Cataloguing the Apron Collection

I finished the latest apron:

A few weeks ago, when the Quilter’s Showcase fabric went on sale at Joanns, I bought the rest of the bolt of that blue fabric with the little cherries on it. I have learned that if I find a fabric I really love, I should just buy it. If nothing else, it can get used as a quilt backing. 

I need to field test this apron a bit. I think I like the style—it certainly was easy to put together—but the drawback of these styles of apron is the neck strap. This one is not adjustable and it is too long, even on me. And of course, I cannot shorten it properly without taking the top of the apron apart. If I were going to make this again, or make it for someone else, I would be sure to try it on and test fit that neck strap. I can pin up the excess in the strap, though, and it will be perfectly serviceable. 

I have a couple of friends who do not like any kind of apron that goes around the neck. I get that. It can feel like being strangled. 

One of the items on the to-do list this week is getting all the aprons out of the “apron drawer” in the kitchen, washing them, and giving them a good pressing for storage. I only need a couple in the rotation. 

Storing samples is a problem. I have probably 10 large Rubbermaid totes full of things I have knitted. I hesitate to give them away, because I might still need them at some point. I was contacted by Annie’s Craft Store a few months ago about carrying an afghan pattern that I designed in 2008. I sent them the PDF but the only photo I had was not of a high enough resolution for their catalog. They wondered if I could take another photo, but I could not find the afghan in storage. Either I gave it to Bev Galeskas to use for marketing because it was knit from a yarn she carried—and she is gone now—or I gave the original afghan to someone as a gift. I do not have time to re-knit the afghan. Annie’s still carries the pattern, but it is only listed on the website and not in the hard copy catalog. 

Perhaps I will be like Barbara Walker and sell off my collection when I am in my 70s. Joan Schrouder and I roomed together at Stitches one time and she brought along some of the samples she had purchased from Barbara. (Joan had relatives who lived near Barbara and Joan visited Barbara frequently.) One of the samples was an Aran sweater. She let me take it to class with me to show my students. We ooohed and aaahed in amazement that we were looking at a sweater that Barbara Walker had knitted with her own hands. 

So I am not sure what I will do with my prototype aprons if I start designing and selling some patterns. The good thing is that it does not take as long to make up sewn samples as it does knitted ones. 

I want to make a halter-style apron and then I think I will move on to something else for a while. (You all are probably getting tired of the parade of aprons, too.)  It is very helpful, though, to go through all these different styles and analyze the construction as I sew them up. 

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I dropped off the fair apron at the fairgrounds yesterday. It was a busy place. Judging is today and the fair opens tomorrow. I am going with Elysian and the kids on Friday. 

I am taking a road trip in September and I am kind of ridiculously excited about it. I have not been on a good road trip for a while. We have a denominational board meeting in Portland, and as Portland is only a few hours from Seattle, I will head north after the meeting and see the girls for a few days. I think this is what I miss most about DD#2 being in college in Spokane. It was so easy for me to run over there for the weekend every couple of weeks. I enjoy the drive to Seattle, too, but a nine-hour drive is harder to justify than a four-hour drive. And hotels and food are much more expensive in Seattle than Spokane. 

I have a meeting with the accountant this morning to do a mid-year checkup on the construction company. I do the day-to-day bookkeeping but he prepares our returns every year (and he is worth every penny we pay him).  I want to make sure we are on track with the estimated tax deposits and other details. We lose most of our deductions with DD#2 out of school and on her own. I think we are where we need to be but it will be good to have his input.