Small beginnings

It makes sense to bring this little exercise into a place of its own - it may flourish here, it may founder after a month or so, but at least it has somewhere to begin.

There are a number of initiatives at establishing a daily practice, be that in art practice, or meditation, or any endeavour really; unless you are doing it, well, you're not really are you?

So, how to establish a daily stitch practice? There are a number of fine souls out there in blogland who do this already, and I take inspiration from them, but have never managed to find a framework that fits. Then two groups that I belong to, both in the real world and the virtual, posted this idea.

I wanted to give it a slightly more personal twist, and focus on the moon and her phases, something I am always aware of. 

Another layer of symbol added, by using the yin yang emblem to encompass that balance between light and dark which is at the heart of all our being.

This then gave me a framework to work with; stitch according to the moon's phases. One group member suggested threading up a selection of threads in preparation; so why not select colours accordingly? I'm not going to try to include elements from the moon image above, that would be just too complicateed and I did it as a bit of fun. I'll use a variety of stitches and a single length of floss, blend the shades in the lights and dark sides, and stitch mindfully, aware of where the moon is, when she rises and sets, when she is visible. 

The thought pleases me.

Today (29th) is the Dark Moon, the New Moon, the time when her illuminated face is turned away from us and we cannot see her. So start with this, and with two strands of my darkest embroidery floss, cut to the length from my thumb to my elbow, and let's see where it takes me ......