For The Birds
Piggybacking onto the momentum of having finished Catkins (did I mention that I finished Catkins?), I finished the second sleeve of the Knot Garden. Just a couple of weeks short of a YEAR since starting it, for the record. Smug dance of completion to follow, as soon as they dry and get sewn into the body...
So smug am I (and un-anxious to return to the swatchapalooza that is my other concern this week) that I went completely batshit and conceived a cunning backdrop for the Knot Garden.
I seem to have remembered that in a previous life I used to sew things sometimes. I have no memory of consciously stopping all sewing activity, but I think it must have been around the same time I stopped a bunch of other stuff I like, in the hopes of getting a book written on time. Not that I'm complaining, you understand - it's good to rest some muscles in favor of others from time to time.
Now that I'm gainfully unemployed, all sorts of stuff I used to like doing is popping back into my conciousness. Stuff like hearing music, and digging in the dirt (garden dirt, not kitchen floor dirt), reading books. And my old friend, sewing.
And sewing, you may know, is just like falling off a bicycle - once you've learned how to properly screw up a sewing project, you never forget.
It actually started with a conversation I had with my friend Jill (non-knitter, for the record, but still completely lovable). She asked me what kind of bird I was, and I didn't know. I know for sure that she's a Great Blue Heron - (leggy, graceful, eats a fair amount of fish) but I was unable to locate my own inner bird. Jill thinks I might be a robin, which notion I sort of like.
So the bird thing has been with me, and I got it in my head that I must need a dress with birds on it to go with my finally-finished Knot Garden. I waltzed into the fabric store, and there it was: Exactly what I would have made if I had set out to design fabric with birds on it:
I cut out the dress last night, and I sewed it today. And in a turn of fate which is nothing like knitting (and nothing like sewing, for that matter), it fits just right and I completely love it. Too weird. That is just not the way it works - no drama, no odyssey, no falling out of hair clumps. Just found it, made it, love it. Interesting how easy it is when there's nothing at stake. Wonder where that magic goes when someone inserts a deadline?
And now there must be shoes. We're not savages here, after all.
The fabric is lovely! I think Spring is right around the corner! I am in your Eeks Steeks class at Madrona and am thoroughly enjoying working on Wisteria. But, oh my! all those swatches you're working on! What a job you've taken on....
I really enjoy reading your blog! Take care,
Morgen
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I would love to get back to sewing, but even when I was doing it a fair amount I could never have finished a dress in a day! I'm impressed!
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Ah, sewing. Such a pretty fabric. Can't wait to see the dress with the Catkin.
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What pretty fabric—will we see a picture or two of the dress?
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Hello Mary,
I have so enjoyed reading your blog. What a delightful way you have with the world.
I am the class coordinator at Village Yarn and Tea in Seattle, and..... I have your niece Katy in my American Afghan class.
I was wondering if you would consider teaching a class here at the shop. We would so love to have you and I would love to meet you.
Please let me know what you think, what you would like to teach, how much you charge and what your schedule would allow. I am just assuming you are going to say yes. I hope so.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Susan Dirk
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