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COVID Couture

4/7/2020

8 Comments

 
I must say I am enjoying having the shop all to myself.  There is a serenity there that envelopes me into a blissful state.  I’ve often described walking through the door of my studio, seeing all the colour and feel as if I'm getting a hug from a rainbow.  I do miss Shane and Deborah, that goes without saying, and I look forward to the pandemic being behind us so life can find a new normal and reunite the team.  In the meantime, I’m making lemonade with this COVID-19 lemon and I’m thrilled to provide our products to those who wish to pass the time rug hooking. 

What I like best about being alone in the studio is that I don’t have to fancy myself up to go to work.  Not that I ever did, I’ve never been a splashy dresser, although I clean up well when I have to.  I am most happy in old paint clothes so splattered with all the colours I’ve used over the years that people ask if I got any on the project I’m working on.  I’m calling my new everyday attire my COVID Couture!  I get up an get ready for the day and throw on crap clothes, no ironing, not worried about wrinkles so deep I could hide candy in the creases. 

Ironing seems to be my nemesis and doing laundry is not on my radar until I’m short of something, so most of my good clothes generally lay on the laundry room floor.  Good planning means that we have dozens of towels, thanks to Costco bulk buying, and many sets of bed sheets, and hubby and I have plenty of intimate wear and renovating clothes, so we can go quite a spell before I have to shovel a path through the mountain of laundry to get to the washing machine. Right now, hubby is wearing a pair of black faded jeans that have many holes, not the kind you buy purposely shredded, you know, the expensive ones that dictate that the less material the more you pay, no, these are worn thin and dissolving from pure age and being washed a hundred times. 

I’ve never been good at keeping up with laundry so I play to my faults and buy enough underwear and socks to last a month or so.  The heap sometimes stands as tall as the dryer, and oh I should mention that I have a stacking pair to give you a better idea of the height of those piles.  When Larry comes to clean, I tell him not to open the laundry room door, concerned for his safely over the eminent avalanche.  But before you judge me unfairly, I'm not a total Pig-pen, the rest of my house is uncluttered, tidy and clean, only the laundry room hides my dirty little secret, both figuratively and literally.  I don't get stressed or overwhelmed at the sight of it, I just close the door and walk away, problem temporarily solved.   Sometime in the next few weeks when the mood hits me and I'll do twenty loads in a day and feel satisfied.  Why feel good in little increments when I can binge wash it all and feel over the moon fabulous.  That's the way I roll!  

I left the house today without bothering to pencil on my eyebrows. Without highlighting them, they are practically nonexistent, like Doris Mann's character played by Shirley MacLaine in Postcards From the Edge, when her daughter Suzanne Vale (Meryl Streep) draws on her eyebrows while she is in the hospital after being in a drunk driving accident.  She tells her daughter, when I die make sure you don’t let anyone see me without my eyebrows. One of my top five favourite movies!  

My blond eyelashes don’t show either, quite frankly I look like an albino with my pale skin especially wearing the black T-shirt I slept in last night that I’m wearing at work.  I don’t have sweat pants but I’d wear them if I did and feel fabulous.   No one sees me at the shop and I’m not the type to dolly up to put out the garbage so wearing loose, baggy and shapeless clothes, perhaps no bra, is an exercise in freedom I rather enjoy.   Quite frankly, I’ve not been washing my hair every day either, every second day seems to be fine, and I’m loving this break from all the chemicals I usually put on my body every day from creams, shampoo and deodorant. At a time when we need an optimal immune system to fight the lurking virus, less product can’t hurt.  So, give your bodies a break and go au natural, it’s healthier.  I might look a fright but I feel wholesome and that dang virus doesn’t care what we look like, why fix ourselves up for it.  (I will fix myself up for trips to the post office, I do have my pride) Another perk to wearing renovating clothes ensures I don’t have to worry about marker ruining good clothes as I draw out patterns or dye splashing all over me when I’m playing with wool.    

You should see the state the shop is in.  I put nothing back after I’ve used it. Shane would be shaking his finger at me but in my defense, I’m working at warp speed to get the orders out, so I’ll worry about the trail of patterns, wool dust, markers and piles of wool later.  There are enough linen threads on the floor to weave a shawl.  I feel absolutely no guilt, I’ll clean it later, as a matter of fact I’ve read somewhere that mess is a sign of genius……

My fella has been taking care of me.  Last evening, I came home to roast chicken, dressing and various steamed veggies.  He’s feeding me and does all the dishes so I can concentrate on working on the orders.  I’ve been the canary in the mine for us for the last several weeks, making the trips out for provisions and to the shop while he hasn’t left the house in over a month. He keeps the firewood stacked and all of us warm.  I like having a house hubby, I figured only one of us should go out, use the car, buy groceries.  When I come home, he opens the door for me so I don’t touch it, and then we wash everything with soapy water.  I wash up as well and clean up the car, my phone, my keys.  It’s a lot of work but necessary to do our part for our health and community. 

Yesterday I could have used a burly man to help me haul the load of parcels to the post office but what doesn’t kill me will make me stronger, well maybe in this new normal I shouldn’t use those words because it could kill me.   Truthfully, I get a little nervous in the post office with a lot of people coming and going but I’m very careful.  Touching nothing, including my face, wearing gloves to remind me not to touch my face, and washing everything down once back at the shop. 

