My nasturtium is still going out on the deck, a little beacon in the fog.

I’m finishing up classes this week. Then its time to start on a series of holiday events. I’m also needing to do some sewing. I got Amy Karol’s Bend the Rules Sewing from the library and have been browsing through it before I go to sleep. Love the book. I love that it is totally accessible for beginners but is not beginner-ish in the information it provides. She has some great techniques in there that are so useful — great little epiphanies. Like this amazing mobius strip method for making a continuous strip of bias binding out of a square. I am going to try this tomorrow and prove that it works.

Tilt your head to to the left (or your display to the right) to get an idea what these curtains look like. I have finally finished the oh-so-classy Trillium Trailer curtains. Only the best; I got the fabric with a store credit at Chintz & Co. I do love their home dec fabric department. Have you been up there? I love that long, narrow shelf of mark-downs in the back, where you have to walk in sideways and can lose yourself for about an hour. And the bin of pretty scraps all rolled up nice and tidy.

Showing both their exquisite taste and research savvy, one of my aunts and the cousins on that side gave Gary and I a gift certificate to Chintz for our wedding. I sort of hogged it and have been spending it bit by bit at the fabric department, getting store credits for the part that I didn’t use. This is actually the perfect project to use it up on, because it is helping cozify our little house on wheels.

At first I thought the Chintz fabric department was a bit intimidating, a foreign world where dry-clean-only fabrics stop over before becoming window treatments and slipcovers for the wealthy Victoria elite. In my experience, however, it is staffed by friendly, helpful types who take deliberate care over each detail of the fabric purchase and offer well-informed advice. Most of them do custom sewing work too and know the fabrics well. I love that it’s tucked upstairs; my first encounter with it had the feeling of stumbling upon Ali Baba’s cave. They have beautiful samples and books to look at, and in fact it was one of their samples that set the direction for these curtains, a plain panel with a smaller panel of patterned fabric. The fabrics are pretty sumptuous for a trailer, but the cheerful dot pattern and colors fit in perfectly. This fabric has probably never had this much fun before. I guess we’re kind of house proud when it comes to the Trillium. After all, we own that baby free and clear!

Morning! Is it rude to be cheerful about baseball the day after the Canucks last game of the season, and possibly Trevor Linden’s last game ever? I’m sorry.

But its coffee and Red Sox baseball this weekend, with the Sox in Toronto for a weekend series. Better yet, next weekend its a Yankees home series. Last weekend we caught a bit of the game at the LA Coliseum; for some reason Sportsnet had picked up the NESN feed so we got to hear Remy and Orsillo [newsflash -- Ellsbury just homered against Roy Halladay] as they tried to call a game they could barely see.

I’m working on finishing up the late presents I’ve been making. SOMEDAY I will get on the ball, but for now I’m still a struggling late-present-sender. Above is the partner to a mini version of the fetchings pattern for one of my nieces. I sent the other one to her with my mom when she flew home, so she could check the fit. For my two-year-old niece (who I’m assuming can’t read this yet), I made this smocket, which I’m thinking of as playclothes. Its made with thrifted fabrics and is meant to be non-precious, just something for messing about in.

I was really enjoying the Feist album (the Reminder) while sewing yesterday. Its the perfect thing for that moment when you realize you need to rip something out and, yes, totally redo it. Just put the Feist on for a while and pretty soon you feel like you’re ready to battle that smocket again.

Well, baseball or not, I gotta go tackle the kitchen cleaning before too much of the day is gone. Lots more projects on the docket. And of course, doing my taxes. Sounds like fun, no?

My only sunshine of the entire week is pictured here, casting a weak ray on the sewing table (aka the dining table). It’s been all kinds of blustery and wet this week. This morning looked promising, but by 2 o’clock there were biblical torrents of rain streaking the windows. Sam and I went for our afternoon walk when things had subsided a bit, and the earth was decidedly squishy. I guess there really ain’t no sunshine when you’re gone, hey, hon?

Luckily, I had just the perfect little rainy-day sewing project to work on, and finished just a little while ago, in time to have a cup of tea before I head off to the airport to get Gary. Finished pics to come, if I can just get a little decent light tomorrow morning.

Sometimes its good to make things without a set goal. Just go by instinct and your emotional response. I was pretty stressed out during September. I think its the long days of running around trying to meet deadlines. By the time I get out of there I’m way more wound up than I should be. When I got a little down time during the past week, I didn’t think about what I wanted to do. I just knew I was going to do some sewing.

I cleaned up my workspace a bit, then I set up my sewing machine. Sewing isn’t really something I do that well, or that neatly, but I do find it really calming, if not exactly relaxing. I used soft, previously loved fabrics. Some sheets I picked up at the thrift store a while ago, so soft to the touch. And my favorite linen pants that wore out last spring, suddenly developing irreparable in inconvenient areas. Just a quick knitting bag that I knew I could start and finish quickly.

I’m also enjoying the tactile satisfaction of knitting simple cabled socks with some silky, pretty Debbie Bliss cashmerino. The pattern is from a Debbie Bliss book called “Home.” I currently have that and her “Celtic Collection” book out from the library, looking for future project ideas. Some of the celtic sweaters look like my future first-ever sweater, but the sizes are a little small for me and I don’t think I want to try sizing up a cabled cardigan for my first sweater project. Too much heartbreak potential.

That’s okay. I’m just enjoying knitting my socks of the moment, curled up on the sofa with the October rain falling outside.

Right now, it’s a lot more like spring here in our corner of British Columbia than it is in my home state of Massachusetts. This is my first B.C. spring, and our first spring in the little house by the sea that we rented when we moved out here last summer. Our yard is the product of a long series of tenants, each one taking a whack at it in their own way, according to their own skills and inclinations. In a neighborhood of mostly neat, modest homes owned by families and retirees, our house looks semi-derelict, hedges and bushes poking out through the piecemeal fencing in an ungainly way. Personally, I like the semi-neglected look, but we are making an effort to tame it a bit. It has been many years since I’ve had dirt to dig, and I love it.

We spent a lot of time outside this weekend, and it felt great. I saw very little of my computer. When the rain showers passed through, as they did off and on all weekend, I had time for some organizing indoors. Here’s a quick sewing project I have been meaning to do: a plastic grocery bag organizer for our kitchen closet.
I made it easy by using two dishtowels (the plaid backing one has a big stain on it anyway), which meant that most of the edges were already finished and they were conveniently color-coordinated. The pocket is gusseted on either side, with just a regular seam down the middle. The tubes are partly open at the bottom to allow the bags to be pulled out like wet-naps from a plastic can.

Look at those fat little sausage legs! I’ve always liked the vegetable pattern, so I am happy to have it on display, even if its tucked into a closet. The real question is whether I will change my ways and start bringing my own bags to the grocery store. I think my next task will be a bag-tote that I can use to carry all the bags to the store with me.