Nothing to report
No, no I don't have anything to talk about right now.
All I have been working on are two super-secret projects. One is about half-done and has a looming deadline. The other is... ten percent? I think? It's big. And time-consuming. And Secret. And so gorgeous that I really, really want to take pictures and show them off, but I can't. Why, yes, I do plan to taunt you all until the holidays. Or until the project is finished and I can move on to something else.
The smaller one should be done sometime in the next week, and then I can both a)start on something that I can discuss, and b)wait until the recipient sees it and then post pictures here.
Well, I guess the other thing I have been doing is altering some shirts for a fellow fencer. I'm down to the last one at this point, but it's a bit more time-consuming than the first three were. Not much, just this is the only one that I have had to mess with the hem instead of just making the darts bigger.
Actually, that might be kind-of interesting to write up. Anyone interested in learning how to alter shirts?
Wrong Tree
I think I have been asking the wrong questions regarding my hobbies. This whole time I have been concerned with which ones I enjoy most, and trying to carve out time for those from the rest of my schedule. That question really has no answer. I think I need to start asking what I want to accomplish with them, not individually but as a whole. What do I want to do with myself? My hobbies are all things that make me less dependent on others, except fencing. Knitting, sewing, baking, and gardening are all activities that produce (or can produce) necessary objects: clothing and food. Writing is a bit trickier, but it does provide me with entertainment. Fencing dose give me focus when it comes to fitness, which I cannot manage on my own. Exercise for the sake of exercise is not really my thing. Looking at my hobbies in that light, I am not doing too badly. This last month has demanded a lot of work in the "garden", so I have had less time to spend on writing, knitting, and sewing. Things in the garden are about to slow down now that most everything is planted, so I will have more time to focus on writing for the rest of the month. All we have is time, and as long as I am using mine in at least one way that I enjoy, I will try not to feel too frustrated (why no, my script is not going very well!). This is also going to have to change how I look at sewing plans, come to think of it. Last week, I actually had to purchase a pair of pants because I put off making them for too long and had a pair die on me. I needed a pair for work more quickly than I would be able to make them, so off to the mall I went. In the future, I need to look at sewing the way I do baking: plan ahead and make time, and make sure the ingredients are on-hand early. Er, materials. Whatever. Meaning, I need to go buy some black pant fabric sooner rather than later, so i can replace my black pin-stripe pants before they fall apart. Working this out has made me feel better about the whole situation. Hurray for early-morning epiphanies before tea! Also, garden pictures!  Chives and potential carrots  Giant Italian Parsley  Spinach This is what is out so far. I have my pepper plant still inside for at least another two weeks, depending on weather, and the basil is too tiny to think about going outside yet.
With my head cut off
Posted by Elizabeth on 04-03-2010 at 10:28 am When did I become such a busy person? Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons (when I'm not working) are fencing practice, Wednesdays are write-ins, and there is usually a movie night sometime during the week. Last night was the Script Frenzy kick-off, and we have another write-in for that on Saturday afternoon/evening now. In about half an hour, we're going to get haircuts, then it is off to the mall or grocery store, haven't decided which yet. This Sunday I'm apparently attending a bar-b-que hosted by one of Husband's friends/coworkers, and next Saturday is given over entirely to our once-monthly D&D game. In between all that, I have been trying to write, bake, garden, knit, sew, and spin.
I hate to say it, but I think I am going to have to start giving up on hobbies. Spinning is the one I am least infatuated with (I like it, don't get me wrong, but it won't ever be an all-consuming passion), so I think after I finish the fiber I am spinning now, that one is done. Sewing is on hold for a bit. I need clothing a bit more quickly than I am able to make it, so I am actually going to buy some this weekend. Just a pair of pants, but I had a pair die this week and it is leaving a gaping hole in my wardrobe. My closet is not particularly full, so when something dies it needs to be replaced.
Baking at the moment is largely limited to quick breads and muffins, anyway. Experiments will wait until after April (and the Script). I think do I need to defrost that pumpkin puree this week for breakfast muffins and something to take to the gaming group.
I am only knitting on one thing right now. Shocking, I know, but I only have two things on the needles at all, and one is the Sock Yarn Blanket, a v-e-r-y long-term project. The other is a pair of socks for the Husband, which might as well be called a long-term project. I am about halfway through the foot on the second sock (toe-up, so I have the heel and cuff yet to go). After that, I think I will start on my mother's birthday/Christmas present (depends on when it gets done, her birthday is early November). I have to find the right kind of lace weight for it, though.
