…and start normalizing whatever’s happening in out-of-context illustrations from Richard Scarry books (found on the “Richard Scarry Love” Instagram).
Karen
About Karen
Posts by Karen Kaminski:
Wednesday Poem
Anne Helen Petersen linked this in her newsletter a couple of weeks ago and now I have words for what I feel when I see initials in trees when we’re out hiking.
Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America
by Matthew Olzmann
—Southern Pines, NC
Tell me what it’s like to live without
curiosity, without awe. To sail
on clear water, rolling your eyes
at the kelp reefs swaying
beneath you, ignoring the flicker
of mermaid scales in the mist,
looking at the world and feeling
only boredom. To stand
on the precipice of some wild valley,
the eagles circling, a herd of caribou
booming below, and to yawn
with indifference. To discover
something primordial and holy.
To have the smell of the earth
welcome you to everywhere.
To take it all in, and then,
to reach for your knife.
Tuesday Project Roundup: I Guess I’m Making A Travel Set
By Karen in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup
I only have car trips planned for the year, no flights to exotic destinations, but here I am making things I could take with me to Hawaii or Palm Springs.
I wanted to keep using up those scraps of upholstery fabric. I also wanted to re-create the fun of working with a new material and following a good pattern, like the toiletry bag last week. Well, I worked with a new material (cork!) but I didn’t love the pattern (the Flip Clutch Wallet by Spencer Ogg).
I think part of the difficulty was that the pattern is designed for fabrics that will hold a press, and cork and outdoor fabric just won’t. I think the other issue is just the drafting–the credit card pockets and lining were the exact same size as the outer, and I know better by now and should have trimmed them down by an eighth of an inch.
I need to add a wrist strap but I do think this will be a useful clutch/wallet for going out to dinner or replacing a purse when you want to travel light. The pockets are wonderful–a slip in one for your phone and a zippered one for anything you need to secure.
Writing this up, I realize it’s my first really involved bag project in years, with magnetic snaps and continuous coil zippers and cork to boot. I SUPPOSE there’s a possibility that my struggles weren’t entirely the fault of the pattern….
Recommendation: Washing Your Windows
By Karen in Uncategorized
I try to get to the windows bi-annually but I honestly can’t remember when we did it last. (The scariest thing is I don’t know if that’s the haze of the last 2.5 years or if it’s actually been that long.) But we washed them yesterday and it felt like the restoration of the Sistine Chapel: so bright! so light!
So for this week, think about washing those windows. I highly recommend this tool plus a telescoping pole; if you want to get fancy, you can even get the rectangular bucket.
Next up: tackling the blinds. I might call in a pro for that, though…
Friday Links
By Karen in Friday Unrelated Information
1. I know it’s satire, but I kind of love “7 Weightlifting Poems That Will Get You Pumped,” if only for the writer’s supreme dedication to the gag. I’m sorry, “Gym Song For Carl Sagan” deserves wider recognition:
Carl Sagan, I am at the Gym.
It has been years since your passing, and I am
Curling weights with magnificent ease.
I’m stronger than I’ve ever been
And the guy at the front desk knows me.
2. This is the truest thing I’ve seen in my life:
3. This is a 90s site of 60s lounge music and it’s awesome (via my friend Mike).
Giving Help Means Giving
By Karen in Uncategorized
This is a TikTok found on Instagram but it really sums up how I feel about giving unhoused people money when asked:
“You’re acting like you care about this person but it sounds like you really just want control.”
Long Weekend Project: Toiletry Bag
By Karen in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup
I’ve been thinking about sewing travel gear for a while now; when I found this pattern on Saturday night, I had to add clear vinyl and some zippers to my JoAnn list and start it on Sunday afternoon. I finished it up Monday and I’m just tickled with it.
I’ve made complicated things before–curtains, quilts, entire coats–but the sense of accomplishment I got from this is equal to or greater than those projects. Maybe because I don’t usually sew bags? Maybe because…there’s a zip down pocket in clear vinyl you can put your makeup in?!
The pattern is the “All In One Box Pouch” by new-to-me Aneela Hoey and it was so easy to follow. I don’t love how bag patterns just give you dimensions, not actual pattern pieces to cut out, but everything here fit together really well. The only hard part was getting the zipper tape to curve evenly around the edges of the vinyl pocket but that just was fiddly, not impossible.
I used leftover outdoor fabric from my slipcover project last year and lined it in some silicon-backed ripstop I had on hand from various hiking jacket projects, so it’s all waterproof. Instead of fusible fleece interfacing as recommended, I sewed in some foam stabilizer I’d bought back in January and wow, that makes for a professional finish.
I guess I need to make that carry-on bag now and then I’ll have a whole travel set I made. Next step: actually traveling somewhere.
Rainy Long Weekend
By Karen in weekend report
It rained most of the weekend here, which meant that outside chores were off the agenda (aw shucks) and inside relaxing was on it.
I didn’t even go to the gym (!)–the biggest outing of the weekend was a trip to JoAnn for some zippers and some supplies for new outdoor cushions, which Toby graciously tested out for us.
What a nice weekend, though. A lot of the time I forget to really rest, but it’s wonderful.
Friday Links
By Karen in Friday Unrelated Information
1. Do you need to see panda antics set to Rossini? Yes you do.
2. Do we need to remember this? Yes we do.
— Mαtt Thomαs (@mattthomas) May 23, 2022
3. Do you need a groovy retro soundtrack for the long weekend? Probably. (It’s really good, just give it a few minutes to get going.)
Gram Time, Grim Edition
I’m not even religious, but this truly seems blasphemous to me:
Accurate and I hate it:
Ruth Mora speaking truth:
This is all of us:
Who’s ready to protest outside politician’s houses so hard that the Senate passes a law in 24 hours even though they say it’s impossible to work quickly to actually legislate if it’s guns oh wait