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Restingmotion

  • Organized and Ready To Go

    I love purses.

    Being the kind of person who likes to coordinate my accessories with my outfits, including jewelry, it is probably not surprising that I like to change purses as well.  For a while, in my 40's I was getting all minimalist and trying to reduce the number of things I carried in my purse to the lightest load possible.  I weeded out credit cards, eliminated "unnecessary" items and thought I had a pretty workable system.  

    Still things accumulated.  I added the cell phone.  I added a Palm.  I added an iPod.  I got an ITouch which allowed me to combine my Palm and iPod into one (smaller) unit.  But I started having to carry more other stuff in my bag, stuff for G, stuff for me in case I had an allergic reaction, an impossible number of pieces of paper.  Nothing was easy in my purse anymore.    

    I still managed to change purses pretty frequently, but the odds that I would forget something grew stronger.  

    IMG_1271 Last week I solved all my problems; at least I solved all my purse problems.  I bought a Purse Protector from my friend Lyn.  Now I knew that Lyn had developed this purse organizer to solve her own need for keeping things together and changing purses so when I found out that they were finally available for sale I had to buy one, well actually two, as I bought one for my mom as well.

    Now everything is organized.  It can be opened up and made longer and flatter for those long flat purses I have.  It can be separated for smaller purses.  Best of all is that I figured out that I can leave my ipod and my cell phone in the purse protector and plug them in for charging/syncing without ever taking them out of the purse protector.  I just plop the whole thing on the side of my desk, which happens to be right next to the purse-closet, plug them in, and the next morning I just grab the whole thing and pop it in my purse.  I never leave without my cell phone anymore.  I never get to a doctor's office and realize that I left my iTouch at home and with it my list of G's medications or my calendar.  

    When I went into NYC last week, I had everything easily at my fingertips, right where I needed it. No more fumbling at the newsstand at Grand Central because my wallet has somehow sunk to the bottom of my bag, no more riffling through my pockets trying to remember where I put my metrocard.  Everything fits, everything is where it is supposed to be, I can just grab it and go without having to think about it, and somedays having one less thing to have to think about is very very good.

  • Music and a Movie

    Sunday's concert at South Mountain was absolutely fabulous.  My mind still swirls in recollection of bits and pieces, little bits of melody, soaring emotion.  

    We heard a trio consisting of Wu Han on the Piano, David Finckel, also of the Emerson Quartet, on cello, and Philip Setzer playing the violin.   I have, of course heard Finckel and Setzer playing with the Emerson, and I heard Wu Han as a soloist, but I had not heard Han and Finckel play together, nor had I heard this trio.  I was intrigued.

    SchubertTrio The concert was all Schubert; the Piano trio in B flat Major and the Piano Trio in E flat Major.  Have I already said it was marvelous?  It was indeed.  The music was lush and powerful and filled with emotion.  There was an almost visceral quality to the music, subtle perhaps in the B-flat trio which was filled with lush playful melodies.  That visceral quality was immediately apparent in E-flat trio which  drags you into hell and back; it was in turns brooding, serene, volcanic, angry, and yet touched by solace and perhaps redemption.

    Watching and listening to musicians perform is always fascinating.  The opportunity to hear musicians whom I usually associate with one group and sound performing outside those boundaries is enlightening.  Of course playing as a soloist and a member of an ensemble are tremendously different things; in a group the dynamic of the group play a major role in the music.  

    This group is totally different than the Emerson; the dynamic is different.  The playing is still brilliant, but the musicians seem to be having far more fun, and there is considerable emotional depth to the music.  Finckel, whose face is always animated during performance, seems more animated.  Han is a dynamo; powerful when power is needed, and yet lilting and precise as well.  There is a definite dynamic between Han and Finckel, not surprising I suppose since they are married.  They create gorgeous music together.  The dialog between Setzer and Finkel seemed magical, the music dancing, a few conspiratorial raised eyebrows, Setzer's feet dancing in their slow smooth slide beneath his chair.  I always love watching Setzer's feet during play.  Since the Emerson stands during performance, I miss watching his feet.  This seemed like a special treat.  He moves them around, as I do when I sit.  But I fidget because I have a bad back.  I don't know that Phillip Setzer has a bad back, but he moves his feet eloquently with the music, and there is an occasional little quiver with the beat or a trill.  Sometimes he raises his eyebrows back at David Finckel.  The music soars.  Heady stuff.

