A WordPress Site

Restingmotion

  • An Island Cutting Table

    Middlecuttingtable_1
    Very little progress has actually been made on the new sewing room, but there is one little island of progress and promise.  You see the only section of wall which has been painted, just barely finished and dry before the file cabinets arrived, and the new cutting table sitting on top of filing cabinets.  Notice the chair in the front left, that is the top of my desk chair, which hits just below my shoulder blades when sitting.  The blue trim will remain, although some deep green-turquoise will be added.   The little corner of white in the upper right is the old wall color, soon to be vanquished.

    The new cutting table is in, less its cutting mat, which is being custom made to fit the top and has not yet arrived.   I love seeing the wood of the table top now, and it will look much more industrial once the mat has arrived, but I see no point in ruining this beautiful cherry and walnut table with a rotary cutter.  I had originally planned on just having a plywood top made, but we had this, our old dining table top, and it was easy enough to remove the legs and use it.

    The table dominates the room, which I expected in an abstrat intellectual sort of way, but the reality of it takes getting used to.  Having a large, 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 foot table in the middle of a 10 1/2 by 13 1/2 foot room makes a definite statement.  The table is also TALL.  I put our old dining table top on top of four file cabinets, each three drawers high, so the finished table is approximately 42 1/2 to 43 inches high, just a couple of inches below my elbow.  This is perfect cutting table height, and it was the impetus for the entire sewing room redo.

    Of course having such a massive centerpoint to the room means that this sewing room will be much more of a workroom than a cozy sitting/sewing room. 

    For now I love seeing the wood and the cabinets and the little bit of wall color which glows nicely when the sun hits it later in the morning.  The green is lighter than I originally wanted, but a deeper green will be too dark and now that I see it on the walls, I am sure I made a happy choice.  This small  island in the middle of the room already makes me smile and inspires me to get on with the rest of the work.

  • Orchids

    The knitting progress is not very photogenic at the moment, but the orchids are:

    Februaryorchid

    It always amazes me how, in the midst of chaos, one small oasis of peace always persists.

  • Harbison and Milosz

    A Task
    In fear and trembling, I think I would fulfill my life
    Only if I brought myself to make a public confession
    Revealing a sham, my own and of my epoch:
    We were permitted to shriek in the tongue of dwarfs and demons
    But pure and generous words were forbidden
    Under so stiff a penalty that whoever dared to pronounce one
    Considered himself as a lost man.

                        — Czelaw Milosz, 1970
                        taken from text to John Harbison’s Milosz Songs
                        New York Philharmonic, February 24, 2006

    The concert on Friday was spectacular.  Rather appallingly, Avery Fisher Hall seemed barely half full, and there were only 4 attendees in our row.  Even though the Harbison was difficult I would go almost anywhere to hear Dawn Upshaw, and I am surprised that the concert was not better attended.

    The opening work, Bartok’s fabulous Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, was wonderfully performed, full of power and magic.  I don’t think the audience was thrilled.  A shame.  Perhaps I am biased because this is one of my favorite works,  it just makes me smile and want to dance.

    The Harbison was beautiful and powerful, the music was well suited to the gripping texts, and Ms. Upshaw, as usual, gave an affecting, riveting performance.  One of the things I love about Dawn Upshaw’s performances is that does not only does she have a great voice, but she sings with such intelligence, control, emotion, and a great ability to act and to portray the music through her singing.   Here’s a link to the review in the New York Times.

    That said, this work was difficult, or at least I found it so, and I tend to like difficult modern pieces  Of course the selected poems and fragments by Czeslaw Milosz are difficult in and of themselves.  The piece was beautiful, haunting, and very taxing.  I would not recommend it for anyone who wants to sit back and not think or feel strong emotions while listening to music.  I loved it but I don’t think I could listen to it often. I suppose that is why the concert hall was not full;  our last concert, an all Mozart program, was, after all, sold out.

    I don’t know why, I knew the name of the work before we came to the concert, but it must have been a symptom of the general fog in my brain of late, but I had not connected the name of the work "Milosz Songs" with Czeslaw Milosz’s actual works.  Stupid I know.

    The concert ended with Bernstein, some symphonic reworkings of dances from West Side Story.  I love West Side Story as a musical.  I have never developed a taste for symphonic renditions of other music forms and was not eager to hear this but we stayed.  It was nice enough, certainly a mental relief after the Harbison, and I suppose a nice way to send us off back into the streets and to bed.  No bad dreams after the Bernstein after all.

  • No rest for the weary

    There is nothing quite like emptying everything out of the sewing/fiber room/office to remind a person of all her weaknesses, excesses, sins and foibles.

