I intended all weekend to do work--grading, planning, strategic emails. I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. Instead, I've spent the weekend reading books from the library and beading.
I started the same project--a beaded tarot card bag--four times yesterday. My design called for even-count peyote stitch, and the first two times I ended up with an odd number of beads, no matter how carefully I counted. The third time, I had an even number of beads, but had skipped two instead of one somewhere in row three, and so thought I had an odd number. I gritted my teeth, cut it apart, added a bead, continued on my way, and then discovered the other error. Take four, I had the right number of beads, but as I worked on row five, realized I had the wrong materials. Seed beads, which are not at all uniform, are not appropriate for a project that calls for an even, uniform, fabric. So I went to bed worried that this project would not fly at all.
The best beads to use for tubular peyote stitch are Japanese delicas--very even, very regular beads that are beautiful and cost quite a bit more than your garden-variety seed beads. FireMountain Gems has a generic alternative that isn't quite as regular as delicas, but far more regular than seed beads. So I started in with those, despite not having the exact right color we wanted.
For most of the day, and most of yesterday, I've sat in my straight chair, beneath my little working light, patiently threading beads onto one another one at a time. I'm not far--only nine rows in on a 150-count round that will be many, many, many rows high--but I can already see the colors taking shape.
It's a peculiar form of meditation. My upper back hurts, my neck is sore, but still I sit there, hour after hour, feeling my breathing even out, my jaw relax. It reminds me of my grandmother and her friends at the old quilting loom in the basement, the steady way their hands moved the needles in and out. I like the repetition, the steady accumulation of visible progress.