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So many of these dresses I am going to make. Usually I can’t bring myself to mess up these beautiful books, partly because it’s a time investment to decipher and partly because I just don’t want them to get cluttered. But at least half of the dresses in here I want need.
My first choice was this stripey slub linen. But I was about 1/2 a yard too short. I thought I could squeeze it (and I cut!) but there was not enough, nor was there any more at the shop. So, I moved on to this little linen print. It’s a 50/50 cotton linen blend and very light, perfect with a cotton slip for summer.
I don’t read a word of Japanese, but that didn’t stop me. I decided to start with the size 9 because it seemed like a reasonable starting point. After cutting it out, I realized it was HUGE so I modified the approach and switched to the 7. So far so good, though this particular fit is meant to be loose.
I am making the dress with a few modifications: no button placket in the front and I would like some big, floppy pockets in the front.
1. the blue hut, 2. the daily grind…, 3. v, 4. Proud and Beautiful, 5. serpentina #1, 6. this sky again, 7. Fuerza bruta, 8. Fuerza bruta, 9. Polly want a cracker!, 10. ∩U∩U∩U∩, 11. busyness, 12. Structures in simplicity, 13. stairs, 14. film 128, 15. T, 16. rings, 17. hazel, 18. apple branches, 19. gone, 20. snow on the ploughed earth, 21. no I’ll walk, 22. transparency, 23. Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 24. linen structure, 25. taking a break, 26. Vanishing Bird, 27. soft folds contrast, 28. Untitled, 29. Untitled, 30. kitchen table, 31. grey ink, 32. Black-capped Chickadee in Flight (2 0f 2), 33. today’s commute, 34. green 01., 35. structure
Kristina tagged me and I have to say, I’ve been agonizing over one of these questions. It’s all I can talk about with MP. We’re consumed with it, turning it over and over between us. That being said, I’ll leave you to figure out which question it was.
1. Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog, replace one question you dislike with a question of your own invention; add a question of your own.
2. Tag eight other un-tagged people.
What is your current obsession? Bird calls. Birding season is upon us.
Good fika place? Kind of Bloc11. Boston is not a good Fika or brunch town.
Do you nap a lot? NO! It ruins me. I can’t wake up from a nap and when I do I’m practically crying. And then I can’t go to sleep at night. No naps.
Who was the last person you hugged? My husband.
If you were a tree, what tree would you be? A white birch. All the peeling layers.
What are you listening to right now? We (and by “we” I mean MP) just put IronMan in the DVD player (thus, a good opportunity for me to write a blog post…)
What is your favorite weather? I’m torn between clear and 60F degrees or cold and rainy. Either way, cool or cold is key.
What’s on your bedside table? Alarm clock, National Geographic, my glasses and a sleep mask.
Say something to the person/s who tagged you. Love her photos and her dog! She’s captured NYC beautifully!
If you could have a house totally paid for, fully furnished anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be?
Okay – I’m going to have to qualify these answers because this question is just waaaaay too hard to answer straight up. Also, my answer would depend on what my friends and family answered because I wouldn’t want to double on all the primo spots. That being said, assuming I still have to work for a living in my current profession, and I get to pick the exact house I want:
My International house would be in Stockholm or Paris. And my American house would be here in Cambridge or Northern California. But, if I don’t have to work in my current profession or really worry about making a living in general, then I would live in one of the old Ship Captain’s houses on one of the big islands off the coast of Maine or in northern Scotland- like the Faroe islands or the Shetland islands or something. Lots of solitude, scenery, blustery windswept moors, grazing sheep, salt air, fertile soils, ponies…. these are the things I might need.
I’m sorry, that’s as much as I could narrow it down.
Favorite vacation spot? North Manitou Island.
Name the things you can’t live without. Husband, Lottie, Family, health, shelter, freedom.
What would you like to have in your hands right now? A million dollars.
What is your favorite tea flavor? English Breakfast.
What would you like to get rid of? Chronic anxiety.
If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go? Just for an hour? To my sister’s in Chicago.
What did you want to become as a child? An Oceanographer.
What do you like better, e-mail or telephone calls? Email. The phone and I…. well, we’ve never really gotten along well.
What is the littlest thing you own? Inside this matroyshka doll used to be the tiniest thing. But I took her out because she blew my mind with her miniaturness and I lost her. So now, the littlest thing I own is the matroyshka doll that used to cover the littlest one. She’s still pretty little.
Do you make a lot of lists? I make a lot of lists professionally. But my list making at home seems to dwell mostly in my mind. This book is quite funny and really gets you thinking about what to put where…
Birthday breakfast in bed….. and I’ve decided to stick with 29. It sounds good and it’s believable. Eventually I will just move on to the next decade, but right now time is slipping through too quickly for me.
5 things I am incredibly grateful for right this minute:
5. My family. This is something I wake up every single day and think about. My immediate little family and my whole family. All of it.
4. My health. It’s cliche and obvious, but sometimes things happen to those around you that make you realize.
3. Concrete loft living. That the fire in my building Wednesday night was contained and no one was seriously hurt.
2. Friends in far away lands. I’m grateful for the kindness as well as the way blogs and photos tickle my imagination.
1. Fresh strawberries. For the next 4 or 5 months this house will be full of fresh strawberries!
Remember this? When we were in North Carolina last month and Floria wore here little coat, the boys were very interested. They kept telling Flo how cute she looked and then……Finny mentioned to my sister, casually, that he might like a coat like that. So my sister mentioned it, casually, to me.
Fin won’t wear any handknits. He is hyper-sensitive to anything he perceives as “scratchy”, and he perceives most hand knits as scratchy. Julie asked him again the next day if he was serious, because “Aunty will freak out and turn into a human loom if she thinks you want her to knit you something” (it’s true). And he picked up Floria’s coat and rubbed it on himself and said he really wanted one. I measured him up just in case. All I needed was the signal from Julie that he was serious and I would get cracking.
We waited another couple of weeks after we returned. I kept asking “was he serious?” and my sister kept checking in and every time he insisted he really did still want a coat of his own. Worried it would be too warm soon, I sprang into action last week and decided on Charcoal gray with dark ochre trim. I figured out a pattern based on Floria’s coat pattern and his diagram and the zipper is ordered. I’m already planning Milo’s! It means the world to me to knit for them. I haven’t knit for either of the boys since they were small. I shower Floria with knits and hand sewing, and I always wish there was more I could make for the boys (besides an on-the-spot Totorro costume). I hope they like the fit of the hoodies, I know they will like the colors. I may even knit one for myself!