That is what is going on, and that is probably enough of a ramble for a Saturday morning. The script is going relatively well; I have not really done anything yet today but I am caught up for yesterday. Today will be mostly outlines and character notes, which will actually end up in the final game. I think that means I can count it for my page count.
Mistakes were made
Sometimes things are just so bad that they can't be fixed. I have been working on a vest on and off for about two years. Yes, I know that's sad. It's just a vest. Doesn't matter. The fabric is kind of a pain to work with, the pattern is not really working for me, and I don't know that I can make it work. So far, I have tried the following: - Shortening the pattern, which (mostly) put darts in the right place but made the vest too short overall
- Adding the same amount in length to the bottom that I took out of the middle, which made the bottom too small around
- letting the darts in the back out to add some width, which made the back hang funny
And, I decided to change fasteners from a zipper to buttons partway through the whole debacle, so I have to add a placket to the front to deal with the inevitable gap. I also want to change the neckline from a v to either a deeper v (sits below the bust) or a scoop-neck. This is just too much work for a vest in fabric that I don't even like that much anymore. I really hate giving up on projects entirely, but at this point, I don't think it will ever reach "wearable". It will just continue to hang, part-finished, in my closet until I get tired of it and throw the whole thing away. Or, I could skip right to that step and get rid of it now. Done.
Slow Going
I have spent the better part of the last week working on a new shirt. Yesterday, I got it done down to the hand-work. Hand-work, though, is a bit extensive when one's sewing machine does not do buttonholes. I'm getting better at them, mostly through practice but also because I picked up a sewing book from the 1950's about a month ago. It actually has directions and decent illustrations for doing several kinds of hand-sewn buttonholes. Knowing how to do them properly, however, does not really decrease the amount of time spent on the actual sewing. It might have made it longer, in fact, because proper buttonholes have three passes of stitching. So, three movies later, I have a shirt! It looks better on me than it does on the duct-tape dummy, I swear. The shirt is a combination of pieces from Simplicity 3684. Just as a heads-up, if anyone out there wants to try making this pattern: The cuffs for View A, Size 24 (the size shown above) are about four inches too big, and the sleeves are really longer than I would have liked. The original intention was to have a long-sleeved shirt. As you can see, it did not happen. I ended up cutting about seven inches off the sleeves and cut the cuffs down to an inch-and-a-half wide band, which sits just below my elbows. I will probably make the pattern again, but at this point (having added darts in the front and deepened the bust darts and mangled the heck out of the sleeve) it does not much resemble the original pattern. Side note: For being a movie about a deranged biker gang, Mad Max is really slow.
In the Silence
Posted by Elizabeth on 02-01-2010 at 11:30 am Oh, do I have Things to show you. I finished lots of Things last week.
Unfortunately, I am also in the process of upgrading my operating system on my one-and-only computer, so I don't want to do too much regarding adding files (like pictures) a the moment, lest they not get backed up with everything else and then accidentally lost.
So, once the dust settles on the Shiny New OS, I will post pictures of at least two things, and maybe a post about what I don't usually post about. We'll see.
First FO of 2010!
They're done! My Vinnland socks are finished! The yarn is Oak Grove Studio Gems Pearl Sock, in Tumbleweed. These have been on the needles since August, and I am quite pleased to have them done. The last sock was done this week at work, pretty much entirely, excepting three rows I knit at the hair salon waiting for my turn in the chair, and the toe, which I finished after work today. I am very happy with these socks. The yarn was lovely to work with. The sheen on it is just lovely, and the colors are gorgeous, too. The chart for the pattern was easy to read and easier to memorize, and the socks stay up very well. I'll keep you posted on how well the yarn wears. The other thing I finished today (yes, it's that kind of day, I guess) was a project bag for, of all things, socks. And whatever other projects are small enough to fit in there, I suppose, but socks are what I had in mind.  |  Over Thanksgiving, my Mother-in-Law and her mother took me around to a few of the specialty quilting stores around the area of Pennsylvania that we were in. I came back with eight flat-quarters and a yard of vintage fabric, without much of a plan for any of it. One of the quarters got turned into a new wallet, and five more are going to become an apron. I was at a loss as to what to do with these other two, though, aside from that they went well together. Then I had problems getting the small tote bag containing my sock project into my book bag to take to work, and a plan was born. The pattern is something I drew up on my own, though it is definitely not anything new design-wise. Just a regular drawstring bag, with a ribbon handle in the back. It is entirely hand-sewn, mostly in the evenings, both because I wanted to get some practice hand-piecing for quilting (that's another whole story, that I won't get into today) and because getting to my sewing machine is a bit difficult right now. This was done pretty much this week, too, in the evenings after dinner and then finished up today so I could take my sock to work in it one time before the project was done. I need to refine the pattern a bit, and then I might be putting it online. I have not decided if it will be free, or a couple of dollars to download or not. Again, I'll keep you posted. ...and that pretty much sums up my week, actually.
