Mandala 2020 - Stage 8

The Mandala is nearing the half way point, and each row fills with added stitches to make the circle. It is taking longer to complete each round, so I fully expect a slowing down, a quieting of the initial storm sustained by the excitement of newness and discovery. This is when patience for and dedication to the finished product set in and (hopefully) sustain me to the end. Or, just as likely, they vanish and this becomes a smaller version of the whole project leaving me with lots of yarn to start another new and exciting project to begin, begin, begin and not end. An addition to the collection of Not Finished Yet.

Despair chased hope around and around on this section as I watched the numbers of COVID-19 cases climb and the dates of our Scotland trip slip away without us. Entries in the daily book documented the last years' adventures anew each day. Easter came and went; not a single egg was boiled. I took a few days off from work for rest and rejuvenation in the garden; tears chased contentment, watered new plants.

The Mandala was fraught with the same polarized mixture, this time of success and failure; I pulled out as many stitches as I put in on the last few rounds, trying to get the rhythm, to understand the pattern, to accept the results with faith and grace that the next row would be okay. Move on, keep going. A slipped stitch here or a missed one there will not shipwreck the project. Move on. Keep going.

Move. On. Keep. Going.

Mandala 2020 - Stages 5 through 7

Since last posting the novel Corona Virus pandemic has truly swept the US. Well over one million people world wide have contracted the virus - at least that is the number tested with positive results. Of all the apocalyptic items taught in Sunday school, I never dreamed pandemic would appear in my lifetime. Wars, yes. Insects, of course. Frenetic and outrageous weather, definitely. But not pandemic.

Regardless of COVID-19, the wheels of the Mandela go around and around.

They are challenging - some go around in a circle, familiar. Some double back; in some I stitch below and others, prepare to stitch from above.

Like the time we are now living through, reading ahead in the directions doesn't prepare me for the actual work of the round. I haven't been there before and simply need to live through the act of creation.

And, like every circle in the world, there is just no way to get ahead, be prepared, see around the upcoming corner.

I have spent a good amount of time undoing stitches as well, reinforcing my belief in try try again. There is no shame in failure, backspacing, pulling stitches. This act provides me more practice making the stitches, understanding the construction methods, dreaming and scheming of ways to utilized this knowledge in the next project - the one on the other side of this circle.

Mandala 2020 - Stages 1 through 4

I started this mandala afghan after a tragic death in our family in early February 2020. This is slow, rhythmic, methodical, meditative, creative work. As I grieve, be reaved of joy by the thieves of delayed sorrows of the past years, I run to it because I don't know where else to run. Into the stitches are woven the hopes, regrets, joys, sorrows; the loss and the lives, the corporeal and the spiritual. Each round, each thousand or ten thousand stitches documents the slow move into who and where I am, or will be, on the other side of the grief.

Both my grand Mothers, who also crocheted, sit with me in this endeavor. Their forte was doilies worked with needles so tiny as to seem without a hook and thread gossamer thin. I discovered Elizabeth's workbasket when we cleaned out dad's place last summer. A visceral shock of memories as it contained not only decades of childhood memories, but also the project she was working on when she died, a doily so finely crafted that I wonder how she could work it with fading eyesight and bent, arthritic hands.

Did my grand Mothers run to their crochet to work through their emotions, too, round after round, letting go, putting in, documenting who and where they were in their place and space and time? Will my mandala be a document to this place and space and time for me?

I am not so skilled in crochet to claim this pattern as my own. It is called Mandala Madness, copyright by Helen Shrimpton, 2015, www.crystalsandcrochet.com. She deserves all the credit for developing, writing and then sharing this pattern.

Coronavirus 1. Orkney Trip 0.

While hope springs eternal, a pandemic trumps even my optimism. Good bye 2020 trip to Orkney. We will try again in 2021.

Orkney 2020

I have heard Orkney described as "the place between the wind and the water". This archipelago of more than 50 islands may be just that.

Orkney is located off the northeast coast of Scotland, and was settled by the Northmen. This is different from the western islands we visited the last few years which were settled by the Gaels and Celts. Orkney's history and archaeological sites are different; the grave cairns are built differently, their stone circles predate Stonehenge in southern England by 500 years, and their language and folk tales bear a resemblance to their ancestors from the north.

We will spend most of our time on Mainland, the biggest island, with ferry trips planned to Rousay, Egilsay, Wyre and Eynhallow.

We have just 23 days until we head out.

In this time of the COVID-19 outbreak, however, we aren't certain we will actually make it to the UK. Already our Aer Lingus flight was cancelled and rescheduled; our Logan Air flight changed twice; and now Delta is "cutting back" flights. With so many connections to make both here and abroad, I wonder if we will be able to travel.

Ah, well. I am the eternal optimist, so I am acting like we will be fine and our trip is not in jeopardy.

Windmill Quilt

Like most of the quilts here I started this one many years ago, about the time my oldest left for college. The quilt top languished in a drawer for a decade. Last summer (2019) I painted the pink and tan bedroom upstairs and needed a new and fresh bed cover to match the cool grey and white decor.

Once again much of the material came from the boxes and suitcases of squares gifted to my oldest daughter so many years ago. If only I could recall the name of the lady who was so generous; as a quilter I imagine she would be delighted to see how her gift has expanded and takes pride of place in so many ways.

A simple dark blue border holds the twirling windmills in the frame. I backed the quilt with the tan material and pulled it from the back for  the binding. This quilt is simply tied with blue thread.

There aren't a lot of windmills here on the prairie, but the playful light and dark, blues, greens and spots of yellow in the quilt remind me of this place, this prairie I call home.

Reuse Recycle Quilt

I love the idea of making something new with items considered outdated, unwearable or otherwise without value. It takes a bit more time to cut out the shapes from cast off jeans or shirts, but the results speak for themselves.

My favorite thrift store donated a pile of jeans and old flannel shirts to create a quilt for our employee holiday party as a door prize. This is the result, and I think it is charming.

The denim shows its age with pilling and some stains. The flannel is stretched some at the elbows. The history of the of the material simply adds more depth and meaning to the finished product.

The quilt is a half square triangle pattern, tied with a very light batting to offset the weight of the denim.

I hope the winner of this quilt uses it in good health, takes it on remarkable adventures of picnics, beach outings and baseball games, and cuddles beneath it with loved ones.