TWINING NECKLACES | Casting On: My Knitting Journey

Dear Blue,

I never imagined that I would become an actual, full-fledged knitter. Someone who luxuriated in the feeling of soft mohair between my fingers. Or found air tinged with chestnut wood and fibers calming (Lionbrand's Eau de Parfum). I always thought it would feel like math (or sewing, which seems to me like a florid algebraic equation with an apparatus that could possibly hurt you). But every year, I try to challenge myself to do at least one thing that scares me or seems a bit daunting. Last year it was a Photo a Day project (which, give and take a few days, I actually accomplished). But around the time Catching Fire released (because I can't pass up another moment to be annoyingly enthusiastic about anything Hunger Games. Is there a patch or something...?) I discovered a gorgeous woven cowl shawl that Katniss wears to brave the District 12 winter, and I knew then that this was going to be the thing that got me knitting. I wouldn't believe it if it hadn't happened to me so many times, but sometimes you never know that you want to do something until the sum of all its parts smacks you right in the face.

From there, I decided to take a trip to Lionbrand Studio, a boutique that's small enough to feel suburban . yet large enough  for me to lose myself in songs on my iPod as I oooh and ahh all the various colors of yarn. There are fibers dyed so vibrantly that it's quite possible that to recreate Celeste blue, for instance, they simply held a skein up to the sky to let the rain do all the dying.  After seeking help from the lovely knitting community on Tumblr, I picked up a pair of sized 10 needles and a buttery yellow skein of worsted weight yarn from Michaels to knit my first stitches. To prime myself, I knit a Starbucks Cozy complete with cables(Though I still have yet to make one for myself what with everyone I know wanting one). I made a hat for my Dad's birthday thanks to a beautiful Knit Kit by Wool and the Gang, and after that, I finally practiced the beautiful Herringbone Stitch so that I could begin the cowl.

I assumed that it would take me quite a while to wrap my mind around the intricate steps of knitting this cowl. This was my first fairly large project. Cozies and headbands were one thing, but something to wrap around the human form is quite another dirigible to navigate. That being said, it only took me around two to three weeks to complete! Two to three weeks! You can't imagine how thrilled, stupefied, and fangirly I was to have actually succeeded in this project a mere few months after my initial pondering of whether it was even feasible. Once the leaves start changing, I'll have a better, more up to date, photo of it!

Since then I've contemplated a collection of scarves inspired by books and bookish people I adore (they are a labor of love). I've knitted adorable hexipuffs stuffed with dried lavender with hopes to have a Beekeeper's Quilt sometime next year, God willing, and I aim to start knitting a comfy vest by Emma Robertson as my next human sized challenge.

Knitting carries miniature profundities for me. Katniss aside, I wanted to wean myself off of instant gratification. I wanted to learn patience, perseverance, and experience something full on. What better way to learn than to take on something that requires time and effort?  Knitting has also become a true showing that I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me. Every time I become down on myself about what I think can't do, God always proves me wrong (You'd think my UK adventure would be enough, right?). I'm enjoying creating these comfy-as-oatmeal-in-Autumn pieces with my own hands.

What about you?

Are you starting something daunting? Please jump in! It's impossible to regret it.

If that something you're contemplating induces enough emotion to challenge you, then that means you've met your soul-project. So jump in!

I can't wait to hear all about it!

If you'd like to follow my more daily knitting loves, projects, and reblogs, please visit Twining Necklaces!

Tabi no Tame (or 'For the Journey' in Japanese),

Britta

District Heroes

Dear Blue,

{X}

Imagine it. You've heard whispers of rebellion in the districts. Murmurs of lowly citizens committing the unthinkable crime of fighting Peacekeepers. You, your family, and friends have already scraped past with the bare minimum, and now President Snow's out for more. More work. More dedication. More blood. Suddenly your "Holo-screens" gleam white, and the images of various 'heroes' who have won the favor of the Capitol are praised as model citizens for their hard work and dedication. What did the Capitol promise them if they played their hand right? They've certainly done a job of swathing their suffering in artifice, but the things they can't mask are the harsh cold nights on the shoreline in 4, electrified fences lining 9 for the 'wrongdoings' of your forefathers, or the weight of coal and concrete as it collapses all around you in the mines... All to cloak Capitol citizens in comforts they never earned. Or maybe it isn't like you think. Maybe citizens in the Capitol can feel the weight of betrayal and injustice on their shoulders as well. Maybe they're tense in the silence of their elaborately designed homes waiting for the Mockingjay to burn Snow's rose garden to the ground.

...

I've had a full night to take in these beautiful propaganda posters that 'the Capitol' released yesterday and it makes me a bit emotional to be honest. Over the past say, ten years or so, I've watched YA adaptation after YA adaptation release, gross millions of dollars, and yet still lack a certain sincerity that comes when it's producers care more about making a dollar than treating the narrative that means so much to the fans with care. This is not to say that Lionsgate hasn't scored hugely with the massive success of The Hunger Games franchise. But from FADE IN of the first film I saw something that I haven't seen in a lot of other epic young adult adaptations: rawness. It didn't feel like a numbing adventure meant to entertain us with huge action sequences for action's sake, or beefed up love triangles, or overly dramatized dialogue. It felt like they were introducing us to a young girl who made an unfathomable decision to save her sister in an environment as lavish as a palace, yet as macabre as a mausoleum. Literally our world as seen through Suzanne Collins, with all of its depth, deception, love, and hope. All of this said, I digress.

