I was born in the late 1940โs. In junior high and high school I suffered though domestic arts and sewing classes and I never seemed to get it right. I never learned to make the perfect white sauce and I always put the sleeves in backward. So, I had to get out the thread picker and unstitch them and put them in right. The normalisation ofโฆ
I was born in the late 1940โs. In junior high and high school I suffered though domestic arts and sewing classes and I never seemed to get it right. I never learned to make the perfect white sauce and I always put the sleeves in backward. So, I had to get out the thread picker and unstitch them and put them in right. The normalisation of slavery in American put itโs sleeves in wrong in the fabric of democracy from the very beginning. It is going to take a lot of diligent unpicking and resewing to create an garment fit to be worn with pride and true to the proposition that all people are created equal with Liberty and justice for all. But it can be done, Biden is giving it a go. The macerations of the far right are right on cue. Lie, gaslight, mislead, on and on. Life can be complicated but doing the right thing really is not. The golden rule, kindness, equality before the law, these are worth striving for. For an ill fitting garment is not a lovely or practical thing to behold, but it can be altered to fit, given the will to do so. And by the way, later in life I discovered you can buy this stuff called wondra flour and pour it into milk and viola....white sauce!
I am an anology-speaker as well - use them a lot ( maybe too much) - so your comment, Robin, is right up my alley! ๐ I agree with your view that we have a varied cloth of experience and history - the body that it is draped on changes as it ages, or we completely flub putting on those sleeves - and it is of utmost importance to keep looking in the mirror, acknowledging the condition of that fabric and it's fit, and working towards making those alterations. I am grateful for HCR and the community that has built up around her Letters. It has let me understand how very much I needed to look in the mirror to see at least some of the alterations to my own understanding of our US history are needed. I know my teen daughter's generation will have a much more nuanced historical garment to wear, even now, than I did as a young adult. That can only be a good thing.
Robin, I love your sense of common sense. โthe sleeves in wrong in the fabric of democracyโ.... a lot of us โwhite folkโ are up to the task of unpicking and resewing. I see it as just due for all the โpicking and sowingโ done by slaves and claimed as agricultural profit by whites.
I too suffered through sewing classes Robin, and never could get the sleeves or zipper to fit right. Lots of time spent with the ripper. Your analogy made me smile thinking about those days, and made me think how perfectly it describes how America really did put the sleeves in wrong in the fabric of our democracy. Itโs time to get to work with that ripper.
My mother (born in 1924) always said that the first thing she learned about knitting was that the three basic stitches are knit, purl, and rip (undo previous work).
Ahh Seattle, my home town. How is it faring these days? We have not been able to go back to our condo-friends and family there for almost two years now.
So true. Those of us who remember it before the freeway, before Amazon, can get quite nostalgic about itโs past. Itโs funny but the small Welsh town were I live now is quite a bit like Seattle in the 50โs. Butcher, bakery, you know everyone on your street. My husband, who spent time in it as a youth remembers all the things that are gone now that he says made it better than now. I guess regretting change is just human. But embracing the the good, interesting and new keeps a person moving forward...the only way to go.
Joan, I learned a term, tink (the alphabetic opposite of knit), for undoing your work, one stitch at a time. One of many things I learned from Knitting Paradise, an online forum. โบ๏ธ
What a wonderful way to help us all understand the work ahead. I might like to make a lapel pin out of the thread picker in my drawer, which I have owned about since the days of incomplete history class. Thank you, thank you, Robin.
Wonderfully stitched Robin. Your analogy was thrilling. While I didn't suffer as you did in home ed., my fingers never felt as inadequate. At the end of the class, I managed to create a lustrous purple skirt. While not the best in the class, the skirt looked good enough. It was a miracle that I couldn't stop staring at it.
