Ubi Caritas

One of the fascinating by-products of having kids in a classical school is that they come home with really interesting stuff.  Boo is not a natural student but he is very bright and aesthetically-minded; he would not necessarily seek out art and beauty for its own sake, but when exposed to it at school, it gets into him and excites him.  

A few weeks ago, he came home in raptures over the Non Nobis scene in Kenneth Branagh's Henry V.  He made me play it for the whole family because he wanted to share the beauty with the rest of us (and it is a beautiful scene).  

Yesterday, he came home and said we must listen to two versions of Ubi Caritas by Kings Return and Audrey Assad.  My personal favorite was the Kings Return version--it gave me shivers up my spine!--but Assad's is very beautiful too.  I wanted to share both here:

Ubi Caritas by Kings Return from Father Dyer Church on Vimeo.

RIP: Mac Davis

I saw over the weekend that Mac Davis had died and felt a pang of regret over his passing. Davis' Burning Thing album formed part of the soundtrack of my childhood, and Honeysuckle Magic remains a particular favorite of mine. 

 

Mac Davis was better known for other songs, such as In the Ghetto, Don't Cry Daddy, and Memories,
all covered by Elvis in his late 1960s comeback, but Burning Thing is a work of beauty.  Every song tells a story, and in finest folk tradition, you have to listen to the end, just to find how it all turns out.  

 

My dad had the album on an 8-track and played it in the car quite a bit when I was growing up.  The family vehicle had an 8-track player for most of the 1980s.  I bought the LP of Burning Thing in college and thankfully made a cassette recording of it, but all my records were lost in one of the numerous moves of my early 20s.

 

I sort of miss the tactile solidity of an 8-track.  We had Seals and Croft and Gordon Lightfoot on 8-tracks and I still enjoy listening to those albums, albeit in CD form these days.  I know, I know, I'm a Luddite.  But at least I'm peaceful?

The Weight: Songs for Change

I don't know how it's been in your neck of the woods, but this week has kind of kicked me in the behind.  So I was so happy to run across the group Songs for Change on YouTube (thanks, Rod). 

This was exactly what I needed to hear this morning.

Yarn Along: January

~knitting~

Another Carbeth!  This time a bright daffodil yellow cardigan.  I'm so happy with it.  I wore it unblocked on Friday, like the rebel I am, and then promptly blocked it that evening. 

The stitches loosened up quite a bit, so I tossed it in the dryer for a few minutes to even everything out and tighten it up again.  (I used super wash wool). 

 It is a new yarn to me: Carlton Supreme, which is a 100% merino superwash wool.  I bought navy and a dark purple as well.  

My only complaint is that the yarn isn't spun very tightly, so the individual strands can sometimes be split by not being careful where you put your needle, but it is relatively easy to put the strands back together, so there's that.

 I'll be curious to see how well it wears over time.  It's nice and soft, and comparable to DK Swish, I think. 

I'm planning to start a shawl with some hand-dyed Chickadee that I've had for a while, and I just cast on a navy Carbeth cardigan in the same Carlton Supreme as well. 

After that, I have the Lightweight Pullover in my queue, and a shawlette thing in a deep teal blue.

~reading~

The Intimacy Factor, which examines Myers-Briggs personality types and how they interact in a marriage relationship.  I bought it mostly as research for my novel, but it had a lot of great insights, and I realized a few things about my own personality that I'm noodling along.  I'll write more about that later.

I also finished a book about writing called The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Maass, which was super helpful at this stage of the game.  I put the second draft of the novel to bed on Old Calendar St. Nicholas Day, and have been letting it sit on ice this month before I hit the ground running after Theophany for the next round of edits.  Maass' book gave me some concrete things to work on in the next round of edits.  I'm starting to be impatient for the book to be "done" enough to start shopping it to agents, but I know I can't rush this part or it will just bite me later.

I'm still working on Madeleine L'Engle's Two-Part Invention, which is the story of her marriage to Hugh Franklin.  It's very very good reading.