The release of these propaganda posters show me that the wonder team behind this franchise truly understands the meat of the story. They understand that as much as we all adore the beautiful love that is Katniss and Peeta (had to go there, cough), it is a story about injustice, and more, choosing to stand against it. The films could never stand true if the producers and actors didn't fully grasp it's profundity. A really great article points out that the producers didn't even showcase the main characters during the week of their first major leak, but instead chose to make a portion of promotion about the citizens who are oppressed. The citizens who are preparing to war against their slave driven Capitol and a desperate president trying every last ditch effort to unite the districts because he knows his days are numbered.

Like everyone else, I wanted a trailer (and thankfully they've promised to end our agony sometime next week...hopefully), but these beautiful WW II reminiscent posters show that the producers care as much for the integrity of the story as we do. That they won't sacrifice quality for superfluous gimmicks. We wanted a great series, and they've decided to throw us right smack dab in the center of Panem.

I hadn't planned on writing this next bit now, but with the last scene of the entire series now wrapped I have to join in with fellow fans all over the world and three-finger-salute Suzanne Collins, Gary Ross, Francis Lawrence, Nina Jacobson, Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Willow Shields (the entire team), for believing in great storytelling, and working so hard to give us a truly phenomenal series. (Harry Potter aside--we all know that's a masterpiece!) The Hunger Games series is pretty much my favorite series at this point, and with all of the subpar adaptations out there, I'm not sure I had high hopes for this one. But thanks to these wonderful people, they have renewed my hope that my favorite books can be captured in an elegant and profound way. Words really cannot express how beyond pleased I've been with this series, and I know the next two films will leave me stunned and breathless in the theater (all six times I see it :-).

Love,
Britta


P.S. Did you guys see our fab four huddled together?

My Writing Process (A Blog Tour)

Dear Blue,

Nothing thrills me more than to be thrown into an ecstatic discourse on literature and how each person perceives his ink ticked journey. I was invited to join in on the Writing Process Blog Tour by one of my most elegant literary friends, Casee of book blog  Literary Inklings and fashion/lifestyle blog The Girl Who Stole The Eiffel Tower.

Here we go:

What Are You Working On?

In my head, I'm working on a plethora of stories with characters who can't seem to stop raising their hands in class all at once. In the practical present, I'm working on a novel and a screenplay for a short film (and also, possibly adapting my novel into a film). Sometimes I find it so hard to choose which medium I love more, films or novels.

How does your work differ from others in its genre?

Admittedly, these questions have always been a bit challenging for me to answer, but here's my gander at it. I've always been about entwining romance with Spirituality and slight magical realism. I almost cringe at tacking the word 'romance' down for the various connotations that come with it, but the point at which a man and a woman connect with each other has always been so fascinating to me. That being said, I'm also not a fan of romance for its own sake. I often use what I know of the couple as a springboard for the challenges that each individual character faces. It's so important to me to layer each character with rich depth, and pretty heavy circumstances like abandonment, or rape, or suicide. Again, not for the sake of adding drama, but more so that when God inspires me, the spiritual side will shine through all the more. I want to, hopefully, encourage people who may be going through these grave circumstances that God is there (in even the darkest places), and He loves them. Magical realism is always beautiful and whimsical, and such fun to play with, but it's that spiritual side, the idea (and truth) that miracles happen, that God's presence is, that angels exist, that all of these God ordained scenarios are possible...that in a nutshell is what makes my work different from other's in this genre.

Why Do You Write What You Do?

As I mentioned earlier on, I hope to inspire someone to believe that miracles exist, and beauty is possible in the mire because of God's beautiful love for us. I think I also write to continue to make myself aware of this possibility as well. I love taking myself on journeys that I may not even consider without the help of my imagination.

How Does Your Writing Process Work?

And now for the scroll...Most times I will have watched a film, or listened to a song that will get the ball rolling, and once the ball is rolling, all I need is a bus.

I don't know what it is about transportation that suspends my vicious little critic. Perhaps, it's the act of cruising down a highway, my eyes roving over trees and bright skies that gives me permission to trust my instincts and dream up scenes. About 98% of all the ideas I think are pretty awesome are connected to a ride down to the city.

After the words start coming in like fragments, I usually jot them down in my phone before any actual writing takes place. Whilst in Grad School, I re-taught myself  how to write all of my notes in longhand to fully implant myself into the story before sitting to the dreaded blinking cursor. Once the bones are connected, then I can breathe enough to start sorting it all out.

In a nutshell, that is what it feels like to be encased in Britta's imagination.

I tag my lovely writer bud Thesanica of Just Pick One Dangit! Along with being one of the most awesome people I know, she can edit whole manuscripts into masterpieces! She has whipped many of my word into shape, and continues to be a constant creative inspiration!

What about you, lovely writer? How do you work out the kinks to get the beauty inside of you out? If you're a blogger, I invite you to join in on this book tour! Please let me know when you post so I can tag you!

Thanks so much for reading, Dearie!

Hugs and love,

Britta