12.7.08
I want to learn how to sew. I bought a book called Bend-the-Rules Sewing: The Essential Guide to a Whole New Way to Sew. I'm hoping to start with some basics, and then work my way up to making my own skirts. I would say make my own clothes, but my short-term goal is to make my own skirts. I love wearing skirts, but hate shopping for them because I rarely find the right style, fit, or length. And if I do, it's usually way too pricey... I have a skirt that I bought in Korea that I love, but that the cat chewed a hole in. Yes, I had a couple very violent thoughts when I saw that, but that doesn't change the fact that my favorite skirt is unwearable. So, I plan on using it as a pattern to make a new skirt! And maybe a couple - in different colors. I'd also like to make curtains. I know that's really basic, and I've actually made some in the past for our first apartment and for my classroom in Korea. I just have to pick out fabric and sit down and do it. One project that might take a bit more expertise is make a slip cover for a big overstuffed chair and ottoman that we have in our den. It is navy blue with gold fleur-de-lis and does not match anything else in our house. It actually came with the house! It has a tufted back (not sure if that's the proper terminology) and that part might get complicated. Chris is interested in learning how to reupholster furniture, so he might read up on actually trying to upholster it instead of just slip-covering it. Luckily, he's pretty good at figuring stuff out :).
Another must-learn for me is how to make my own picture frames. Custom framing is ridiculously expensive and I have a lot of things around the house I'd like to frame but don't want to spend a fortune on. You need special tools, but once we buy a table saw I think we'll pick those up. You can make some pretty fancy frames for pretty cheap...or you can pay Michael's $120 for a crappy simple frame and matte. Ridiculous!
12.5.08
So I didn't introduce my hobbies very well previously, but I'm back to elaborate! At the moment it seems that I am a "dabbler in everything, master at nothing".
I love to cook good whole foods with organic, locally-raised ingredients. I love making my own pickles, sauerkraut, kefir and kombucha. This evening I want to try my hand at baking bread as well - coconut flour bread to start. Later on I'll start soaking my flour and making other kinds of bread as well. Hand-in-hand with all this healthy cooking is gardening. This year I started a proper garden, with 3 kinds of tomatoes, orange bell-peppers, snow peas, green beans, kale, a variety of lettuce, beets, and radishes. Unfortunately, my little seedlings I had started so carefully got planted late because I was having such a hard time with the endo, and then once they were in the garden didn't get thinned properly and watered because I ended up in surgery and bedridden for a while. So what we ended up with was huge crop of tomatoes (yay!), some bell peppers, radishes, peas, and lettuce. Not a bad haul overall for the amount of money spent - I think about $12 - for seeds. The tomatoes alone yielded enough to pay for that outlay ten times over, since I picked my last basket of the tomatoes in early November. Those were some hardy plants!
One of my other favorite things to do, especially in the last two years since I've spent so much time on the couch, is crochet. I'm definitely not an expert, but I've finished a couple projects like blankets, scarves, hats, and shawls. One project I've gotten stalled on is a striped blanket that I started in order to use up a variety of colorful yarn that I bought in bulk online for very cheap. The yarn I am using is Red Heart Super Sport Yarn, and one of the reasons I got it for so cheap was that it was apparently being discontinued! Funny how they don't mention that when you're buying it... After trying a few other brands/weights out and not having any success matching the yarn, I called the company to find the best substitute. Apparently, their Designer Sport is the closest. So I'll give that a try. I've been working on this blanket for a long time now, and I find that I get the most work done on it while watching the Red Sox play. This year, while watching the Red Sox play Tampa, I was so nervous that I crocheted 16 rows in one sitting! I'm looking forward to finishing that soon, and trying to crochet some socks.
I love to read! It's been my favorite thing to do since I was about 5. My mom was an avid reader and taught us all to read pretty early. We would make monthly visits to the library and take out the maximum books allowed (I think it was 12) per kid. That's 72 books every month! The best thing ever was when she would go to the library sales - They would sell books for 5 or 10 cents apiece and she would pick out a box for each of us. She knew the kind of books we each enjoyed reading and would spend hours finding books for all of us. We tore through those books, reading all day, all night, in the bath, at dinner time. We'd even climb the tree in the front yard and hang out and read in its branches. After we finished our box, we'd all swap books and keep on going! When I was young, I loved reading stories about kids having adventures like The Happy Hollisters and The Melendy Family. I particularly loved a series of books called Biographies of Famous Americans as Children. Other favorite genres were Sci-fi and British Lit, and a love for both still continues to this day. Currently, I am reading Wizard: The Life and Times of Nikola Telsa, which is very interesting so far.
11.25.08
I'll put more on this page later...keep checking back for updates!
Current loves: crocheting, organic gardening, the Weston A. Price Foundation, raw milk (yummm!)
Currently reading: Ex-Libris by Ross King, MaryJanes Farm Magazine (courtesy of my older sis)
Currently watching: any movie with Colin Firth
Posted bySarah at 11:47 AM
