make the body much shorter since 16" from the underarm will swamp my short torso.  I'll probably go for something around 13" long.

I also bought some more Malabrigo Rios to make a cowl to go with my Daisy Chain canvas dress, as well as my Mammoth Flannel #1 dress.  I wanted something dark orange, and it just so happened that the Malabrigo came in the shade I was looking for.  I dithered a bit about the pattern--my favorite cowls this year have been just simple garter stitch, seamed in the middle, but I decided to try a pattern with it, so I'm going for the Clairiere cowl since it looks like something I can keep up with.  A long time ago I bought a feather stitch cowl pattern and decided it was too much, but I think I could do it now, but do you think I can find that pattern anywhere?  Nosir.

~reading~

I'm nearly done with Angela Doll Carlson's book The Garden in the East: The Spiritual Life of the Body. Overall, I'm disappointed with it. I think I expected something quite different from what the book actually is. On the one hand, she has a good many things to say about body image and having a healthy view of the body and how we should treat it well, since our bodies are made by God; on the other hand, the book needed a stronger editorial hand. It was just a little too "bloggy" for my tastes, and some of the sections within various chapters didn't really flow very well.  

I wished the book had more in it that was specifically Orthodox, or at least did a little more Orthodox exposition. She has a lot of quotes from various ascetics and saints of the Church as chapter and section headers, and there is a tantalizing bit about the Orthodox view of the body being Eucharistic as opposed to the Epicurean or Stoic views (both alive and well in post modern society), but she doesn't really explain what that Eucharistic view is or how it works as a practical matter.  

The thing is, there isn't really anything "wrong" with the book--it is all good information, and she has a nice way of telling stories to illustrate her points, but I guess I just wanted something different.  I was grumping about this book to an Orthodox friend of mine, she said, "well, sounds like you should write one!" <gulp> Maybe some day.

I'm also making good progress on Paul Strathern's The Medici: Power, Money, and Ambition in the Italian Renaissance.  It is quite engaging read, and I like his writing style.  I was particularly interested to read his account of the Council of Florence, as I confess, that particular episode in East-West Church history wasn't that fresh in my mind.  Fascinating stuff.  I also started reading Christopher Hibbert's The House of Medici: Rise and Fall, but didn't find it to be that distinct from Strathern's book, so I decided to continue on with Strathern.  I may go back to Hibbert at some point, as Stathern's book references it a few times.

I have a rather large stack of books ready for Lenten reading, but I'm also trying to be realistic about what I can get through in the next 6 weeks or so.  I'll be content if I get through Constantina Palmer's newest book and finish Donald Sheehan, frankly.

~watching~

I'm still wandering through season four of The Americans.  I think I'm around episode five and the last one really caught me off guard.  (no spoilers!)  That show does keep me on my toes!  (and frequently gives me a lot to think about)

My husband and I watched episode three of The Crown last night.  We are trying to get through the coronation episode before Lent starts, since our good friend keeps raving about the wonderful imagery in that episode, particularly about the conflict of old world vs. modern, particularly with regard to the view of the self.  

My parents were here over the long President's Day weekend and we watched Funny Face, a classic Audrey Hepburn/Fred Astaire movie.  My mom had never seen it, so it was fun to watch it all together.  Fred Astaire and Kay Thompson are just a treat to watch.  

~making~

I'm nearly done with the sewing for my spring rotation.  I left my least favorite thing for last: a skirt.  I don't know why I get such a block about sewing skirts.  I have a pattern I like, and fits well, but since I have to fit it every time I make it, I get a little nervous every time.  I'm also smaller than the last time I sewed the pattern, so I know there are going to have to be some tweaks to get a good fit.  My Zwei Leben denim and Geo Flannel skirts are both slightly too big, so I'm going to have to remake those sometime in the next year.  But I am very excited about my fabric: the Hobby Horse cotton-linen canvas from Rifle and Co. for Cotton + Steel.  I have two dresses out of this substrate, and I really like how the fabric behaves.  I'm curious to see how I like it in a skirt form.  I am realizing that I just don't wear that many separates, and I'm okay with that.  I do like to have a few skirts in each rotation but it is never the bulk of my wardrobe.  After watching the Minimalism documentary on Netflix, I am thinking more about what it means to be a responsible citizen and steward of the things I have and make.  I want to stop thinking of myself as primarily a consumer, but it is hard, given the constant barrage of consumer-oriented messages in our culture.  I'm hoping to write some more about this in the coming months.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!

Yarn Along: Rincleau

~knitting~

Another finished project!  I'm not really a speedy knitter, but it just so happened that I finished two projects that I started in the fall within two weeks of one another.  This Rincleau sweater was a pretty  bulky gauge, so it went very quickly.  I had knit everything but the sleeves by the end of December, and then got sleeve-itis and picked up my blue cardigan instead.  I finished that, and then started in on the Rincleau sleeves, which went incredibly fast.

