Textile Tuesdays : #7 Plaid

Today I feel like writing about plaid. It is autumn and, because plaid is originally made of wool, it is a good fabric for the cooler weather. Also, my husband is off to Edinburgh for 5 days so my mind is wandering to Scotland.

Plaid is about textile history but it is also about style. I usually think that a person who wears plaid has got style, a sense of history, and the courage to be bold. One of my 4 skirts is a Pendelton wool plaid. I have been getting some good wear out of her lately. It does take some confidence and a sense of adventure to put it on but I get tons of compliments on it.

Tartan plaids have been a symbol of Scottish heritage for hundreds of years. Different patterns and colors signify clans, activities, or rank. The name of the plaid often comes from the family name such as Stuart or Macintosh. In any case, the pattern is woven into the fabric in a crisscross pattern of thick or thin lines. There are hundreds of different patterns. My favorites are the ones that have light green and aqua like the Davidson, Campbell or Blair. You can still find companies in Great Britain that make and sell traditional woolen yardage, kilts, shawls, etc. in a huge variety of colors and patterns. They are quite expensive and, I think you have to be committed to the cause to go this route. One store, Donaldson's, sells yardage at about $65/meter. Kilts cost about $500.

The plaid does not stop at kilts and wool though. It has infiltrated high and low fashion all over the world. Just think of a lumberjack, a Catholic school uniform or a pair of golfing trousers. From Vivienne Westwood, to Lulu Guiness, to Burberry to Dolce and Gabana, the runway models were wearing it last year which means it is a big trend this year. You can find it at Anthropologie, J Crew, Gap, or Target or Barneys. I have to say, I wish I could have had this Maclaren Stroller when my girls were small. I did have a Maclaren. It was a work horse, but it was plain blue with green trim. I would have loved the plaid.

Let's not forget that vintage is big and vintage is probably one of the best, most cost effective, most earth-friendly ways to get plaid. Those old wools, if they haven't been eaten by moths, last forever. I love my vintage plaid skirts, scarves and jackets. You can find great vintage plaids on etsy.com. Look at this lovely plaid suit from Sally Jane Vintage. How about this scarf from The Vintage Closet? Let's not forget the dogs!!

The photo at the top is from Hoverfly.etsy.com. Isn't it fabulous!?

I hope you explore more about plaid and try it out if you are not already a fan.

I will let you know if I get a plaid shawl or blanket from the land of Loch Ness. I am crossing my fingers.

Dreaming in Metaphors

I have been drinking coffee lately to try to get myself more reved up. It is working a little but I feel yucky and I can't get to sleep at night. So, I guess I will call that a failed experiment.

Last night I was lying in bed with my mental sound track going on and on, droning towards sleep but not quite getting there. I had lots of ideas but didn't want to turn on the light to right them down. I remember one idea for a bag that I will try to do today. It seemed like a good idea in my sleepy mind but we will see if it can translate to the light of day.

Anyway, I don't know if it is the coffee or just my life right now, but I have been having dreams that are like little messages to myself and I am really not quite sure what they mean.

"Calling Dr. Freud or Dr. Jung"...

First I had a dream that I was visiting with an old childhood friend of mine in her house in Michigan. It was completely empty and the walls were covered with plexiglass. We were sitting on the floor and she was being nice to me but then I noticed that she had 2 heads. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want to be mean, and I was a little scared.

Next, I had a dream that I was teaching a textile arts class and a friend asked me to watch her pet monkey. So, while I was trying to do all this messy stuff I, literally, had a monkey on my back! When I tried to put it in its box, it bit my finger.

Last night, I dreamed that I was an exchange student in Japan but I was living in the house of a Chinese woman. I had to sleep in the living room and share with another student. I was trying to make a phone call on an old push button phone but I couldn't figure out how to do it. I was trying to figure out if I should go home.

I know that the symbolism is obvious but my friend Patty was never really two faced. She was always thoughtful and honest. But maybe she was hiding something.

I do feel like I have a lot of responsibilities, but I can't say any particular thing that feels like a monkey on my back. Maybe it is something in me that I have to work out.

I am obviously stressed about my Japanese class and my daughter is going to China for one week at spring break. Maybe I am worried about that.

