|
|
A tribute to the famous number ten of my youth... |
What I didn't mention in that post was the fact that my dad was
responsible for my becoming a rabid hockey fan during those halcyon days
of the 1970s.
In April of 1973, I must have crossed in front of the TV too many times
while my dad was trying to follow a playoff game. He asked me to sit down
and watch and said that maybe I'd like it. (Not that it was my first
introduction to our national obsession; I'd had a casual interest in
hockey ever since I learned how to skate.) He asked me which team I wanted
to win and — in my simple juvenile way — I declared that of course, I had
to cheer for Montreal because they were from Canada. Little did I know at
the time that most teams from that era — regardless of which American city
they represented — consisted mainly of Canadian players.
|
| Skinny single fat quarter scarf... |
What I also didn't know at the time was that my dad had a preference for
the other team on the ice. Luckily for me, he didn't exert any
influence to get me to change my allegiance. That would have been a bummer
since the Buffalo Sabres have still never won a championship and
quite frankly, have arguably never been as good as they were back in the
1970s.
Call it fate, call it destiny, and certainly call it the luck of having
been born at the right time, but almost fifty years on, I am
so thankful that I picked the right team to cheer for. Not only did
Montreal win the Stanley Cup the following month, they would go on to win
four more times before the decade was out. During those years, I followed
the team — and hockey in general — like it was my religion. Any fan old
enough to remember those Montreal Canadiens understands how special
and unique that period was. That was clearly evident in the outpouring of
emotions that followed after we lost the heart and soul of that team to
cancer this April.
For those who actually saw Guy Lafleur play, it suddenly hit home that
they belonged to a privileged and enormously fortunate group of fans.
In the days following, I felt the need to have something tangible as a
memento. (Aside from memorabilia that I still had from the 1970s.) In the
immediate aftermath, I made a
hanging "door plate"
with an actual number ten on it.
|
| Fabrics to commemorate Lafleur... |
In my heart of hearts, however, I was really wanting something wearable.
Something that would be instantly identifiable, that would communicate
to like-minded others that I am part of that cohort.
Out of curiosity, I visited the NHL's online shop and found a lot of
overpriced gear there. While the merchandise was official, it seemed
crazy stupid — to me, anyway — to spend that kind of money on t-shirts
and stuff that frankly didn't even look all that great. (The lowest
price point that I found was a pair of socks selling for $22.99.)
One of the main reasons I've lapsed as a hockey fan over the past thirty
years is the blatant and rampant monetization of everything related to
the sport. The sheer passion and quintessential love of the game that
used to be so honestly front and foremost is missing from today's
version of professional hockey. With the in-person experience now being
ruined by eardrum-splitting techno music and an incomprehensible desire
for noise for the sake of noise, it doesn't help the cause that the
on-ice product in this salary cap age is slowly being eroded by
questionable officiating and momentum-sucking video reviews.
I guess you didn't figure on getting a sports editorial when you stopped
by today, did ya??
Anyway, enough background. If you're still reading — and I would totally
get it if you tuned out many paragraphs ago — the actual subject of
today's post is the Spoonflower fabric that I eventually designed
and how the creative process restored me.
|
| This is actually an amalgamation of two separate designs originally created for a banner... |
By late May, I knew that I wasn't ever going to buy any
official merch. High prices notwithstanding, none of it appealed to
me; the designs were boring beyond belief. Instead, I looked up the colour
codes for the Canadiens' particular shades of red and blue and
opened up my trusty
Paint Shop Pro, determined to channel my feelings into some original designs.
My first idea was to create a print that would translate well into a
statement scarf. I was quite happy with how my
skinny single fat quarter scarf
worked out last Christmas and wanted to make another, also meant to be
given away as a gift to a special person.
|
| An inexpensive option for a scarf... |
The basic design features large white lettering on an alternating blue and
red background, with coordinating flower and number "10" embellishments.
(Lafleur
of course, means "the flower" in English.)
|
| Making my own "merch"... |
In terms of the sewing, this time I only zig-zagged the white area and the
two ends. For the straight edges, I used a regular straight stitch. (Doing
a prolonged zig-zag stitch is hard on the sewing machine, not to mention
that it also uses a lot of thread.) The fleece does not fray, so it really
doesn't matter what stitch is used.
|
| Preserving an autograph... |
[Aside: I've said many times here that Spoonflower fabric is
perfect for preserving personal memories like handwritten notes, recipes,
doodles. You don't have to be artistically inclined to upload a simple
scan of something and have it be preserved for posterity. What's more, if
your piece is small enough to fit on an 8" x 8" swatch, it'll only cost
you five bucks.]
For my own scarf, I used both of the other fat quarters shown, cutting
them in half and arranging them to get this look...
|
| Two fat quarters to make a 9" wide scarf... |
This time, I aligned the larger part of the white border at the ends to
allow the addition of a short fringe. The two fat quarters produced a
scarf with a more substantial girth, but the overall length is still about
59".
Since the fleece material has a bit of weight and heft, the scarf can
actually be worn with one or the other side showing (i.e., it's
reversible), or one of each if twisted in the back.
|
| The two designs create a reversible scarf... |
A statement piece is generally defined as the first thing that someone
notices about your ensemble. I'll have to wait until cooler weather
to see how well this scarf performs in that sense, but I get the feeling
it might spark some discussion.
I will say for certain, however, that the whole process of creating this —
the designing part on the computer and the cutting and sewing of the
actual scarves — was a meaningful journey in itself. I've heard various
people say that they don't have a creative bone in their body. The real
story might be that they've never felt the need to be creative, but we all
have the capacity.
I also believe harnessing one's creativity is an effective way to heal and
re-energize one's spirit.
Some folks say they can't understand how the death of someone whom you really don't know can affect you so deeply.
I don't claim to have the full explanation, but in my case, it has to do
with those tenuous ties to the past. I think we retain a connection to our
younger selves — to essential innocence, to family, to safety (for those
of us who were fortunate enough to have all of that) — as long as the
people who played starring roles in our stories are alive. When the
important people of our youth die, little bits of ourselves crumble into
dust right along with them, snapping the threads that connect us to days
gone by.
|
| It's indeed a statement scarf... |
Immersed in various 1970s era hockey videos recently, I've been transported back to truly simple times. More significantly, I've also revisited that day in April 1973 when my dad told me to sit down and watch. Who would have figured that it would be such a seminal moment, leading to a decade of spectacular memories that I feel privileged to have?
To take it further, who would have figured that just short of fifty years
down the road — because of that moment — I would end up writing about
making a scarf with Guy Lafleur's name on it?
In truth, it's so utterly bizarre, it can only be destiny.
'Til next...
No comments:
Post a Comment
You have the power to brighten my day. Leave me a comment; I'd love to hear your thoughts... you can even remain ANONYMOUS! And rest assured that I acknowledge all comments, either here or via email. (That is, if you don't see a response from me here, I would have responded privately to the person.) Spam or generic comments with unrelated links, however, are promptly removed... and I may take appropriate action or report you to Google. Thanks for reading! (✿◠‿◠)