seeing things differently

 "Carved into the high cross at Ahenny, County Tipperary, is a figure of a solitary monk sitting under a palm tree. Was he the founder of that monastery, being shown in the warm climes of Paradise? Possibly; no name is given. Or does he represent all the monks who came to Ireland from Egypt?

In Aghaboe, County Cork, is an Ogham stone near a well. Its inscription says, "Pray for St. Olan the Egyptian." Nobody knows how old it is, and some scholars say Ogham writing began in the first century. Almost all agree that the stone predates St. Patrick by at least a century. 

One thing is certain....by the sixth century,... monasticism was sweeping the world.

The term monasticism has picked up baggage in popular culture, and so it may be a good idea to place the early Irish monks in their historical context. First, dispel any mental image of Ellis Peters' fictional Br. Cadfael in his cozy sociable herbarium at his magnificent 12th century Benedictine abbey on the edge of Wales. Irish monasticism began a thousand or so years earlier, and monks in Ireland lived in cold, wet, rocky, isolated, storm-tossed places like Skellig Michael, leading a life of physical suffering, hardship, loneliness, hunger and inward struggle.   It was exactly the life that they sought."

                                  -    Connie Marshner, Monastery and High Cross

I've been taking too long reading this book, but now am trying to attend. It is very intriguing to think of Egyptian and Armenian monks traveling to Ireland and sharing their techniques in stonework and illumination of manuscripts. 

The rhododendron out back looks so pretty; it's so big. They do just grow. I have no problem with that. And there's another further out over the brook.

I can't complain about the views out my bedroom window.

One of the sewing channels I sometimes watch on youtube is an English woman who was recently showing how often she makes her favorite (should I say "favourite"?) patterns, the ones which suit her taste and her lifestyle. She would rather adapt one of her existing patterns than always be buying new ones. She had a style of tank top she's made - I don't know, eleven times? In different fabrics, as well as other colors. There was something about this video that struck me as something I hadn't realized before. I do have an a-line dress pattern I've made at least five times, but I think that's because it's a basic, classic style. It's hard to explain, but I suddenly was looking differently at my sewing aspirations.

So, looking to sew myself something versatile, I noticed on my pinterest page a few sleeveless tops with a slight swingy-ness to them. I actually have a tee shirt pattern, so I adapted it to be fuller. 

I think I've had this deep green broadcloth for around forty years? Maybe thirty five. It's a cotton-poly and I don't love it, but it's my guinea pig for this project. I thought I'd make the bias binding rather than using the bought one, and this cotton lawn has the same green in it - a bit lighter - so I've been researching all the simple ways of cutting bias strips. This is a method I hadn't seen before. There are many methods! Anyway, I'm hoping I can tweak this to suit me and then have a few on hand for summer. I feel like I have a new way of approaching my sewing plans.