Slow, soft things...

Today was a peaceful day. I was tired from a crazy day at work yesterday, so I stayed home while the family went off to church and then on to the in-laws' for the rest of the day. I love quiet, home-alone days when I get them.

I spent mine today with The Weepies and a Celtic CD lilting in the background while I focused on creating slow, soft things, like freshly baked wheat bread...

...this was my first attempt in many years at making my own bread. I never had the patience to do it right before. But today? Patience abounded. Good thing, too, since the recipe and process I followed in the Tassajara book took me nearly 6 1/2 hours from dissolving the yeast to pulling the hot loaves from the oven! Baking bread is not something that can be rushed. I like that. Sometimes I need to do something purposeful that cannot be completed via short-cuts, like when I make my quinoa porridge for breakfast some days...if I wanted quick, I'd do instant oatmeal. Somehow, the quinoa porridge is not just more filling, but more fulfilling as well. I think it's because of the time it takes to make.

Also soft and slow: knitting...


...I started this cardigan last night after bringing home some beautiful new Noro cotton blend yarn called Matsuri. The colors are beautiful, as always with Noro, and the fiber itself is interesting...almost like a fine, woven cord rather than the usual plied fiber. It's very soft, except where there are bits of grass/field still sticking in the wool. I cannot wait to wear this cardi, but as I have maybe 2 1/2" finished at this point, it will be a while. How long will depend on how many other projects I try to work on at the same time. (I'm making the cover cardigan from the new Noro Joy book, but in a different colorway than the one shown.)

Speaking of...


...finished this sock the other day...the colors are much deeper than they appear in this poorly lit photo, but nonetheless, I love the feeling of accomplishment that comes with a finished sock! (The picture of it in-progress in my post from last week shows its truer colors.)

And there is also my lace scarf that I showed you the other day. I've got a little over 8" done now, so I'm about 1/10 of the way finished with, I'd say. I've been going back and forth between it and the Noro cardigan today. Working on more than one thing at a time helps me to not get bored with any one thing. But then I'll reach a point on one or the other of my WIPs where I can see the end, and I'll focus intently on finishing that one project. It's how I work.