Tinking

Tinking is the term knitters use to talk about taking out stitches.  It is fixing mistakes.  I find that I must keep at least 50% of my focus on the knitting.  I like to knit while listening to books or watching TV so that can be a problem at times when I get too focused on what I am listening to or watching instead of my knitting task.  So I now get the new section started before show/book starts and then do repetitions with my 50% focus.

Aren't our minds so amazing?  We can do things, think things, see things, hear things, feel things and even imagine things and many at the same time - with varied results.  I just love my mind.  I do have some kind of attention issues, but who doesn't?  But over my 62 years of life, I have been shown by the Spirit, therapy and reading just how to work with my mind and I am still learning today.  Mistakes are a part of life!  It took me many years to realize I was not a failure if I made a mistake.  The mistakes are teaching me, disciplining me to slow down, double check, and make a plan.  (I love to listen or read Brene Brown's books about this)

My mind has always worked very fast most of my life.  I think faster than I can write, so there needs to be lots of editing.  I speak faster than I think, so words come out that are not fully thought through.  Ouch!  This is painful.  I have learned to apologize and fix situations, quickly, but is it still painful.   Knitting 3 inches of the wrong stitch is painful to tink out.  That is probably 30 min of knitting time.  However, when I re knit the section properly it looks so good.  When I rewrite things, it feels great, etc. 

I think my attention issue was a real stumbling block for my earlier music study, too.  But I learned to look ahead while playing music, mark my music, and make a plan for practicing and performing.  I most recently have learned to be grateful for a good performance even if there was a slip or 2.  It is the big picture that matters.  

In my life, learning to appreciate the big picture has really made my life more joyful.  I have a plan to live which includes following the gospel of Jesus Christ; having, caring for and loving my family; teaching others music and enjoying and sharing my quilting and knitting, etc.  In all of these areas I have done a lot of tinking through the years.  When I complete a quilt or a knitting project I have forgotten about the tinking.  When I am loving my family, I try very hard to enjoy the day or the moments with them and leave all the tinking put away.  As for living the gospel of Jesus Christ, I will always be repenting, learning and growing.  And I have come to enjoy that about being a follower of Christ - always moving forward.  Thank you Father in Heaven for the ability to Tink and be forgiven.

Standards

 A Standard, as a noun, is an idea or a thing used as a measure, norm or model in comparative evaluations. In the musical world there are plenty of standards given by which to grade yourself, your students, your colleagues, etc.  There is musicality, technique, artistry, interpretation, accuracy and more.  The positives of having standards is to see yourself progress or your students progress, they help you in setting goals and knowing when your have achieved them.  Often we are hardest on ourselves and have a limited vision on our own progress and these measured standards will help build confidence.  Standards can help us focus on what is most important, too.  Some musicians work diligently on their ability to play with speed and leave the musicality out.  Fast music without feeling and phrasing, etc. is not enjoyable to listen to at all.  Some musicians are self-taught and lack the proper technique that makes the music flow.  You get my point?  Others can let standards be so all consuming that the rules take over and the enjoyment can be lost or diminished.  I like how music is graded into levels so that the standards for Level 1 have been set for the age group or playing level of a new beginner.  That way the musician can have enjoyment according to their level and their practicing.

I was visiting with my husband, Stan, about the Standards set in his job.  He is an IT guy, Project Manager, and now in a group in charge of setting new standards to be able to meet Federal Government standards in banking for the whole corporation.  The government has these "standards" that need to be met so that the company and the government know that they are in compliance with the law.  It keeps everyone honest, running smoothly and on equal footing in that industry as well as fair to their customers.  As he was explaining this, I thought "hey, this sounds like keeping the commandments of God!"  God has standards (law/commandments) set so that we can be happiest as well as successful, and so we can know that we are happy and successful.   The laws of God are measurements, incentives, goals, markers of progress and rewards in our lives.  They are not punishments or restrictions by enablers to choose good over our natural tendencies.

Standards also bring up the issue of change.  Stan was commenting that he comes across resistance to the changes being asked of the different departments that now have to use the new standards issued.  Change is  often uncomfortable.    In teaching my music students,  I often hear discouraging sounds when we start a new piece or a new standard is being implemented.  So we get to work breaking it down into understandable or workable pieces and then put it together.  Usually a little more practice is required and more focus on trouble spots instead of replaying the favorite already learned sections over and over.  Students must learn to "look ahead"  see what is coming and plan for it or the surprises causes errors and frustration (for both teacher and student).  

