a meeting with destiny

i have found my new purpose in life. it is something that has been welling up within me for the past 9 months or so, gaining momentum day by day, until i could deny it no longer. it is something about which i have wondered again and again, 'can i really do this? little ole me?' it is something i have daydreamed about, something i have sighed long and hard about, something i have longed for with fear and trembling. and now finally, like a flannery o'connor character, i can no longer run away from my destiny.

and that destiny, my dear friends, is to STITCH. no, not like a surgeon. i'm talking sublime stitching like THIS.

...it all started last march at ted's first show playing with tim lowly. i spied our friend katie behind the merch table with a thread and needle and a black t-shirt creating the beautiful creation you see ted sporting above. that's what sparked the sleeping inner crafty goddess in me, and after months of thinking i lack the manual dexterity, let alone the spare time and patience, i finally couldn't resist any longer and last tuesday night, i went out and bought the stitch-it kit, created by the proprietor of Sublime Stitching herself, Jenny Hart (of Austin, TX, not to be confused with Jenny Hart of Chicago who introduced me to Douglas Coupland's books).

i have to confess that i initially hesitated to share this here because now everybody who's reading this will want to go out and buy one of these stitch-it kits (yes, even YOU, josh) and i know for a fact you all are going to be so much better at it then i am. you see, i've never been that crafty kind of girl. oh, sure, i made my own doll clothes and the requisite pin cushions and what not. i learned the basics of crocheting and knitting, thanks to my childhood chum Ruthy's older sister Esther. however, no matter how hard i tried, nothing i made ever had any aesthetic appeal to them. okay, i admit i didn't try all that hard, but still…i'm sure if i had any potential for the mastery of these needle arts, it would have manifested by my teenage years.

i have been sitting on the sidelines during the DIY crafty revolution while my fellow gal (and a few guy) pals have been sitting in knitting circles with their needles flashing and clicking away at blinding speeds. i tried to make my own cards with rubber stamps and fancy scissors, but my creations just sucked. bad. i have toyed with the idea of getting a sewing machine so i can make 'slow clothing,' but who the hell was i kidding?

STITCHING, on the other hand, now THAT is something even a craft clutz like i can do! i had no idea that running a needle threaded with embroidery floss through fabric stretched over a plastic hoop could be so fulfilling. so i decided, six days before christmas, that i would STITCH some t-shirts for presents. ted was a little doubtful at first, but when he saw some of my initial handiwork, he decided to give it a go. we ran out to american apparel for a bunch of t-shirts on thursday, which gave me four days to get everything stitched. i was a bit rushed, but the end results weren't half as bad as i was expecting, if i may say so myself.

...of course, i had to choose the most difficult design for my first project. this was for auntie lore who would be coming in for christmas with her douglas all the way from sweden. all those french knots and lazy daisies took me HOURS.

...the kitty cat was for becki, uncle dave's fiancee whose cats cadence loves to play with (although i don't think they return the sentiment). this was much simpler than the butterfly shirt, thank goodness.

...and this last design was for uncle dave, which ted drew himself. i finished it sunday afternoon, which was the very last slot of free time i had before christmas morning, when we were due to go out to the P's. what can i say; i love living dangerously.

anyhoo, i am anxiously awaiting my shipment of hip design transfers from sublime stitching so that i can make the coolest tea towels on the block.