I haven't heard too many birds chirping of late, what with the somewhat constant snow and all. But as my friend and former roommate Joel has pointed out, I have a fair number of t-shirts with birds on them (at least 4, all from threadless). It turns out I have a fair amount of fabric with birds on it as well.
Sometimes I get ideas in my head and I just have to follow through, regardless of the consequences. Last Wednesday night, before I packed for my long weekend trip to Vermont, I decided I should make a little surprise present for the friends I would be hanging out with over the weekend. These aren't just any friends, but college teammates with whom I spent a lot of time back in the day. We're now scattered across the country but try to see one another once a year. Or maybe this year it will be twice? It's an informal thing, it starts with an email from one of us, and then all the sudden we're coordinating travel plans and getting excited to see each other really soon.
One of the things I love about spending time with people I've known for a long time is that we don't need to do anything. We hang out, we cook, we eat, we drink, we talk, we eat, we drink, we talk, and so on and so forth. There's no pressure, and we're all just ourselves in raw form. It's delightful.
A few months ago, one of my awesome former teammates suggested I should make us matching belts. I recalled this last Wednesday and opted for non-matching scarves, given the time constraints. So the consequence was not going to bed until 3.30 am last Thursday (and waking up at 6 am to catch a flight). The other consequence was the fun squealing about what could possibly be surprise #3 (we were on the same page about bringing surprises...and brownies. We consumed a lot of brownies). I wrapped the scarves in different fun papers, and since I did so at about 6.20 am, I had no idea what was in each one. Everyone got to pick a wrapped package and open it to a surprise scarf, myself included.
It was really fun to mix and match fabrics, using some of the same ones in different combinations and throwing in a couple of small pieces I was savoring until just the right moment. While making 6 in one night cost me sleep, it was totally worth it and I'd do it again. Although maybe next time I'll start a little earlier.
It's been a long time since I won a contest or giveaway I've entered. I did win a Washington Metro poster contest in second grade ("Be safe on Metro/Stay off the tracks" made out of cut paper, as part of a school project. My mom still has the framed poster and certificate. And going to the prize ceremony provided me with my first time on the red line, having previously stuck to the orange line that moved my family and I from the suburbs into DC to see the Smithsonian and other things downtown.) But I digress.
I don't think I started entering web/blog-based giveaways until I started this blog. My usual process was see giveaway, dutifully comment, and never hear back. But yesterday that changed. I won the giveaway over at Always Inspire, and chose this lovely scarf as my prize (the bibs and burp cloths use fantastic fabric but that's not exactly my life these days)..JPG)
Speaking of scarves, I spent a few days at the National Archives a week and a half ago. One morning I was in the audio-film records area* and I overheard two men at the research desk talking about a recent email and phone exchange, noting somewhat derisively that the caller/emailer is "one of those scarf-wearing women, you know how they are." At that moment I walk up to the desk to ask a question, and I happen to be wearing a soft knit blue scarf wrapped around my neck (for warmth, not fashion). The [very nice and helpful to me] man looks up, smiles, and stammers out a "scarves are ok" line. I chuckled internally at the whole situation because I know the academic, scarf-wearing population to whom they were referring, if somewhat stereotypically and unfairly.
Julie from Always Inspire may be helping me transition into one of those academic scarf-wearers, and that's just fine. Thank you, Julie! You can check out her work on her blog and in her etsy shop. She uses bright and fun material, and her wares are very reasonably priced.
Speaking of giveaways, I'm inching closer to post #150 which may call for a giveaway. For the moment I'll leave you with this image -- perhaps inspiring, perhaps mouth-watering.
Purple coat,
Have fun together
As I mentioned previously, one reason I wanted to teach myself how to make scarves was to create a scarf that matches my purple wool coat. I love my purple wool coat, a $20 or so find in Madison when I went to visit several falls ago. Wool coats are useful and often stylish but generally black, or maybe camel, or sometimes even red if you're feeling wild. I thought purple was a nice way to be stylish, professional, and not boring.
Read more...
As Michelle correctly guessed, the image I last posted was scarves. I taught myself how to make them this week, primarily because I want one to match my purple wool coat. Of course, I need to finish that one! However, these are the ones I did complete:
And here are a couple images with the full scarf pattern more visible:
And on my model (and first recipient):
Though she's not wearing it in the picture, I designed the scarf with her green coat (and favorite color) in mind. Both scarves are backed with soft, warm yellow fleece. The fleece was leftover from the quilt I made for my mom, and at about 60" it's the perfect length for scarves. I didn't have any particular pattern in mind and, as you can see, I experimented with 2 different patchwork varieties. Making the scarves is much less time intensive than making a quilt and, as such, it is immensely -- if not quite instantly -- gratifying. I'm looking forward to making more in 2009.
And with that, Happy New Years Eve!
Posts
All Comments
© Blogger template Autumn Leaves by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