  • House in Turmoil; no knitting

    There has been precious little knitting this week, two rows
    I believe, hard won, as they had to be knitted and re-knitted. Much else has been occupying my time;
    resorting and rearranging items in the sewing/knitting room; moving cookbooks
    out of said room to their future home, not yet ready, but future home
    still. I have also been sorting through
    old files and materials from G’s old office, only a small portion of which must
    be saved at this point, with the idea of eventually combining his “den” and my
    “office” into one room that is actually useable, rather than just a room where
    things are stored, a combination his and hers office with dual computers.  He has been torn, thinking that the reorganization might mean that his room is no longer actually "his" but also admitting that he has been unable to do anything with it, other than use it as a giant storage recepticle and a never ending source of frustration.

    Before1_1
    before

    The house has been pretty much cut in two during the
    fireplace rebuilding as it is in the center of one half of the house and the
    scaffolding severely limits access around the site. The ensuing chaos has only complicated other  takss and added to general exhaustion levels. Kitchen use has also been difficult but I am
    informed that the kitchen will be returned to me today, the scaffolding will be
    removed and the stove vent will be reinstalled. I might have to wait for the pot-rack until early next week, as that is
    being rebuilt. The old one was too small
    and too low; pots had to be hung just so to avoid having the chef bump her
    head. 

    Randyscott4

    the view this morning

    Last night I did curl up in my chair and watch the women’s
    figure skating finals, pretty much the extent of my Olympic viewing this
    year. There was no knitting and it was
    nice to sit there and watch, glass of wine in hand, abandoning all pretense of
    productivity. I had put half the pantry
    back to rights earlier in the evening, along with some re-arranging and was
    ready for mindless time. The Grgich
    Hills Chardonnay 1995 was surprisingly still excellent. It had gotten rich and mellow with time, a
    perfect way to unwind at the end of a busy week.

    Tonight we venture into NYC.  I will take the sock; rogue is too bulky to cart around.

  • Akris Spring 2006, part 1

    I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to examine a few
    Akris jackets in detail and take photos as well.

    First is a really lovely jacket from the Akris Premiere
    collection at Bergdorf Goodman. This
    jacket retails for $2990.00. The fabric
    is an interesting brown and taupe, two-tone woven fabric of linen, viscose, and
    polyurethane. The fabric is pretty firm
    and stable with a heavy drape, not stiff, but substantial-feeling. The front of the jacket and the sleeves are
    lined with bemberg rayon, and there is a half-lining in the back. I am not sure
    what kind of interfacing is used in the front of the jacket, there is none in
    back. The collars are probably
    fused. The fabric has little holes that
    allow light through where the gray/taupe thread is woven through the fabric and
    I see the lining clearly through the fabric and nothing else. I am confident that the fronts are not
    fused. There may be a small piece of
    hair canvas between the jacket and the shoulder pads.

    Akristaupe1

     

    The jacket is basically a princess cut. The front princess seam extends down from the
    armscye and has a dart at the bust. I have not actually found a lot of patterns
    for this style, Simplicity, Marfy, and Butterick each have one pattern in this
    style, but the darts are angled up from below the bustline.

     

    This Burda pattern, 8279, seems to be the closest I have found
    in the current catalogs.. The basic
    shape is similar. The dart looks pretty similar in the sketch (see jacket
    details below). One would have to modify
    the jacket to close at the center front line as there is no overlap and that
    might solve the problem of the collar opening being a little too low on this
    jacket. 

    Burda8279

    Notice the edges on the front, collar, and pockets. This is the same fabric, cut in bias strips,
    and wrapped over the edges. The bias
    strips are attached to the jacket fabric with a kind of flat-lock or cover
    stitch, I’m not really sure which because it is the same on both sides;
    possibly it was sewn twice, once from each side, although there may well be
    some stitch out there that gives this effect. I do not think it was serged separately and then sewn down, it looks
    like one stitch, finishing the edges of the binding and attaching it to the fabric
    at once.

    Akristaupe2

    Notice the finish on the in-seam pocket as well:

    Akristaupe4

    The jacket is closed with two large hooks and eyes, sewn on
    the inside of the jacket. They are not
    inserted in a seam as there is no seam here. Both hooks are just below the bust
    dart, about 2 inches apart

    Akristaupe3

    Notice that the dart is horizontal, not angled
    up, and how carefully it is placed along the horizontal line of the fabric and
    how well the fabric is matched at the seams below the bust dart. It is these
    little details that make the jacket special.

    Akristaupe5

    The edges are all finished with a simple Hong Kong Finish
    where the jacket is not lined.

    Akristaupe6

    The hem is interfaced.  My only problem with this jacket is the way it is hemmed.  See how big the stitches are?  I have an uncanny ability to rip hems out of garments while I am wearing them and this hem would not survive. 

    Akristaupe8

  • Interweave Knits Spring 2006

    When we got back from Tucson last week, I noted that the new Interweave knits was in the bucket of mail that greeted me at the post office.  Despite great temptation I managed to put it in the stack with other magazines and catalogs that bore further perusal and set it aside until I dealt with first class matters and various other tasks and duties of the week. 

