Today has felt a little bit like a day out of a sitcom. I had kind of planned on having a quiet day at home to cook for Shabbat and to do some sewing and the doorbell kept ringing and friends kept dropping by--and I attended the online brit-milah of a baby born to someone I met as a toddler.
The challah got baked ( please ignore the passive voice),
My friend Janet came by with some wonderful old Arab embroideries that were purchased in Israel in the late 1960s.
The quality of the workmanship is really good. We still haven't come up with a good idea of how to incorporate these into something that Janet will use and not just keep in a drawer.
If you have any ideas please share.
One of the items that came out of Janet's bag was this.
We have all seen printed versions of Kente designs
We have seen politicians wearing Kente to express solidarity.
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| They are actually wearing nice quality woven Kente in this photo not just the less expensive printed variety I have never seen Kente of this quality.  The narrow strip alternates between the small and the large woven patterns. No two of the panels are identical. I could look at this piece of Kente all day and not tire of it. I know enough about fabric and weaving to know that this is something of exceptional quality. I don't know enough about Kente to be able to say much more. Do any of you know more about this weaving tradition and where this piece fits into that history? I also did manage to squeeze in a little bit of sewing work. I am currently pulling loose threads to the back of work. It is a pesky job that I hate to do and it is necessary. My usual method has been to thread the errant thread into a needle and pull it to the back of a piece. Below is my new favorite tool for getting that annoying job done.  A teeny crochet hook has a head small enough to fit through several layers of fabric. Catching the loose thread is easy as is pulling the thread to the back of the piece. I just regret that it took me so long to figure this out. Another of today's tasks was figuring out how to make new High Holiday table covers for our synagogue. No, I am not doing the job but I am designing it and engineering it so it is a doable job for one of the local tailors to do in the short amount of time we have left before the holidays. If I type quickly and clean up the kitchen quickly I may even have time for a nap before dinner. Shabbat Shalom! |
Look for a knitwear snag puller - it is a really fine latchet hook. The head will go through the weave easily, and the latchet helps grab the thread easily. (Think a really small version of the rug hookers, or individual knitting machine hooks.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for this excellent idea. I have been using latchet hooks to thread elastic through my face masks. And because of you I dug out an embroidery hook that had been hiding among my tools. All of these tools have made the unpleasant job of pulling loose threads much less unpleasant.
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