I did a bunch more hand quilting this weekend. (Hand quilting is slow, so there's not really much progress from "a bunch." I finished one of the larger setting blocks, one of the full blocks, and one of the corner setting blocks).

I do like the sort of meditative quality of hand quilting. It's hard to multi-task while doing it (you definitely cannot read, and you can't even really watch television, because you need your eyes on your work). It's very focusing and good for thinking about things.

And there is also something deeply satisfying to me about those lines of tiny stitches slowly progressing across the top.

I'm already beginning to think about how I might quilt the Provence quilt; one thing I've learned is that I don't like quilting simple grid shapes (boring and I also find it hard to stay on a straight line). I also am not crazy about the 1/4 inch tape that's used to make sure lines are straight and distances are uniform. Part of it is that if you leave it on the quilt for any length of time, it leaves a little bit of sticky residue (and I wonder if that's good for the fabric), and also, it's just another thing to mess with. I like being able to quilt using as few additional tools as necessary - just the needle and thread and a thimble. (That's actually one of the other attractions for me about hand quilting; you don't need a lot of impedimentia to do it. True, it's generally not portable in the way knitting or crochet is portable...but for me, there's something very appealing about a craft that you don't need expensive or complex tools to do.)

I also like it because it's clean. I've come to the conclusion that the messy-crafts phase of my life is probably over (I used to do some pottery in high school, and as much fun as it is to throw on a wheel - and oh, is it fun - it's also kind of a drag cleaning the clay out of your hair afterwards. And you need a big place to set up that it's OK to get messy. And of course you need a wheel and access to a kiln, so throwing pots violates my "as few tools as necessary" dictum.). I probably won't ever do the dyeing (even using natural plants) that I've often thought about unless someday I get up the gumption to build myself a summer kitchen, because the mess of cooking gets me down enough.

But I like the clean, quiet, self-contained nature of handquilting. I dare say in some ways it is more like yoga than even knitting (much trumpeted as the "new yoga" a few years back) is. For me at least, it forces my concentration to close in in a way that knitting does not - I can (and have) knit while talking on the phone, while reading, while proctoring exams. None of those I can do while quilting.

I think of Patricia Weldon's instruction on the yoga video (which I never seem to find time to do any more these days - maybe I need to just tell myself once a week I WILL do it): "Draw your mind to the center of your heart, where it's quiet."

I always liked that image - I think I've mentioned it before - this calm quiet core where nothing can reach you from the outside world, where the YOU that is you is insulated from all the sludge the world tries to throw on you. Where you can keep who you truly are safe and protected. (Yeah, as you might guess, I've always had issues with "being vulnerable" and "letting people in." I'm too afraid, I think, of the me-that-is-really-me being hurt, or the person seeing who I really am and then laughing. Of course, if they were to laugh at who I really am, that's more a reflection on them and their limitations than on me, but still. Being laughed at hurts.)

So one of the good things about handquilting is that it gives me time to be alone with that calm quiet core.

*****

The other thing I did this weekend was not so calm and wonderful. I had to scrape a bunch more spyware ($#$*#&@$) off my computer. Really, I don't know how it gets in - I surf sites generally-designated-as-safe but I still get stuff now and then that trigger pop-ups (nothing horrible, not like pr0n pop ups or anything) and that sometimes try to redirect the browser. This seems to happen about every six weeks ro so now. This time I actually had to take the big guns out and use the Hijack This program someone told me to download and junk a couple of fake registry files. (I'm getting more ruthless at getting rid of stuff - if it doesn't immediately ring a bell of "something that should be here," out it goes. I suppose I may pay for that someday by removing a file that's supposed to be there, but there are enough online tutorials that I feel comfortable looking at the filecode and going, "oh, that looks like this thing over here they're describing as malware" and then getting rid of it).

But I tire of having to go all Xena on spyware's backside. I should probably break down and buy a more restrictive firewall program to try to keep more of it out in the first place. (I do run Spybot Search and Destroy weekly, and that gets rid of some, and always have McAfee running in the background, and I have an anti-malware program I run if something seems hinky).

****

I rewarded myself for dealing with the spyware in a (mostly) grown-up fashion. (I will admit to saying a "HA ha" a la Nelson when I realized I had successfully removed most of it) by purchasing a couple patterns I'd been looking at.

They're from an etsy seller: DangerCrafts. I bought Albert the Absent Minded Monster and Maddox the Mischievous Monster. I like these kind of patterns - any yarn should work, it won't take a large amount (I'm sure I have some in my stash, either as leftovers or as "I love this but there's only a couple skeins of it but I'm buying it anyway" yarns.

(Yes, I bought toy patterns to reward myself for acting like a grown-up. I know.)