Handwork and The Craft

Mending my Great Grandmother's Dress.

It is a yearly pleasure --as those of us with family heirloom garments know to clean and mend a beautiful garment, such as this summer dress that belonged to my great grandmother Jennie Wedin-Westegaard. She was raised on a homestead farm in the North Dakota Territory, married well and became a doyen of Valley City. I once posed for a studio in Jennie's dress and a copy of the photo was given to me in a vintage daguerreotype box (in need of repair now! ). My daughter has worn the dress for certain events and perhaps, if we are gentle with the dress, my grand daughter too will have a chance to wear it. 

It requires love, white thread and a needle! Every year I re-stitch loose edges where the lace and the lawn meet. I check the seams, the tiny buttons on the back of the neck and the hems. I wash it carefully and dry it in the sun where it naturally bleaches white and translucent. 

 

Mistakes and Forgiveness

It seems to me these days that we live in a world that condemns everything and forgives nothing. It is rare when making a mistake -- even an honest one -- that we are allowed to fully repeal it or get past it. Except here in this sampler I started years ago and only recently have returned to thinking about adding to it. But there is that second strawberry-- a row out of alignment and it's making me crazy. 

So forgiveness, and undoing of a miss-doing. To be then start over, a clean slate and make it whole and right, Would the world were so accommodating. Some patience was needed in picking out the threads, for they were tight and true -- just in the wrong place. 

Stay tuned for the new version -- as it should have been...

Blue Socks for a Belated Birthday

Working on a new pair of socks for my daughter, an overdue present for her birthday. I am so enjoying knitting this lovely crisp yarn and beautiful blue-colored speckles from Plucky Knitter Hand Dyed Yarns.