bits and bobbins

wore this while running errands. one of the many things i shortened this weekend…i like this dress so much better short.

-wooden hoop earrings: thrifted in florida
-wooden bead necklace: thrift town, SF.
-wooden bangle: claire’s accessories -vintage 60s silk noil dress, shortened up by me this weekend: mission thrift, SF.
-beige 70s sweater, worn underneath dress: thrifted in florida
-orange leggings: american apparel
-beige vintage boots: beacon’s closet, brooklyn.
-goofy smile: my own.

it’s been a long, quiet, productive, lovely weekend. i always wish the weekends would never end. this one is no exception.

*yawn*, says girl.

thursday we cooked an organic, offbeat thanksgiving dinner for ourselves and a friend we knew from florida way back when, who happens to live in the mission. a spread of a few artisan cheeses and fuji apples, pork roast with rosemary and garlic, homemade macaroni and cheese (from a roux…it’s the secret to making it taste orgasmically good), yams with molasses topped with a gouda tinged with blue, and a spinach salad.

yesterday we participated in buy-nothing day…and instead, i dug deep into my mending basket and hemmed and fixed a myriad of things. things i bought ages ago and have been meaning to get wearable. it felt SO GOOD to do that…and rather than buying a bunch of crap that stores foist upon us every holiday season, i made great things i already own more awesome and wearable.

today we took a short bike ride over to the de young museum, which is in golden gate park (and actually visible from our house here on the hill), and i got another look at the gee’s bend quilt exhibit, and the amazing wire sculptures by ruth asawa, that almost look like they were knitted or crocheted, in some cases (they very well may be, but it did not seem clear from looking at them). her sculptures were often fashioned in these organic shapes that reminded me very much of sea creatures, or alien life forms i would imagine floating and undulating in a serpent-like fashion through the atmosphere of someplace like jupiter, if that lovely large planet actually supported life.

(photo from the de young website.)

the art that so often moves me is the kind that is made of fibers or akin to fibers. somehow, there is always a thread connecting back to fashion, to the clothes i (and you!) wear on my/our back(s)…somehow, some way.

more things falling into place. i found the white vases shown here (on either side of the milkglass vase in the center) @ IKEA. they remind me a little of jonathan adler’s vases, which i unabashedly love. the orange rhinestones were a free gift from the bead guy @ san francisco’s general bead because he was happy to discover that i loved the color orange. so nice of him! i’m loving all these textures together: the shiny, the matte, the wood, the organic (the shell and the bit of quartz)…against the orange metal tray i thrifted several weeks ago:

an illums bolighus candlestick holder i found yesterday @ a vintage furniture store in the mission:

a handmade needlepoint tote i recently won off of ebay. i have been ridiculously obsessed with anything needlepoint lately. i have always wanted one of these needlepoint totes, for as long as i can remember. does anyone else but me recall that chanel did a riff off this kind of needlepoint in one of their accessory collections in the late 1990s (give or take a couple years)?

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still working on that yo-yo curtain…

i have been knitting a few of these scarves over the past few months…a simple feather and fan stitch, out of smooth wool. i am about 1/3 of the way through this particular scarf. i love the texture…it feels very old-fashioned to me.

***

i have noticed that i tend to get involved with lots of projects like the ones pictured here…projects that are done piece by piece, stitch by stitch. i suppose i like the idea of making all these little parts one by one that eventually make a whole. all the little parts and the process of making such things is very repetitive and by extension, meditative. i enjoy the meditative state my mind falls into…it is during these meditative states that i contemplate future projects and pieces i would like to make: other knitting or sewing/clothing projects, paintings i would like to paint, sometimes interior design experiments i would like to try out in my home. i cherish these journeys inside the landscape of my mind. i look forward to these moments of unbridled brainstorming and creative thought, and seek them out whenever possible. these moments often mean being alone, or being quiet…which explains why i spend quite a bit of time alone.
but it’s okay by me; i’m really a rather shy, introverted person. i may dress loudly and have my opinions and like to go out and socialize at times but mostly, i really crave quiet, productive moments.

i do a lot shopping alone…i find it works better for me. especially for clothes, thrifting, and the like. i know a lot of people like to shop with friends and get their opinions, but i find the presence of another person distracting, and if they like similar things, shopping can quickly turn into competition. when i go shopping, especially thrifting, i sort of fall into a meditative state just as when i’m knitting or making something. i think about where that object will fit into my life, house, or closet, if i *really, honestly* love it, if it has good design…things of that general nature. it’s hard to think when friends are around…being alone gives me space to think.

random questionings:
do you like to shop or make alone, or do you like the company of others?
are you an introvert, or an extrovert?