Makings

I've always loved making things - when I was a little girl my mom instilled in me the belief that I could make anything on my own. Whether we were eating dinner at a restaurant or shopping at the mall, she would look at something we were admiring and say "well, we could make that!" She would then excitedly spell out all the materials we would need, where we could get them, and how we could make an even better version of whatever it was. Of course, we rarely actually reproduced anything, but it was fun thinking about the possibilities.

When my oldest son was born I suddenly found myself a stay-at-home mom with no mommy friends to keep me company, and no garden yet to keep me busy. Desperate for something to do with my brain other than worry about napping schedules, I turned to "making" as my therapy. Combining my extremely limited sewing skills with my mom's old rattle-trap sewing machine, I cranked out a few baby quilts after my son was asleep for the night. After I had a few made and determined that they would not fall to pieces upon being washed, I gathered all my remaining courage and started an etsy shop. It was wonderful! Not only did I get to make things, but people began to buy them from me, which gave me the excuse (and money) to make even more things! For six years I spent all my spare time making pretty little things to sell in my shop and it was absolutely delightful.

At the start of this summer I realized that it was time to put my little shop to rest. Now that I have two boys and a flock of chickens to attend to, not to mention the ever-needful garden, as well as a whole gaggle of super fun mommy friends, PTA meetings, Bible study, soccer practices, doctor appointments, oh, and a husband to pay attention to, I've realized that my life is full, full, full. I no longer require the therapy of running a one-woman sweat shop. And, to be quite frank, I am ready to make some things for myself. I don't know if I've done much of that at all since having kids, and the idea seems downright luxurious.

I finished up two knitted cowls that I began making two years ago. I got the pattern from Tickled Pink Knits on etsy - if you are looking for some beautiful knitting patterns, that is the place to go. Finishing up projects motivates me to... start new projects, so I was off to the yarn shop yesterday afternoon stocking up for my next idea.

The other project I finished was this bag. It's actually more of a large zippered pouch. When I was in Ashland, OR a few weeks ago for a family reunion, I happened upon a fabric shop with a bin labeled "fancy remnants." Oh boy, was that an exercise in self restraint! Beautiful Japanese imports, linens, fabrics that I have only ever read about right there to be touched and bought for 1 cent per square inch. How fun! For some strange reason (I don't usually care for black) I was drawn to this Lecien scooter print (I think it's linen?) and the rest of the fabric followed. I'm so happy it turned into a bag for little ol' me, and even happier that I did it without one glitch - very outside of my normal creative process.

Tomorrow I leave for a short road trip with nobody but the hubby (hooray!) and my new knitting project (hooray again!). All the important things (kids, livestock, garden) have been left in various capable hands, so between calling to check that everything is going ok (yes, I'm one of those worriers) I will have lots of time to spend with my favorite guy and to make stuff. Have a happy Monday!