An amazing journey with Gerhardt Knodel and other incidents

Today was eye exam day, all fine, no work needed other than new glasses. The little drawback is that you can't do any close work, reading, stitching, any of that, until the dilation goes away. I tried writing one short email a bit early and promptly developed an ocular migraine. Oh 

So instead I made a batch of pancakes on the grounds of entitlement. Also on the grounds of having missed lunch because that's when the eye appointment was.

Strawberry ginger jam as a sauce. 

These did not last long.

I noticed my neighbor had uncovered his new Toy for Boy, a three wheeler, like a Jet ski on land. What fun.

Before all this  I was picking out which of my many white tops to wear, chose a lovely fine cotton shirt and realized I'd shortened it ages ago and neglected to hem it. 

So why not now, I sez, and you see the Tunisian Mitered Square working as s scissor fob already.

And here's the shirt. It's soft, very fine, buttoned roll-up sleeve. 

Perfect for hot weather which we haven't had much of yet. I probably got it from Dharma Trading, judging from the nice quality. It will go with that skirt I haven't made yet.

Then finally, later in the afternoon, after eye doctors and pancakes and vehicle spotting, I could see again.

So I checked into HGA Textiles and Tea, on Zoom, Tuesdays at 4. Since I don't have a fine craft background, the artists are almost all news to me, and a revelation of textile art.

Today it was this man, very congenial and skilled presenter on screen, retired Director of the Cranbrook Academy, prestigious fine craft school. 

He does enormous weavings, often using a Mylar warp, which is strong enough to hang two story high artworks. Google on him for more info, his work is amazing.

And here's his current loom,  in the studio, hi in Pontiac Michigan

And his latest book, not yet on sale

He's a great explainer of the evolution of his works, from early ideas to influences to drawings to finished artwork. Definitely worth checking out.

He's in his early 80s, and having finished the book, is planning on a return to his loom.

This was a much more interesting day than I'd expected.

Simple food, a good book, simple stuff I'm not good at.

Out of soup yesterday and out of clever meal ideas, I assembled a mushroom omelet, sliced baby bellas from the freezer, two eggs, no fancy seasoning, whole wheat bread spread with labneh. Easy. Ready in no time.

And it didn't take up  time from the latest reading. I found a Leon I hadn't read, a Brunetti, and it's very good.  Reading it comfortably on my Kindle. I can't read ebooks on any device with a refreshing screen, migraine ensues.

A lot of reading reminds me of two things, one being I need a new rx so I have to see the eye doctor. The other is that one of the sorrows of losing Handsome Partner is that until his last years he used to clean my glasses, and that's gone.

He'd worn glasses since early childhood, was totally used to the care of them. I started in my fifties and was hopeless at remembering to wash them. 

I'd be peering through a fog of crumbs and thumbprints, and he'd give a roar of exasperation, whip the specs off my face and clean them. He took to doing this whenever he washed his own specs. I got used to this, and, solo again, I've slid back into my slovenly ways. 

I'll mend my ways when I get new glasses, honest. I say this every time. It doesn't last long before I'm squinting through buttery smears, but I always mean well.