I re-read a few writing manuals I read last year and found a few helpful things for this stage of my book as well.  I also plowed through a couple of backgrounder books that were helpful to read right now.  They will help me as I deepen the work during this next revision stage.

I've made absolutely zero progress on Kristen Lavransdatter--I just can't get into it.  Maybe it will just have to wait for the future.

~sewing~

Nothing, really.  I can show you my Christmas dress, which I made in November and have been saving until now.

It's another Frankenwashi, in Washi brushed flannel from Cotton+Steel.  So, a Washi-Washi.  Heh.  

It is made on the same block as my Night Owl dress, and while I think I got the elastic in the back slightly too high, it looks okay.  

I'm mostly happy with it, except that the fabric is pretty thin, and I ended up needing a cardigan over the top of these layers as well.  I also added some red woolen tall socks to warm up my legs.  I don't realize how warm my long skirts really are until I wear something shorter and I'm freezing!

The white cowl was just the thing.

But it was a festive dress for a festive day, and I was glad I had it to wear.

It was festive without being over the top, I think.

Otherwise, I've just been darning my tights and Ponchik's mittens.  I started using sock yarn to darn the tights instead of embroidery floss, and I think I like it better, even though the darning is a bit more difficult.  It seems like the darns hold better and are more robust.

~watching~

The Last Kingdom is my new favorite thing--I can't believe it took me so long to start watching it.  I love Alexander Deymon--he carries the show very well and is so enjoyable to watch.  The writing is great and I love how the religious conflicts are addressed.  It is a super interesting period of time to me (during the Danish invasion of Britain in the 800s) and it followed on well to a Viking exhibit I took the kids too over the winter break.

A quirky indie called Juliet, Naked, which was a mostly light film with Ethan Hawke and Rose Bryne.

Finally, The Death of Stalin is a must-see.  It is so ridiculous and funny and yet thought-provoking about the time.  The whole cast was note-perfect, and I enjoyed every minute.  (I especially enjoyed Jason Isaacs' scene-chewing role as Marshal Zyuganov)

I also watched Pixar's Inside Out on the recommendation of someone or other and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This is more under listening, but if you want a sublime concert experience, watch Sting's live concert from Durham Cathedral, where he performs the music from A Winter's Night (one of his best albums in my opinion).  I have been a huge Sting fan since the Ten Summner's Dreams album, and I love how smart and thoughtful his music is.  His music talks to my soul.  (Check out his Songs from the Labyrinth for a truly wonderful album of John Donne readings with some instrumental music).  I am one of those weirdos who loved The Soul Cages and The Last Ship (his two best regular albums, if you ask me) and the live concert of The Last Ship is also very enjoyable.

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!

1-2-3-4

Firstly, I am pleased to report that after 3 years of trying and failing to eat one of my favorite meals (pot roast), I was successful last night!  I still have to be careful--small bites, lots of chewing, drink between bites--and the meat was very very very very soft, but that is a big boost to me right now!  I am still struggling a lot with my limited food options, and having one more thing in the mix is always so helpful.

Secondly, I must bring to your attention the excellent musician Kaleo.  I discovered the group last summer and bought their A/B album.  I tried listening to it in the car on a trip and I wasn't impressed.  The first track on the album is a super hard hitting rock song, and I didn't like it.  (I had found them on a pandora station and the songs I liked were more indie rock type--think Mumford or Lumineers).  I revisited the album recently and realized that about 2/3 the album is what I was looking for (coffee shop style indie rock) and the other third is that hard rock sound I don't care for.  So I put the songs I liked into iTunes for my ipod shuffle; I have been enjoying them for the past week.

Thirdly, I have a manuscript!  131,000+ words, 292 typed pages, and lots of holes that still need filling, but it is printed out and ready for revision and editing.  It feels momentous.  I blitzed through a few working sessions, focusing on putting all the text I had typed/transcribed in narrative order and integrating the flashback sections. (Until now, I've been toggling between four documents: writing, editing, revising, and trying to put things in narrative order all at the same time; consequently, it felt like I was trying to wrangle a spaghetti monster).  There is a YouTube channel that has alpha wave music for studying and I found it so helpful while I was working.  It certainly helped me stay on task.

