Author: raheli

In the Stars

Stitching

I have been stitching stars while we are home for isolation. They are an easy formula for me — I have a mental map of the star in my head, and I can chose a variable or two, but they don’t take a surge of mental energy to begin. I can gather a few squares, chose a color or two, and then begin, usually without a plan for the full color arrangement. I check in about half way to see what it needs, or there is a nagging thought while I work, and usually it takes a day for me to accept this idea — rainbows, black and white tiling… I reject and tell the star “That is too hard. Please don’t make me do that.” But soon it feels necessary and I release myself to the time it will take to stitch.

For the last month I have been only able to stitch stars because they are my comfort. Some nights, after the kids are asleep, I sit in my stitching chair and I just hold my star-in-progress, and I can’t seem to focus enough to actually stitch anything. I usually end up twitching and touching my phone and losing my scissors endlessly. Some days I drag my brain through reading lessons with the kids while I try to stitch a starpoint without them noticing (not likely). I have lost some stars on my desk or in my paper piles (I usually lose them in my purse, but that isn’t happening these days), so this isn’t the full collection. I’ll find them as I look for other things that I have lost, and maybe then I will hang them on my wall so I can look at them and feel their steadiness.

Greens in the Window

Free Projects, Homestead, Kitchen, Plants

For a bit of greenery indoors and a future meal from out windowsill, we have been growing pea greens. They are simple to grow, take about 10 days until harvest, and when it’s time to harvest, my kids snip them with scissors. Then we let them regrow for a second harvest!

I use Dwarf Gray Peas from Johnny’s Seeds, in a pinch you could use the pea seeds from the garden center (you won’t find Dwarf Gray, but it would still work), but I usually grow 1 cup of peas at a time so I buy them in large quantities. Pea seeds don’t need any soil, but they do need something that will retain moisture – I have used soil and fallen leaves and unbleached paper towels as a growing medium. I often use an old Pyrex pan, but plastic take-out containers and their lids both make great growing containers.

Day 1: Soak 1 cup of pea seeds in 2 cups of water — they will double in size over the next 12 hours.

Day 2: Find a wide, shallow pan – I use a 9x13inch Pyrex pan. Sprinkle some soil on the bottom, or use two layers of paper towels. Drain the peas and spread them in the pan. They can be tightly spread, but if it’s more than 2 layers deep, find a bigger pan or divide them between two containers.
Water the seeds.
Cover the pan with a plastic bag – this will create a mini greenhouse and keep in the moisture for the first two or three days of growth. Some air will help keep mold from growing.

Day 4: Remove the plastic. Give a little water if it looks dry.
Days 5-10: Water once a day, or twice if your home is very dry.

Harvest the peas when the leaves are open. You can harvest all the greens at once, or harvest over a few days. Use scissor to cut the stems, leave the roots in place and keep watering, they will regrow and you can harvest a second crop.

Home grown food definitely calls for my fanciest bowl and grandma’s salad tongs.

Texturized Cowl

Stitching

For over 6 months, every knitting project I started fizzled out into a mess. Some were frogged (pulled out), some are still in a bag, pretending like they might behave someday. I just needed something lovely and easy and being spoon-fed was a bonus. I needed success. This kit caught my eye and I was smitten.

And once I started this cowl, I couldn’t stop! I listened to Red, White, & Royal Blue on audiobook and knit until it was done – it only took about 3 days of stolen moments, a very successful play date, and some late nights. I have already cast on for a second!

Called Texturized Cowl, it was a kit from The Whole Knit n’Caboodle, including their hand-dyed yarns.

February 27

Stitching

I started a knitting project yesterday, and I have had such a knitting slump this past year that every time I start a successful project I feel this deep relief to have knitting in my hands again (there have been many unsuccessful projects – wrong yarn, fabric didn’t feel right…). It’s like it releases my brain from duty and it is free to wander the hills and dales.

My thoughts wander a lot – I have always been a daydreamer, but now that is joined by reflection – and this is the way I can keep my hands busy but let my thoughts go. In truth, my thoughts wander all the time, but that means it takes me longer to accomplish household tasks or whatever it is on my list today. So, knitting feels like a relief because it is complete permission for my mind to wander and my body to be still.

The Cardinal Rule

Stitching

I have been staring out the window, seeing nothing but brown, brown, brown. Its winter and there is no snow. The sky can be a soaring blue, but it can all be a dismal gray that sits right on top of the trees and pushes down slightly.

I am embarrassed how long it took me to really see that cardinals. I mean, we greet them every day, and it’s so fun to spot the cardinal in the spruce tree — a plugged-in, glowing red hidden in a mass of droopy matte green. It always makes the heart beat a little faster.

But how long did I stare at photos of tropical birds, or sketch birds at the zoo? How did I miss the bird on my feeder, sorting through the seeds until it found the right ones?

Once I stitched him onto the cloth, my needle slowed to a stop. I couldn’t think of anything to stitch next — I could only see the cardinal. I will let him sit and get comfortable for a while, and see if anything else comes wandering by.