Good Day

I was picking out my twice weekly groceries at Twelve Mile on Saturday when I found these lovelies! The eggs are called Girls-a-Layin' (P.S. don't type that into google for a search... it will only end with naughty things. Who'd a thought? Geeze...) and they are local. I think I'm in love! The lady was saying that she has forty some-odd chickens and she always knows which ones are laying and which aren't because each egg is unique to the chicken (and she doesn't just mean the really obvious color difference, that's how good she is). I love that.

And on the way home on Saturday I decided to keep my eyes peeled for a Goodwill. I knew there used to be one in the area and sure enough there it was! I popped in with a very specific idea in my head. I wanted to take an already made sweater and deconstruct it for its yarn ever since I saw this tutorial. This was a cotton (I think) Large sweater. Ok, in the end it took me about 5 hours to pick the damn seams out without tearing the yarn and about 4 hours to unravel everything, but now I think I have enough for four pairs of mittens and a pair of socks or something. It's about the journey... right? Anyway, my fingers are sort of purple from picking at little threads for hours and hours but it was so worth it.

At least that's what I'm telling myself, and don't you go contradicting me either.
Oh, and the photo above is of the sweater with the arms already detached and unraveled and one side open with three more seams to go. Sigh....

The Great Promise of '09

I’ve been thinking about this whole concept of resolutions. I’ve always thought that I shouldn’t need to wait for the New Year to begin to decide to change something, or use a date as justification. That being said, I am intrigued by this idea of trying something for a long, but definite, period of time. This year I hadn’t given it much thought. I never have and I didn’t see why this one should be any different… until I saw a post on Needled. For the past year, the woman who writes on Needled has made a pledge not to purchase any new clothing. Mending, darning, sewing new pieces, re-vamping and all manner of things are perfectly wonderful ways to make clothing that don’t involve buy new (usually cheaply made and shortly worn) clothing.
I’ve always felt slightly guilty when I sneak into Target or Forever 21 and buy something. In my mind it’s like buying disposable clothes, something you wear maybe ten times before it self destructs. The price is just right for something like that and it works out to be something like $1 a wear until it dies, twisted into an unrecognizable mess when it comes out of the washer on that fateful day. My problem has been trying to justify buy fabric to make my own clothes. It is expensive. Sometimes it works out to be $15 for a simple cotton skirt in materials and then six or seven hours of swearing and ripping seams out, not to mention those damn zippers! Now, though, I think I’ve changed my mind since I started working at Twelve Mile Market.

Twelve Mile Market is an organic food store in Gresham. David Shonk takes veggies and other good things from his farm and then sells them in the little store, wedged in next to a karate studio, Mexican restaurant and locksmith. The food in his store doesn’t last forever. Good food isn’t supposed to last very long, that’s how you know it’s good. The same should be said for clothing. Something good shouldn’t be cheap and expendable. A good piece of clothing is something that’s made to last and to be loved.

So, the point of all of this is that for the next year I’m going to make a pledge not to buy any new clothing. I’d like to make things and to really appreciate what goes into making a shirt or a pair of socks. I have the time and a little bit of expendable income that I would much rather spend teaching myself things and keeping myself busy than on a speedy trip to Target to buy something I won’t even remember in two months. As the woman on Needled was saying, this isn’t an exercise in denial. I’m not going to feel guilty if I do buy something, but I will feel infinitely satisfied if I chose to challenge myself and make the same thing myself… albeit with more cursing and sore fingers.

I hope you’re all having a good year and that you’re all doing something that makes you happy. After all, what good is doing something if you’re not happy/satisfied/content?

Mini Things

Are always cute! So I made some mini shoes for wee people. They're at Twelve Mile already!

Felty McFelty-Pants

My hands are sort of pink these days. I've been felting rocks to try to sell at Twelve Mile and all that hot water and dish soap is making my hands grumpy. I thought I'd share before I take them in tomorrow.

Things of that Nature

These are some of the things I've been busy making with my skinny, cold fingers the last week or so.

These little octopiddles are pretty tiny, about the size of a palm.

These sewed bunny people have been springing up everywhere in the afternoons these days. They're a little over a foot tall and really easy/fun to make. I think my favorite part has been sorting through my button tin. Ahhhh the eyes I could make with novelty buttons.

Minnow, who doesn't photograph nearly as well as she looks in person.
Doodles.

Lulu, who photographs exactly as cute as she really is.
Ahi, similarly afflicted with a lack of photogenic attributes.

And lastly, Dom with his fuzzy face.

The grand plan (and I'm trying really hard not to get my hopes up) is to sell these little guys, and a few other things, at the Twelve Mile Market in Gresham. I'm going in tomorrow to start my volunteering-ness. I got my food handler's license today in preparation and this last weekend I'm officially Red Cross CPR etc. certified. That last bit has nothing to do with volunteering, I just felt like sharing. Anyway, I went in and scheduled a time to get trained at Twelve Mile Market and David Shonk, the owner, said that I might be able to sell some of my things in the store! I'm pretty giddy about that.