    I just found out there is a recording of these concerts.  The photo of the album cover is from Finckel and Wu Han's website, from which I will be ordering the recording post-haste. 

    Sept September Issue, which I saw on Friday,  was a disappointment.  It was one of the most boring movies I have ever seen.  I was in NYC with friends, we talked about going to see the Toledo Exhibit, but unsurprisingly, finding a cab in the rain in NYC is an impossible task and we opted to see the movie instead.  Read Carolyn's review, I completely agree and she said it better than I ever could.  

    Grace Coddington made the movie.  And Anna Wintour may be brilliant and powerful but my initial impression of her was that she had absolutely no affect.  I was wrong.  There was one scene, with her daughter, were a little glimmer of something came through, and of curse the famous pursed lips.  But really these things just had me feeling very sorry for her, strange as that may sound.

    In a nice bit of serendipity, I happened to watch part of "The Devil Wears Prada!" on Saturday, while I was waiting for a match to begin at the US Open tennis tournament.  Meryl Streep nailed the Anna Wintour role except that mean as Meryl was in that movie, she couldn't reproduce the utter blankness of AW's face.  There was always just a little too much humor and irony and intelligence peeking out.  

  • Foot-Weary

    I was in NYC yesterday meeting friends in the garment district.  It was a fabulous day filled with laughter, good food, and yes, some retail therapy as well.  I shipped my purchases home, and I will share as soon as the packages arrive.  Life is too short to spend a day dragging heavy bags of fabric around.

    Especially when your feet hurt.

    I thought I was being really practical.  It was raining so I wanted to wear some water-resistant or rain protective shoes.  I have several choices, but I chose the pair with the narrow, 2 inch, kitten heel.  This has long been one of my favorite pairs of rain boots, and it was, in fact the same pair that I wore last time I was in NYC walking around all day.

    IMG_1248 It was only when we decided to go to a movie to get out of the rain and rest, that I realized that "last time" was two years ago, and that I had been on my feet, on the pavement, and on hard floors, for 7 hours, with a brief, half-hour, lunch break in between.    Obviously my 49 year old feet, were more adept at this than my 51 year old feet seem to be.  

    Although the movie did provide ample rest for me to be able to walk to dinner, and from dinner to the subway and my train home, my feet are protesting mightily today, and I have had to curtail my workout substantially in order to give same feet a rest.

    I am not ready to give up heels, and given that I do not live a life where I am on my feet all day, I am not convinced that it is necessary.  But I do recognize that I need to find some comfortable walking shoes with thick soles and enough support to keep me comfortable for those days on my feet.  I don't believe it was the heel that was a problem here, in fact I know a 1 1/2" to 2" heel is often more comfortable on my back if I am standing around a great deal, which was the case yesterday.  But a narrow 2 inch heel on a shoe with a very thin sole, is not a good idea.  Thick cushioning soles, platforms or a wedge, and some support are increasingly more necessary.

    I am coming to  realize that, although I do wear heels regularly, the structure and support of that heel is much more critical than it was when I was in my thirties or even forties. Some heels are comfortable for a day of getting in and out of a car and even walking a few blocks or the aisles of a grocery store or mall, and other shoes are painful after a few hours of being out and about.   It is time to put some more thought into the shoes I wear more, even as this means giving up a few cherished "beliefs" about what looks good.  After all our aesthetics are deeply shaped by what we see around us.