First, the bad: I think it is too big on me.  It does fit with about the amount of recommended ease, but I just feel like it is too big, especially in the shoulders.  It requires a fair amount of fiddling and pushing around to get everything adjusted and in place after I put it on.  I love the yarn (Quince and Co.'s Lark, in Cypress), but it has a fair amount of spring, and I think it may not have been the best choice for this pattern.

I also am not crazy about the sleeves--I was expecting them to taper more to the wrist, but they are actually kind of bell shaped at the bottom.  I should have known--the final stitch count after the decreases was 46, and I generally find 36 to be a good fit around my wrist.  I don't think I would make this pattern again, but if I did, I would decrease a few more times to get a snug fit,

And the good: I love this yarn.  I would definitely use Quince and Co. yarn again, but I'd like to try Chickadee (their sport weight yarn).  The hand of this yarn is really lovely, and the wool is so soft!  I am proud of myself for following the pinecone chart (it was a lot to power through for me--32 rows long, 3 times), but I did it!  I also like the way the cowl and the bottom edge look, and the general shape of the sweater is nice.  I just wish it was smaller!  

I also like the color very much--it is a lovely deep spruce-type green, almost in the blue family but not quite.  

I am starting to wonder if my tension has changed since I swatched this yarn, since both of the sweaters I started in October (this one, and Clouds in My Coffee) have come out too big.  I am also slightly smaller, but I don't think that is all of it.  

I'm getting ready to cast on the replacement for my Ramona cardigan, hopefully to finish it in time for wearing in the fall; I'm debating between a couple of patterns.  One is a very simple top-down raglan construction with stockinette stitch throughout that I could definitely finish in time; the other one is an Amy Herzog pattern that has a nicer shape, but more complicated stitch pattern that might be too much for me to keep up with, so I can't decide which way to go.  What I'd like is to use the Amy Herzog pattern and change the stitch panels to something easier for me to manage, but I can't find a stitch pattern I like that is easy to follow and adapt.  I'm also considering just doing an all-over stitch pattern like a double moss or something like that.  I'm still swatching the yarn (worsted Swish in Jade) so I'll see where I end up.

~reading~

Not much new from last week--still re-reading a silly novel series on my kindle and planning to get to more serious stuff during Lent.

~watching~

Season 4 of The Americans just hit prime, so I've been catching up on that.  That show makes me want all the early 1980s fashions.  I really love Keri Russell's wardrobe on that show--the midi a-line skirts, the tall boots, the fitted light weight sweaters, just the thing.  It is such a well-done show, and the themes are so thought-provoking.  

I watched a little documentary on Netflix over the weekend called The Minimalists and enjoyed it quite a bit.  It kind of goes in hand with Project 333, but in a broader way.  I especially appreciated that they talked with some folks who have families and how they deal with managing consumerism and "stuff" in a family setting.  It gave me some new things to think about as I move along this path of keeping our home and lives simple.

I also finished The Night Manager last week and I highly recommend it.  I'm kind of having a Tom Hiddleston moment--that guy is so stinkin' talented!  He has a magnetic screen presence and I so enjoyed watching him.  (I tried watching High Rise over the summer, just because he was in it, but it was such a weird and slow movie, I couldn't finish it.  Too bad, because he was electric in it).  I liked him in Wallander too.  I guess I have a thing for actors with curly hair?  He's really fun to watch in interviews.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!

Yarn Along: Rincleau Progress and other doings

~knitting~

I'm making good progress on my Rincleau pullover sweater!  I'm about half way through the second sleeve (give or take a few rows) and I'm hoping to get it blocking by next week.  The weather has been so extremely weird this winter, I really don't know if I'll be able to wear it or not.  Today it is 60 degrees and bright, but we are supposed to get 8" of snow tomorrow with a high of 34, so who knows.

I'm using Quince and Co. Lark yarn in Cypress--it photographed weirdly, so the color isn't true--it is more of a sprucy green, very pretty.  I did mess up slightly on the top pinecone, but I think it isn't too noticeable, and the cowl kind of covers most of it anyway.  There is one other little mistake in the stockinette near that pinecone, but I'm trying not to let it bug me because I'm not ripping it back to that point after powering through the pinecone chart three times (32 lines, lots of little dots to follow, using a ruler to mark each line, you get the idea).

I did try it on after the first sleeve was done, just to see how it fit, and I think the fit is good, so there's that.  I'm curious to see how it will block.

~reading~

Nothing new on the reading front.  I've put aside all my other reading and am just reading a silly novel I've read before on my kindle right now because that is where my head is at the moment.  I've come down with cold sores in my nose and mouth and they kind of make me feel a bit under the weather.  I'm also kind of bummed about the mouth one, since it is on my gum line and eating is very painful (as is talking).  It seems kind of unfair during one of the rare fast-free weeks of the year!  Oh well.

