Yarn, Dog, Occupy Terre Haute

If I was a better blogger, I would have pictures of the stunning  amount of new yarn that arrived at RiverWools this week.

But I’m not a better blogger, I’m a yarn addict collector.  And I was quite overcome by the stacks and stacks of bags of new fiber goodness that covered a good deal of the floor space in the front of the shop.

As I gazed  at new colorways and saw the knitted-up samples --  oh, all right, yes! Yes, I also fondled and sniffed -- as I did all that, I never once thought of stepping back and getting out my camera and becoming  Documenting Blogwoman.

Before I go on about the new yarn, I want to digress just a wee bit.  You may have noticed that there is not much going on in the realm of art on this blog. And that’s because there’s not much going on in my life in that realm. Well, I am writing poetry regularly, but I'm wary of posting it here because I'm trying to get published and many journals have submission rules which deem publishing online (even on a personal blog) to be 'previously published.'

I am in a kind of doldrums with my visual creative work, but I’m  percolating in other ways. Inner stuff.

Also, there’s that new young dog in the family. She eats things she really, really shouldn’t

and so must be watched a lot and gently guided over to the Good Side.  That takes time and patience. And I’m loathe to get all involved in a project or try to dress a loom and have Lily-tending become an irritating interuption.

I have, however, become a little bit involved with the local Occupy group. While they haven’t gotten to the point of a 24/7 Occupation, they have been gathering and marching in downtown Terre Haute.  On Monday I joined them for a time .

Yesterday, I made about 50 buttons

to give to the group as a donation and planned to stand with them again for awhile after I finished work at the bookstore, which is right across the street from the Occupy Terre Haute gathering spot.

But it was raining and chilly and my jeans & sneakers were starting to get wet and water was dripping off my rain visor and onto my nose if I was looking up at taller people and….and…the new yarn I’d only had a glimpse of earlier was calling to me. (Did I mention that RiverWools is just two doors down from the bookstore? I could clearly hear that yarn from the street corner.)

So. I handed over the buttons and bailed.
Yes, I left Occupy Terre Haute, abandoned a bunch of dedicated people willing to stand in the rain to get the message out.
Worse, I left them and went to consume.

On the left, 1 Araucania Milodon (100% wool, kind of tweedy), 

the other 2 are Araucania Liwen (50% superfine alpaca, 50% wool- thick ’n’ thin)

Martha did make me feel a little better by reminding me that my purchase supports a local owner-operated business, that it wasn’t like I left the demo and went to WalMart.

For penance, I shall knit some hats and scarves for winter Occupying.
(There are several initiatives for this out there, including this free hat pattern on Ravelry. , a Facebook page called Knitters for the 99% and this blogger's Occupy Our Needles. )
Another blog: Stitch for Occupy

Wordless Wednesday / Lily

Clover 1998-08/04/2011

Yesterday we helped our beloved Clover out of this life and into the next.

 It was wrenchingly sad and achingly beautiful. As if Mother Nature were bestowing mercy and welcoming our sweet dog friend into Spirit, there was a break in the terrible heat of these days and a gentle breeze.

 So we were able to take her outside,in the shade of the tree she danced around hundreds of times, to allow her to die mercifully seeing blue, blue sky and our loving eyes,  with the wind in the leaves and the sounds of squirrels and birds. As the initial sedative took effect, and we told her good-bye and how much we loved her, she burrowed her head into the crook of my arm, stared right into my eyes. and I saw....love, gratitude, consolation.

Now she’s everywhere in the house and nowhere in the house and we miss her as we miss any beloved.

My task right now: to remember that Clover’s whole being vibrated with the frequency of Joy. What will most honor her spirit and our deep, deep soul connection, is for me to tune myself to that vibration.
I’m trying. I’m trying.

We spent our last hours together in the peace of my spiritual room. Paul came in regularly to talk to her, give her a treat. She dozed peacefully and I prayed, meditated, knitted and drew some Tarot cards.  I said good-bye to her and blessed her in many ways.

Someone called her my “spirit mutt” when she first arrived.

And so she was and is.  Paul, too, is deeply bonded to her, she was his midnight walking companion, Cheerio chaser. And for both us, Clover was always there, comforting as we went through years of losing loved ones.


May the Goddess guard her.
May she find her way to the Summerland.
May we carry for the rest of our lives the joyful spirit she so freely shared.
May we know deep peace in the Great Mystery.





Merry meet, Clover, and merry part and merry meet again.