K made me a ring. She glued one of those aquarium glass beads to a broken metal band that she scrounged up from somewhere. Then she tucked it inside a clasping shell container and wrote a note. Because this came in the mail: I probably don't have to tell you that I became quite emotional. I had a moment of terror before I opened the box. "What if I hate it? What if I feel disappointed?" I don't, I wasn't. No, not even close. There are too many things I love about it to list them here. …
Arrows
sometimes. life shoots arrows that pierce blindly the released air sounds like sighs of sadness or hiccups of laughter or maybe gasps of wonder* *I am having a week in which the highs and lows are engaged in a major tug-of-war. So for today, this is all. …
Monday Outfit: Seeking the Comfy-Stylish Factor
Good morning! It feels like it's been a very long time since I've sewn for K. There are many things I need to sew for her: more pants, warm cardis, hats, mittens. But I wanted to set the tone for the new year with this first garment -- something that blended comfort with style. Or so I hoped. With that in mind, I sketched out some ideas, and decided on a half knit, half woven tunic. Which somehow turned into a dress. This little raglan dress is entirely self-drafted, …
Happy Friday + Randomness
I dated a Zen monk-in-training for a brief period when I lived in San Francisco. He was brilliant, hilarious, foul-mouthed yet eloquent and used phrases like "we are copacetic," and I would tell him to knock it off with the pretension (and then I asked him what copacetic meant. It means "excellent", in case you didn't know either). We didn't mesh as a couple, but I treasured the friendship, and I greatly admired his commitment to meditation. Like yoga, meditation is something I've tried and …
2014 Retrospective: Sewing for Me
Before I put this collage together (thank you Rachel, for the Mosaic Maker recommendation -- it saved me about a zillion hours!), I had it in my mind that I didn't sew much for myself last year. And compared to 2013 which clocked in at 37 garments, I definitely sewed less at 36 garments for 2014, especially since I didn't start sewing for myself until May in 2013. So overall, my sewing output has been decreasing, but 36 items of clothing is still a pretty decent number, and what was …