A Versatile Pattern — Janet Szabo

I had a church meeting yesterday morning, but I finished the Burda 6146 top after lunch. I am sure I will be using this pattern again:

This is nothing spectacular, but sometimes the quiet ones have the most impact, and there is much to like about this top. I can safely say that even though it was intended for a woven fabric, it works quite nicely in a stable knit. If I were to do it again in a knit, though, I’d eliminate the bust darts. Knits stretch enough that bust darts aren’t really necessary. The V-neck is perfect, as is the overall length. I love the 3/4 sleeves, although I would change the cuff area. The photo on the pattern envelope makes it appear that the sleeves are gathered onto a cuff. They aren’t. The sleeve ends in a band with a length of elastic threaded through it. When I make this again—especially in a woven, I will gather them onto a cuff as the elastic is rather bulky.

This could be lengthened into a dress. The sleeves could be short or long. How about a flounce around that V-neck? So many options. I suspect this pattern will get a lot of use this summer.

I continue to explore pattern drafting and style information for people with high hip curves, and I’ve found quite a bit that validates the issues I’ve always had with clothing, especially styles like low-rise pants.

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I was lying in bed last night, reading, when a voice on my phone suddenly intoned, “A winter storm warning has been issued for your area.” My phone is set up to notify me of weather alerts, although when it’s quiet and I’m not expecting my phone to speak, that alert is momentarily heart-stopping. The storm warning was for freezing rain and ice. It looks like we got a bit more snow up here, but the roads down in the valley probably were treacherous.

We’ve warmed up considerably since last week. Right now it’s 20F, which is thirty degrees warmer than it was last Sunday morning. The high today is expected to reach 35 degrees, and that will feel like a heat wave. Soon, snow will begin cascading off the metal roof. Even though it will sound like a freight train roaring through, I’ll have a better view out the bedroom window. Right now, it looks like this:

I like looking out the window at the mountains, so I’ll be glad when this snow slides off the roof and my view is restored.

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There is much truth to the adage that you become what you consume—literally and figuratively. I am ever vigilant about our food, obviously, but it is a constant battle against the stuff I allow into my brain. I am aware that I am surrounded by people who are obsessed with the fact that the world is burning, and they want everyone else to be obsessed with that fact, too. The husband often reminds me that 10,000 years ago—or even 500 years ago—people didn’t have the luxury of worrying about much more than keeping themselves fed, sheltered, and clothed. Do you have time to care what your neighbor is doing when you’re being chased by a sabre-toothed tiger? I suspect not.

I am not sticking my head in the sand. Far from it. I think the husband and I do a good job of staying on top of what is going on around us. We simply don’t allow it to distract us from what we need to be doing. We focus on our sphere of control—which is a lot smaller than most people realize—and we’ve arranged our life so that we can respond to whatever happens. I am ever grateful for that online homesteading group I belong to, because it’s an oasis of get stuff done sanity in the midst of all the handwringing.