Friday, May 11, 2007

Returning to well-rounded life

I went with some friends last night to the opening of La Biennale de Montréal, first at the École Bourget and then at the Parisian Laundry. (I especially liked the installation by Graeme Patterson at the Parisian Laundry.) I felt like I was reintroducing yet one more neglected element back into my life -- like sewing, reading for fun, and spending time out in the city, looking at art is something I used to do but dropped while doing coursework.

That's been the theme of this week, actually. For example, I went to my knitting group on Wednesday, for the first time since ... January? I had lots of fun, sitting outside, getting plenty of compliments on my Monkey-in-progress, and catching up with lots of the local knitters I've missed in the last few months.

I also went to a fabric store the other day and bought everything I'll need to make a new dress. I already had the fabric -- 3 yards of cherry-print Cool Cords -- which I'd bought thinking I'd make the dress version of Simplicity 3835 (the same pattern I used for the top in my last post), but having made the top I decided to look for a new dress pattern. I finally chose Simplicity 4116 -- I'm thinking I'll make view B, but without the tie at the neck. It looks very classic to me, with the little retro touch of the Peter Pan collar, and I think it will be flattering (depending on my sewing skills, of course). I also bought some cotton jersey in a light olive colour for another BBW top, because I do like it, but I think it would work better in a fabric with a little stretch.

Something else that is part of "normal" life for me is road trips, and Bill and I will be heading up to Quebec City on Sunday. I've been there two or three times before, but the last time was 14 or 15 years ago (!). So we're going to drive up there (it's about three hours away) and just hang out and walk around. I'm really looking forward to it. So I'll be back on Monday or Tuesday with some pretty pictures. Have a good weekend!

10 comments:

Robin said...

Enjoy your trip - what a fabulous city to visit!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back to normal life, wishing you tons of fun on your little road trip. Quebec city is a lovely city to walk around. :)

ingrid said...

Graeme Patterson is amazing. I was living in Moncton, NB when he was doing a residency in Sackville, NB and when I was working at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, we had his Woodrow installation for a while.

Veronique said...

You must be so relieved to be back to your normal life! (I know I was when I finished grad school! But then I got a real job *sigh*).
Enjoy your summer!

Nadia said...

I can totally relate to the "return to normal life" feeling. Being a student takes more than just time, it takes energy, so that I never felt up to doing much outside school. Without school, I'm having to find new ways to fill the time.

Chris said...

Enjoy your getaway! I hope you're leaving the sewing machine behind. ;)

Anonymous said...

I luhuhuhuhuhve that pattern. So much so that I have it and have been wanting to make it since last summer. Maybe this summer. Have a great time in QC, we went there on our journey to French-speaking Canada!

AquinER said...

Enjoy Québec (city)! While there, you might also enjoy l'Ile Sainte-Hélène and the Momorency Fall(s). And if you're really into road trips, why not try the "Chemin du Roy", the oldest road (1737) in Canada linking Montréal, Trois-Rivières and Québec. Lovely!
Enjoy your trip.

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to seeing more sewing to inspre me :)

-Stacey from toomanyscarves (because it suddenly doesn't recognize my Google/Blogger identity)

Stacey said...

Quebec sounds wonderful! what a great day trip! glad you are now able to get back to your knit group and enjoy!