Lastly, it is time for my epic watch list of the last six or seven months.  I've been compiling, but I just need to post it already.  I left out the ones I've already written about previously.

1. Spiderman: Homecoming: I enjoyed this film so much.  Lots of fun, great humor, excellent (and believable) villain (played with panache by Michael Keaton)

2. The Last Post: Great amazon series set in Arabia in the 1960s.  Very well done.

3. Complete Unknown: interesting and weird at the same time.  Thought-provoking.

4. Britannia: very uneven.  some weird casting choices and an odd mix of "period" and modern.  I don't recommend it for a number of reasons.

5. Beguiled: Sophia Coppola's Civil War gothic set piece.  Super weird.  I don't recommend it.

6. Tulip Fever: I know the reviews on this one are mixed.  I liked it, but I didn't love it.  The costumes were quite good, and there were some good performances.

7. Secret Scripture: this was a great film, although I found the ending a little unsatisfying.  I really enjoyed the story and the performances.  The main plot twist really did keep me guessing until the end.

13. Breathe: Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy are AMAZING.  I loved this film so much.

14. Closed Season: I rewatched this German WW2 film again this spring.  It is so good.  And I want Brigette's wardrobe.

15. The Battle for Sevastopol: about a famous Soviet female sniper in WW2.  Really well done, I highly recommend it.  It reminded me a little of Enemy at the Gates (which I also loved).

16. Swept from the Sea: this is an old favorite of mine that I rewatch from time to time.

17. The Promise: another favorite, in German about the Berlin Wall and two people who spend the entirety of the wall separated from one another.  It is a fascinating look at the two sides.

18. Bitter Harvest: this one was very uneven.  I like Max Irons, but I didn't buy him (or anyone else for that matter) in this period piece about the Soviet subjugation of Ukraine in the 1920s.  That said, I think it is an important movie to watch for the history, which isn't well known outside the region. 

19. Atomic Blonde: I wanted to like this movie but I just didn't.  It was too over the top with everything. 

20. Man from U.N.C.L.E.: this was a super fun watch and made me an instant Armie Hammer fan.  I had no idea he was such a large man (6'5").  I already liked Henry Cavill and I thought this movie was just a good old fashioned spy story in the best sense.

21. Oscar: another old fave; saw in the theater the first time!  It was a fun entertainment one night when my parents were here.

22. Walking with the Enemy: uneven but good; second half was better than the first. 

23. Murder on the Orient Express remake: I thought it was good.  I enjoyed the first one, but I only vaguely remembered the details, so I was able to enjoy the mystery and suspense in this version as well.

24. Red Sparrow: I was prepared to like this, because I loved the book, but oh man.  This film has so many problems I don't even know where to begin.  If I hadn't read the book, I don't think I would have understood one thing that was going on in the film.  That said, Jennifer Lawrence acted her heart out.  It wasn't her fault that the script was a bad adaptation and half the actors were miscast.

I still haven't seen Black Panther (I know!  I'm getting to it), and I am still in season five of The Americans.  I intend to finish it, but that show is pretty intense, so I need breaks.  I just finished season 3 of TURN: Washington's Spies, but needed a break before starting season four because of how the third one ended. I also want to watch the second season of The A Word (the first season was wonderful) and finish the Russian series The Red Queen.  I also want to see Aardman's Early Man and series 2 of The Hollow Crown which covers the second set of Shakespeare's Henry plays.

Yarn Along: Magic Tulips & All The Green Things

Linking with Ginny for Yarn Along!  This is a longish post so grab a cuppa and settle in.  

The knitting is just below the sewing if you are just here for fiber craft!

~sewing~

I have had an epic number of sewing fails lately.  My Carson dress turned out so badly I didn't even want to show it to you.  (And so you get bathroom mirror pics).  The things I do for sewing science.  

