Jananas

One of the things that Jason and I are interested in is the history of body modification whether it be piercings or jewelry or tattoos or scarification. We’re not active collectors, but when an opportunity presents itself we’ve been known to take advantage of the opportunity. A couple of weeks ago my friend Maurie told me about the Guild Shop here in Toronto, first as a potential place for some registry items and later to let me know about a friends & family sale. I, of course, looked through the website and immediately fell in love with a print by Germaine Aranktauyok titled Tunilik (which I believe means the tattooed woman). We picked it up this week and it is amazing!

Germaine’s cousin works/volunteers at the Guild Shop, so I was able to talk with her a little bit about the tattoos. Apparently, the tattoos in the print are based on those of Germaine’s grandmother. Tattooing started at the hands, went up the arms and onto the breast. Faces were tattooed last. The main portion of the design identified the tribe/clan, although some elements are unique to the individual. She also described the traditional process, which involved very sharp leg bones from caribou, sinew, soot, and sewing.

I think its lovely. I’m excited that by purchasing this print and hanging it out in our house, we’ll be able to share this piece of (not very well known) Canadian culture and history with friends and family and future generations.

A large part of why time has been so tight this year has been that I’m partway through my yoga teacher training at YogaSpace here in Toronto. The experience has been challenging and time consuming and rewarding and amazing. Right now we’ve finished two of the three in class modules (i.e. 120 hours of class). The crazy part is that during each six week module, my weekends are totally booked – so I go almost seven weeks without a day off! I’ve learned that even though its difficult (and sometimes frustrating), that I’m capable. What a lovely lesson to learn.

I’ve also been practice teaching this year. In fact, this coming Saturday is my last official class! How rewarding though to see this on the schedule, after convincing myself that I really do need to drag my ass out of bed or away from my spinning wheel and go to class right now.

There’s my name!!

I was having a discussion with a friend about my experiences during my MBA. I used to be petrified of presenting. My MBA made presenting a little more comfortable. Teaching yoga, however, has made it feel much more natural. You try getting up in front of a room full of people, teaching them for 80-ish minutes all while trying your best to keep them from injuring themselves. One of the hardest lessons is learning to shut the fuck up. Just because there’s a space in a class doesn’t mean that you need to fill it with words.

I wonder if learning this element of patience will translate over into being a better negotiator?

I was discussing life with an old friend on Friday. Its funny, when I started working he was hugely inspirational for me. He had definite goals and worked towards them consistently, whether it was training for a marathon or learning piano or becoming a teacher. He is hugely accomplished and very driven. Compared to him, I felt like such a slacker.

Needless to say, I was surprised when he said the same thing about me. That I’m busy and driven and productive. I’ve realized over the last while how productive I’ve become, but I hadn’t actually realized how far I’ve come. It continues to blow my mind that after all my education and corporate experience, that it is they physical things in my life that truly teach me.

When I dye fiber, I find the willingness to play and experiment. I find the patience to have to wait (until the dye has set, until the fiber is dry, until its spun into yarn, until its knit into a finished object) to see how it turns out. Can you tell from the colours below that I’m excited for Spring?

When I bought a loom off craigslist, I found the willingness and patient to learn and make mistakes. I find the strength of will to not accept making excuses. I found the strength to get my ass up off the couch and to open the manual and to (mostly) follow instructions. So Sunday morning, I assembled the loom and measured out the warp, and got all the ends in the heddle, and wound the warp onto the back of the loom. After all of that I got to sit down and try my hand at weaving.

Its not perfect, not by any stretch of the imagination. The tension is a little off on either side and the weft isn’t always totally even. All of that will come with time and experience and trial and error. It is bright and cheerful and is using up stash (some lovely Noro sock yarn). How awesome and inspiring is it that I made that – I wove it myself. I’m excited to be get better so that I can start using hand spun to weave items! Oh the joy that will bring.

How do you challenge yourself?

I spun up some lovely superwash yarn (originally a plying partner set from play at life fibers on etsy). I got 280 yards of a worsted two ply from about 7oz of fiber in lovely, bright colours.

My friend Miss Ellen (from my local stitch ‘n bitch) bought it off me. She had plans to make an adorable baby sweater from the Last Minute Knitted Gifts book, but we were worried that she wouldn’t have quite enough yardage as it was close. Well surprise, surprise when she was able to eke out the sweater and a hat and have a little leftover! I stole the photo from her Ravelry page & project.

This is sweet little set is just adorable! I think that Ellen did a fantastic job knitting it.

Its really amazing to get to see things go from fiber to hand spun yarn to finished knitted item. I’m grateful that I get to be a part of the process!

I’ve been productive getting wedding related crafting done lately. Sometimes it makes me feel like I’m not getting other things done in me life. This morning I took (photo) stock of what I’ve done this week and, well, I’m just as productive as normal in the rest of my life as well.

In that last week I finished up a top secret birthday project (photos to be revealed once the package has been received & opened). I cast on and finished the first of a set of seat covers for our dining room set. I’ve cast on for the second one and will work away on it (and the rest of them) over the next few weeks. These are super fast given the bulky yarn and giant needles (seriously – US size 15 aka 10mm), which is rewarding.

I’ve also spun a bunch of yarn. I spun and plied 8oz of stuff I dyed at yarn school in the fall. I spun 4.2oz of raw gray alpaca that I bought and carded at yarn school. Its not too much longer until I’m back at yarn school once again, so it seemed only appropriate that I finally start using some of my stockpiled fiber (eep). I also spun up 4oz of superwash merino & firestar that arrived in the mail this week. I can’t help but love sparkle!! I also (also, also, also!) finished spinning the 12oz. of Juliespins in a superwash merino that I had started last week. Total weight – in the realm of 20oz, which is over a pound of fiber!

The one thing I adore about crafting is that there is physical proof at the end as a reminder of what you’ve done/accomplish/created. I spend so much of my life in spreadsheets or concepts that its really easy to forget how much I actually do. Crafting is a great reminder for me.