    For all the 4 and 5 inch heels circulating in the market place, and all the young women who post their shoes on their blogs, or whom I see striving through town (or Grand Central Station) on narrow 4 inche heels,   I also see large numbers of attractive young women who chose and wear shoes that are stylish and comfortable without being treacherous.  Oh even they may wear a higher heel for a party but not everyday.    I should take a lesson from this.  

    I need shoes for long days on my feet but these are rare.  Primarily but for the most part I need shoes I am comfortable in for a 4 to 6 hour stretch of driving walking, lifting, turning, standing, and doing whatever needs to be done.  Sometimes that may be a heel, sometimes it may not.    Shoes are irrelevant when I am home as I am mostly barefoot and have been since I was old enough to have my own place, a place where no one could make me wear shoes.  No amount of warnings about the dangers of running barefoot can dissuade me from the pleasure of slipping my shoes off when I walk through the door and running through the house with bare toes.

    Bare feet are strong feet.  I think strong women need to be able to stand and walk with their feet firmly planted on the ground, even if their heads may be in the clouds. 

  • What I Wore

    Now that I have a place in the sewing room that I can take pictures, I have discovered that educational value of taking pictures of what I am wearing.  Having the camera always in the same place, on a tripod with a self timer, with the same background and approximately the same light, give or take, has been extremely helpful in determining what I actually look like, what looks good or doesn't, and where I want to go with my wardrobe.   I feel like I am very much in the process of finding my way.

    Here are some of my wardrobe choices over the last week.  I've lost a little more weight in the waist and hips, more in the waist than the hips, but I'm still middle aged and a little on the pudgy side:  5'9, size 12, trying to figure out what I want to wear now.

    Greensweater Boot cut jeans, now a little too big and which will soon need replaced.

    Brilla Boatneck Sweater.  I have been uncomfortable wearing this but I realize that my discomfort was because it hugs the shape, which I now realize might not be so bad.  The color is good.  I originally wore it with rather loose pants, and these jeans are too loose as well.  It needs to be worn with something properly fitted.

    Ceramic necklace given to me by step-daughter 15 years ago.   Black sandals.

    IMG_1134 Red Engine Boyfriend Jeans.  Red Banana Republic Tee.  Donna Karan Sandals.  I changed the jewelry immediately after I saw the photographs.  

    Note for the future:  crew necklines are not my friend.

    I like the jeans worn at this length on me.  It might not be on-trend, but it is definitely "my look".

    IMG_1147 Same jeans, rolled up one turn higher to show the ankle.  This length is much more difficult for my proportions. This look is so-so.  It doesn't look bad, but it looks like I am trying too hard, at least to me.

    I was about to donate the top to Salvation Army and was giving it one last try-on when G thought I should wear it.  As I said it is not bad, but I think it looks too young and frou-frou for me.  I think what bothers me is the combination of the gathers with the puffy cap sleeve.   The neckline is obviously more flattering than the crew neck. Top from Anthropologie.

    Gladiator sandals from Sam Edelman.

    Cord and glass necklace.  

    Silver mesh bangles and horn bangle from Sundance.

    This does show me that there is hope for turned up jeans, which I like in principle, if I get the pieces and proportions right.

    IMG_1164 Green sweater I knitted years ago.  I really knitted my sweaters too large back then as I was probably a size 8 when I knitted this and it is not tight now.  I used to love this sweater.  Perhaps it was more flattering then. Now it is the wrong length and too boxy.  The floppy sleeves and cowl don't help.

    Grey tropical wool pants from Banana Republic.

    Heavy silver chain inherited from my mother in law.  Pendant purchased in Arizona.

    IMG_1185 The same dark jeans as in the first picture.  The top was made a few years ago using Hot Patterns Weekender Renaissance Tops pattern in lightweight rayon jersey.  I didn't blog about this at the time, I don't know why.

    I think I need more of these.

    Red/Grey/Black pumps from Kenneth Cole.

