The process isn't always pretty

Sometimes when people compliment my work they will tell me that I am so talented. That compliment always kind of annoys me. If you had seen my drawings from childhood or my early craft attempts in elementary school you might have kindly pulled me aside and suggested that I might  do better to spend my time and energies on something else.

I have seen children pick up a crochet hook and very quickly learn how to crochet something. ( I am the mother of such a child) I was not that child. It took me ten years to figure out how to crochet. It took me ten years to figure out how to knit even though I had a patient sister and patient friends who sat down with me and tried to show me in many different ways how to hold my hands and how to hold the yarn.

What I have learned after decades of trying and failing, is that for me to learn I need to first do a task every which way of wrong before my brain slowly starts to sort out the engineering of the task at hand.

The other thing I have come to learn is that a good piece is made up of many small steps done over and over again.  During that process there is always a time when the piece looks like a giant disaster.

I have been working on the black sparks of divine light tallit.

I first lay down skinny rays of light and then added fatter rays. A couple of days ago I took this photo. I was excited about my progress.

After I took the photo I was ashamed to post it here. I knew that while in my minds eye I saw the progress on this piece...the typical viewer would be distracted by all of the loose silver threads.

So today I took some time to tie off all of the loose threads  (but not press the silk). It's a boring job. but I just kept at it.

 It's now something I can show the universe. It isn't done, but I think you can see where I am headed.

I had made a tallit several years ago that was meant to evoke an old urban synagogue in the mid-west. The tallit was made out of a really high quality densely woven silk shantung and a silk tussah. Silk and sweat do not play well together. The places where my client usually holds the tallit  had shredded.The salts from the sweat on her hand had eaten away at the shantung.

I discussed how to repair this tallit with my wise sewing buddies. They suggested mending between fine netting. I ordered a spool of maroon tulle from Amazon, not realizing that it wouldn't arrive for another several weeks.

A friend from one of my sewing lists sent me some maroon embroidery thread. I was feeling worried - would the plan in my head actually work?

I have some turquoise tulle and set up a mock up on different maroon silk. I ripped a tear into the silk and then mended it.

It worked and the blue tulle barely shows up. I figure I can trim the excess away.

I began with the smallest tear on the tallit.

It feels like I am bandaging a wound.

Bit by bit I will get this tallit repaired. I was worried that meding this tallit would be a giant stressful job. I can see now that it actually isn't.


I am making progress on the white atara.

 I use the heavy thread for outlining the letters and the fine embroidery thread for filling the letters

 Why, yes, this is time consuming. it is however oddly satisfying.

 While there is work for clients other work needs to be done as well.


 My great niece is coming to visit in a few weeks ( with her parents-- I don't think an 18 month old would want to cross the Atlantic on her own.). I made her this dress.

  The main part of this dress is a cozy Hacchi sweater knit. I know it is comfortable to wear because I had made myself a dress out of the rest of this fabric last winter. The sleeves are a smooth soft heavy knit.This is a dress that can be worn to do the hard work that goes on in day-care or could be worn for a dressier occasion. Of course this is a dress than can go into the washer and dryer.

I also cooked for Shabbat.

We are having chicken cooked on a giant bed of vegetables.

  It smelled incredible while it cooked.  I cut up the chicken  into serving sized chunks just before my older son came home from work. I left chicken shreds on the cutting board for him to nibble on. Apparently the taste matches up to the amazing cooking perfumes that have surrounded me all day.

I think a cold gazpacho type soup is in order. As soon as I post this I will go out and buy the vegetables for that.

Shabbat Shalom!!!