I'm back from the apron exhibit. It is at the Women's Museum in Fair Park...a really cool little museum I didn't even know existed. The exhibit is called The Apron Chronicles and you can see more about that here: http://www.apronchronicles.com/index.html

It was actually quite interesting. A lady who decided to write an article about aprons and bought some vintage ones for her story started thinking about the people who wore the aprons. What their stories were, what hardships and joys were in their lives...and she started going around the country talking to people about aprons. The exhibit was more photos and stories than actual aprons, although there were plenty of aprons hung on clothes' lines over our heads. The photos depicted women, men, and/or children wearing aprons or people of either gender and any age with nary an apron in sight. Next to each photo was a story in the subject's own words. Each "apron chronicle" told about a memory or current experience involving one or more aprons. The photos were uncoached and done without studio lighting or settings. Usually the photos were taken in or near the subject's home. The most surprising photo was of a woman standing in her kitchen, wearing a cream-colored sheer waist apron with holly and berries along the bottom and nothing else, holding a pie in front of her. I read her story with interest, wondering why she was bare-breasted. Towards the end I found out: she owns three aprons and this one is her favorite. Every Saturday morning she gets up early and bakes a pie in the nude, wearing only this apron. She finds harmony and freedom in baking pies...and I guess she finds the same thing in being nude and in wearing that apron.

I can't even begin to imagine what Corey would think if I got up early every Saturday and baked a pie in the nude wearing a sheer Christmas apron. The thought of that cracks me up. So hey, if it makes her happy, more power to her...and whoever she is, I thank her for sharing a ritual that made me laugh out loud at the thought.

I think I will see if Mom is interested in seeing the exhibit. There was also a clothes line with notecards attached where visitors could record and leave in the exhibit their own apron chronicles. Mom has told me often of the memories she has of her grandma's aprons.

My sock. Here it is today.


I've had to unknit and rework a few rows because if I try to do this while watching TV, I sometimes get lulled into doing the first part of the pattern too many times. (The pattern is four rows the same, then two that are different, then back to the four rows that are the same, etc.) I think with a pattern like this, I may just have to do baby hats while watching shows I get engrossed in..I can knit baby hats in my sleep. Finished one of those on the way back from the apron museum, in fact.