~watching~

I finally started The Night Manager this week, after saving it for a rainy day.  It got rave reviews, and I generally like John LeCarre (I've read several of his books, all good, but slow burners), so I figured this series would be a good one.  It doesn't disappoint!  Each episode is a full hour, so that is about right for my watching needs at the moment. 

I'm hoping to introduce Mary Poppins to the kids this weekend--I'm really excited that they are finally getting to an age that I can show them some of the great movies I grew up with.  They are just starting to get into the older Disney cartoons like Cinderella and the like, and I'm excited to share those with them (I'm not a fan of most of the newer stuff Disney has been putting out, for a variety of reasons).  

~family happenings~

Boo had his namesday on Friday and it was a nice day!  He seemed happy all day (sometimes he can be very moody and holidays are always iffy for him) and was really thrilled with his presents and his special meal.  I've realized that all my kids kind of prefer to know what gifts they are getting ahead of time--it just takes all the drama out of it.  I personally don't like to know ahead of time, and like surprising them, but I also want to meet their needs, and not have a ton of high drama every time we give them a gift, so I guess this is the way we have to do it for now.

Boo has a Jellycat teddy bear (that was actually Piglet's to begin with--that is a whole story in itself!) but he claimed it long since.  Piglet has his own lovies, so he doesn't care.  I found a Crusader costume for the bear on amazon that was sized to fit his bear (it is 17") and mentioned it to Boo, who immediately requested it for his namesday.  He also asked for two small lego sets which he was happy to receive as well.

~making~

I realized with a start last week that I'd better get cracking on my spring makes this month.  I had all the fabric, but none of it had been prewashed and I was generally unprepared to start sewing on the projects (four dresses and one skirt).  

I ordered the few supplies I needed (a couple of packages of bias tape) and started washing fabric.  I made the two rayon dresses last week over a couple of days, and started on one of the cotton ones today.   The navy rayon dress gave me fits, but the other one went together very smoothly.  I'll talk about details when I show those dresses during the spring rotation.

Sometimes you just need an orange dress--I decided last minute to add this dress into my spring rotation, but I'm glad I did.  It is so cheerful.  The fabric is a little stiff, so I'm hoping it will look okay once it is on me.

~household~

I received a wonderful icon of my patron saint, Juliana of Lazarevo, as a namesday gift from one of the other deacons in our church.  I love it so much--it has scenes from her life, and it is the only icon I've ever seen of her that is like this.  The deacon completely surprised me with it.  I put it on one of the shelves in my work room.

I also received a lovely Sleigholm Folk (previously Audrey Eclectic) print for Christmas from my parents, and I also love it.  It too went on a wall in my work room.  I want to live in that scene.  I have another of her prints hanging above the desk in the room as well.  

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!

Talking Tuesday: The Inner Tumult of Ascesis

This weekend was the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee, the official start of the Lenten Triodion.  We are in the last few weeks before Lent is officially upon us; these weeks given to us by the Church to pause, reflect, get ready, before the big dive at the end of this month.  I've found myself in a pretty contemplative state of mind for several weeks now, just thinking about various things.  I'm trying to read more, watch less, eat less, shop purposefully for the needs of the household, be in front of a screen less.  It is hard to do this--it produces a lot of internal discomfort for me as I use a lot of these things to cope with the difficulties in my life.  It is a crutch and not a good one.

The weaker part of me wants to stop being so purposeful, to eat until I'm full, watch movies until I'm overtired, shop mindlessly, surf the internet for no good reason, just to turn off the noise of the world.  But none of these things helps to do that.  Developing a spirit of quietness and reflection, particularly living in the sort of family I live in, is very very difficult.  A lot of days, I just want to run and hide and stop being an adult for a while.  The pressure of responsibility for the household and for parenting my children well feels like too much.  I often feel as though I live directly under a giant thumb tack, constantly being pushed a little further into my head.  I don't want to live like this, or feel like this, so I think I have to take the ascesis of our Orthodox life more seriously.

I've been dipping into and out of Donald Sheehan's Grace of Incorruption for several months now, and a passage really jumped out at me last week.  He writes that the beginning of our ascetical struggle is when we confront the inner turmoil that is produced by running up against difficult things, and what we ultimately do with that turmoil.   Do we deny the passion and further our ascetical purpose, or do we give in to it and feed the passion for further spiritual destruction?  Do we learn to embrace the questions that come out of inner turmoil, and turn them to God, for His purpose?  Do we allow ourselves to experience the pain and discomfort of denying the body and the mind what it craves so that the Master can chisel us into His likeness?

