The End of Chanukah

Yesterday Kira came by to finish tying her tzitzit. She had made a first visit last week but was nearly cross-eyed with exhaustion. Luckily, she lives in the neighborhood so it was easy to reschedule for a time when she wasn’t falling asleep on her feet.

Kira wisely decided that her tallit really did need an atara.

I made s simple one painting the same scrollwork motif that I had painted on her pinot/corner pieces.

I also stitched on silver sequins on both ends for a little bit of extra oomph. Kira DID NOT want more text. I like having a bit additional light near the face.

She was really pleased with the result, both of the atara and her tzitzit tying.

Last night was the eighth night of Chanukah.

Earlier in the week we had given our kids Amazon gift cards. This is what my youngest bought for himself.

I think he will actually get a good deal of wear out of them. He plans to wear them as street shoes.]

A couple of people wrote to me because they were a bit puzzled about the square gusset I added to make my sweater fit better.

This photo shows the sleeve opened flat with all of the under arm seaming showing. I outlined the gusset in red. Yes, I’m showing the sweater inside out so you can see the seams more clearly.

Now you see the sweater sleeve (inside out) with the gusset as it is seen when the sweater is actually worn.

I hope this makes things a bit clearer. If you don’t quite understand, you have my sympathies. It took me a really long time to understand the geometry of under-arm gussets. Basically it’s a patch that is added to give room when body movement is needed.

If I had cut the sweater properly to begin with, with more room in the under arm I would not have needed the gusset. Since I cut before I had really thought things through I had a problem. This was my solution. This solution is one that has been used by dressmakers for centuries. There is no need to re-invent the wheel.

One of the nice things about having more experience sewing is that I can come up with fixes for my errors. Luckily I have made so many errors over the years that have a giant library of fixes that I can reference.

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וְנֶאֱמָן אַתָּה לְהַחֲיוֹת מֵתִים: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה מְחַיֵּה הַמֵּתִים You are faithful to restore the dead to life. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Resurrector of the dead. That particular line is recited at every single prayer service every day three times a day, unless you use a Reform or Reconstructionist prayer book . In those liturgies instead of praising God for resurrecting the dead God is praised for giving life to all. I am enough of a modern woman, a modern thinker, to not actually believe in the actual resurrection of the dead. I don't actually expect all of the residents of the Workmen's Circle section of Mount Hebron cemetery in Queens to get up and get back to work at their sewing machines. I don't expect the young children buried here or the babies buried here to one day get up and frolic. Yet, every single time I get up to lead services I say those words about the reanimating of the dead with every fiber of my being. Yesterday, I e...

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sarah in nyc

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