A Sudden Yearn for Yellow

Yellow is not a color that has pleasant connotations, generally, throughout history.  Yellow is the color of traitors and cowards.  Being called "yellow" is an insult. 

In terms of my personal history, yellow is a color that has been pretty much non-existent in my wardrobe.  Having grown up a blonde, I just didn't try it.  These days I'm still a blonde, but as it is no longer natural (sigh), I now have a little more control over the shade.  And the current shade I have (very light blonde highlights) suddenly seems to work with yellow.  Which means that suddenly, in the last few months, I've been making yellow this and that.  Two dresses, a top, and now a crocheted bolero (shrug).  All yellow.  Which is pretty weird for me.  That being said, though, I love them.  And I'm finding myself loving the color too. 

Isn't it funny how our tastes change?

Here's the yellow shrug that I finished making the other day.  It is made using a pattern that I bought on ravelry.com for about $5.  It's called the Short Sleeved Crochet Shrug by Bernadette Ambergen and was pretty simple to make, but then again, I like charts.  And that's pretty much what this pattern is - two charts, and you're done.  Nice!

I'll post the other yellow items as soon as I wear them.  In the meantime, here's wishing you sunshiny days, full of lots of yellow!

A Peak Into A Different Culture

Several years ago I was over at my parents, helping my mom do some cleaning in the attic, when I found a 19th century book about various cultural traditions around the world.  I was instantly fascinated by it.  The interior had beautiful colored drawings of native peoples from around the world in their traditional dress.  There was a lot of information in it - but also a lot of prejudice.  Like many things in the 19th century, the book was written from the Darwinian prospective that certain cultures - i.e. white people - have evolved to be far above other cultures - i.e. non-white people.

While I do often wince at the prejudices of the Victorian era, I also think that the Victorian's interest in other cultures and peoples is admirable.  I think that many well-meaning people truly wanted to learn more about their world, and the different cultures in it.  For the Victorians, there were two ways to do this - to travel, or to read.  For us, in the age of the internet and movies, there are other choices.

Recently I've enjoyed two movies that I would recommend that offer a peak (or a lifting of the veil - haha) into Muslim immigrant culture in the U.S. and Canada.  Both are stories of traditional women who struggle to blend their traditional cultures and religions with the Western culture in which they live.  While neither is academy award material, I did enjoy both, and think that some of you might too.  The are called Arranged, and Sabah.  If you have netflix and can stream movies, both are available instantly. 

A New Summery Dress

I'm not sure why I look so awkward in this photo.  I like the dress, and had a lovely day, other then attending the funeral of one of my youth group girls' great-grandfather.  It was at a Catholic church, and I have to say that I found the experience a little odd, as I have not been to Mass since last November, and that was in Italy.  The changes to the service felt foreign.  Now I realize that might sound odd, as I go to a Baptist church every Sunday and pretty much always have, but I have a deep respect for Catholicism, and as we have quite a bit of Catholic family, have been to many Masses over the years.   I suppose it's just my abhorrence for change and anything modern - give me tradition any day. 

On a completely different note, the dress is a recreation of a summer blouse pattern that is several years old, which I have made two versions of before, both the short sleeved and the sleeveless.  I love it and find it light and summery, though I always worry when I wear it that someone will mistake it for a maternity top - shudder!  It's Simplicity 3838.  To turn it into a dress, I widened the waist, dropping it from Empire to fall at my natural waist.  I lengthened the bottom of the top about 15" or so to turn it into a skirt.  The only mistake I made was in not tapering the bottom of the waist piece - I left it a bit too blocky, so it's not as fitted as it might be.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Have a lovely rest of the weekend!

Potter House Fundraiser

Looking to spend your Friday evening in one of Lansing's most beautiful historic homes? Support the Historical Society of Greater Lansing by attending our fundraiser at the Potter Home on Friday night, May 18. at 6:30! Tickets are $50 a person and are available at the door. The Potter House is located at 1348 Cambridge, Lansing. The evening includes a bottom-to-top house tour, light hors d'oeuvres, and drinks!

Puke!

So yesterday, as I'm doing my job, attempting to educate the next generation as to the fun that is government, a kid vomits.  No, a kid pukes.  All over the floor.  And me being the jaded person that I am?  I have to resist the urge not to laugh.  Not because I'm cruel, but just because it's May, and I was just thinking about how I made it through the winter this year without any kids vomitting. 

Well - not so much.

In a (somewhat rare) moment of maturity, when dealing with the rest of said children, I made sure to call the mess vomit, not puke.  Because that's what adults do, right?  I was myself schooled for years by my mother to call it vomit, or even upchuck, because puke was a crude slang term.  When I met my mother-in-law, I quickly realized that she had the same hatred of the word.  Puke is a term used by crude people, right?

Except that this morning, as I sat reading Abigail & John (Adams), Portrait of a Marriage by Edith B. Gelles, I stumbled across a quote from Abigail Adams - a very educated 18th century woman - who wrote the following to her husband in a letter.  "The Little folks are very sick then and puke every morning."

Hehe. 

Abigail Adams said puke.

I guess that means that I can too.