I think all these things together make my life seem like some kind of surreal movie script. Well, I'm off to shower and go out into the real action.

The picture at the top is of (part of) my family at a summer picnic. I am in the red sweater. Everyone looks happy except my dad who is probably chewing on something and my little sister Peggy who looks a little pissed off about something. I look very concerned. I would have been about 6 there.

Cleaning

If anyone out there has been reading this blog since the beginning, you will know that I was doing a deep cleaning of my house back in July. Well, I am still trying to deal with the dregs of that. I have several issues that cause my surroundings to be overly cluttered.

One is that I love little, cute things. I collect them even though they are pretty much useless. They are fun to look at but not when they are piled in a heap. They don't get used so they never get used up so it is hard to throw them away.

Two is that I don't like to "waste" things. This translates to never throw anything away. I have boxes of clothes, books, toys, art supplies, etc. that I don't want to even give to the goodwill because I am sure that one of my friends or family members could use. Or maybe we will need it then have to go buy more. Isn't it Murphy's Law that if you get rid of something you will need it the next day?

The other reason is that I am sentimental and I want to keep souvenirs and mementos. I have boxes of baby clothes, art projects, toys, photos, scraps of fabric, postcards, that have some historic significance to me.

At what point do I say, I can't house these things anymore! I have a life in the present that is getting bogged down by the stuff of the past! What is the limit on amount of things that can be stored and saved? I am sure I have exceeded it.

I am trying to go through it all reasonably. It is taking a long time because it is the last thing I ever want to do. I am making progress and the best thing is that I have really really cut back on intake. I only buy what we absolutely need and whenever something comes into the house, something has to go out.

Maybe when I have truly completed the purge, I will look forward and realize we have all moved into a new phase of our lives. I think that is kind of happening anyway.

Speaking of cleaning, look at this great thing that I found on etsy (the photo at the top). It is so much better than using those stinky paper ones and throwing them away. It is from a company in Tucson called Ollies Boutique.

Skirts on Friday

Well, I am still having to fight myself everyday to not give up on this skirts project. I realized something about myself that probably has a lot to do with my lack of glorious fame and success. I don't like routine. I strive for it, but when I get it I almost immediately feel like I am trapped. I am like a caged animal who wants to assert my freedom and when I get it I stand there wondering what to do next. I want to learn Japanese. I want to make and sell eco-conscious bags. I want to work out and be fit and healthy. I enjoy cooking. I want to write in my blog. I want to continue with my skirt experiment. Buuuuutttt..... when I feel that I have to, a little voice in my head says NO, let me do something else, let me do nothing. I have to go on arguing with myself or I just make my brain shut up and I get down to doing whatever it is I need to do.

Good thing I have 4 skirts and not just one! Once I am dressed, I am fine. Less thinking, more doing is actually a good thing in my case.

I was listening to Ekhart Tolle in my car on the way down to visit my sister in Sedona yesterday. It was a good reminder to focus on the present, to not be worrying about the past, to plan for the future but not get stuck in worrying about it. Change things that need changing (if you want them changed), try to realize how you can change your own perspective or attitude towards things that you can't change. It sounds like the 12 step program and my paraphrasing is pitiful but I know what I am trying to say and I recommend that anyone who is curious go here and read or listen to the actual text.

Anyway, I realize the above hang up of mine, but I am not going to worry about it.

In the present moment, it is Friday, tonight is first Friday art walk in downtown Flagstaff, the weather is still pretty mild, and I am in a pretty good mood. David and I are going out to dinner and the girls are busy with their friends. Dare I say, "Life is Good!"

Behind My Self-imposed Schedule

Japanese Wednesday on a Thursday morning, at least I got poetic words on wednesday. Anyway, I have a quiz today (pronounced ku-ee-zoo). I have been studying a fair amount and really trying to bend my mind to it. I even drank a big cup of coffee to rev myself up. I made flash cards and studied them. I made up little stories for some of the things that I couldn't remember, and I wrote pages of practice. On Tuesday, I went to the teacher's office and whined to her about how I am struggling. She was very nice but basically told me that hard work is the only way to learn this and that I should be able to manage it.

here are my two favorite words this week:

The verb WAKARU, congugated into wakari, or more importantly, wakarimasen. Translation: to understand, I understand, I don't understand. Wakarimasen, somehow is easy for me to remember.

