My Instagram Best Nine - just in case you missed it!
In this in-between week most people spend some time reviewing the year that has passed and looking to see what’s coming up in the next one. I called 2018 the Year of the Slug in recognition of my efforts to slow down, take time, step back from depressing world news and nest. I really thought I was doing a good job of acting slug-like: lots of time spent in the hammock as well as the garden and the studio. I actually read 165 books! That was 15 books past the 150 I had challenged myself with on Goodreads. Yikes! All frivolous ones naturally. That’s just the way I roll.
However I surprised myself even more by counting 41 projects finished! And here I thought everything was taking forever and I made lots of mistakes especially in my knitting that had to get pulled out and started over. It took 6 months just for the Lacca Laneway dress alone. And then there was the old sewing machine that wouldn’t feed and the leaking iron too. Not to mention the summer heat and smoke that made my studio unpleasant to work in for several months. Amazing that so much managed to get to the finish line in spite of the difficulties. I am nothing if not persistent!
So what did I make? 1 woven blanket, 1 sweater’s worth of spun yarn, 5 sweaters, 3 pairs of socks, 2 shawls, 1 coffee cosy, 8 tops, 11 tunics/dresses, 3 pants/shorts, 2 skirts, 3 bras and a pyramid. 11 items were for Thom, the blanket for both of us and the pyramid for his mom. Otherwise it was all for me-me-me! Interestingly the number of things I’ve been making for Thom has been rising quickly. I guess I’m inspired by how much he actually has been wearing the things I’ve made him. I have at least 4 more for him waiting in the queue too.
Speaking of me-mades, here’s my last one of the year, Katherine Tilton’s Butterick 6138:
It’s actually much closer to black than the medium grey it looks here. I apologise for putting it on Debbie Double but I was too lazy to get dressed and trying to catch the elusive winter light so you could see the details on this dark plaid wool suiting. I already made this tunic or dress or vest (what would you call it?) in natural linen for summer so this is my winter version! This is project number 13 for my new Janome sewing machine and the first for my new CHI iron. The suiting is quite crisp so hard to get a really smooth pressing on the seams. They look good when steamed but slowly go right back to where they want to be. Good old worsted wool! I even washed and dried this fabric in the machine before cutting it out and it didn’t even notice. No dry cleaning for this garment.
So now we look forward. What’s coming up? Darned if I know for sure! I haven’t got a word or a theme for 2019 yet. Although I have been thinking more and more about starting to unload some of the supplies around here that I know I’m not ever going to use. The hard part is just going through it all and making decisions. Not that I have trouble knowing what I don’t want to keep exactly. Just that I don’t really know how to get rid of it in the best way. I do know that back in the day I was very grateful for free or cheap supplies from fellow crafty people who were downsizing their own stash. And I would like to do the same for someone else. There is a lot of potential tied up here that would be lovely to let go to another who could use it rather than have it sit here gathering dust. Unfortunately I’m not at all interested in listing any of it online or having a garage sale or anything that takes time and effort. I just want it gone, either for free or a small donation and then somebody else can figure out what to do with it. I’ve already got someone willing to take the lacemaking stuff. Now I need to think about the beadwork supplies. Much money invested in this lot so I can’t just dump it. Oh, and my 14-year-old granddaughter just got her first sewing machine so she can have first pick on excess fabrics. More to ponder as time goes on. Hey, maybe I just found my word for the year:
DIVESTMENT
Sounds a bit ominous though, doesn’t it? I have no plans to get rid of everything!
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