Weekending (52/365)

[white_hart]

I have always been really, really bad at doing nothing, which means I have a tendency to feel that I've "wasted" my weekends if I spend them resting and recovering from the week (which is often what I really need to do, especially at this time of year) rather than making or doing things. Yesterday I managed to ignore the voices telling me I should be using my time productively enough to go back to bed after swimming and spend a couple of hours dozing and listening to podcasts, which made me feel a lot better, and I have still managed to do a few things:

-Went swimming twice (and because it's warmed up so much, I was in for just under 15 minutes both times)

-Experimented with taking a twisted nose-wire out of a mask and replacing it with foldover elastic (this didn't really work; the elastic certainly helped with the fit of the mask but my glasses steamed up horribly. I really dislike sewing masks and have come to the conclusion that if/when I go back to working in the office and need to wear them regularly I'm just going to buy some and save my sewing time for fun things).

-Finished applying foldover elastic to a pair of pants.

-Mended T's pyjama trousers, which I made quite a long time ago (seven or eight years, I think) and which are starting to wear into holes).

-Ironed some fabric for another shirt.

-Made a loaf of sourdough bread.

-Made pancakes for breakfast this morning.

-Watched The Dig on Netflix (gentle, reasonably pleasant watching, pretty East Anglian scenery but fairly forgettable).

This is, even I have to submit, not actually "nothing"...

Comments

[cmcmck]

I think this counts as 'busy'!

[white_hart]

It feels like there was a lot of time doing not much, though!

[callmemadam]

I'm the same, always feel I should be doing something.

I quite enjoyed The Dig, then someone sent me this
https://twitter.com/KieranCHodgson/status/1357230902892503046?s=20
Brilliant!

[white_hart]

Hee! It's missing the landscapes but otherwise pretty much covers the whole film.

[antisoppist]

I only heard of The Dig because I got an email from The Foldline saying "here are patterns so you can make clothes like people are wearing on The Dig" and although I know actually making those kinds of clothes and wearing them would probably be a disaster like every time I think I would look good in Katharine Hepburn trousers, I thought I might watch it and just look at people in clothes. But I haven't yet.

[white_hart]

There are some nice clothes, and some lovely big Suffolk skies which did make me miss East Anglia. (I am having to tell myself that Katharine Hepburn trousers wouldn't do anything for me, either.)

[danieldwilliam]

I was curious about the face mask sewing thing when it first started. Quite a few friends and acquaintances fired right in to the mask sewing. It was very impressive how quickly they started and how quickly they were turning things round. I had noticed it had gone a bit quiet recently. I presume because people who don't sew can buy them readily now. I'm not sure I'd quite processed the enjoyment element of the sewing project. I mean, it makes perfect sense to me at an abstract layer that people will like sewing things. I'm just not sure that I understand what would make a sewing project pleasurable or rewarding or not.

[white_hart]

I think for me it's a combination of getting the right level of difficulty (too simple is boring, it's nice to have a challenge, but if I try things that are too challenging then it's just frustrating), having a pattern or set of instructions that will produce something usable even if not perfect first try, and wanting to wear or use thing I'm sewing, or knowing it will make someone else happy. I found masks fiddly to fit, especially trying to work out how to make them so my glasses don't fog up all the time, boring to sew, and most of all not something I actually want to wear, so I really hated making them. I know some people who enjoyed experimenting with different patterns, but I realised quite quickly that I'd rather spend my hobby time making something I actually want.

[danieldwilliam]

I totally get that masks are unlikely to be fun to sew in lots of ways.

[tree_and_leaf]

Talking of masks, Aldi had some really comfortable cotton ones the other day. They're the concertina type, but with an extra bit of fabric for the nose, and they're the best combination I've found for comfort without steam. I was a bit unsure about them, because they had a really weird 'handle' out of the packet, but it came straight out in the first wash. I hope they still have them next time I go in, because I rather wish I'd bought a second packet (they were in packs of three).

[white_hart]

Liberty do 5 for £45 which isn't actually that bad for Liberty, but there's no point buying any until I know when I'm likely to be back in the office/using public transport. It's possible it won't actually be until after the need for face coverings has passed.

[tree_and_leaf]

Hm. As someone who is at times a fairly heavy facemark user, I might investigate...

ETA Facemask gets autocorrected to facemark, wtf? (I admit 'face mask' is probably more correct, but...)

[aella_irene]

I feel like I should rec Janina Ramirez's Raiders of the Lost Past to anyone who enjoys The Dig, because an episode in Season 1 featured her trying very hard not to squee about Sutton Hoo on National Television.

Season 2 so far features Judgment of Sir Arthur Evans.

[white_hart]

I am generally in favour of Janina Ramirez in any case. What's it on?

[girlyswot]

Really not nothing.

I made a set of 12 masks a few months ago. They are not perfect, but the fabrics are pretty and I rarely have to wear them for more than a few minutes now that we aren't having in-person church any more. So I absolutely refuse to spend any more of my sewing time on them. They are what they are.

[white_hart]

I made us five or six each back in the summer. At the moment T wears his for shopping once a week and I don't really wear mine at all, so it doesn't really matter that they aren't perfect, but at some point I might go back to the office and need them for longer periods.

[mrs_redboots]

I made a load of triangular masks, and then some oblong ones which my mother rudely (but, alas, truthfully) says look like sanitary towels; I also have several bought ones, loads with butterflies on (Christmas present). I suppose that, if and when we are allowed to go abroad, I shall have to get used to flimsy disposable ones, as that's what seems to be required Over There.... At least I have plenty of ear savers as with spectacles and hearing aids I can't really fit mask loops back there, too.

[crinolinerobot]

That is definitely NOT doing nothing!

Like you, I feel the need to do things, to make things, but lately I've found having a day of genuinely not pushing myself, of reading in bed or loafing around downstairs, actually makes me more productive in the long run as it recharges my batteries. It can be good to have a proper loaf around.