 I didn't even bother hemming it, it was just that bad.   I could carry a child to term in this dress.  The skirt just has so.much.volume!  And the pockets are absurdly tiny.  (And yes, I know the pockets were recently redrafted, but I was working off the original dress pattern and didn't realize how very tiny the originals were until I'd finished).  

The bodice is a bit snug, and the arms are pretty fitted for a woven garment, but I was between sizes and went down a size, based on what others had written about the pattern.  I still think it was the right call, as the next size (a medium) is 3" larger in the bodice and a huge amount bigger in the skirt.  I also didn't like that there were no finished length measurements, so I had to do a bit of sewing math as I was cutting out to figure out how long to make the skirt.  (It is too long).  

I can cut it down for a dress for one of the girls, so at least it isn't a total waste.  But still.  I hate waste.  Especially when it costs money.  

I had another not-quite success of an Everyday skirt from a gifted fabric remnant.  The fabric was so pretty--it looks like gzhel pottery on a linen substrate--but I didn't really have enough for an Everyday skirt and tried to make it work anyway.  The result isn't quite...right.  I'm frustrated with the project so I don't want to fiddle with it right now, and it is a warm weather garment, so I put it in the bin to deal with another time.  

I also remade the stripey shirt into a dress for Birdie, and while it technically turned out wearable, it isn't the best looking thing I ever made.  It is just okay.  Not a stunning success.  

I'm unhappy with my Menagerie rayon dress and my painted roses dress hack just didn't work.  The painted roses dress fits really oddly now and is pretty uncomfortable.  I think taking up the hem on the Menagerie was a mistake (I can let it out easily enough) and I'm not sure I love the shape of the overall dress on me even though I love the print.  The pockets are seriously wonky and I wish I had done inseam pockets (I could fix this, but I'm not sure I have enough fabric). 

I also wrote that rayon makes me cold-sweat in cooler weather.  Since it has been quite cold until the last two days (when it suddenly jumped to 80 degrees!) I've not wanted to wear any rayon.  I had a revelation this week, however, (a real "duh" moment), which was: stop wearing rayon in cold weather, you dummy!  Rayon is quite lovely in hot weather, as it skims the body and stays cool to the touch.  Wrinkles fall out of it, and it feels really nice against the skin in heat.  I think I was just stuck on how I wore my rayons last spring, and for whatever reason, I am feeling the cold much more this year.  My husband keeps calling me a human popsicle.  It is ridiculous.  It is like my core is cold or something.

In the meantime, I have been stalking Instagram for the Carson Dress (to figure out if it was going to work for me as a pattern or if I should try the Fen or Fringe dress instead as they are all similar) and noticed the Art Gallery Kermes rayon challis.  I instantly fell in love with this fabric (and several of the garments that were made from it), but at the price point, I wanted to make sure I had a pattern I loved to pair it with.  My rayon adventures this spring have been...not great.

But I suddenly had a thought--and here's the part where I love a pattern to pieces and start to make it in all kinds of unsuitable fabric in an attempt to make it work for everything. *snort* 

I wondered if my McCall's 7353 would work in rayon.  I knew Colette had made a Myrtle out of rayon, and I also knew that if the pattern had positive ease, it was a good candidate for making in woven.  Rayon has a fair bit of mechanical stretch, which helps too.  Based on my experience with the spruce knit dress (a regular closet favorite at the moment), I knew the pattern did work in a fabric with less than ideal stretch.

I had some unloved rayon in my stash from last summer.  It is from Cotton+Steel's Magic Forest collection, and I had bought it thinking I would love it, and then kind of fell out of love with it.  I had four yards and was flummoxed how best to use it.  I wanted to give it away, but had no takers.  So there it sat.  I thought it would be perfect for a test garment, as I had enough to recut things if I needed to.

And...success!  I did have to recut the entire bodice once, but that was it (and used up almost the entire four yards on this dress because of it), but I'm pretty happy with the result both in looks and fit.  I've been wanting more 3/4 sleeve options in my warm weather closet, since I burn so badly (even through clothing sometimes!) and I'm at high risk for skin cancer.  But it is hard to find the right fabric for such a venture since we don't have central AC.  Rayon is just right because it is light, airy, and doesn't cling. 

