Following the pattern...

I took sewing lessons as a kid.  The rigidity of how patterns were introduced to me, possibly reinforced by the punishment when I (ahem) cut up some of my mom’s expensive fabrics in her stash without asking permission, has made me very worried about using sewing patterns as an adult.  So worried, in fact, that over the years, I decided to just wing it and made myself and my kids a few things just by having some knitwear design shaping ideas and ummm, winging it.  And this worked out ok, but...

I've been needing some new clothes...I wear my clothes hard and various twins spill on me and well, there is only so much mending and cleaning you can do before things do not look presentable...The options in the stores seemed: too expensive, too flimsy, wrong colours, wrong styles, too small, too large, and did not fit (pick all or pick one).

A friend convinced me I could follow a pattern, guided me into picking one, and I went from there.  This is 100 Acts of Sewing’s dress no. 1 in a Robert Kaufman linen/cotton blend.  I finished it Friday afternoon and wore it Saturday evening to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with my Strippy McStrippit cardigan.

Today, my piece about slow fashion came out on the CBC-Manitoba webpage, too:
Mend, craft or make do with less

Our Thanksgiving weekend has been slightly different than envisioned due to our big snowstorm here.  Lots of time inside...and it has been full of “making” time.  I have turned out two pairs kid mitts from old felted sweaters, three pies (apple, raspberry apple, and peach) a sweater renovation—I am knitting cuff and body extensions for a skinny but growing kid—and more.  It has been productive, if indoor, time.

Tonight is the start of Sukkot, and I am sad to say we have not put up a sukkah. (An outdoor hut for spending time outdoors.) The place we usually built it on the deck is wet, slushy, and alternately, still covered with 20 cm (8”) of snow.  The weather brings me back to another of my articles that ran this week: A dose of humility, gratitude (Cause, you know, we really cannot control the weather!)

Last day of school & Gratitude

A friend recently gave me this knitting project bag.  It's got funny things on it like:
"Mother: [noun]-One person who does the work of twenty. For free."
And
"The joys of motherhood are experienced when kids go to bed."

I'm extremely glad that I had my twins, and I love them a lot.  However-- I'm also pretty sad that grade 1 is over as of lunch time today!  During the summer, we have some summer camp time, and a lot of "hang out with Mommy" time.  It means I have to work at night, on weekends, or whenever I can fit it in...so blog posts may be fewer, and well, I get fewer breaks to do grown-up things like work.  (Maybe it's surprising, but I love working and being by myself and miss it terribly when I'm on full time mom duty.)

Yesterday was a taste of things to come.  We had a day off (right before the end of school) and we got hair cuts, went to the pediatrician for a check-up, brought Sadie the dog to a play date with a trainer and picked her up again, walked to the bakery together (and boys purchased bread/treats on their own), had meals and snacks, played in our front yard wading pool... and ran one other errand.  Yes, we had take-out for dinner.  I could do no more!

The errand: I picked up my engagement ring and wedding ring from the jeweler's.  Yesterday was our 20th wedding anniversary.  In honor of this, I had my rings resized so I could wear them consistently again.  Twin pregnancy and Lyme disease/post-Lyme means my knuckles swell...and getting the rings on and off had become really a trial.  So, I reconfirmed things with the Professor this way.  The jeweler said "Here they are again, like brand new!"  But I didn't want brand new.  I wanted older, a bit worn, and still fitting.  Oh well.  No one's fault that my knuckles got swollen.  I need to be grateful for what I've got!

In order to counteract this feeling...here's a link to my latest article,which just came out today:

Do you have a gratitude list?