Skirts, Books, Socks, and Secrets, Oh My!

As usual I've been busy since last I posted.

Skirt

Step 6 is complete!!!! The skirt has been attached to the bodice and it really looks cool. And if the camera would work, you could see how cool. Oh well. So now Zipper, Hem, Lace, Zipper Hem Lace, ... That's all that's left .... I hope!

Books

"The Gentle Art of Domesticity - Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art & the Comforts of Home"
by Jane Brocket

I have a number of sewing/craft blogs I like to read and had created quite a list of books that were recommended. Well at the first of November, I treated myself one night to a trip to Borders. After a 1/2 hour of browsing, picking up, wondering and placing backing down ,I had pretty much decided there wasn't anything I really wanted to buy. Then I happened to remember a couple of the books on that list and went looking. I found two and that's when the deliberation began. You see this one was $10 more then the other one which was still $10 more then I "budgeted". And it looked more like a coffee table type of book. You know the ones, great to look out but no one actually reads all the way through. The second choice looked shorter and was specifically about sewing. Well with time short, I handed the second choice to my mom to browse through while I looked this one over. What can I say I'm very particular about 1) money I spend on books, 2) time I spend reading books and 3) whether they are worth it. I have a thing about books collecting dust especially brand new books. After flipping through and reading in several different locations I was hooked. She wrote how I felt but never knew how to put into words. Even now as I try to explain I can't seem to say it the way I want to. Except in Jane Brocket, I found someone who shares similar views of baking, sewing, crocheting, that I've always felt. This isn't a book about sewing or crocheting or baking bread but more the joy and satisfaction that comes discovering a part of you that so many put down as beneath you, or a waste of your intellectual faculties or ..... (Do you ever come across something that feels you so full of thoughts and feelings and ideas that you just can't express it in words. Well that is how I feel about the "gentle art of domesticity". So I will stop right here and save the rest for a later post.)

Socks

My mother taught me how to crochet when I was 8/9/ or 10 years old. I don't remember the age, but I do remember the place. And I have loved crocheting all these years. Even now when the leaves start turning colors and the weather gets nippy, and fall is felt and smelled and breathed, I want to pull out my crochet hooks, look over my yarn stash and start creating a blanket that grows warm as the days grow cold. But in all those years I have never had any desire to learn to knit, ... that is until now. In anticipation for my 31st birthday coming up in a few months and the official entry into "old maid-em", I felt now was the time to learn. Just kidding. Actually, Stripy socks are the real culprit. I want to make stripy socks! Not buy them, but make them. So one Friday during my lunch hour, I went into an awesome yarn shop we have here and asked for a sock pattern. Of course I did mention I had no idea how to knit, so I was shown the most basic pattern, bought it, and that evening I went to Jo Ann's (a little less expensive then the yarn shop) and bought me a "teach yourself how to knit" kit and two skeins of green wool. Then I went to my mom and asked her to teach me. (Yes I'm the type who over prepares rather then under prepares.) The first week was filled with several attempts and unraveling of those attempts. My grandmother who was visiting at the time kept asking me if I had made it to an inch yet. Not exactly, but it was interesting week of dropped stitches, too tight stitches and the patience and laughter of my instructor. (Hey if you're going to tax the patience of someone, you do it in such a way that they laugh at you rather then growl. At least that's my philosophy.) By the first of the second week I finally had an inch of the scarf I am trying to make. It's straight knit stitches, so I only need to know how to cast on, knit, and cast off (I'm not sure that is the right term but hey it works for me.)

Now I'm making good progress at learning to knit but how long before I can take on socks? It doesn't bode well when your "instructor" who has been knitting for years doesn't quite understand the "basic" sock pattern you bought. But I still hope, and to add to that, I bought a set of 4 different size sock needles. Now I've got the needles, and the pattern, I just need the skill and the yarn. And I do love knitting now that I've got the hang of it. It's really quite fun, and relaxing.

Secrets

Christmas is coming fast and I've been planning all kinds of surprises. So I can't tell you particulars, only my theme seems to be "homemade". Which may not be anything new, except with my reading, and learning to knit, and sewing, I think I want to put all my little "skills" to work and make it a diverse "homemade" Christmas. So crocheting, cross-stitching, sewing, maybe some embroidery. Knitting, I'm not so sure of because I've just begun to learn and I'm not so keen on giving away my very first project. We shall see. Most of my ideas get narrowed down drastically by the time Christmas comes, but I'm showing some good progress. Along with getting that dress completed, I hope to finish one batch of gifts or at least 2/3 of it before December even starts.

Here's hoping!