I was born in the late 1940โs. In junior high and high school I suffered though domestic arts and sewing classes and I never seemed to get it right. I never learned to make the perfect white sauce and I always put the sleeves in backward. So, I had to get out the thread picker and unstitch them and put them in right. The normalisation of slavery in American put itโs sleeves in wrong in the fabric of democracy from the very beginning. It is going to take a lot of diligent unpicking and resewing to create an garment fit to be worn with pride and true to the proposition that all people are created equal with Liberty and justice for all. But it can be done, Biden is giving it a go. The macerations of the far right are right on cue. Lie, gaslight, mislead, on and on. Life can be complicated but doing the right thing really is not. The golden rule, kindness, equality before the law, these are worth striving for. For an ill fitting garment is not a lovely or practical thing to behold, but it can be altered to fit, given the will to do so. And by the way, later in life I discovered you can buy this stuff called wondra flour and pour it into milk and viola....white sauce!
I am an anology-speaker as well - use them a lot ( maybe too much) - so your comment, Robin, is right up my alley! ๐ I agree with your view that we have a varied cloth of experience and history - the body that it is draped on changes as it ages, or we completely flub putting on those sleeves - and it is of utmost importance to keep looking in the mirror, acknowledging the condition of that fabric and it's fit, and working towards making those alterations. I am grateful for HCR and the community that has built up around her Letters. It has let me understand how very much I needed to look in the mirror to see at least some of the alterations to my own understanding of our US history are needed. I know my teen daughter's generation will have a much more nuanced historical garment to wear, even now, than I did as a young adult. That can only be a good thing.
Well wrapped up! You drape your arguements peruasively around a "corps" of essential truth.
Robin, I love your sense of common sense. โthe sleeves in wrong in the fabric of democracyโ.... a lot of us โwhite folkโ are up to the task of unpicking and resewing. I see it as just due for all the โpicking and sowingโ done by slaves and claimed as agricultural profit by whites.
Terrific analogy, Robin!
Good morning, Lynell!
Morning, Ally!! (I'm way ahead of you; time-wise, that is!
Yes you are! And I'm an early riser out west.
I too suffered through sewing classes Robin, and never could get the sleeves or zipper to fit right. Lots of time spent with the ripper. Your analogy made me smile thinking about those days, and made me think how perfectly it describes how America really did put the sleeves in wrong in the fabric of our democracy. Itโs time to get to work with that ripper.
You're probably safe, as long as the ripper isn't named Jack.
My mother (born in 1924) always said that the first thing she learned about knitting was that the three basic stitches are knit, purl, and rip (undo previous work).
In the construction world, we call it 'New construction remodeling' whenever you have to take apart what you just built.
Ahh Seattle, my home town. How is it faring these days? We have not been able to go back to our condo-friends and family there for almost two years now.
It really depends on who you ask. Seattle is a marvelous city from my perspective, and I've been here since 1980.
So true. Those of us who remember it before the freeway, before Amazon, can get quite nostalgic about itโs past. Itโs funny but the small Welsh town were I live now is quite a bit like Seattle in the 50โs. Butcher, bakery, you know everyone on your street. My husband, who spent time in it as a youth remembers all the things that are gone now that he says made it better than now. I guess regretting change is just human. But embracing the the good, interesting and new keeps a person moving forward...the only way to go.
Joan, I learned a term, tink (the alphabetic opposite of knit), for undoing your work, one stitch at a time. One of many things I learned from Knitting Paradise, an online forum. โบ๏ธ
What a wonderful way to help us all understand the work ahead. I might like to make a lapel pin out of the thread picker in my drawer, which I have owned about since the days of incomplete history class. Thank you, thank you, Robin.
Love this analogy Robin.
Wonderfully stitched Robin. Your analogy was thrilling. While I didn't suffer as you did in home ed., my fingers never felt as inadequate. At the end of the class, I managed to create a lustrous purple skirt. While not the best in the class, the skirt looked good enough. It was a miracle that I couldn't stop staring at it.
Yes, sewing miracles do happen...so glad you had yourโs๐