I made the following alterations to make the pattern work for a woven:

1. I added 1/2" to all seam allowances on the front bodice pattern (the arms are much narrower on the front than the back).  This includes the bottom bodice, as I wanted to lower the bust line a tad.

2. I added 1/2" to the bottom of the back bodice to match the front.  When I put these together, I ended up with a triangle on each corner that was an inch longer than the front, and my brain can't figure out why.  I trimmed the excess and it worked out, but I'm still puzzling that one.

3.  I added 2.5" to the skirt length (my usual addition)

4. I turned the waist casing down toward the skirt because of a sewing error.  It worked largely because this is rayon.  In a bulkier fabric, I would have had to unpick a bunch of stitches and turn it up.  I used seam binding to finish the edge neatly since rayon frays.  I also used the 5/8" fold over elastic in the casing since I like the way it feels around my middle.

5. This rayon is only 45" wide (unlike most, which are 54-57" wide) so I had to piece the sleeves.  I cut to the elbow sleeve length, and then cut out the pattern piece from the elbow line to the cuff.  I sewed them with 1/4" seam allowance and zig-zagged the edges (I zig-zagged all the seam allowances).

6. I sewed the dress seams at 3/8" (the pattern calls for 5/8") and graded out to 5/8" at the waist on the bodice to make the skirt match up with the bodice.

I'm going to try this with the Kermes.  I may even remake the painted roses or menagerie dresses next year.  Watch this space!

~knitting~

I realized I'm knitting all green things!

I started the Rivel cardigan in Lost Lake Heather Swish (that gorgeous complex olive color I wrote about in my Sherwood Cowl).  I am finding it to be a pretty satisfying knit.  I've been wanting to move away from raglan sleeves, since I'm not super happy with how they fit me, so I specifically looked for a pattern with set in sleeves.  

At least one knitter made this by knitting the sleeves down from the cap in short rows, and I have a book on how to do it, so I'll probably try it.  I was worried about keeping up with the cables, but it is a four row cable pattern and pretty easy to read as I go along.

I'm also working on another simple cowl to go with the Triangle dress.  It is a single skein of Rowan wool I had in my bin from a clearance sale somewhere.  The color is actually quite variegated, but it is hard to see unless you look closely.

This is my Jade Calligraphy cardigan, but I'm seriously considering frogging it for a Rivel if that cardigan turns out well.  So I'm not working on this much right now while I consider options.  

~reading~

I just started Marilynne Robinson's Lila at the good advice of a friend familiar with my novel.  My friend suggested it might prove useful.  So far it is a great read, and almost makes me despair at ever attaining Robinson's craft mastery.  Almost.

I'm also still reading Rodney Stark's Rise of Christianity and highly recommend it.  

~watching~

I have a draft post going on what I've watched in the past five months or so, but for now, I'll just say I'm watching McMafia with the always wonderful James Norton.  There are some issues with the production, but overall, I'm engaged and interested in the story.  I do think it is trying just a leetle bit too hard to be The Night Manager, though.

~listening~

I've been listening to Home Free's Timeless album all week--so good!  Can't stop, won't stop.  I also listened to the Vocapeople's Life is Music when I wanted some variety.  Their album is a hilarious musical odyssey through a bunch of different eras.  Oh, and a bit of Cowboy Junkies and Wailin' Jennys.  But you already knew that.  Fretless is good too.

That's all for me!  Whew!  You made it all the way through.  Go have a chocolate and a nap. 😂

Holy Week & Pascha 2018

Christ is Risen!  Truly He is Risen!

I didn't actually take many photos during Holy Week because I was directing the choir at one of the local parishes here for most of the services.  I had a bit of extra time before the Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy to snap a couple of photos of the tomb, which was beautiful.  The liturgy was also beautiful and has really grown on me as I've directed it two years in a row now.  I especially love the Magnificat of that service: Do Not Lament Me O Mother.  (It is also sung on Friday night at the Lamentations).

