A Month of Making
Vol. 3
Sewing, at least for me, is an activity which proves motivation to be an effect rather than a cause. There are a thousand reasons not to sew. For me in particular, sewing involves a lot of kneeling on the floor, picking out tiny threads, precision cutting and fiddly math. All of these obstacles grow exponentially more forbidding by the light of anticipation. This renders motivation, if by motivation we mean the sensation of feeling driven to do something, very hard to come by. I have to drag myself to the ironing board, inch by inch, every single time.
And yet, something happens while I’m there, which ensures I return time after time, no matter how long my leave of absence. I become absorbed in the threads to which, in everyday life, I am blind; I enjoy their every individual strand of beauty. Truly, then there are “glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings”!
What, after all, makes something worth doing? If it were only the transitory sensation of motivation, then my pursuits would be few indeed! I find feelings in general but ill assist me in carving out fulfilling long-term habits, past the first hurdle of desire. Or, rather, I find increasingly that I possess two kinds of feeling; one deep, abiding, the other effervescent. They are both of them natural and necessary, as the undertow and the surface waves are both of them natural and necessary. One of these, however, is stronger, more enduring and more powerful, and deserves closer attention, however little it agrees with what occurs on the surface. The emotions of deep contentment and absorption which gradually take hold of me while sewing do not initially present themselves as very desirable or indeed as even very important, while other desires seem not only more exciting, but more urgent. Yet this is nothing more than a bad forecast. Usually what presents the face of urgency cannot provide any lasting delights or comforts. Sewing may not always be fun, but in the end, it will provide.
That being said, here is an update on what I’ve been making this month.
The Projects
Linen Skirt
But wait—where is the finished skirt? I’m afraid it yet exists in the future. The month did what all months do, and at the end of it I found myself holding far less progress than I believed my lot. However, I am not discouraged; in fact I’m rather proud of myself for sticking to it, despite these setbacks. Sewing and I have had a rocky relationship in the past, so I am allowing myself all the time I need to get back into it on a more sustainable tack. And if this is a skirt for next summer, so be it!
This has really been the perfect project to get back into sewing. The fabric is almost enchanting in its beauty, and keeps me coming back, though the intervals may be long between sewing sessions.
Peppermint Socks
This tale has a happier conclusion! My peppermint socks are finished, and just in time for the cooler weather to start rolling in. I could not be more thrilled!
Yarn
A surprise finished object is this skein of yarn! I spun this 45g skein of three ply yarn on a top-whorl drop spindle, from John Arbon’s “Devonia” top, which is a delicious blend of wools from the West Country in the UK. I am planning to knit a pair of house socks from this and two other skeins I spun up from the same top.
And that is what I’ve been working on this month! I will be back next week with some original fiction. In the meantime, I hope you have a satisfying week!
P.S. This is what happened when I tried to photograph my peppermint socks…our cat Dart had to try them for himself!