By Brienne

Why I Sew (and Knit)

This post was originally featured on the Kids Clothes Week Blog last February:)

I spend as much time as I can making things. And even when I can’t, it consumes my thoughts. And kids things in particular. As I considered this post over the last few weeks, I couldn’t come up with exactly what it was that compels me to make. Compulsion is the nature of it, to be sure – but why?

There was a time when my marriage was new and my babies were both so little and unfamiliar that hand-making helped me to make sense of domesticity – a concept that I had always flailed hard against.

But that’s not why for me anymore.

As I worked on this leather-feathered vest (using this pattern), I finished listening to a novel, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. About midway through, the book’s writer answered this question for me and much more eloquently than I could have.

“In the evenings, she lit a lamp and unfolded the fabric on the table. Following the pattern offered a kind of comfort, a quiet balance [to her day's work which was] coarse, exhausting [and unpredictable]. Sewing was different. She knew if she was patient and meticulous, if she carefully followed the lines, took each step as it came, and obeyed the rules, that in the end when it was turned right-side out, it would be just how it was meant to be (205-6).”

That passage about a woman sewing a coat for a child is one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. Even though she’s musing there about stitching, the passage also contributes to the book’s persistent theme of impermanence. The stitching, it helps us to cope with the fleeting nature of things. Of kids and of youth and of thwarted meant-to-bes. And, I think, that’s why I do it.

 Joining Frontier Dreams readers today over here:) And the Small Things knitters over here:)

 

Embarking on a Year of Making

Committing to one whole year of making sounds like a lot. And in some ways, it is. But aren't we already doing it? I first heard about this campaign on Instagram from Meighan O'Toole. I realized that I'm already making every day, year-round. And comprehensive reflection doesn't come easily to me. I've been steadily working on my sewing and knitting. I loved the idea of having a concrete place to document it. On Instagram, I can share my progress with other makers, plus I'll have a visual record of everything that I made this year. It's going to be bananas. 

The pictures here are from the past week. They include some of what I made for my first stretch of the year of making. As you can see from the photos, some days may include finished objects but other days will include beginnings and techniques in progress.

Some of my year of making goals are lofty (like knitting a couple a sweaters and making a couple a quilts) and others are more pedestrian. For example, my daughter is way into having french braids in her hair but I never learned how to french braid - so I'm trying to learn now. That'll be part of my making. Below is the freshly made back for my Bellows-sweater-in-progress. If you'd like to see one of these beauties completed, do check out Jen from Grainline Studio's (AMAZING!!!).

 There are a lot of things that I'd like to try. I badly want to practice printing on fabric. I want to learn to do fair isle knitting. I want to make new designs for my Etsy shop. I want to make patterns for my clothing from ready-to-wear items. I want to make videos. And the list goes on... I hope that I can organize the list and make it more workable but I'm not holding my breath. As I've mentioned, I'm not much of a list-maker. Long terms planning doesn't come easily to me. But focusing my attention once daily on what I'm making, so far feels very good. I expect setbacks. I hope that there will be long summer days where my sewing machine, camera and Iphone are well out of reach. In the meantime, though, I'll be making. Some of it will be for fun, some of it will be for sale and it'll all be over here. 

Won't you join me? There's no hard and fast beginning and end date - that's up to. Make you something, throw the hastag #yearofmaking on it and join the party. It's never to late to begin:)

I'll be joining Frontier Dreams this week over here:)

Joining the Straight Grain Sewers for Sew and Show here:) 

Joining the Small Things readers here:)

Knitting the Bough Hat

We've just returned from our tour along the Northern California coast. We spent the holidays there. It was my favorite trip to date. 

I expected it to rain and to be chilly especially inside the redwood forest where these photos were taken. I casted this hat on sometime in early December upon realizing that in a house that is positively full of knitted caps there are very few that are sized for myself or my husband. 

When my daughter saw the hat she squealed and said that the pattern looked like branches! I feel the same way about the delicate little boughs on this hat. It has super slouch and would have had more, I casted off a bit early thinking that I wouldn't like it. But I do like it. I really, really do.

The super slouch looks totally adorbs on my daughter and keeps all of her wispy tresses tucked neatly away. 

I am going to try, though, to hang on to this one since she ultimately got the last one. 

I'm eager to share all of the beautiful photos and some of the more fiber-related experiences that I had on our trip. Plus I want to tell you about my making plans for the new year, about the handmade gifts that I gave and I had hoped to do a little reflecting too in this space about the projects that I made last year. I've been sharing a bit about all of the above over on my new, true love - Instagram. Meet me there if you dig. 

For now, though, you can find my Ravelry notes about this pretty hat here. I'll be joining the Frontier Dreams makers over here and Ginny's Knitters here.

I've missed hearing from you in this space while I've been gone. If you're out there, please do speak up! How is the new year treating you?