    The bracelet is made from antique bakelite and plastic buttons sewn on elastic. 

    IMG_1217 Current/Elliot "The Skinny Jean".  These are the same jeans I wore when I was modeling Mine.  I haven't hemmed them yet.  At that time they were a little snug in the waist.  They are not now.

    Brown knit top from Soft Surroundings.  Now a bit too large.  The combination emphasizes the hips.  This may not be a bad thing.

    IMG_1225 Today I am wearing the gray tunic I showed you not long ago.  Without the belt the seam at the hip shows.  I am not sure how I feel about this but I probably obsess too much.  The belt was too much with the necklace which I wanted to wear.

    The necklace is large,heavy, interlocking brass rings.  I don't remember who made it.

    Gray tropical wool Banana Republic pants.  

    Bronze cuff from Boston Proper Catalog.

    Brown Suede Mules from Stuart Weitzman.

     

  • Baubles

    I never intended to be absent so much from this blog but at the moment I simply seem to be running and running until I collapse in utter exhaustion.    I have plans for posts but summoning enough energy to actually write them seems beyond me.

    I shall offer a brief treat instead.  

    IMG_1143 Pretty earrings made by my friend Theresa: 

    These were given to me last week, and I have worn them already.  More on that in my next post.

  • New Season

    IMG_1190 The leaves are starting to turn; it must be fall.

    We noted these first signs of fall at the end of our driveway as we headed north to the Berkshires for the first of the September chamber music series at South Mountain.  The weather was cool, and having seen the first glimmer of color, we enjoyed looking for scattered signs.  By the time we got to Pittsfield, the signs were not longer scattered, but obvious everywhere.

    It was the first concert we had been to in months and I was eager and filled with anticipation and the concert did not disappoint.  The first work, Mozart's Adagio & Fugue in C minor, K 546, was lovely and graceful, a wonderful opening piece.

    IMG_1192 I think my concert ears were rusty because I was not completely in tune with the Beethoven Quartet #3. The second movement seemed to drag a little to me, although the performance actually did make me think of the piece in a slightly different light, something I tend to think is always a good thing.  But my mind wandered after that, perhaps not due so much to the performance as my own lack of listening skills and a mid-afternoon slump following the drive.   No mind.  By the final movement they had my attention again.  It was a magnificent conclusion and obviously the musicians were having a great time playing.  It was then that I noticed how the Peter Zazofsky, the first violinist, would be so seriously involved in the music and then at the end of a particularly beautiful note he would get a little smile of complete satisfaction.  It was just a glimmer, but it was a joy to watch.

    After the intermission we heard the Brahms Quintent in B minor with a fabulous young clarinetist, Alexander Fiterstein.  Any lingering fuzz was quickly dispelled from my brain as I listened, and watched, with rapt attention.   It was an excellent first concert.  I am filled with relief because we actually attended something.  I am filled with anticipation for the experiences ahead.

  • Knitting Progress

    IMG_1126 If I can't knit in the evenings due to kitten interference, it finally dawned on me  that I could knit during the day.  The days have been slightly cooler, with a lovely breeze, so I have spent some time out on the deck knitting. The back of Sheelagh is almost done.

    I am still not knitting a lot, but more than in the recent past.  And I am still wrapped up in decluttering and organizing my own space as well as everything else.  The general chaos was more of  strain than anything else, and in the end I could only fool myself that I was able to ignore it for so long.

    IMG_1104 Here is my little yarn thief, in his favorite sleeping place.  This basket is used to store folded up sheets of tissue paper that I insert in tees and fine-gauge sweaters when I fold them and put them on the shelf.  Surprisingly Moisés does not shred this tissue or attempt to steal it, but is content to use it as a mattress.   Since he is playing so nicely with his little bed, I have left it out for him to use, rather than returning it to the closet.  He will outgrow it soon enough.

  • I almost cried: sewing room reorganization

    It began with the lace weight.

