Joanne's Fantasies

There's a Joanne's at the El Cerrito Plaza now. I am in no position to start throwing around money at Joanne's, but since it opened I have gone several times just to browse through the aisles and read the magazines. Browsing at Joanne's is fun.

(Apropos of nothing, I recall being at a shul weekend getaway where the attendees were firmly asked by our beloved rabbi at Shabbos breakfast not to buy anything while we were rambling through the pretty wine country town the retreat took place in. "Window shopping is also fun," commented the visiting rabbi. "No," our rabbi insisted, "they can't even buy a window on Shabbat.")

Anyway, Joanne's.

First, they have fabric, and this fills me with fascination. I learned to sew a little while I was still doing SCA stuff, and now I fantasize about making Halloween costumes and little outfits for my hypothetical children. When I was little, my grandma would make me Halloween costumes and school clothes on an old black Singer, one of the beautiful ones with the scrollwork. I remember being a witch one year. I wanted to be a yellow witch, she insisted on traditional black, and somehow we compromised on a black hat and cloak over a yellow dress with a yellow cloak lining. I was a princess in pale blue another year. And I remember, for some reason, a pair of skirts in corduroy, one tan and one dark blue, that I loved. I think they were originally jumpers, and then I threw a fit about wearing jumpers, and my grandma modified them to be skirts. I can't believe I did that--or that she did that. I was a much-indulged little kid. She knitted me sweaters. SWEATERS, already, with fancy buttons.

I doubt I will ever be that skillful, but I can fantasize about making the kids little outfits and costumes. I also fantasize about quilting. I bet I could learn to quilt--it looks time-consuming, but not that hard.

They have yarn, and beads like you wouldn't believe, and books about how to make just about anything on earth. All kinds of crafty craziness. The one thing I really wish they had more of was a wider variety of needlepoint kits. I like needlepoint. Not cross-stitch, needlepoint. The thing is, I really don't need that many pillows showing flowers and Japanese ladies. Need to find good needlepoint kit sources. Or learn to paint my own canvases.

Somehow I doubt that I will ever really learn to knit, though. My grandma worked on me with that, but I'm left-handed, and somehow we never really figured it out. But quilting...yeah. Quilting. And little Halloween costumes.