Serious Hobbying

Hobbies are so varied.  Yesterday, Miss Maia and I attended a festival of sorts called "The Passing of the Ice Dragon".  It is sponsored by the Society for Creative Anachronism which is "an organization that is dedicated to researching and re-creating the arts and skills of pre-17th century Europe".  Although, if you are interested in the same time period on the Middle or Far East you will find much to interest you as well.

This is a group of people that take hobby seriously.  They meet to learn how to engage in various fighting arts, such as fencing, broad sword and pole fighting, thrown weapons, horse riding and so on.  To support these activities they create the weapons, in such a way that death will not come to those engaging in the sport, armor, clothing, shields, banners to represent themselves while competing and some even create a "persona" that they use when engaging in their interest.

In addition to these "manly" pursuits, which actually have a very high number of women participating, there are areas that would interest almost any person under the sun - cooking, sewing, woodwork, leather work, metal work, drawing, painting, calligraphy and illumination, toy making, games, dancing, story telling, research, history, geography, map making.... I could go on and on.

In our fast paced days, it can be a welcome relief to slow down, sew by hand, make lace or battle armor, spin wool, visit with friends or paint just for fun.  I am consistently impressed by the friendliness and eagerness, of all the wonderful people I have met, to share what they love most about their hobbies and knowledge (in addition to some of the most chivalrous men I have ever met).  I have also been inspired and impressed by the high level of artistry and craftsmanship in all the creations I have seen.  Check out their site www.sca.org and enjoy a good glass of mead for me!

One Flower at a Time

Needlework is slow business.

I have been working on a cross-stitch headband for a few weeks now and today I was sick of it.  I forgot my books in our black car, which my son borrowed, so I picked up the needlework to keep myself busy during a dance lesson.  Sitting on the floor in a church hallway, listening to Irish music as Maia hopped, jigged and reeled, I looked at the needlework and cussed a bit, quietly to myself.  Ho hummmmm, tiny stitches, tiny gains.

As I brought the needle in and out, my busy mind started to smooth out and I softly heard my mind's voice finding some parallels between this project and life.  If you continue to work on a project, according to the plan, the result is pretty much guaranteed, barring any bizarre unforeseen event.


It just takes a vision of what it is supposed to look like, the raw materials, the pattern/plan and the belief that it will at some point be finished.  The one thing that isn't easy to judge is just how long it will take to get to the result.  The process may go quickly, depending on your motivation to finish, or it may go slowly because of other distractions, illness, or lack of raw material.  The trick seems to me, to be finding the balance between all these factors and never losing sight of the goal, even if it is gained just one small flower at a time.

Distraction - Sushi

So, I love sushi.  I really do.

I wrote earlier of feeling absolutely certain that if I want learn something there is some way, some how or some one that I can find to help me learn.

I tried to learn how to make sushi by watching the sushi preparers at Wegmans.  If you didn't already know, Wegman's is our higher end supermarket chain, here in Western New York, and they provide just about anything you would want to buy relating to creating the most amazing food. If you do not have a Wegman's in your area, start to request that they open one, trust Alec Baldwin, he knows... they are absolutely wonderful.   They also offer just about any prepared food you could wish for - including twenty or so delicious sushi options.... I wax on.....

Well those sushi guys and gals weren't too inviting as I lurked at the edge of their kiosk, trying to glean any tips and techniques.  So, I was a good girl and sulked away and bought my daily fix.  Now, anyone that knows me, knows that if I really like something and have any chance of making it myself, I will buy books and raw materials, that will most often cost more than what I would have spent if I just bought the desired thing to begin with and I will try to make it.  Needless to say, I have more books on sewing, felting, embroidering, marbling paper, making paper, gardening, preserving, cooking, and so on than a person has a right to.  Not to mention those boxes and boxes of raw materials that started this project.

I have bought sushi books, mats, rice, vinegar, wasabi and all the other little fixings to make sushi, but after several meals of loosely wrapped, kind of yucky wannabe sushi, I was determined.  The rejection of Wegman's sushi chefs made me start to take inventory of who I might know that might be able to connect me to a sushi chef.  After thinking a bit, I realized that I had that very person in my life already!  One of my class parents is a wonderful sushi preparer, having had a small catering business of her own.  She was very gracious when I asked if she would be willing to help me in my endeavor.

She provided me with exactly what I hoped for and we had an absolutely amazing dinner with her and her daughter (who also graciously played with Miss Maia while we worked on the preparation of our feast).  It was so good, and I learned so much that I wanted to sing and dance.  That was a week ago.  This particular week was extremely busy and I mostly thought about making things, anything... rather than actually being able to put my hands on any of my projects.  This morning I woke up and we headed out to a sugar shack in celebration of "Maple Weekend."  We had a great afternoon of riding in wagons and tasting maple cotton candy and when I got home I was craving a quick and delicious dinner, before we were to set off to see the "super moon."  Sushi!!

I got out all my ingredients and set to work and forty minutes later I was heating the saki and putting out my plates.  Who says that hand work is restricted to fabric and tread?  Look at these yummy beauties.  Thank you Sachiko!!

