Better in blue jeans

After reading Kristin Nicholas' most recent post on her "Getting Stitched on the Farm" blog about being outside last weekend (http://getting-stitched-on-the-farm.blogspot.com/2010/10/colorful-walk-on-our-road.html) I started thinking again about how much I also enjoyed my time outside last weekend.  She included some gorgeous photos that really bring you right along with her as she talks about the walk she took.  I wish I had done the same.  In fact, I actually wished I had the camera with me while on my walk on Sunday but by the time I thought of it I was so far into the woods that I was not going back to get it.  What a shame!  I would have loved to share some of the beauty of it with you.  It would have also been fun to share photos of Saturday's hay bale moving excursion (three pick-up truck loads).  I think I am going to try to remember to carry the camera with me more often.  I also need to remember to use it when I am home!  After all, what good is it to tell you that I have knitted a pair of socks (or am in the middle of it) and not also SHOW you what they look like?!  Sigh... don't know why I haven't done this before now.

So, what does all this have to do with textiles?  Interestingly, a good bit.  As I mentioned above, I helped move three truck pickup truck loads of hay on Saturday.  Now, I haven't done any haying since I was a teenager, but I remembered how hay can make you itch so I wore a long sleeved cotton turtleneck, jeans, socks, and sneakers.  Oh, yeah, and gloves... but those were leather.  I topped it off with a fleece vest, because it was a little chilly.  So, big deal, right?  Well, I found out in no time that fleece was a poor choice ~ the hay loves to stick to it.  A better choice would have been a sweatshirt ~ pretty sure the hay wouldn't have stuck quite as much.  Jeans, on the other hand, were the best thing I could've worn.  Sturdy, smooth (no hay sticking here!) and comfortable.  I wore jeans again when I went for my walk in the woods on Sunday afternoon.  Same benefits:  sturdy, comfortable, and brambles, branches, and briars didn't stick.  In addition to the jeans, I wore a long sleeved t-shirt, a cowl that I had knit last year (chilly again), gloves, and a fleece jacket.  I'm sure at this point you are saying "big deal" again and wondering what the point of all this is...

It got me thinking about jeans.  They've become the ubiquitous (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ubiquitous) garment of our time.  Do you think Levi Strauss ever imagined that they would become so popular?  I doubt it.  Originally, they were work clothes.  In fact, Levi Strauss originally marketed them as "waist overalls" (ie:  overalls without a bib).  I did a little digging out of curiosity, and found that they didn't come into regular use for everyday wear until after James Dean popularized them in Rebel Without A Cause.  After that, they became the garment for rebellious teenagers and there was no stopping their creep into modern-day mainstream life.  The fabric that jeans are made of has been around for much longer, though.  In fact, I wove denim twill as a sample in one of the 18th century weave structures classes I have taken at the John C. Campbell Folk School (www.folkschool.org).  Ahhh... so, what's twill, you say?  Ok, at least you non-weavers may be saying that... Twill is a fabric that is woven so that the weft threads (the "back and forth" threads) pass over one or more warp threads (the "straight" threads that are attached to the loom) and then under two or more warp threads.  In what is referred to as a 'straight twill' this creates a "step" pattern that is characteristic of twill fabric.
This is an example of a 2/2 twill fabric, where the weft threads go over, then under, two warp threads at a time.  Denim is a warp-faced twill (meaning that the warp threads are dominant on the face) that is sturdy and hard- wearing.  The word 'denim' is thought to come from an abbreviation of "de Nimes", which is a reference to Nimes, France where a sturdy serge fabric (a 2/2 twill) called serge de Nimes was originally woven (and dyed with indigo for the characteristic blue color) during the Middle Ages.  The word "serge" comes to us from the ancient Roman sarge, the twill fabric woven for Roman soldiers over 2,000 years ago, which just goes to show that everything old is, indeed, new again.

Life changes and decisions

Oh, my goodness, where to begin?  As a friend of mine used to say, I'm whirling... meaning that my thoughts are churning and I am getting caught up in them as they hurdle past me, one after another, many of them conflicting.  Not just thoughts, but hopes and dreams, too.   In many ways, I find that I am returning to my core passions, my core values.  It's almost as if my life has come full circle.

So, what are these core passions?  Textiles, traditions (hence the blog name) and traditional ways, nature, food and nutrition, health, and history.  It hasn't been easy to nail this down.  The real challenge:  figure out how to incorporate all of these into my life in meaningful ways.  'Textiles and traditions' I already incorporate into my life in many ways:  I collect antique linens, I knit and weave gifts for friends and family, I knit and weave things for home and personal use, and I have made it a point to learn as much as I can about historic methods of textile production and use (at least some) of these techniques when I am making things, which also touches on 'history' in regards to textiles.   My other connection to 'history' in regards to textiles is a research project I have been working on for several years now documenting clothing worn in the backcountry of the Carolinas in the Revolutionary War era (yes, really).  I hope to get this completed and published in the next year or two.  'Nature' has been neglected for a long while now, but I am starting to get back to that.  Just being out in nature helps and having moved to a more rural area makes it easier.  Planning the garden for next year is another connection to nature along with returning to, and making plans to realize, a life-long dream:  organic farming.  Seriously.  I'm thinking veggies and maybe some chickens come first - after that, well... we'll see.

'Food, nutrition, and health', well, that's another story.  I am a great believer in "food as medicine" and am truly passionate about how important good nutrition is for good health.  I am currently working towards becoming a PA (Physician's Assistant) because I want to be able to help people.  I also hope to promote health and wellness through education about food and nutrition.  That is a serious dream, and it ties in to the above mentioned (equally serious) dream of an organic farm.   Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could someday help to teach patients (and anyone else who is interested) about food and nutrition by bringing them to the farm and teaching them right there, where the food is growing?  Sharing easy recipes for fresh food that will improve their health?  Time will tell if this will happen, but it sounds great on paper...

All of this comes under the heading of 'one step at a time', much like making and growing things does.  You can't knit unless you first acquire or make the tools and the yarn, same with weaving.  You can't eat unless you first acquire or grow the food.  And, you can't be a PA unless you first complete the pre-requisite courses for the program and then complete the program.  That's where I'm at now - just a couple more classes to go. 

You also can't give Christmas gifts unless you make them if you, like me, make all your gifts.  My list this year is slightly shorter than last, but still long enough.  :)  This year it includes: 3 scarves, 4 hats, and 7 pair of socks.  There may be more, but I think that's most of it.  Two of the hats are already done, 3 pair of the socks are half finished, and one of the scarves is started.  I think I can do it.  As far as the rest of life goes... well, I think I can do that, too.  I'll just keep plugging away at it, one thing at a time.  Thanks again for joining me on the journey...

Until later, God bless....