Moving Forward

It's been two years since my last post here. A lot's happened. I haven't updated because I'm not much of a journaler, but I have a new purpose for the blog (which will be laid out shortly), and I'll bring any interested readers up to date:

On October 19th, 2009, my mother passed away from her breast cancer. We're coming up on that anniversary soon, and missing her never gets easier, but as the months and years have passed we've all learned how to cope with it in our own ways.

In August 2011, I graduated from college with high honors and two degrees: a bachelor of arts in English, Creative Writing emphasis; and a bachelor of music in Piano Performance.

I'm currently living back at home with my dad and my 13-year-old brother. My sister (20) is now attending the college I just graduated from. She's studying biology.

My plans for the future? Well. I'm still single, so although "settling down and getting married" are in my hypothetical future plans, I can't exactly say with any certainty they're going to happen. I'm trying to keep an open mind about that.

My dad works full-time and my brother is homeschooled, so for the time being I'm helping him with his schooling and finding ways to occupy myself. I'm doing some accompanying for a friend back at school, which keeps me practicing piano, and I'm trying to get back into writing again. I went through a dry spell until I took some writing classes this last summer, which re-inspired me, so I'm hoping I can continue to tap into that particular talent.

But mostly, I've been trying to leave my mark on the family home that I've spent little time in for the last 4 years. I repainted the bathroom I share with my siblings. I've been slowly reorganizing and cleaning places out that have long lain disheveled. I've taken up knitting. I'm almost done with the latchhook rug that my mom started when she was younger than me (and never finished because it's a huge rug, and latchhooking is admittedly pretty tedious).

Sewing, though, is one of my favorite hobbies, and I haven't touched a sewing machine since last spring, when I made a purse. I love sewing in much the same way I enjoy cooking: you follow directions, maybe spice things up with some of your own additions, and in the end you're left with a product you or others can enjoy and utilize. It's expensive (the sewing, I mean), but well worth it, and I try to only make things that I know I will get a lot of use out of. It's a big change from when I was a teenager and obsessed with making period costumes.

At the end of last summer I made a long wool peacoat and recorded my progress in notes on Facebook. I found that it was surprisingly helpful and fun to go over each step of the process, illustrated with photos of my work; I found myself narrating things in my head ("And now we're ripping everything out. Again.") and trying to think of how I would explain each step. It kept me really involved. But the problem with Facebook is that you can't always see the notes you want in a linear fashion, and it's restricted to a small audience (the few members of my circle of friends who share an interest in sewing). I'm not massively popular on Blogger either, but I figure I might as well move my next sewing saga to here, where both my Facebook friends and the general public might peruse it at will.

So! in summary (and congratulations if you've made it this far), this blog will henceforth (for the time being, anyway) be a place to record my next sewing project. Hint: it's a coat. A fabulous coat.

Stay tuned!