Monday, March 03, 2008

The Decline of Country and Western Civilization


This past weekend, my folks came down to visit and I am happy to say dishcloth creation was put on hold while wedding planning took over. We also went to the Grand Ole Opry at the Ryman Auditorium downtown, which was great, but I digress. When we weren't running around tasting cupcakes or discussing red Gerbera daisies, we thrift stored (hello, DIY center pieces) and hit Nashville's finest used bookstores. I scored bigtime!

I found this one book from 1973 called "Sew Exciting! Sew Simple!" that is right out of that era's vein of feminism that is sort of self-aware and apologetic, and is sort of like, "It's okay to want to sew your husband a terrycloth bathrobe! Women have been doing it for ages!" It's kind of hilarious. I will treasure it forever.


The other, "The Color Book of Embroidery" is sort of a hippy dippy 70s acid trip through embroidery. It does have a primer on smocking (yay!), but some of the projects are downright frightening (think weird elves) and there are creepy baby blankets that are kind of hilarious. This book was a whopping $2.00. The other was 25 cents. Yes. 25 cents. I picked up another for 2 bucks that is aptly titled and "Encyclopedia of Needlework" which I reckon will come in handy (no pun intended).

The peach colored pillowcases in the background were a gift from my aunt. The beautiful crocheted ends! The other was found thrifting this weekend for 69 cents. I intend to make and apron out of it.


Now this book is a certifiable doozy. It's called "Golden Hands : a comprehensive guides to knitting, dressmaking & needlecraft." Oh, the Kaftans! The owls! It has some utterly amazing things. While looking at some Russian Orthodox-esque tapestry designs in this book, my father told me a story of how he loved the movie"Dr. Zhivago" so much (who can blame him?) that he asked my grandmother to make him a tunic shirt much like Omar Shariff's shirt in the movie. Yeah, she did. WITH EMBROIDERY.

That, ladies and gentleman, is what's in my gene pool. I've just got to tap into that well some more.

4 comments:

Marissa said...

You found a Golden Hands book? I'm so jealous! I scored a bunch of the magazines at thrift store recently, and they are so fun.

Check it out: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2244/2220986864_469b0426aa.jpg

Reference Librarian said...

Yes! It's v. 3! It was 2 dollars at Mckays Used Books on Charlotte! It was the only one, sadly!

Denyse said...

That is awesome. I love love love thrifting. When I am back in the States this summer I plan to comb the Midwest.
Re: Golden Hands-I'll send you a message on Ravelry. I may have a wedding present for you.

bridgmanpottery said...

Hi, I LOVE slumming in Nashvegas. Not only good used bookstores, but the best thrifting in seven states!

 
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