    I would walk into my sewing room and see a tangled up ball of yarn and wonder where it came from.  I knew the culprit had to be Moisés but I couldn't figure out where he was getting the yarn,  Then while I was working at my desk I saw him climbing up the shelving unit and squeezing himself into the tiny opening at top of the basket that held the lace weight and sock yarn.  

    IMG_1053 There was a little closet reconfiguration and I left it that.  In retrospect I see that I was far too complacent.  Moises noticed the knitting bags and plastic bags of yarn, piled in plain sight on one side of the sewing room, while I worked through UFOs and planned future projects.  He learned how to worm his way into bags that weren't closed tightly, or knitting bags that did not zip closed, like this lovely Rowan Bag.  I found this tangle of yarn wrapped around the furniture in three rooms.  

    6a00d8341c699253ef00e54f8f895a8834-800wi I almost cried.  This was an Anny Blatt project, Vancouver, I had started back in 2007.   Granted I hadn't gotten far, as it was too complicated for my limited attention span and lack of uninterrupted time back then.  It is not actually a difficult pattern, but complicated, and it took me more than 10 minutes to finish a row, difficult when G's attention span wasn't quite 10 minutes.

    I had hoped to get back to this project this fall.  I really do want to knit this sweater.  I suppose however that it is no longer a UFO, as Moisés completely unravelled it from the needles.  Once I get the yarn back in order, probably after several hours of work, I can start over.   It is the untangling that will slow me down, and trigger my inner procrastinator as well.  I am sure that Moisés will think it is his duty to "help".  It may have to wait until he is a little older and, hopefully, a little calmer.  Right now we have wild manic kitten activity.

    I didn't cry.  I got right to work moving things out of the path of little kitten claws.  The projects aren't sorted, they have just been shoved into the fabric/yarn closet, and I still have to finish that project.  I am getting tired of things that just get shoved aside until "later".  I had two years of that, and I am trying to deal with a lot of this backlog now as I just can't take it anymore.

    IMG_1102 The yarn incident was enough to make me tackle a bit more of my sewing room.  I had many patterns I had purchased in the last two years piled up in stacks along the perimeter of the room, and my old pattern boxes, those little blue cardboard boxes you buy at Joann Fabrics stacked up too. Since Moisés next favorite activity, after stealing yarn, was knocking over piles of patterns, it seemed like it was time to deal with the piles.  I have file cabinets to put them in, I just hadn't gotten around to the actual filing.  Somehow I always put my stuff off, leaving it to to spend time on more "important" things.

    I also had three separate pattern indexes.  My oldest patterns are indexed in my old Filofax on onionskin pages where I traced all the pattern line drawings and wrote down the yardage information.  This was back before computers.  My second index, my favorite, is in two small notebooks that hold A5 paper.  But they are full.  I would scan in the pattern envelope, print it on the A5 paper and file it in the notebook.  I love the size of A5 paper.  It is my preferred size for notepads and books and I find it far more portable and easier to use than standard letter-size paper.  But my notebooks are the European 4-ring variety.  When I do find 4-ring European style binders, they are all for the larger A4 paper.  Since I no longer travel to Europe, I have no opportunity to pick up small 4-ring binders that hold A5 paper, and I haven't found a way to economically buy them and ship them to the US.

    So I broke down and started using a standard letter-size 3 ring binder.  Admittedly it is easier. I can just put the pattern in a sheet protector and file it in the binder: no drawing, scanning, printing etc.  Besides, I don't carry the index around with me anymore so I don't need small, portable notebooks.  I have almost filled one file drawer.  I had to stop because I am out of sheet protectors for the index.  My local Staples and Office Depot only have sheet protectors in tiny little packages of 25 which becomes prohibitively expensive, so I ordered a larger box.  It should be here by tomorrow.

