I seem to run in fits and starts. At times making time to play and write seems easy, at others I fall into bed exhausted at the end of the day and wonder where all my time went. Sometimes I distract myself as well and end up on completely new tangents.
I started the weekend looking for a piece of blue knit. I knew I had it but I couldn't find it and this really ticked me off. Somehow in the middle of the searching process I decided that it was time to finish cataloging the yarn in the yarn/fabric closet, a job I had worked on extensively last December, stopped for holiday guests, and never resumed.
The impulse to organize yarn may have also been prompted by the fact that I came home from knitting group with four bags of yarn Thursday night. My LYS is going out of business and I did my part to reduce the inventory. I did finish the yarn inventory though, and got everything put away (whew, room for everything!) And I also mentally revised my "to knit" list to fill a few gaps and knit what I think I need now.
The blue fabric eventually turned up, pretty much right where I was originally looking. I put it on the cutting table where it has been sitting ever since. It is an inexpensive knit I purchased just for its stretch factor and because I liked the color. At $3.00 a yard it was a good fabric to play with, to experiment with knits and hopefully learn a little something. The plan was to test a summer dress and a top or two, items I actually intend to make in other fabrics, but which I am just unsure enough about that I would prefer to make a first version. If v1 works, at least it is in a color I love, and if it doesn't, no beloved fabric has been wasted. Somehow though, my motivation got washed downstream with all the rain and the change in the weather.
My work in the fabric closet was more than just an organizational exercise however. As I photographed new yarns, folded fabric and reorganized I found myself being revitalized with new ideas swirling around in my head. Although not finding something was frustrating, and at that moment the idea of a stash felt stifling, having it organized and accessible, being able to take out the pieces and let the ideas flow is liberating and inspiring.
Before my fabric closet foray I was stuck in a rut of a few summer outfits. I was thinking about what I would make next, but only in a limited way, as a single piece to add into the mix. Playing with fabric and yarn, and taking inventory, opened my eyes to connections and possibilities I had forgotten.
The blue fabric and those dresses offer possibilities beyond the immediate. Besides it is still August, and although it feels like fall now, there are still summer days ahead. So this fabric remains on the table, and I hope to get started on it this week, but that may be iffy. We are going up to Lake George on Thursday to see my brother who is up from Texas and on Saturday I am having a passel of the neighbors over for dinner, all a great deal of excitement and interruption to our normally quiet routines. We'll see how it all goes.
I'll leave you with a plate of cookies. I whipped these up last night from this recipe by Aran Goyoaga, who writes the blog Canelle et Vanille, and they are half gone already.
In fact I seemed to do a lot of baking over the weekend. G had a chocolate craving so I baked brownies, then I baked brownies again. My baking pantry has seen little use of late and at this point I was out of chocolate and cocoa so I needed to make something else. This cookie recipe had been at the top of my file, waiting for the perfect opportunity. They are fabulous. In fact this is my second batch. Did I mention G has been suffering from a major sweet tooth? Better him than me. Anyway the first batch, which I made with shortening, looked more like the original photos in the blog, but mine are darker because I used unprocessed cane sugar rather than regular white sugar. That first batch was devoured in a day. For this second batch, I was out of shortening, so I used butter. Butter causes the cookies to spread more, but they are still soft and delicious. I do love to bake, especially if someone else will eat the goods and save me from myself.
Not only had I forgotten how much potential I had in my fabric closet, I had forgotten how much baking calms my soul and eases stress. Back in my college days I would bake cakes and cookies and brownies for the dorm before finals. And I continued to bake for years, until the combination of relearning to bake with gluten-free flours, and just the other stresses of life seemed overwhelming. This may have been a mistake, luckily one that is easily rectified.