Quilting has standards, too.  We use a 1/4 inch seam allowance; if not, then the blocks will not fit together properly and it will be very frustrating.  In order to make a block of a certain size, the pieces must also be cut out in proper measurement in pattern or it will not fit together properly.  Life is like this, marriage is like this, integrity is like this, etc.  There must be standards in life so that harmony can prevail.  

The 2020 summer experience of riots, anarchy and disruption was just awful wasn't it?  The Declaration of Independence states that:  We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed....  Because the standards stated in the Declaration of Independence have been disregarded by too many for too long, groups such as Black Lives Matter, Antifa  and others have sought to cause  change by force and destruction instead of my the vote of the people.  Many have been made to suffer by those who selfishly and pridefully disregard the standard for 'certain unalienable Rights.' 

In summary, standards kept to in both music and quilting bring beautiful results.  Standards for decency and respect for how we treat each other are necessary for our Life, Liberty and pursuit of Happiness.  God’s standards bring peace, happiness and success in our lives, our families and our world.

Hues

 I have started a new quilt kit from www.ConnectingThreads.com. It is called CONNECTED.  There are lots of various yellows and various blues in 2 1/2 inch squares.  Have you ever thought about how many hues there are of blues and yellows as well as all the other colors of the rainbow?  I am really glad there are so that each of my quilts or knitting projects are varied in color and pattern.  I love that Father in Heaven has created our world and us with so many variations that no two are alike.  I am continually learning to cherish the various hues in others - not just color but all the differences we have.  

I have a friend that likes to be an observer in a group, yet she is so talkative and lively when we are one on one or a small group.  I have a son who is so cheerful and playful he lightens the room wherever he goes.  Another son is quiet and yet his gentleness lightens a room, too.  My grandchildren are so varied, too.  Some are so helpful, some so warm and snuggly, some are loud, some are quieter, some are quick to converse and others take a while.  Then there is myself.  I am varied in hues, too.  I love a group of friends and I love to be alone;  I can be noisy and chatty and then again I can be an observer and quieter;  I like to stay home and other times I like to go out.  No one's hues are the same all the time.  That is what makes life and making quilts so fun.

The Sense of the Beautiful

“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

Impressionism

 Impressionism is the theme for my music studio this year.  This musical period only lasted a few decades, 1870-1920.  A group of young artists abandoned the accepted school of realism in favor of a new movement in painting which was deemed revolutionary.  These impressionist artists maintained that for their purposes, realism played no part in achieving an artistic result.  The aim was to create the general "impression" of the moment made by the subject on the artist.  Monet, Manet, Renoir and Degas are among these Impressionist artists.

Since music is essentially an 'abstract' art form, it has also been ideal for projecting Impressionist images. The orchestra and the piano predominate the compositions because of the many 'musical colors' the instruments can produce.  Some of my favorite Impressionist composers are Debussy, Ravel and Faure. A few dominating musical features of Impressionist music are:  1. Modal influences help music escape from the major/minor box. 2. Whole-tone scales were used in the music of the Far East of which the composers were fascinated by.  3.  Pentatonic Scale  is played on all 5 black keys and/or the C,D,F,G,and A.  These 5 tones were popular in Chinese music as well as folk music of Britsh Isles. 4. In  Impressionist Harmony the chord became an entity in itself.  5.  Parallel motion became proper in moving the voices in comparison to the classical contrary motion. 6.  Lastly, the harmonies in Impressionist music gave the impression of having 'Escaped" to another tonality.  They are neither prepared for nor resolved in any traditional sense, they simply 'evaporate.'  The students and I are in for a delightful treat experiencing and learning the Impressionist way.

As I was sincerely praying for a family member recently, the Spirit gave me a lovely insight.  People are impressionist paintings.  When we look up super close it is easy to see the flaws, simpleness, and odd individual colors and we tend to worry about that.  When we stand back we can see the 'whole' person; meaning seeing others as children of our God.  All the colors working together, the good strokes and bad strokes just blend together and become a beautiful whole with the grand impression that God is in charge and only He can make us whole.