Sewing Fit
One of my goals for my New Year was to create a few little heirloom pieces for EthelRed’s layette during these early January weeks before heading back to the chaos of classrooms and clinicals.
Shortly after we returned to Vermillion, I purchased all the necessary bamboo knitting sticks in baby-sized “miniscule” and scads of cotton skeins in varieties of dyed and not-dyed hues with images of tiny hats, jumpers, and blankets in mind. I also bought a couple of yards of flannel fabric and elastic to fashion a fitted sheet for a custom-made, heritage cradle (More on the lineage of that piece of furniture will follow after its February arrival).
All last week my fingers flew frenziedly, making Stitch n’ Bitch’s Big Bad Baby Blanket. It’s a project that I’ve been wanting to try for sometime now, owing almost exclusively to the fact that a knitted blanket is somewhat of a rarity. Because blankets are typically composed of many, many stitches to obtain the desired length and width and because you have to keep all your stitches on your needles when knitting, you need a super long pair of needles or one circular needle to accomplish this feat. S n’ B’s directions suggest the use of the circular needle, so that’s what I’ve used to great success!
But, here’s the rub: All this knitting – which is easily interrupted for a glass of water, supper, a stroll around the block, or a bath – has put me out of sewing practice. Further, knitting allows me to just sit there, clicking away peacefully, while I watch Batali versus Cambell in Battle Cheese. Sewing requires a lot of acrobatics. It's up and down and up and down with all the machinery, cutting, ironing, and unabbreviated, obtuse instructions (Who among you, besides my mom – who I had to call and ask – knows what “overcasting” means?). The clever, spatially oriented costume constructor me has been replaced by a mindless, happy knit one, purl two-er.
It took me nearly four hours of seam-ripping, zig-zagging, and over-dramatizing to make this simple fitted sheet for my great expectation’s bed. Don’t look too closely at the hem, please.
And now, to add insult to injury, I have to fold it!
Comments
After the baby arrives, you are completely excused from all folding. So, enjoy it while you can--soon it'll all be in a big wad in a laundry basket. And you'll just be glad that it's clean.
It's nice, BTW, to see photographic evidence of your pregnancy.
Posted by: Lisa | January 10, 2006 11:24 PM
Nice Kenmore... :)
Posted by: Auntie Kath | January 11, 2006 06:52 PM
I want to see a picture of the big, bad, baby blanket. How long did it take?
Posted by: Courtney | January 12, 2006 01:10 PM
My remaining question is...where is the obligatory Aimee's growing belly photo? I want a belly shot!!!!!!!!!!!
'Cause I always new Aimee would make a beautiful pregnant woman, :-)
Posted by: Donhowe | January 12, 2006 03:37 PM
I just couldn't take the brown striped curtains that came with the house against the newly painted lavender walls in Megan's room, but when I couldn't find suitable pre-made curtains, I, too, decided to resume sewing. The lofty plans called for full length, lined-curtains with a two-tiered valance in coordinating prints. The ordeal was more than I bargained for; Megan has had one brown striped curtain and one cute butterfly curtain for over a week now!
Posted by: Pam | January 12, 2006 08:38 PM
Who knew that an entry about sheets would generate such discussion!
Lisa: Sweet! I can't wait for that day! Folding laundry (and putting it away) has always been an anathema to my day-to-day lifestyle.
Kathleen: A heritage piece, the Kenmore's Mom's old machine on loan from Kelli ... It sure beats my crappy Brother.
Courtney: I'm still working on the Big Bad ... I'm just over halfway on the project and really pleased with how it's turning out. If you haven't tried it yet, do! I started on the blanket maybe seven to ten days ago, and have been working at it diligently.
Donhowsa: I'm working up my courage to be photographed ... I think that I'm pretty foxy, too, but I'm searching for the photo that illustrates this point perfectly. (As long as everybody's taking requests: How 'bout a new entry on your page??)
P: Joel - avid stitcher that he is (almost exclusively on porcine toes) - insists that if we only sewed more frequently, we would improve our abilities. Great advice. I noticed that when the cradle was profferred to us, he did not volunteer to make any bedding to hone his own sewing skills. You have my sincerest and best wishes at finishing Megan's remaining curtains - I'll bet the ones you've completed are cute ...
Posted by: Aimee | January 13, 2006 12:03 PM
Alas, I have no sewing skills to hone, as evidenced by my shamefully Frankensteinian pig trotter.
Posted by: Joel | January 13, 2006 02:09 PM
Don't feel bad, Aimee. My sewing skills have disappeared as well. I thought that sewing a robe for my mom's Christmas gift would be a snap, seeing as I used to sew dresses all the time in 4-H. Apparently the hobbies I took up after high school have wiped out any talent that I used to have with the sewing machine. There was a lot of cursing and seam ripping and even a little crying. I did end up finishing it though - at about midnight on Christmas Eve - with some help from Mom. At least I can still procrastinate like I used to...
Posted by: Jacks | January 16, 2006 02:29 PM