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Posts by Karen Kaminski:

Tomato Poem

By in poems

Suddenly it’s (almost) August and the heat that we missed for most of the spring has been here all month. My tomatoes are ripening in their patio pots so I thought of this poem:

Cherry Tomatoes
by Anne Higgins

Suddenly it is August again, so hot,
breathless heat.
I sit on the ground
in the garden of Carmel,
picking ripe cherry tomatoes
and eating them.
They are so ripe that the skin is split,
so warm and sweet
from the attentions of the sun,
the juice bursts in my mouth,
an ecstatic taste,
and I feel that I am in the mouth of summer,
sloshing in the saliva of August.
Hummingbirds halo me there,
in the great green silence,
and my own bursting heart
splits me with life.

The Crane Wife

By in essays

(Very) tangentially related to the fabulous crane print fabric on yesterday’s wedding guest dress, here is a gorgeous essay by CJ Hauser titled “The Crane Wife.” It is just exquisite: talking about her broken engagement, what it means to want something, endangered cranes, even bad almost-mother-in-laws.

I had arrived in my thirties believing that to need things from others made you weak. I think this is true for lots of people but I think it is especially true for women. When men desire things they are “passionate.” When they feel they have not received something they need they are “deprived,” or even “emasculated,” and given permission for all sorts of behavior. But when a woman needs she is needy. She is meant to contain within her own self everything necessary to be happy.

That I wanted someone to articulate that they loved me, that they saw me, was a personal failing and I tried to overcome it.

(I’ve been going to therapy once a week for ten months now–but there are still moments, regularly, when I am gently reminded by my therapist that humans evolved to need other humans. Being “needy” isn’t bad; it’s normal)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Suddenly, A Dress

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

I was invited to a coworker’s wedding that would be taking place in a fancy distillery in the mountains. A week before the wedding, I looked through my closet and picked out two options and was going to narrow them down when I ended up at the new JoAnn location in my neighborhood* and I saw this:

Green fabric with a crane print

Reader, I immediately decided to make a dress out of it–despite the fact that I had exactly one week in which to do so, despite the fact that I had two perfectly fine outfits to wear, despite the fact that I hadn’t made or worn a dress since 2016. I didn’t care; I couldn’t shake the idea of THAT print in a ruffly prairie style dress, worn with ankle boots.

So I did it! It was such a throwback experience at that nice JoAnn, too: I found the fabric (a polyester crepe), then walked back to the pattern books and looked at some options, then made a decision based on what was in stock and seemed the fastest to make. No reading indie pattern reviews, no scrolling through Instagram tags to see how the pattern looked, no ordering fabric online–it was just like I was a little girl again planning out a new dress with my mom in one visit.

The winning pattern was Butterick 6677. It was simple but the narrow hems on those sleeve ruffles took a lot of time.

A selfie of a woman in a green dress

My only change was to shorten both the skirt piece and the ruffle by two inches, to better show off ankle boots.

A woman in a green dress in front of mountains

Forgive the weird crop, but I didn’t know if my new wedding friend wanted to be all over the internet.

The only way I was able to get this done in seven days was Doc: He stepped up to take over pretty much most of the house stuff and didn’t mind when I disappeared upstairs to sew for an hour or two after dinner every night.

I loved wearing my dress and the bride (who knew what I was planning) was so impressed I got it done. Now I’m suddenly all about full, gathered dresses: I just bought a ruffler foot for my machine off eBay to make more.

 

*The newest JoAnn store designs are SO nice, and they’ve really upped their garment fabric selection. Well done, JoAnn.

Take Your Kids To Work Day

By in nature

We’ve had hawks living in the neighborhood for a few years now and this week they’re teaching their two kids how to hunt. There’s a lot of flapping and frustrated scree! (and all the pigeons are hiding) but Mom and Dad will make sure they don’t starve.

I wish I had gotten a picture of the kids–their legs are still super feathery so it looks like they’re wearing lil hawk pants.

Something To Watch For Wednesday

By in Uncategorized

This is well worth 10 minutes of your time: A charming little video finding out where all Bob Ross’ original paintings are. Bonus: You’ll learn his business partner Annette Kowalski sewed all of the shirts Bob wore on TV (!).

 

The research and video are by the NY Times and there’s a little more info on their site.

Summer Of Basics #1: Rainbow Linen Pants

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

Shown on the patio, here’s my new favorite pair of patio pants:

They’re the True Bias Emerson Pants again (this is my…seventh time making that pattern?) and they’re all I want to wear. I originally wanted to copy some Madewell lounge pants to wear around the house, but I love these so much I’ve been wearing them out to coffee and therapy and other hot spots around town.

Details:

 

Enchanted Forest Or Upper Millcreek?

By in nature

Bluebell meadows, mysterious woods, magical stream banks–it was a good hike yesterday. (Also it was 20 degrees cooler than the valley. I don’t know how people without mountains do it.)

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information

1. Learn all about synthesizers at Learning Synths! (super fun)

2. I had no idea Ludwig Bemelmann (of the Madeleine books) wrote a book about decorator Elsie de Wolfe. From that book, she announces:

“I can’t paint, I can’t write, I can’t sing, but I can decorate and run a house, and light it, and heat it, and have it like a living thing, and so right that it will be the envy of the world, the standard of perfect hospitality.”

 
3. Same:

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