New projects.

Every time I hear the phrase "New Project" I get very excited. The perspective of starting a project that will offer numerous lessons and that will be part of my thoughts and dreams for a particular period of time up until I finish it is quite thrilling. There is nothing like the touch and smell of that first ball of yarn that will be your accomplice on that first step we knitters know as "casting on". Yes, you got it, I belong to those people who need diversity, who need to be working on more than one project because I tend to get easily bored if I am just working on one project at a time. Many times I have tried to "discipline" myself into just focusing on one project at a time only to discover that it will invariably end up piled in a knitting basket and neglected from time to time. So finally one day I stopped at trying to be someone I am not and gave in to the tuoe of knitter than I am. I never looked back: the whole giving myself the chance to cast on a new project and discover its initial magic is a lot of fun and eventhough it will perhaps take me a little longer to finish it as I am knitting several at one time, I always finish them and always remember how fun it is to work on them when I want! Are you like me? Don't ever stop your restless hands and somehow tie them if anybody tells you you need to "discipline" yourself. What matters is to have fun and enjoy your crafts, no matter if you are working on one or several, or if you finish one fast or take to long to cast off. Just enjoy it! 

Paper Dreams.

image, a photo by angorarabbit on Flickr.

Very recently I went into my container of old patterns. I was looking for a particular sewing pattern and a great nostalgia invaded me. It had been a long time since I had opened that box and the memories of sewing projects with their many hours of studio work suddenly came to mind. I did not find the old Vogue Patterns sewing pattern that belonged to my mother, so I did a web hunt and found the way to chose a pattern, buy it and get it shipped to Mexico City, all done online. When I received it I was thrilled.
It is a new world indeed, I still recall back in my Mom's and Grandmother's time the Patterns section at the big department stores where huge books placed on large tables were available to chose as many sewing patterns as you wanted. All from Vogue, Mac Call's, Butterick, etc. I also remember the fabrics department next to the patterns one and the wide variety of notions needed for sewing. It was, in my tender childhood years, like walking into a wonderland. Little did I know then that many years later everything related with creativity done with fibers and fabrics would be my calling.
I am very happy with my new sewing pattern, nevertheless I can't help to long for those days with my grandmother and mom when the activity of sewing was part of life at many homes. It was not weird to know how to sew or knit, it was a respected craft. My generation was the very sad witness of the demise of the craft when department stores started cancelling the sewing pattern departments, then it was the fabrics departments and lastly the yarn departments. I was in my late twenties then, the time when I was launching my own fashion design business. Then it all shifted to the market of little fabric and yarn stores where obviously prices were and keep on being quite high.
Very recently I had to visit those small stores because now I need the fabric for my new pattern. It was fun but I still have nostalgia of those past days. I feel so very fortunate to have had that experience thanks to my grandma and mom.
Time to open my new pattern, what a wonderful feeling!

Dreams.

image, a photo by angorarabbit on Flickr.

The combination of loving cake, spring and special occasions. All mixed up together to become part of many dreams. I find this so very beautiful in a wedding cake.
The same applies to any creative activity and it is the stuff that makes its examples unique when such a loving combination of different things is balanced perfectly only to leave us wishing it would be repeated again and again. This is impossible though because what makes occasions special is indeed their fugacity and one can only seek consolation in the wish that such experiences will remain within us forever in our memory.
A future project of mine: learn fondant and sugar techniques for cake decoration!

Azaleas.

 

So it is the time for azaleas in Mexico and I am truly enjoying it as they remind me of Spring and also of my Dad.
It has been a while since I last posted anything and I guess it is because I spend much more time on my iPad than I do on my PC. I love its friendliness and I am finally doing this post from my iPad with the help of Flickr since the Blogger App simply does not work when I try to post pictures here.

The weather is wonderful and I have been busy trying to finish as many projects as I can. This blog is dedicated to anything regarding fibres and so very soon I will post pics of my latest fiber related finished projects. I will also start posting much more about my sewing and loom work. The air in the wind that announces the exciting arrival of Spring can set the creative mind into being much more active and wreckless with the hands.

This Spring is the eve of most fantastic time of my life.

Thanks for visiting!