The Post Office now has a facial shield up between the public and the clerks and they have large red circles stickers with white footprints on the floor to show you where to stand six feet apart. They remind me of the bunny prints that used to be on the floor in Bill’s Store leading to Toy Land.  Remember?  Most folks abide by the rules but I hear some don’t.  I’m really not sure why they think they are impervious to COVID-19 or why they don’t abide by the procedures, surely at this stage they’ve heard how serious it is?   The pandemic is a test of our character, it will show everyone who we really are to the world and we will remember the good, the bad and the ugly after it is over…….   
8 Comments

Is wool an essential?

4/1/2020

7 Comments

 
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I’ve been thinking about what quantifies as an essential service.  Sure, food is a given and apparently toilet paper fits the bill considering the frantic buyout across North America.  I suppose having to worry about being isolated for months, the thought of running out of bathroom tissue is a bit disconcerting, especially when the leaves aren’t out yet. 

Its easy listing all the main essentials, the items that we need to survive like food, medications, furnace fuel, soap, propane, etc. but what about the needs to nurture our minds?  Isolation can take a toll if we can’t find things to occupy our thoughts and our hands.  Keeping them busy we are less likely to experience cabin fever, a term that originated from the pioneer days when the long winters confined people indoors resulting in irritability, listlessness, and other similar symptoms.  

Crafts have always taken our minds off of our troubles, wiling away hours, dissolving malaise into thin air as we knit, stitch and pull loops.  A quilt, a scarf, a hooked rug, something to show for our time and effort  that might have been wasted on less meaningful things.  
   
During this humanitarian crisis, don’t we need our crafts more than ever? Won’t they save our sanity as we struggle to get used to this new normal?   Some are alone, feeling even more anxiety than those that have family members for company and support but creative people won't be alone, they are so fortunate to have a rich gathering of like minded, social media friends so they can interact and feel connected in this trying time.       
   
I hear people say they plan to clean their homes, but how much housework can we accomplish before we go stir crazy?   Who are we doing this for?  We can’t invite anyone around to see how diligent we are with the vacuum cleaner so why bother?  So don’t fret about cleaning, we need to express ourselves in meaningful ways, through our art in whatever medium we chose.  We need to create!

If I couldn’t design, write and hook, my life would have less meaning.  What is the point of this existence but to explore the creative?  They say, happiness is the best medicine, and every crafter knows that our passions allow us to blissfully dwell in a happy place.  Perhaps when we are occupied with creating, we are less anxious to go out and risk public appearances or disregard self distancing out of boredom.

Therefore, wool just might be essential for our mental health and well being, presenting a good argument that our crafts might be as important as food is for our physical health.  I know a woman that would crawl naked over glass to get their hands on nice piece of wool….oh wait a minute….that’s me.  Another important point, wiling away time with crafts reduces time that we will obsess over the state of our communities, our country and the world.  We need to be informed but not inundated so our hobbies provide an excellent distraction.

I’m in a double risk category, over 60 and Diabetic, so at first, I panicked over the pandemic, but now I know that with care and by following the rules I should be safe. The more education I receive the more confident I have become and I adhere religiously to all the guidelines suggested. That being said I am no fool and once it hits this area the trips to the post office will cease immediately and I’ll be home with my feet up rug hooking like the rest of you. 

I am so impressed with social media taking the place of social interaction.  This safe forum allows people to share their projects, checking in with friends and loved ones, swapping recipes and telling their stories, sometimes sharing in grief and loss, connecting with people all over the world.  What a fantastic way to keep in touch and stave off the loneliness of isolation, being a part of this world wide community of fiber artist. 

So, who is to say that I don’t have a good case to work behind the scenes and service the needs of the right brained experience?  Sending out hope and happiness with each parcel I wrap and take to the post office.  I personally know of a few thousand rug hookers that would make a case for wool being an essential.  Should I start a petition?   

For as long as possible, I will work at the shop filling orders. 
I am diligent about practicing self distancing and keeping my hands away from my face and washing has become a constant habit. Because we don’t have walk in traffic, I won’t keep regular hours, arriving sometime between noon and one.  I've been working late in the evenings so I need the mornings at home spending time with my pups.  Both Shane and Deborah have been laid off so I am now the dyer, pattern maker and chief cook and bottle washer at the studio.   I can be reached by email and the phone, if I don’t answer, leave a message and I will phone you back.  I also hope to spend time designing new patterns over the next few months, I too need to be creative. We will be fully stocked and ready to serve you as soon as the bans are lifted and life adjusts to another new normal. 

Boredom is a modern day curse. Our attention spans are shortening and we live in a world where we crave constant stimulation, but now, we will all be challenged to find ways to change our way of thinking or the isolation will be excruciating. We need to discover and indulge in the creative thought process and keep our hands from being idol.  Nothing good ever came from being left alone with nothing to do.   
7 Comments
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    Christine Little has been ranked #5​ out of the 60 top rug hooking bloggers by Rug Hooking Magazine!

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    Max Anderson, Australia, recipient of my Nova Scotia Treasures rug.  An award of excellence for promoting Canada through his writing.  
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