Old Friends Revisited

My nine year old self sat watching my mother sewing a pair of Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls for a friend that was having a new baby.  I jealously watched those muslin bodies taking shape, the red yarn hair being sewn on, the striped legs dancing around, the little pinafore and dress coming together.  I fingered the left over fabric scraps and wished my mom had made me a doll.  She was busy, and made a point of saying that she didn't have any more stuffing.

I went to sleep disappointed,  but the most wonderful surprise greeted me when I woke up the next morning.  A small muslin version of Raggedy Ann, with two long red braids instead of the raggedy afro.  She had a small, red, flowered, print dress made from those scraps and when I lifted her dress to see her body, there sewn with red thread on her little torso, was the classic "I Love You" encircled by a heart.

The words "I was happy" are far too small to fully describe the joy I felt.  I asked her how she did it, with no stuffing! After I went to bed!  She smiled her wonderful smile and told me my doll was a "stocking doll."  A stocking doll?  She had stuffed my precious, little doll with her old pantyhose.  My little, stocking doll became very, very dear to me.  She came to university with me, carefully stowed away with my varsity letters.  She joined me in my first home with my husband and made a reappearance for my oldest daughter, Mary, when she was five years old.  She has rested in-between tucked away in my memory box.

After Maia's birthday party, she asked me about rag dolls.  I explained to her that her Raggedy Ann and Andy (handmade by my mom...) were rag dolls as was her little Madeline doll.  She asked if me or Mary had ever had one and I told her of my doll that we both had shared.  She quickly asked where it was and could I get her out.  It took me two days to get around to it, despite Maia's nagging me about every thirty minutes or so.  I found the doll this evening, after dinner and her enchantment was instant.  I carefully placed her in Maia's arms, and she was named "Lucy."  Lucy is still in that little dress from thirty-five years ago, stiff with age but still bright red.  Her eyes still sparkle and her little heart shines with the love of a mom.

All on the Prairie

This weekend was amazing!  At the Wingfelder abode we had a sushi making tutoring dinner on Friday, a gathering of friends from school on Saturday, and our much awaited prairie birthday.  Now, did I plan for this eventful weekend???  Hmmm...... this wonderfully entertaining weekend was born out of my neglectful attention to my many calendars, that sit in my purse, hang on my wall and float around my desk.  

As I was driving around gathering the last details for Miss Maia's party, I heard a piece on NPR stating that people who surround themselves with friends and are active in the social happenings in their community, live longer.  Life is a blast, and I so want to live a really, really long, productive, high-energy life, so I guess my "mistakes" around scheduling might, just might, work in my favor.  

In between driving and preparing sushi and Julia Child's chicken fricassee and a log cabin birthday cake, I finished the sewing of an apron that I started a month ago out of some gorgeous cantaloupe colored linen,  and starched (yes, I starch) those bonnets.  To say I was productive this weekend wouldn't really fully describe the adrenalin that flowed through my veins.  Amazingly enough my stress level was really low!  I was focused, had my lists, didn't get distracted and now this Sunday night, I ate some outstanding leftovers and drank a beautiful glass of chardonnay, feeling a bit smug.  Here's to preparing for and surrounding yourself with friends!

Longer Than I Thought

How many things take you longer than you think??  I tend to think that most anything will take me about...oh.... forty-five minutes or so....  well these absolutely adorable bonnets, that I eagerly began, and have sewed with love and positivity, have taken me much longer than those predicted forty-five minutes.  I finished them this evening and then noticed that before I could finish Miss Maia's little apron, I needed white thread.  Now, who doesn't have white thread??  Especially when you have 25 or so little spools of thread!!??

Well that apron, that really, truly, honestly should have taken about half an hour or so, will be extended by a round trip to JoAnn Etc., walking in through the pouring rain, finding the thread area (that somehow seems to move ever so slightly each time I go there), standing on the line that seems to take forever (I swear the cashiers have to be trained to take a long time with each customer - so you have to stand on line looking first at the many craft books and magazines - which crafters compulsively buy) then stand looking at their "$1" bonus buys right before the register (I really do think that Maia cannot survive without those little socks with shamrocks all over them for St. Patrick's Day.....).

So, in addition to expanding the time it will take to finish that quick little apron, made from an old sheet salvaged from my friend's fabric stash, this "no-cost" apron will only stay "no-cost" if I can resist those oh so carefully placed and marketed impulse purchase items.

The consolation prize?  Eight little girls, in prairie garb, playing "Hide the Thimble" on Sunday...

                                                                                                                                                                                                        








Here's a little needle-book that I made last week, to help keep track of my needles.  I was getting very tired of those little paper and plastic folders of needles that are so hard to get the needles out of.  It is made of wool flannel with more wool flannel appliqued on the front. I just loved the colors.

