Slowtober Intro

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Slow Fashion October is happening and I’m just sliding in under the Intro deadline.

Not that I have a massive audience, but here goes.

I’m a woman. I am fallible. A mom. A wife-unit. An ex-office monkey, primarily in the marketing/graphics field. I’m a sewist/quilter/crocheter/embroiderer/wannabe knitter. I’m a feminist. I’m a wannabe Catholic (still pending Catechism.) I cook and garden and clean and mom some more. I like to tinker and read and obsess. I love science and the how and why.

Slow fashion, sustainability, recycling, environmentalism – we are flawed beings. We are going to be hypocritical. You can’t avoid it. To me, it means making the best decisions I can for my family and for me. The very best thing I can do is not pretend I’m infallible. Inclusivity of the slow fashion movement depends on support of everyone doing what they can at what point in their life they can do it. I can’t be militant to the detriment of exclusion, or possible all out rejection. In Portland, OR, that is far too predominant a side effect. You’re not recycling the RIGHT way. You’re not sustainable ENOUGH. All while texting on an iPhone that has parts more detrimental to the earth and people than the harvesting of diamonds. KNOW you are going to be hypocritical in your choices. Know the car you drive or the bus you take off-gases more pollutants from its interior vinyl alone than any Kleen Kanteen is going to fix. The metal in antiperspirant is negligible to the rust in your pipes. The VOCs from your Sherwin-Williams is nothing compared to what happens when the sun heats up the pavement outside.

So, for ME, it is picking and choosing, and failing at times. I LOVE LOVE LOVE madebycarolyn and when I feel fast fashion tempting me, I’ll spend some time going through her makes and remembering I don’t need all the things any faster than I can make them. At times, I will fail.

Alternatively, I’ve been producing fewer garments lately because I’ve SLOWED down tremendously and have been focusing on technique. The knitting at the top is the same knitting I started over a year ago. I started twisting my stitches, plus after years and years of graphic design, my right wrist and arm all the way to my shoulder are shot, so I completely relearned how to knit continental style with Craftsy. I’m just NOW finishing the back piece, piece 1, of the entire sweater. But I am also knitting so much better.

I’ve been studying couture techniques so I can better ease in those gussets, sleeves, zippers, and perfect fittings. It’s so funny. When you first start sewing, you go slow because you have to…now I go slow because I WANT to.

Recent fabric gifts have been from Pendleton, upcyling/regifting mom’s stuff, and Hell Gate Fabrics. Fabric purchases tend to be wools, cottons, or linens, unless specifically for cycling or other sport.

What I’m hoping to get out of it….is….I hope to feel better about my knitting than I currently do:

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Ha.

And I hope to gain the confidence to be more like handmadebycarolyn. Confidence? Resolve? Probably both. Her skills exceed mine, that’s for certain, but resolve also helps propel one to hit that next skill level, no? So, let’s say resolve. A yearly Slow Fashion month is an excellent time to re-examine where I am, and where I’m going, and to re-instill goals and ethics.