sarah in nyc

I am making a tallit for a woman who inherited some beautiful linens from her Leeds born grandmother. Given that my apartment is the place where old linens go to live out their later years, I have seen lots of doilies over the years. What I find intriguing  about these doilies is how they are created with two layers of interconnected work. This is clearly high level, high quality work. I love those jonquil borders. I am guessing that this is a form of bobbin lace, but I am happy to be corrected. I also know that various lace types were carefully classified in the golden age of lace making. unfortunately that knowledge is lost to me.   So do any of you have a sense of what this style of work is called, and secondly, any sense of when this work might have been made? Both have discolored over the years and are now in their spa bath, hot water and Oxy-Clean. There are more vintage goodies that will be incorporated into this tallit.  I will share more a...

I know there are lots of blogs out there where the main topic of the blog is “This is what I wore today.” I don’t quite get the point of those blogs. Maybe I’m just too old  to get the point of those blogs.   I am going to talk about what I wore today, not because I think that I am wearing something al that fabulous but actually because I want to talk about something else. We are going through a bit of a warm spell. Soon it will be too cold to wear summer clothes. I chose this dress because soon it will be too cold to wear it.   I made this dress a few months back. It reminded me of what my mother might have worn in the mid 1970’s. It’s a simple boat necked cap sleeved dress with no darts. I made it without a pattern. To be honest, the fit is a little weird. The belt camouflages some of the weirdness, but not all of it.   Today I had to go out to pick up my new hearing aids. I nearly changed my clothes before I left. All of my clothes just felt a litt...

The clocks were changed this week. One of the benefits is the glorious quality of light in the mornings as I walk to morning services. There are usually clusters of families on the street bringing their kids to school or to the bus stop. My neighbor is bringing two of her children to their bus stops. I usually am right behind them every morning. The blazing tree, the sunlight bouncing off of it and the wonderful shadows on the panel truck are an unexpected pleasure. A block and a half later I see the perfect shadow of a water tank on  white washed building. A nice way to start my day.

This autumn, for some reason I am particularly hungry for trees that have turned color. This bright yellow tree is on my block, across the street from my building. As I did my errands today I found other bits of fall color.There is a new development a couple of blocks away on Columbus Avenue. I call it suburbia because it is filled with big box and mall stores.  There are some trees in suburbia. I loved the reflection of the foliage in the lobby of one of the buildings in suburbia. This tree is at the edge of Morningside Park. I was relieved to finally see some red leaves. I also want to show you something that is something of an endangered species in my neighborhood.  This is an original, completely un-renovated doorway to a late 19th century  working class apartment building.  Often buildings show the signs of well intentioned but poorly thought out renovations. many buildings of this vintage have the industrial glass and metal doors that look...

I always miss fall foliage. We have sort of a pallid version here in Manhattan. This is what I saw from six flights up this morning. When I went out earlier in the day the plaza in front of the 96th street subway station showed a bit of autumn color. So there it is, just like the song, “Autumn in New York”. My mother had a Lane Cedar chest. Most of it was filled with out of season wool blankets in the summer, and the “good”  wool blankets that were taken out only for important houseguests. The moveable shelves were filled with carefully packed away baby sweaters. Many of them were made for my oldest sister by my parents Halifax friends. My daughter wore some of these sweaters when she was a baby. My mother had asked me to send them back to her when my daughter outgrew them. I plan to lend these sweaters out to my mother’s great grandchildren.   I just love this set. I will wash it when there is a baby on the way, whenever that happens. This swe...

On on the board of my building. One of the tasks I do each year is decorate the lobby for Halloween. Before I took over the job the decorations were al store bought. The decorating itself was a nice communal activity but I didn’t love the idea od spending money on store bought decorations. Each year, with the help of the kids in the building I come up with a theme.  The goal is to create something that is easy enough for kids to do, costs nearly nothing and looks appropriate for the season. This year I also looked up ideas on Pinterest. I had found a tutorial on making spider webs out of garbage bags.  I ad also seen something about creating flocks of bats. I asked neighbors to donate the needed supplies. Parents and kids came at the appointed time and got to work. Usually early in the process it feels like this year it just isn’t going to work  and I try to figure out an alternative plan  for decorating the lobby. About half way through it is a chaotic s...

The tallit bag and atara were being picked up today. The seemingly difficult part of the atara, doing the calligraphy was done with ease. the part that ought to be simple,edging the piece had me stumped. One of the nice things about having a hard deadline is the piece just had to get finished. For a little while I just felt completely stuck and was unable to figure out how to edge the atara. Finally, I edged the piece with three rows of couched cording. The result is both sturdy and pretty. Elizabeth picked up the tallit bag and the tallit with the new atara. She was in a rush and ad requested that I just leave the work with my doorman. I did. For me my favorite part of working with the client is seeing their reaction when they first see a piece. Elizabeth was kind enough to come upstairs to look at my work with me. I know it made a rushed day for her even more rushed, and I am grateful that she did. Elizabeth was really, really happy. I hope her husband will be pleased as well....