The husband is so much craftier than me
He recently received two very nice pairs of pants from a friend of ours. Yay for not buying new! The pants didn’t quite fit, but the super crafty husband spent some time tailoring them, taking them in at the waist and letting out the hem, and now they look great. Hopefully I can convince him to hem some pants of mine. He’s so much better at sewing than me.
1930s cloche hat
I made this hat for my part in a swap on craftster. This hat was specifically requested. The yarn was bought new several years ago, but at least I’m finally using it! This is a bad picture, it looks much better on. And here is the pattern. (really, mine looks just as cute when it’s on a head)
RRR blogs, shopping, and info
RRR of course stands for “reduce, reuse, recyle”. I think it’s the easiest way to quickly refer to a group of blogs, some of which are about voluntary simplicity, some about reducing your ecological footprint, some about the environment. I’ll be adding to this list as I find the addresses of the blogs I check.
Shopping
http://www.debrisdesign.com/ – the name says it all. accessories for your ipod, clothes for men and women. from recycled & reclaimed materials.
http://www.giantdwarfdesign.com/ handmade recycled one of a kind items.
Information
http://www.simpleliving.net/ – tools, examples and contacts for conscious, simple, healthy and restorative living.
Blogs
http://fiftyrx3.blogspot.com/ – perusing the crossroads of style and sustainability
http://sfcompact.blogspot.com/ – 1) to go beyond recycling in trying to counteract the negative global environmental and socioeconomic impacts of U.S. consumer culture, to resist global corporatism, and to support local businesses, farms, etc. — a step, we hope, inherits the revolutionary impulse of the Mayflower Compact; 2) to reduce clutter and waste in our homes (as in trash Compact-er); 3) to simplify our lives (as in Calm-pact)
It looks like I buy all my clothes new
Inspired by this blog I started categorizing my clothes by their ecological impact. Hmmm, not doing too well today. I wore boots purchased new just 6 months ago. Leather, imported and purchased from Nordstrom. Socks also new (but they have a book print! they are so cute!) purchased just last week from Marshalls. Probably made in China but I didn’t actually check, I was so taken in by the books print. It gets better – my pants were purchased from a small boutique 2.5 years ago, an I’ve worn them at least 100 times. Shirt – purchased at Saks on super-clearance, 3 years ago, worn a ton. Sweater – purchased from a small boutique at least 4 years ago, made in the USA, and worn many times. My jacket was bought new this season from smartbargains.com. Obviously there is a lot of room for improvement here! I’ve recently purchased some clothing patterns and I’m improving my sewing with the plan of making my own clothes from reclaimed materials.
I want to live in the library
The library meets my needs on so many levels. I can learn, for free. I can entertain myself, for free. I can pick up all sorts of crafty ideas and techniques, for free. I suppose it isn’t for free, but if I don’t use it I am wasting that small portion of my tax dollars (when I was employed and paid taxes, that is) that goes to support the library. X (that’s the husband) and I finally made it to the main library which is really my idea of paradise. 6 floors of books!! They had to kick me out at 6 pm when it closed. I got some crafting books (I really want to try crazy quilting) and some finance books because I realized I use Excel so much that I don’t remember the formula for calculating an annuity, etc. And some other books. The library even has books, music and movies in Russian! This will be great – now X can read books in his native langauge. If we don’t want to go to the main library, we can even request books online to be sent to our local library, which is a convenient two blocks away. Really, it can’t be beat.
I’ve finally got a blog
I’ve become so addicted to reading others’ blogs I decided it was time to get my own.