    Interweavespring2006
    Then it slipped my mind…until late last night that is, when I pulled it out and browsed before bed.  There are several interesting projects in here and it is going a long way to improve my opinion of the magazine, which it seems, for a long time, dealt in large shapeless sweaters.  This may have been an erroneous perception as it continues to be popular.  Nonetheless I have continued to subscribe as there is always something of interest and I long ago gave up any expectations that the goals of magazine editors should match my own taste, desires and goals. 

    My modus operundi concerning knitting is to knit what I like, what intrigues, and usually what will look good on me, although I sometimes forgo that option and knit something that I know will look terrible just because I HAVE TO TRY IT.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’ve never had trouble getting rid of nice hand knits.

    The knitting magazine editors however have different goals;  they must sell magazines, and even more importantly, they must sell advertising space to the yarn companies that keep the magazine afloat. 

    I love knitting ads.  I check out the websites.  I look for info on the yarns or books.  I probably read the mags as much, if not more, for the ads as anything else.  In that sense I may be the ideal knitting magazine customer.  I look at ads, I buy books and yarn, I help keep the industry afloat and help the knitting magazines keep going.

    But back to the magazine:  there are actually several designs in here I might knit. 

    Sunrisecirclejacket
    The Sunrise Circle Jacket is really cool (web pattern).  The Drop Stitch Hoodie is nice but I am undecided as to weather I would wear it, Prairie Tunic is lovely, and I like Aran Rose as well.  Breezy Cables is interesting; I would live in that sweater, although I might modify it a bit and definitely use a different yarn.  I’ve just not had a lot of luck with Lion Brand.

    Caftanpullover
    I love the cover sweater, Bobble Blue, traditional though it is and Caftan Pullover really intrigues me with its pattern but the sweater itself with its deep opening and no closures would drive me batty.  I might have do something incorporating that design. There are others that tempt (including ads — oh dear). 

    It is certainly a source of many hours of happy entertainment when I am too tired to do anything but sit here slumped in my chair looking at pretty pictures.  I often think that what knitting magazines do best is sell dreams.

  • Rebuilding the chimney P1

    Before:

    Before1

    I had forgotten how nice everything looks without the clutter:

    Before2

    Before3

    Ready to begin:

    Randyscott1

    Randyscott2

  • Button, Button, who has the button?

    Mardel has the buttons, waay to many buttons.

    Part of preparing to reorganize the sewing room involved moving the button collection from their old home, long since outgrown:

    Buttonsold_2

    (all gone)

    Moving them to their new home and reuniting them with their long lost friends, who had been hiding out in shoe boxes and bags, was a long and tedious process. 

    I am very happy with the new space however, and I have rediscovered buttons I had completely forgotten.

    Buttonsnew

  • Vacation Reading

    Tucson was
    lovely, warm and sunny. I had less
    reading and knitting time than I had anticipated because G’s courses ended at 12:30 rather than 6 as he had originally
    thought. This gave me less time for
    personal pursuits, but more time for hiking, touring, and sitting with my
    beloved. Who can complain about that?

    ImpossibleI did get some reading completed; the bulk of it at the gym
    on the exercise bicycle. I picked up a
    trashy novel on the way out to Tucson,
    Danielle Steele’s newest paperback, ImPossible. It was perfect bicycle reading; it kept me pedaling. I would probably have grown bored and started
    skimming if I were sitting by the pool or in the room reading this but on the
    bicycle it was just enough to keep me going, and easy and mindless enough to
    prevent my having to stop and think.

    I admit to a closet addiction to Danielle Steele novels;
    they are not the kind of thing an intelligent, discerning, rather
    intellectually bookish woman is supposed to admit to reading. But then I have always believed that the
    mingling of the high-brow with the low is what makes life bearable and
    interesting so I suppose I should not be ashamed. I believe I have read them all, since the
    first one, read when I was in college. They aren’t, for the most part, keepers, and it is kind of embarrassing
    to admit that I love them so… the sappy romantic in me coming out, even though
    I have little tolerance for most romance novels.

    Self_made_man

    After the romantic escape I moved on to SELF MADE MAN by
    Norah Vincent. This was also good for
    the bike, and also good for just sitting and reading. It is both a very entertaining and thought
    provoking book. Ms. Vincent’s
    observations made me reflect on men and women and how we perceive and
    mis-perceive each other. It made me
    think a lot about men, but it also made me think a lot about women, not always
    in a flattering light, but not negatively either. It is a very interesting book. I think everyone should read it just because
    it will make them think and each person’s reactions to Ms. Vincent’s points
    would be an opening to a more understanding world. I can’t even say that women especially
    should read it, because men could find points to ponder here as well. I am not sure that these are points that all
    people are ready to ponder however.

    As for more serious reading, I am still slowly working my
    way through Fast Food Nation, and I started Collapse. Both of the books require a truck-load of
    thinking and reflection time and are slow-going, not because they are slow
    reads, but just because I find my mind wandering and thinking about so many
    points. This discussion is probably best
    put off until later however.