Detours

Welllll...... I was planning on getting those birthday things done today, but I got that dreaded note from school regarding those horrible childhood pests of the hair sort..... Let's just say I was detoured for four hours tonight, Maia's hair is now incredibly squeaky clean, sheets are changed, laundry is churning, vacuuming is done (thanks to my wonderful husband) and I just want to climb into a warm and cozy bed.  Alas, tomorrow is another day.....

Gifts

Today is my dad's birthday.  My parents were very, very young when I was born and these days I feel like I am rapidly approaching their ages.  Despite the chronological closeness of our ages, there has never been a moments doubt as to who the parents are in our relationships.  My intense, vigorous relationship to a life of creativity may have born out of admiration for my mother's seemingly effortless ability to do anything, but I think it was my father that instilled in me the absolute certainty that I was capable of doing anything I decided to do.

"We are going to build a wall today, Jacqueline."  "Sure, you and your sisters can stack seven cords of wood, as I chop it."  "We will be taking the roof off today, you girls are to put all the fallen debris in the dumpster." "Here, paint the windows like this..."  "Execute your plan with vigor and all will be good."  To say my father is a man of strong will, would be an understatement.  And, while some might think he got a lot of free service from minors.... these hard jobs, that we were expected to execute, were probably the best gifts that a parent could give a child.  There is no thing that I am unwilling to try to do (even singing in public or climbing to high places - which are both very, very scary for me).  Also, I am confident that there is someone out there that would teach me, if I couldn't take on the task myself.  These two things are powerful things to know.

Gifts that carry us into the future, rather than gifts for immediate gratification, are the best kinds of gifts.  So as I ponder what to give my dad for his birthday, I angst as I do every year.  There is no gift in the world, for any price, that could demonstrate my gratitude for the gift of confidence.

Now, I have the certainty that although I have not yet finished the bonnets (7 out of 10 are finished however) I will somehow make a plan to finish them tonight, while making dinner, planning for the week, folding laundry and trying to "relax."

Weekends

My little Miss Maia is turning eight next week.  Birthdays are great fun.  They provide a thousand excuses to craft.  Maia has had a "Tea Party" birthday, a "Welcome Spring" birthday, a "Flower Fairy" birthday and a "Pinkalicious" birthday.  Being a bit of a book-aholic, each birthday was born out of different books we have read.  This year's birthday party is born out of her new interest in Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books.  We have heard all the early stories of Laura and her brave family.

 I think I could write a book titled Parenting Skills from Ma and Pa Ingalls.  It would include lessons such as - children do not need to know everything, parents expect their children to do what they say - the first time, children need to share - always, parents are the ones that will take care of every need a child might have, children do not need much more than a haystack to have a great day, parents are the wise ones and children are to learn from them, and my favorite - boredom is a fine thing.

I digress.... regardless of the parenting lessons we can learn from the Ingalls (and I do recommend rereading these books if you are parents...) the life lead by pioneers was full of creativity.  Just about every item owned was made by hand.  Wow... This seems to me to be a wonderful dream (minus the lack of running water and central heat).  The idea of making all day long makes my heart sing.  Well, Maia's birthday is a wonderful focus for making.  On the docket for this weekend are the following:  10 prairie bonnets (from my and my friend, Merideth's,  stash of old calico, 2 aprons, 10 "slates", and autograph books to share at the party.  I can't wait to see them all in their prairie best playing "hide the thimble."

In case you are interested....
The Flowers' Festival: Mini Edition
Pinkalicious
The Complete Little House Nine-Book Set

Time

 So I have been working on a couple projects since heading back to work this week.  They are all portable and very, very satisfying.  I love creating things that are both beautiful and useful.  In looking at my new favorite embroidery book,   Embroidery Companion: Classic Designs for Modern Living,  I am constantly inspired to slow down and look at those things that have beautiful detailing.  What does this detailing mean?  I think it means that something was important enough to take time and create a detail that would enliven a utilitarian object or garment.  Time - what do we do with our time?

To me, time is life, and when we say we don't have enough time it is kind of saying we don't have enough life.  Time is the great equalizer of all humanity.  We all have the same amount of time in every day, it is the same for every person.    There are no extra hours for the privileged.  What we do with our time is the true measure of wealth.  Do we squander it engaged in activities that rob us of joy or peace?  Do we let it slip through our fingers, complaining about the unfairness we dealt with during the day?  Or, do we just watch it fade away, with those mind numbing, yet totally amazingly, entertainment inventions that have become imbedded in our lives.

Yes , I am talking about those time thieves, the television and the internet.  As useful and entertaining as they are, they do rob us of time to talk to those right in front of us, take a walk in the crisp cold air, or play a game with our little ones.  And the funny thing is that I know that I can justify the hours easily.  "I am researching."  "I am exhausted, but don't want to go to bed yet."  "I just want to unwind...."  But, I know as I go to bed, I regret those hours, especially when I don't get the satisfaction of feeling like I actually accomplished something in the real world or I spent a few hours watching some fictitious person living a really interesting life.  Hmmm..... life is always more interesting than fiction, if we take the time to live it.

This little bag is from another great book, if you are interested...... Scandinavian Needlecraft: 35 Step-by-step Projects to Create the Scandinavian Home.