Making things

Handmade things. 

Patchwork blanket made by my talented sister Dorothy. The lovely hex knitted blanket was a collaborative effort by the women on my husband's side of the family. 

The overalls were made by my sister-in-law Emma. 

I printed the tree poster years ago. My first (and perhaps a tad ambitious) letterpress printing project. 

I have just acquired a sewing machine. I know nothing about sewing and in fact got a B in Home Economics class simply based on effort.  I stayed after school regularly for help from the teacher to sew a pair of shorts, but still ended up sewing the legs together repeatedly as well as making a waistband that would have fit three of me. 

More than 15 years later I'm ready to try again. I have some hopefully easy projects in mind. Baby clothes seem to be a good bet since they are small, so the potential for wasted materials is less devastating. These baby harem pants look adorable, as do these little baby tights, which I thought I would adapt into leggings without feet. 

I've been reading tons lately. After taking my time reading Murakami's gigantic IQ84, I'm now totally hooked on the Wallender detective series by Henning Mankell, and have torn through 3 in the last couple of weeks. But I've been thinking about ordering this book on attachment, since I've been thinking lots about parenting and how my parenting style will impact V's development. Not because I feel neurotic about it. I am trusting myself and my intuition with parenting, for the most part. I am just interested in reading more about attachment theory and the research behind it. 

I've been making myself a list of things to do. Projects. Big ones, small ones. Onerous ones I dread, and fun, creative ones. I feel like the days are slipping by. And while the best part of my day and the biggest chunk of my day is spent playing, feeding, and nurturing V, I feel like I get next to nothing done, and I need to do more. Even planning meals feels overwhelming, and I normally really enjoy cooking. I don't know where this ennui and apathy is coming from. Perhaps the sleepless nights are simply catching up with me. But, if I'm honest with myself, I'll admit that this is just par for the course with me. So many plans, so few actions. Sometimes I wonder when or if I'll ever change into the woman of action I want to be. I'm not sure how to make myself more accountable to myself. One change that has to happen is less time spent reading blogs about people doing stuff and more time doing stuff myself. If anyone has any tips on avoiding procrastinating, I'd be very receptive to them. 

Living. Doing. Making. Playing. That's what I'm aiming for here.