The Holy Saturday Liturgy just says: "Get ready!  Pascha is coming!" to me in a way that the other services of Holy Week don't (and shouldn't, as the focus of the services in the early part of the week is on the coming Passion on Friday).  

I also watched The Passion on Friday night, as has become my Holy Week tradition since my girls are still too young and squirrelly to make it through the long Thursday and Friday night services.  (We go to the first 20-30 minutes and then head home so they can go to bed.  I also take them to the Vespers on Friday afternoon, which lasts an hour).  The movie always puts me in the right headspace for those days. (And yes, I want to see the new Paul movie!)

Our home parish leaves the shroud (called the plashinitsa in Russian, epitaphios in Greek) in the middle of the church until the start of Midnight Office at 11:15 p.m.  (There are differing cultural practices about when the shroud goes into the altar; some parishes bring it into the altar earlier in the evening).  Since I attended the Holy Week services at local parishes, it was nice to venerate the shroud at our home parish just before the Paschal celebration.

Reading the Gospel outside the church doors at 11:50 p.m. or so.  Father David bangs on the door shortly after that to say: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in!" and then someone inside says: "Who is this King of Glory?"  and Father David says: "He is the King of Glory!" They do this exchange three times (because we never do anything just once in the Orthodox Church!) and then Father says: "The LORD of hosts, He is the King of Glory!" and the doors spring open, and we go inside.  All the lights are on and we sing "Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!"

It is wonderful.  (It was also very cold outside this year--below freezing!  I was wearing a heavy sweater, woolen scarf and a down coat with tall boots and I was still cold)  Ponchik was heavily wrapped as well but was still shivering inside my coat.

The church is so so bright after the darkness of the Midnight Office and the dark colors of Holy Week.

The Gospel reading of the Liturgy:

Red eggs for Pascha! (I bought The Miracle of the Red Egg for our burgeoning Pascha book basket this year).

I set up a little Paschal season tableaux on my living room cabinet.  Some of the eggs are from Russia, others I've just collected here and there.

Someone sent us that card a few years ago so I framed it and put it out each year.  I really love those folk art prints.  I have a bunch of the Christmas ones that I put up for Nativity.

Eggs!

These are wooden, by the way, not proper pysanky.  I'd love to make some real ones some day.

I also put up my Paschal greeting window clings.  The right windows are in English, Russian, Greek, and Arabic.

The left windows are in Latin, Dutch, Georgian, and Romanian.  There is an Orthodox etsy seller who makes them.

And I'm sure you are all dying to see my Pascha dress. *snort*  I did get it done in time, but I had to wait until Holy Monday to actually sew it together because spring break (which fell during the 6th week of Lent) was abso-freakin-lutely nuts.

So another M7353 (are you surprised?) in Robert Kaufman Laguna Jersey.  I really like this jersey, because it is a nice weight, has the right amount of stretch, isn't see-through, and handles quite well.  It comes in a bunch of colors and I'd like to make a navy one later this year to replace a navy knit eshakti dress that doesn't suit my style any more.

I went with the Ladybug colorway, but I do wish I had gone with the regular red, as this was a bit more to the orangey-red than I really wanted.  I love a true blue-red but I didn't have time to swatch it.  But it was still good.  When this dress bites the dust, I'll get the regular red colorway to replace it.

The upside of this particular shade was that it coordinated very well with my Pavlovo-Posad woolen scarf from Russia that I bought years ago.  (It has a few moth munches on one corner now, but I keep wearing it anyway).  Because it was freezing!

I had on peacock-teal tights, which matched the blue in the scarf too.  Because I'm matchy-matchy like that.  😂

As has become my Paschal tradition, I put Home Free in the CD player on my way home from church yesterday, and listened to their new Timeless album (It is GREAT!)  The kids and I got donuts on the way to school this morning, and I had my first hot coffee in a while.  

It is a good Bright Monday.

Christus is opgestaan!

Hij is waarlijk opgestaan!

(Dutch)