This rock I live under

I stayed up a couple nights ago to finish this very funky duck that I started in June, hoping that I'd get it done in Australia. That absolutely did not happen, so I tried to work on it on the Perth—Sydney and Sydney—San Francisco flights. From the very beginning, it was not quite right. On each flight, it got more and more lopsided. I tried to save it when I was in California, and then let it languish for a bit until I rushed to the end this week. This is exactly what happens when I am tired and unfocused, yet it somehow has hilarity and charm.

I've been sewing fabric, making a dress apron or something (it started as something else completely and keeps changing). Mostly it's a way to sew together things that I haven't been wearing or using but don't want to throw away, and it has turned into great solace because after the challenges of sewing paper, sewing fabric is like eating ice cream all the time with no ill effects. So fun and easy! I have also been looking at things at home that I love, like Velma's printed paper above (and the scrap of fabric I dyed with her six years ago).

When I was unpacking, my pieces were coming out and going everywhere. I put this duck into this twined shoe and now can't see it anywhere but there. How happy it is when you find the perfect place to rest.

I woke up with some major elbow pain, which I think is a way of working out wrist pain that originates in my neck. I like that you can see the evidence of the blue hanji string that I used to bind the cords when dyeing.

Ever since Australia, I've been reaffirming this love for textiles, and I like looking at this wonderful stitching by Philomena Hali. This week I was sluggish in getting through admin, but did big pushes to get over the hump, only to find that the video we shot in June was finally live. I was very conscious of the phases I went through, which are exactly the phases that everyone goes through in our new lives that are tied to living online. I felt physically isolated from the people I wanted most to be close to, but in the end pushed myself to do more productive things away from screens, like clean the house.

It's amazing how helpful it is to physically clear away the dust that has accumulated. Of course the best remedy is to get outside, walk around, and hug a friend.