Most (some?) people have heard of the ‘slow food movement’, but I am pretty sure that I not only fall into that one, but also the slow string movement. (Also the just plain slow movement, but that’s a whole different conversation.)

Nearly all of what I’m actively working on currently are destined to be anywhere from dozens and dozens of hours, to hundreds of hours. Nothing in my life moves quickly, which is fine all in all, except when you have a deadline. (NB: I have no hard deadlines. No one is waiting on either of these, they are not destined for any specific competition. I have a soft deadline on one, but life will go on if it doesn’t make it.)

I’m working on a super simple bobbin lace pattern, which makes it ‘fast’. Fast being defined, in this instance as ‘almost an inch an hour!’. I only want about a yard and a half, so this one is more in the ‘dozen and dozens’ rather than hundreds of hours. 

I am INCHES further than that picture, but as it all largely looks the same, I didn’t think you’d mind an old photo. This one has a soft deadline in that it would be lovely to have some of my own lace somewhere on my outfit at my investiture. I am such a process person that my life is full of samples and tidbits and experiments and very little in the way of finished objects. Those tend to be for gifts and are, well, gifted away. I don’t really need much, and it’s not the end of the world if its not done, but it would be nice.

The other piece I’m working on is entirely self indulgent. The only reason (ha!) it tags along places is because it’s portable, and it was to be my ‘I get to work on whatever!’ piece of no A&S deadline celebration, and well.. I should be working on other things. It’s by no means a secret project, exactly, except that I am wholly and utterly shy about showing it to people. (Clearly posting it to the internet is fine though? Brains make no sense.) It’s as if I expect some sort of HA Embroidery police to be channeled through anyone I show it to who will find all of the (many many) flaws in it and tell me so in (another) episode of Embroidery Jeopardy. The thread is my own handspun silk singles, which has a bunch of quirks (and provides to me really clear understanding of how uneven my spinning is), and I bought the pattern for the coif at Pennsic last year. Still, the colour makes me happy, and I’m hoping once I’m further, some of the shy will wear off. (And if everyone else hates it? Well tough.)  I only work on it at lunch hours, so it isn’t going to be finished anytime soon. (Which is fine, I’ve nothing to wear with it anyhow.)

I clearly need to add something knit from bulky yarn (ha! Like I own bulky yarn) to offset these.