I have started writing this blog post in my head many times over since my last post in February 2020. Then Covid-19 hit the United States. I was stressed, (along with everybody else on the planet) and spending much of my time sewing masks to donate so that I could feel like I was contributing in some small way. So I didn't even get started on the blog. Then George Floyd, Breonna Taylor et. al., politics, more Covid, more politics, etc., etc. I don’t have the insightful words to address all of that, so I won’t, other than to state that Black Lives Matter and science and facts matter. But this blog is not about world events, so I am going to go on with my blog, focusing largely on knitting, sewing, bookbinding, running, and whatever other creative projects I work on.
My original impetus to write a post was to a finished project, a knit-along shawl that I began in October 2019. My, that was such a long time ago.
The Mystery Knit-a-long was Stephen West’s
Starflake. I started it late, and was behind the group at every clue, but I did finally finish it in spring of 2020, and am quite pleased with the result. The brioche was a challenge. I ended up pulling out and reknitting portions of it when I made mistakes, though I eventually figured out how to just pull out a select number of stitches to fix a mistake.
I had registered and paid for a knitting retreat with my best knitting buddy Iris, sponsored by my (somewhat) LYS, the Mermaid’s Purl in Wickford, RI, scheduled for March 20. You guessed it, the retreat didn’t happen. It was postponed a couple of times and now is on the books for December 2021, and in the interim, Lizzie the shop owner set up a knit-a-long for the would-be retreaters. That pattern was
Olive Pink, designed by Casapinka (who had been scheduled to teach the retreat workshop).
I don’t have a picture of this one on a body, just these 2 pics of the blocking. This yarn, Jilly and Kiddles Fancy Sock, was luscious.
In the midst of all the sewing and knitting, I got in some bookbinding. I serve on the board of a local charity, Healing Therapies Thru Sharing, in southeastern CT, and we have been gathering items for an online auction fundraiser. I handbound a couple books to donate to the auction. We are still collecting items and hope to go live with the fundraiser this spring.
One of the positives to come out of this terrible year has been that I’ve found my sew-jo. It started with masks (yeah, big surprise there), but those masks gave me a feeling of at least helping to contribute, and got me back to my sewing room. Over the past 10 months I’ve sewn upwards of 200 masks, mostly given away to friends and family and the local Maskateers, a group formed to make and give masks to local medical workers and community groups who need them I’ve tried lots of different mask patterns, and am so thankful for all the generous sewists who have posted tutorials online for us all to follow.
Only 1 patttern piece for this one, not bad for glasses wearers
These are the shaped masks that I make for the Maskateers.
This last one started as the Zippy pattern, which uses zip ties as boning to hold the center seam out away from the mouth
https://zippyfacemask.wordpress.com/blog-2/ but I found the sides still caved in when I breathed. So I added another zip tie horizontally across the center of the mask, problem solved!
Since I was back in the sewing room, some clothing projects started calling to me. Over the summer I made 3 short sleeved tshirts, 2 raglan Closet Core Ebony Tees
and 2 short sleeved Plantain Tees from Deer and Doe (free pattern on their website). In the fall I made a long-sleeved Plantain Tee (not pictured). I’m watching tutorials on Craftsy to learn how to make a FBA (full bust adjustment) in order to get a better fit, and will redraft my pattern for the next make.
There has been one more high point for which I have this terrible year to thank. When everything went into lockdown in March, an old friend and former dance teacher, Leslie, offered a jazz dance class via Zoom. I contacted her, as did my daughter Jess in Oregon, and we started taking jazz classes together online, from Leslie in Berlin Germany. As the months progressed we would take class together every week, with other dancers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and in several states here in the U.S. Poor Jess had to be up 8 am in her time zone, and the Europeans had class at the end of the workday. Now we stay on Zoom if there’s time after class and chat for a few minutes. It has been an unusual way to make new friends during a worldwide pandemic.
My end-of-year “make” was my 2021 planner. This year I managed to print it and bind it at least a week before the new year began. I used some fabric that I had purchased in order to make a summer dress (but haven’t even started it) for the cover. The bookbinding is becoming a little easier. I still consult notes so I don’t forget any steps, but I’m becoming more and more confident in the process. I’d like to be able to teach bookbinding at some point, maybe as a community class offering or a youth center workshop.
And so I move into the new year with hope for our new administration, the rollout of the vaccines, and awaiting successful new COVID treatments.
Shelley in CT
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