Quick Rant
Posted by Elizabeth on 01-14-2010 at 12:14 pm So, I have this grey, store-bought sweater with a shawl collar. When I went to put it on one day last winter, a stitch in the seam that was holding the collar to the sweater popped, so I quit wearing the sweater until I had time to repair it. Well, I would like to be able to wear the sweater again, and I have a day off work, so I thought I would pull it out of my mending basket and see what needed to be done to fix the collar.
It turns out that I have not one, not two, but three unfinished edges that were held together with one string, and they weren't sewn together, they were crocheted together. So now I have three raw edges that are trying to unravel, and no good way to keep the rest of the seam from pulling out. I have most of the live stitches on needles now, but every time I try to figure out how to put them all back together, more come loose.
Why, why, why do clothing manufacturers seem to go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible to repair this stuff? I understand the need to have people buy more clothes, but seriously. I could take two unfinished edges, but three is outside of enough. And sewn clothing isn't any better. Try altering a cheap prom dress sometime! The seams are put together in such a way that taking them in is impossible to do without opening things up along other seams that then have to be re-sewn by hand.
Grr. It would be much less frustrating to just finish the sweater I'm knitting than to keep working on this one. At least the construction there makes sense.
The grey sweater is going back into the mending basket until I decide whether it's even worth the trouble. Maybe I'll try fixing that fitted sheet with the broken elastic instead.
Post-Holiday Post
Generally, after the holidays, there is a big post about all the things we couldn't talk about before the holidays. This post won't be particularly large, because I honestly did not do that much from scratch this year. My husband was the only one who got anything hand-knit. I knit him a pair of Knucks out of Classic Elite Fresco. Despite lengthening the fingers significantly, I only used one skein for the pair. Of course, I bought two, so now I have one that I don't have a particular use for. He's excited about them. I did sew a couple of tote bags for my mother-in-law and my sister, but that was it, and I did not manage to get any pictures of any of it. As far gifts received, the only craft-related one was from my in-laws, who got me two skeins of sport-weight alpaca from Missouri Alpacas. I'm excited. It totals 400 yards, which is enough, I think, to make a pair of lace cuffs and a cowl. The cuffs first, probably, because I have a pattern in mind for those, and then I can make the cowl from what is left-over. That last photo, incidentally, is taken on top of the gift I was most excited about. My parents had a cedar chest commissioned for me from one of the Mennonites that lives down by them, and they brought it up just before Christmas. Very cool. It is the best piece of furniture we own. I would show you a full picture, but the Husband and I have both been sick for the last few days, so it's covered in books and coasters and mugs and other detritus that has collected due to its proximity to the couch. So, that's how the holidays went for us this year. Happy New Year, everyone!
2008 re-cap
Posted by Elizabeth on 01-01-2009 at 11:56 pm Happy New Year! Another year is gone. Most of what has gone on this year has been knitting, despite my hands falling apart in July. The 2008 Project Inventory is mostly up-to-date, if anyone wants to see what has been done this year. The last of this year's projects are the finished(!) Ravenclaw Harry Potter Prisoner of Azkaban scarf, which was my husband's Christmas present: I knit a washcloth for my mother, to go with the bath set that was the rest of her Christmas present but did not get a picture before I left it with her in Texas. The last item was a knitted doll, mostly made from this pattern, but scaled down by half, except for the legs, which prove that I should not do math at 11:00 at night, since they are too big. I would post a picture, but she has no clothing yet and that might be a bit indecent. Also, according to some more 11:00 pm math, I have figured out that I knit around 4,000 yards of yarn in 2008 that ended up in finished projects. Just so you know. For trivia's sake. I have learned that I need to take better care of myself next year. I have learned that nicer yarns really are worth the expense, for the most part (I know, duh, but I have not ever had much of a yarn budget to work with). I also learned that I can have too much yarn if I am not careful. I learned that I like not having eight million projects going at one time. I also learned that what is an amusing and useful hobby is not always the best choice for a job. I finally have started to write again, after a several-year-long hiatus. My novel from this year's NaNoWriMo is not good, but it is finished, and there is definitely something to be said for that. I am making attempts to keep up with writing now that I have started again, as well. Tomorrow I will be posting about what I have planned for 2009, and posting an update on the projects that have spilled over into another year.
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