So this morning I was fiddling with my sewing machine, not really expecting to accomplish anything from it, and suddenly the wheel un-jammed and started turning freely again. Hallelujah Huzzah Woohoo! It's a miracle. Of course this means that whatever jammed it up in the first place is still in there waiting to strike at another inopportune moment. But for now I'm gonna stop fiddling with it and just be thankful that I don't have to spend money on fixing it.
My sewing machine just decided to jam up and bite the dust, for no reason, in the middle of a project. Maybe it's got some moral objection to my resurrecting a pattern from 1982; I dunno. This means I've got to find time to take it to a shop and spend money I don't have getting it repaired, because I need it for other projects that are under a deadline.
It had better shape up, 'cause I'm inheriting my grandma's old machine (probably newer than this one) as soon as my parents can bring it to me. Maybe it knows. Hey. I can personify it all I want; it's been with me for 23 years. It's a dear friend. Who had better watch its mechanical back if it wants to avoid being given away to a boy who's never sewn before. He has his eye on you, Bernina. He wants to use you on polyester.
Before this setback I was googling around for some podcasts to listen to while sewing. I happened upon Dennis Stevens' Redefining Craft, which is most excellent. This interview with Stanley Bulbach is about a year old, but it touches on lots of subjects that have been on my mind lately. They articulate these ideas much more eloquently than I could, bein' all formally un-edumacated in such matters. I need to find more resources like this to edumacate myself.
Things I learned today:
- There are other topics to discuss on craft-related forums than Birkenstocks, grandchildren and cats, and I am not the only one eager to discuss them.
- The distinction between American Craft (no) and the DIY craft movement (yes)
- I really like the word "fiberist".
And now I must back away from the keyboard and compose a list of my further thoughts on related subjects, so I can post them later when I'm more coherent.
At long last, the finished photos of my most recent recycling project. This used up more jeans than I expected, mostly because I cut all the squares on the straight grain (meaning they'd turn into bias diamonds). Right now, with all the excess fabric I have, using up more is a good thing.
This is also, I think, the first pattern that I've designed entirely from scratch, according to my own measurements. Simple and completely symmetrical, and just a bit more loose-fitting than I planned (I'll wear it to the all-you-can-eat buffet!) - but the whole process of figuring it out was a lot of fun.
Lenore was the official feline supervisor for this project. I'm sure she's also the one responsible for the pieces, so carefully laid out the night before, being in total disarray by morning. You can barely see it in this photo, but she has a little checkerboard pattern on her back too.
I visited my family in Minneapolis last weekend, and my dad took this photo of me at my sister's art gallery. That's why I had to wait so long to post about the skirt - because I knew he could take the best picture. The green ribbon tank top is one of the first things I ever knitted, and still one of my favorites.
Someday, years from now, we’ll look back and say “Remember back when we lived in that apartment in Denver, and I was a temp and you were a student and we had no money and I got hurt but we had no insurance and we wondered what we’d do when we grew up, or if we were too old and it was too late for us even to have any say in the matter?”
And then I’ll look at this picture and remember it as one of the best times of my life.
It seems that in my universe, “Using What You Have” doesn’t preclude you from taking in lots more stuff. My friend Joey gave me a humongous pile of his old unwanted clothing - most of it in excellent condition. He said he knew I’d think of something good to do with it. Gifts don’t count as acquiring new supplies, right? I’m using what someone already had, and I didn’t pay any money for it. It’s still all reused and recycled, and I’m saving it from the possible worse fates of rotting in a landfill or being worn by someone who doesn’t appreciate it…. Right? See me rationalize!
I’ve already begun one project using some of his stuff. I’ve managed to re-injure my knee TWICE in the last week by tripping over nothing and falling on it. I think it’s because I’m favoring it and walking off-balance. I won’t be back at skating practice any time soon - I’m angry at myself about that, and everyone else seriously doubts my commitment (to Sparkle Motion), but I have to be sure it’s fully healed. Anyway, that gives me more time to work on my craft projects. And maybe even a little housework. Hey, it could happen.
It's become apparent that, at an early point, I skipped two rows of the chart on that green sweater. You can see that one cable that's a little shorter than the rest. I thought it would be no big deal and not show, but now I'm all angsty over how the front and back might not match up, and how this sweater's got such sentimental value to me that I'll want to keep it forever and will it drive me nuts if it's got a glaring mistake and - and - and….
I'm certainly not unraveling back to that point to fix it; I have at least twice as much done now as in that picture. But maybe when I'm all done with the back, I can undo the bottom and re-knit it downward. Maybe.
I'm thinking of the time in Girl Scouts when we learned weaving with little popsicle-stick looms. Ellen, the perfect girl who always sold 100 boxes of cookies (there's one in every bunch) was all upset because she'd made a mistake in her weaving. I tried to console her by saying that the Navajos intentionally put a mistake in every blanket they weave, because nothing human can be perfect, only the divine. She shot back angrily, "Well, I am not a Navajo, and this is not a blanket!"
So I guess I have to decide - for this particular project, do I want to be a Navajo, or do I want to be Ellen?
Is there anybody out there?
I purposely haven’t publicized this blog much because I’m not interested in being all big and well-known; I’m a little phobic of the pressure. But it would be nice to know someone’s reading. Ingrid? I know I gave you the URL (but I also know how infrequently you check your email). Or are all those hits on my sitemeter only from me?
Anyone who’s reading this, leave a comment. I’m going to have to start spreading the word sooner or later - I’m just trying to decide where.
…well, sort of. I've cast it on, anyway.
That's how much I've gotten done of the back so far. I started with a pattern from a book of designs my mom gave me, most of which are rather dated (and not in a cool vintage way; this was one of the least '80s-looking). It called for size 2 needles, but I couldn't even get the gauge small enough on size 1. I would have had to do some altering anyway because the pattern didn't go up to my size, so I just decided to use the cable pattern as a general starting point and wing it according to my own measurements.
Here's a closeup showing more detail. The panels in between the cables had a neat seed-stitch triangle motif, which I altered slightly and added some glass beads. Here's where the irresponsibility comes in. I didn't have the right size and color of beads in my stash, so I bought them new. The bead store was closed when I just had to have them, so I went to a big craft store and spent way too much money on some beads that weren't quite right. The next day I saw the error of my ways, went back to the bead store and got more suitable ones. Price of beads (not including the ones I'm going to return to the craft store): $8, bringing the total for this sweater to $13. Plus labor, which I'm not even going to think about.
I'm making it on straight needles because I don't have a circular in the right size (my precious Denise needles only go down to a 5), meaning I'm also going to have to sew the dreaded side seams. I think I'm at least going to try to do the sleeves on double-points. I have only one chance to get this project right - I'm having to break the yarn so often to string more beads onto it, I won't be able to unravel it again and start over.
Apparently April is Use What You Have Month, and there’s a Flickr group for it. I probably won’t join (though I’ll probably hop on the Flickr bandwagon eventually), but I’ll definitely be keeping tabs on what everyone’s doing over there.
I’m trying to make this a use-what-I-have year - but I’ll admit I haven’t always followed it strictly. I’ll post a picture of my latest work-in-progress, featuring resourceful reuse and shameful money-wasting, later today.
