Linen and things

Yesterday Claire and I ended up going to Olympia and we found our way, as usual, over to Canvas Works. I wanted to look for some Zakka-esque buttons and Canvas Works has a nice selection of buttons made of natural materials (antler, wood, shell). I found some nice buttons and toggles and other notions and sent some in a felt care package of sorts to SweetB. I also took a little time to look at their selection of linen. What a beautiful fabric. I was reading the Wikipedia entry on linen this morning and found some very interesting information there. Essentially, I found the answer to the question, "What is the difference between the $20/yd linen at Canvas Works and the $8/yd (purchased for an additional 40% off) at Jo-Ann?" And the answer is that there is an extraordinary difference between the two.

In the end I purchased one yard of the $20 linen and two yards of the $8 linen. And I will tell you that the $20 linen is worth every penny. This fabric has a cool soft feel; the hand is not coarse even though the fabric has a rustic textured appearance. The threads are tightly woven but the fabric is not heavy or stiff, yet it feels strong enough to have been woven out of a metal fillament. The $8 linen is heavier, thicker and the threads used to weave the fabric are coarser. The $8 linen is a fine fabric for making utilitarian objects like fabric baskets or room shoes but if I was to make something that would be next to my skin, I would definitely choose the $20 linen. Maybe after I perfect my shirt pattern in sewing class I'll think about making one out of linen.

I also found an apron at Target that has this pretty zakka-esque fabric (pardon the wrinkles it just came out of the dryer). The apron was on clearance and there were dish towels too which I should have purchased. I seem to have an obsession with orange and green in the kitchen. I have two great orange Dansk cooking pots and an uber-cool, green dutch oven from IKEA. And it is better to not go in to how many sets of green dishes I have, suffice it to say that I have a green for every season.

Well, Claire is ready to head out to the library and then do some acorn hunting. I had better call it quits here at the computer.