This simple word stands alone or with other words: DOE SHE TAY (spelled doushite) it means WHY? as in why am I trying to live up all these self-imposed structures and standards? or, why did I let myself fall in love with you? Watch this video and sing along:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g89RT0EnEPA

The picture at the top is from an etsy seller called Dazey Chic. She has fantastic artwork and wise words for all of us! Check her out at this link.

Poetry

The other night, my younger daughter, who is 12, asked if we would read her a poem just before sleep. At first, my husband said it was too late. Then he let go of rigidity and thought about it with an open mind. Really, how can you say "no poetry for you young lady!" So he grabbed a collection that we have by Billy Collins and opened it randomly to a poem. It was a wonderful, sweet poem about taking notice of each day. I thought it was so appropriate to what we have been thinking about lately. I hope it is o.k. to copy it here for all of you to read. It is from a book called Sailing Alone Around the Room.

Days

Each one is a gift, no doubt,

mysteriously placed in your waking hand

or set upon your forehead

moments before you open your eyes.

Today begins cold and bright,

the ground heavy with snow

and the thick masonry of ice,

the sun glinting off the turrets of clouds.

Through the calm eye of the window

everything is in its place

but so precariously

this day might be resting somehow

on the one before it,

all the days of the past stacked high

like the impossible tower of dishes

entertainers used to build on stage.

No wonder you find yourself

perched on the top of a ladder

hoping to add one more.

Just another Wednesday,

you whisper,

then holding your breath,

place this cup on yesterday's saucer

without the slightest clink.

I think it is somewhat sad and tense, but also so hopeful and confident. I imagine a Wednesday morning, like today, where I open my eyes and it is like Christmas. There is a little box at the foot of my bed and I open it and say "Oh my god! I can't believe it! I got another day! It's a Wednesday! I am going to take care of it and try not to break it." And I am so happy and excited, like I just won the lottery. Can you imagine if we started each day like this. I am going to try.

years go by - the pictures at the top are 4 years and 2 continents apart. I don't like the expression "it's all good" because some of it is not. But, most of it is.

Textile Tuesdays : #6 Indigo

When I was pregnant the first time, I had terrible "morning" sickness. It lasted all day for about 8 months. I also had a weird attraction to the color blue so I bought most of my maternity clothes in that color. I was a social worker in a hospital at the time and I got pretty good at ducking into the nearest bathroom to puke in between seeing patients or families. Anyway, after my daughter was born, any time I looked at those blue clothes or even thought of the color blue, it would bring back waves of nausea. It took me a long time to warm up to that color again. One of the things that helped me come around was the natural beauty of indigo.

Natural colors are almost always much more beautiful than synthetic ones. There is a whole theory of how natural colors resonate at a different frequency and how chemical colors are numbing our visual sensitivity - like the effect of too much sugar or salt on taste buds - but I don't have time to go into that now. But if you think about it, the yellow of a sunflower could never give you a headache, the blue of the sky could never make you sick!

Indigo is an amazing plant and the dye that comes from it has quite an illustrious history. The plant is called Indigofera tinctoria and it is a member of the pea family. Indigo is fermented (isn't that cool?) and has to be alkaline before it can do its magic. When the fabric comes out of the indigo dye bath it is yellowy green. When it hits the air, it transforms into a beautiful shade of blue from pale turquoise to almost black-blue.

Indigo blue is seen on some of the oldest pieces of fabric, it was in high demand for the production of military uniforms, and even now has worldwide popularity in blue jeans.

I took a workshop on natural dyes up in Portland, Oregon a few years ago. It was wonderful and I am so glad that I got to dye a big piece of muslin in the indigo vat. It was in a dark, cold garage, inside a vintage washing machine with stinky, natural fermentation smells wafting up. I felt a little bit like a witch stirring it with a big wooden stick. The woman was an old, true, hippie and very devoted to the gospel of natural dyes. Check her out at Aurora Silks.

Here are some other cool websites that will give you more information and inspiration.

Rickett's Indigo

Kew Gardens - Plant Cultures