    IMG_1091 I rearranged the east side of my sewing room and the new layout works much much better for me.  I even have a place for Matilda to stand now, and I can use that corner for photographs on dark days as I have light here.  The ironing board used to be along the south wall, under the little shelf below the window.  It was a terrible place as the ironing board took up the entire wall between the corner and the cutting table.  I had to move the ironing board to get in the file drawers and I didn't really have enough room to manipulate anything to iron it.  I will not move the shelf.  It is fine where it is.  Now, with the iron and the press next to each other I have a nice place to work, and I can even look out the window at the front yard and see anyone who drives up.  The south window has no view even though it offers dappled light.  It is completely blocked by a large maple tree, whose shade is much appreciated.

    The hose for the water bottle that feeds the iron is hanging from the hook that used to be a hanging hammock chair, which was meant to be a place for G to sit.  He never uses the chair.  I put it in at his request, and I even put it there, in the middle of the room at his request although I had wanted it near one of the corners, where I could work around it.  Instead, it was always in the way, and now it is gone. 

    My sewing room is small and tightly furnished.  But it works, and it is working even better as I refine the details.  I still need to repaint the window sills.  A new cover for the ironing board might be nice too, not necessary, but nice.  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  • Follow Me

    There is a new tunic, refashioned from two turtlenecks that would have otherwise gone to the salvation army.

    I am finally cutting into a stack of fabrics posted in July.

    All of this is being chronicled over at PurlsandMurmurs.  Along with cleaning-up, consolidating, and reclaiming the piles and unfinished business of my life I am also consolidating blogs.   Sewing has been on the back burner for a while now, but as I am getting a handle on things I let slide, it is moving forward.  There is and will be sewing.  I hope you will follow me there.

  • 1+1 = 1

    I finally started to tackle the pile of things that I thought had potential after the closet clean-out.  

    IMG_1040 First up:  two identical light gray cotton turtlenecks.  They are a basic, kind of beefy, cotton knit.  I love the color, the softness of the fabric and the weight, but the turtlenecks themselves had some problems.  First of all the sleeves have shrunk over time and are too short.  Secondly the tops are two short and they are a bit on the boxy side.  They must be several years old, back when 21" tops were more fashionable, and I can't wear them with jeans unless I wear some kind of under-layer.  Wait, the turtlenecks are supposed to be my under-layer.

    I couldn't get a photo without a cat, so this is the best I could do.  At least the cat wasn't lying on the top, hiding it from view.

    IMG_1051 Basically the plan was to cut off the turtleneck and make a lower scoop neckline.  I also needed to lengthen the turtleneck so the second top was being used for fabric to extend the length of the first top.    

    I found a top whose neckline I liked and traced that to the gray fabric with chalk.  I also  traced a bit of shaping into the side seams as the old turtlenecks were a little bit too big and boxy.  I did not do anything to the shoulders or sleeves, other than shorten the sleeve just a wee tad to make them more manageable pushed up to the elbow.

    At first I had hoped this would go with Mine, but it is too light of a shade, and the fabric is too heavy and casual.  I also thought I would make a wide neckband on the new top, but as I started thinking about the top and what I would actually wear it with, I realized that I wanted a fairly long top, something like tunic length, and if I cut off that much fabric from the spare turtleneck, I would not have enough to cut the matching pieces for a faced wide neckline, so I opted for a simple narrow band at the neck.

    IMG_1045 I just cut the hem off the first top, since I was going to be lengthening it anyway, and as I did so I realized that the sewn up hem band would be perfect for my neckline.  Then I measured and cut the bottom off the second turtleneck to increase the length on the finished top.

    It is not perfect but I like this a lot and will wear it, which is more than I can say about the original turtlenecks, which had lived beyond their usefulness.  It is a little loose through the upper chest but it is manageable.  I also made it longer than I originally intended; I don't really know what I was thinking when I cut the top but I suppose I am happy that I didn't cut it too short.  I considered taking the bottom piece off and sewing it up again, but decided against that.  I think I like this just the way it is.