Scaling Mt. Serger

Prepare yourself for something shocking.

I’ve never used a serger.

Strange, right? Being a cotton maven, knits have always terrified me. And sergers terrify me more. Four threads? Loopers? No bobbin? That’s not real sewing.

Last week in Bernina’s New Owner Training, we spent a day learning how to use a 5-thread serger. So, braced with my sister’s endless (and possibly misplaced) enthusiasm, I pulled one of our new sergers off the shelf and gave it a shot.

And it worked! Bethany and I went crazy. We spent all afternoon cutting up her old t-shirts and sewing them into tank tops, using ideas from the book “Generation T” by Megan Nicolay. I also cut up an old pair of jeans into panels for a flirty skirt with a sweetly scalloped hem and a feisty exposed zipper.

You better believe I laughed maniacally with every single finished project. Mountains seem a lot smaller from the top.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Sometimes I think my friend Heather might shop online for orphans like most women shop for shoes.

And that’s not a bad thing.

She and I became friends while she and her husband Scott were in the process of adopting Whitman. Her big heart made impression on me as she talked about that little boy. From the moment she saw his picture, with the cleft palate and the enormous smile, he was her son.

He’s been an official part of their family for over two years now. After several surgeries, his cleft palate is closed and he’s speaking more and more clearly. While he’s learning English he also has speech therapy homework like learning to drink through a straw or annunciating phrases like “Zip my zipper, please!” He still has the same enormous smile.

Next month Scott and Heather are adopting their second boy from China. His name is Jamison, he’s eleven, and has a pretty tragic story. The Christophers tell it better than I can, at bringjamisonhome.com.

Jamison finally gets to come home next month. And I’m going along as Heather’s travel companion. We’ll be spending two weeks in China, near Beijing at the Philip Hayden Foundation, in Guangzhou, and in Fuzhou. Our hotels are as luxurious as anything I’ve ever seen on TV. I will absolutely post pictures here.

I am so honored to go, and excited, and nervous. And it still doesn’t seem real. We won’t have much time for sightseeing, but if I see any fabric or yarn stores, Heather already knows I’ll insist on ducking in. Does anyone know of anything else we shouldn’t miss while we’re there? I’d love to hear your China travel advice.

Hunting Season

As long as I can remember, bugs have given me the creeps. Just like any kid, I know. But I’m a grown woman. Seeing a spider still makes me shriek and jump. I spot an insect on the ceiling from the corner of my eye and the world stops till I find a shoe and a chair.

Recently I’ve made peace with spiders. Something about my enemy’s enemy being my friend. But there is one species I cannot tolerate.

And they infest my house.

Wolf spiders are hunters. They don’t make polite webs in hidden corners. They run fast and grow big—four inches long is not uncommon. I’m pretty sure that the racing stripes running down their torsos give them super speed. They scurry around on long legs, but when I come into the room they freeze and glare at me. Wolf spiders are not afraid of anything. See for yourself. The picture makes my stomach turn (enlarge it if you dare).



Every spring I declare open season on Wolf spiders. Judging by incidents over the weekend, this year will be no different.

So look out, invaders: The hunter is now the hunted.