I haven’t had a chunk of time off since…last year? so it was really nice to have a whole week. We went on two hikes, hung wallpaper (!), cooked different sides (!!) for solo Thanksgiving, started The Mandalorian, and put up the Christmas tree. (And, you know, sat on the couch a lot and looked at the internet, too.)
1. Please enjoy one of the best things I’ve ever seen:
Male opera singers dubbed with ship’s horns pic.twitter.com/XZDOo9jotw
— Olaf Falafel (@OFalafel) November 19, 2020
2. This, from this fantastic artist:
3. And on that note, I’ve got all next week off, so I’ll also take a break from posting. My family’s not doing Thanksgiving this year so Doc and I are going to watch movies all day. Stay safe, everyone. Wear your masks.
Am I really going anywhere? No. Do I have lots of coats? Yes. Did I already buy three yards of this black polka dot coating at the end of last winter? Yes. Did any of that stop me from buying fabric yesterday because I suddenly wanted a colorful plaid duffle coat? Of course it didn’t.
I decided on the Grainline Studio Cascade Duffle for a pattern. I feel 95% confident about the Grainline block fitting me well, but just in case I didn’t want to splash out too much for fabric. I try to avoid Fabric.com (they’re owned by Amazon) but they had a wool-heavy blend in the exact colors I wanted for $14/yard.
I even found a pre-quilted satin to use for the body lining at my old standby, Farmhouse Fabrics (a great source for flannel back coat lining, btw).
Since I started lifting, I’ve outgrown all of my colorful J. Crew coats but I was remembering how much I love bright outerwear, so here we are. Maybe I can get it sewn up over Christmas break.
Australian journalist Jess Hill writes in The Guardian about the converging crises of 2020, about lack of control, and about power and patriarchy. Great writing, great points, and an absolutely perfect final paragraph.
“It” won’t ever be over, because “it” is not just one thing. It is not the catastrophic fires of last summer (or the ones yet to come), it is not climate change, it is not racism and police brutality, it is not the ongoing epidemic of domestic abuse and sexual assault, it is not Trump or Brexit or Bolsonaro, and it is not the coronavirus – though all are emblematic of the mess we’re in. None of them are it – they are all branches from the same diseased tree, and the real problem is in the roots.
The roots are old – dating back around 12,000 years – but what grew out of them is not an inevitable feature of human evolution; in fact, it’s actually threatening our survival as a species. “It” is, in short, the shift we made from societies built on the principle of balance to what we have now: a dominant culture obsessed with “power-over” and control.
[…]
The original Greek word for apocalypse – apokalypsis – does not mean “end times”. It means “to unveil”. This is the apocalypse we are living through: a process of unveiling and revealing. Patriarchy is not inevitable. It is not sustainable. If we are to survive and thrive as a species, we must first reveal it, and then undo it: in our systems, and in ourselves.
The owner of my gym (and the guy I trained with when I first started lifting) and his wife are having their first human baby soon, a little girl. Their actual first baby is a Maltese dog named Sophie, who sometimes visits the gym–so clearly I had to find fabrics featuring little white dogs and some dumbbells for a gift:
Both fabrics were from Spoonflower (using the vertical “Fill a Yard” feature, to get a fat half of each), with ribbing found on Etsy. Pattern is the Brindille & Twig One-Piece Romper, which is super cute but fairly labor-intensive (lots of ribbing to apply).
These were a big hit and, as I said in the card, I’m sure Sophie dog will be an excellent big sister.
Deeply unsure:
“Not on my watch!”
Detente:
(I’ve wanted a Roomba for years and we finally just bought one for early Xmas. It is WONDERFUL. TBD if Toby will accept it enough to ride on it.)
1. Enjoy reading about the feminist history of the cardigan.
2. I thought this was really helpful: If You’re Already Dreading Winter, Here Are Some Small Ways to Prepare Now. Guess it’s time to buy some twinkle lights and add them to dark corners:
If you are resisting getting string lights for some reason that is slightly snobby, I implore you: get the damn string lights! They help so much when it gets dark at 4 p.m.!!!!
3. Please enjoy perhaps the best gif to come out of the election. The “this is fine” dog feels like he’s actually going to be fine now.
Mood: pic.twitter.com/DgVBpdcDWA
— Alex de Campi (@alexdecampi) November 7, 2020
Apparently the poet Seamus Heaney is a favorite of Joe Biden; he quoted from The Cure at Troy in a speech at the DNC in August and has also used it before at different events (which you can read about here if you can access the Washington Post).
I’m not gonna lie, when I heard this for the first time Monday morning I just bawled. Some of it was the emotional hangover from the last four years; some of it was the poem itself; and some of it, as my friend who shared this put it, was the relief at having “a president who not only reads, but reads poetry, and has a favorite poet that he clearly deeply understands.”
(Sharing the official version because of the captioning; the Irish RTE broadcast used the audio with its own montage to end the news Saturday night.)
After using a lot of spandex scraps and lace and Spoonflower poly jersey, I’m having a cotton moment for underwear again. I saw this print at Jumping June Textiles and clicked “buy” so fast my finger bones might have fractured.
I couldn’t focus on much last week but I did get the longline Watson bra and bikini cut out. When the election results came in Saturday, it seemed fitting to sew up a sunrise-and-flowers set over the weekend.
That accidentally perfect acid yellow straps and picot elastic came from a grab bag from Tailor Made Shop; the tiny pom pom elastic on the inner cups and legs is from Bra Builders.
I’m fully lining the Watson bras now (based on how the Mara is constructed) so this is a fairly supportive bra for being made of cotton/lycra. It’s also just so damn happy. Pretty pleased with this one.