I've also been reading Lysa TerKeurst's Unglued, and in it, she tells the story of how Michelangelo sculpted the statue of David out of an enormous block of marble.  He was the third in a line of sculptors to take on the project, but he was the one to finish the masterpiece.  When asked how he accomplished such a monumental task, Michelangelo replied, "Easy.  I just chip away the parts of the marble that aren't David."  Lysa TerKeurst's point in telling the story is to say that God is always molding us, always sculpting us, and the chisel can be painful and difficult; we can run away from that process and not allow God to make us who we are supposed to be: the very image and likeness of Himself.  Or we can embrace that pain and discomfort and bodily denial, seek to work with Him in ascetical struggle to conquer the passions, and let the hammer do its work.

No one said theosis was going to be easy.

Yarn Along: Clouds in My Coffee

~knitting~

A finished object!  Meet my Clouds in My Coffee cardigan (and my new canvas-linen dress!)  I used Elizabeth Brown's pattern of the same name, some Misti Maki alpaca yarn from the stash, and some vintage buttons from who knows where.  

I'm quite pleased with this one--I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to keep up with the faux-cable panel down the front but it was surprisingly easy and straightforward.  The whole pattern is written line-by-line, which I appreciate.  My only complaint is that the sleeves came out too long, which is a common problem for me.  #hobbitarms  I usually measure sleeves as I go, to make sure they come out short enough, but I thought, since the Ramona cardigan sleeves fit so well right off the bat, that I didn't need to worry about this one.  I do think the extra drape provided by the alpaca might be at least a little to blame, as the sweater did grow slightly during wet blocking.

I probably could have stood to size down one as well, since I'm a bit smaller than when I started the sweater, but I used the recommended 3" of positive ease to pick my size.  If I make this again, I'd probably go down to my actual bust size.  Fitted this ain't.  That said, it does make for a comfy sweater.  

And my dress.  It is another Cotton+Steel linen-cotton canvas and I love it!  It doesn't look so great on me without the strong contrast from the sweater, but it is a perfect match to the sweater and I think they work well together.  I just found a bright blue sweater-y type undershirt on ebay that might be a good match as well if I want my undershirt+dress+scarf uniform.

That faux cable panel was just enough to keep it interesting--I think it would make a good all-over pattern as well.  It is four rows long and easy to read while you are knitting it, which is good for me since I get interrupted constantly.

The cowl is a bit saggy on account of the alpaca, but I don't mind.  It is kind of my preferred silhouette right now anyway.

~reading~

I'm rather proud to announce that I finally finished War and Peace a couple of weeks ago.  It did feel rather anticlimactic, as the last section of the book is mostly Tolstoy droning on about the legacy of the Napoleonic Wars, plus a little bit about Pierre and Natasha's life together.  But I'm glad I finished it!  I did have to take a break and read some completely mindless things for a little while before tackling anything new.

I did receive a couple of books for Christmas from my parents, and I started Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough last week one day when my kindle was recharging.  So far so good.  I loved The Thorn Birds, and the reviews say it is similar in scope and feeling, so I'm hopeful that I'll love this one.

I also started reading Unglued earlier this week and am finding it helpful.

~watching~

After the quality and excellence that was Medici, I've had a hard time finding something else that engages me in the same way.  I watched the whole series through twice and sort of want to start it again.

I rewatched Klondike recently just to enjoy some more Richard Madden and enjoyed that again very much.  The women's costumes are hilariously bad, but the storyline is quite good, and I think most of the acting is good.

I started Victoria on pbs after reading rave reviews and it is...fine.  The episodes are quite long (nearly 2 hours each) and while there is a fine cast, and the storylines are engaging, I'm just not as into it as I probably should be.  

I think I'm done with Homeland.  I tried to give season six a try, but I really can't get invested this season.  Plus: language.  Oy.  I was willing to give it a pass during the first five seasons because the story lines were so intensely engaging, but I can't right now.

I'm also done with Peaky Blinders.  I got through half of episode three in the 3rd season and I'm.just.done.   I can't take the grit and senseless violence any more.  As much as I enjoy watching Cillian Murphy's outstanding performance, I just can't do it any more.

I did watch The Dressmaker over the weekend.  I liked it better than the book--I found the nastiness of the townspeople and the general yuck of some of the book's themes harder to take in the book for some reason.  Judy Davis was outstanding as Molly.

I also just finished Risen, with Joseph Fiennes, on the good advice of my sister.  It is really quite good--I'm sorry it didn't very much press.  It is the story of a Roman soldier assigned to deal with Jesus' tomb directly after the crucifixion and what happens to him as a result of having to find the body of the Risen Lord.  The perspective of the story is fresh and new, and I really like the attention to detail.  I do wish they'd talked Jim Caviezel into reprising his role as Jesus, but otherwise, I highly recommend the film.

Hopefully I can find something to keep my attention while I finish the sleeves on my Rincleau sweater.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!