Wednesday's Jewelry Night

This is my first Wednesday without jewelry class. Even though I used to eat a frozen dinner in the car on the way to class (there was a good red light at Eagle), this class used to relax me. I would work myself into a tizzy to get there, but once I started working with my hands all my troubles would fade. The camaraderie was a bonus. I really enjoyed (most of) those women.

Pictured is the wire wrap donut necklace that I made last week. I went on a bit of a donut buying frenzy and now I have about 10 donuts to wrap.

This is a crap scan. I guess the dimension lent itself to blur. Please come to my house and find my camera--I haven't seen it since October 18th, and I have no idea where it could be.

This necklace features a gray iridescent donut. You can see the colors I originally thought of matching with it (green, blue, pink). Pink we thought was too 80s--not that there's anything wrong with the 80s, it was a really good decade for hair make-up clothes music me. Instead, I paired it with seed beads that were clear with some iridescence, some moon beads (hanging), a chalcedony disk, and a cute periwinkle bead. You can see my attempts at wire wrapping at the top of the donut and on the chalcedony. I had some trouble with the spiral and as I swore, people were laughing. I told them after five weeks I started coming out of my shell. Someone said, "remember that demure necklace she made the first week?" Demure, that's always a word people use to describe me.

Ah...memories.

Applique VI

I still can't find the camera, so I scanned the placemat, which is too big for the scanner. You'll just have to imagine that it is octagonal. Maybe when we find the camera (where? ideas welcome...) I can take a photo of them in situ so you can see how really adorable they are. And that little pucker that is all you can see in this scan hardly shows irl. It's weird but the stripey white fabric shows through the plain red cherry in the scan. The fabric is sort of mottled red on red. No stripes. I started cutting out the Amy Butler Frenchy Bag that I am making (and should I be offended that it's "Frenchy"? Or does she mean the character from Grease?) I am making it for one or another of my aunts (two would like it) from gold and royal blue toile that features chickens. I still plan to undertake the overnight bag, don't worry!

And They are Out of Here

Wow. What a momentous day! When I woke up, the Sox had won, my mother has a free dining room table, and the fil and his gf won't be there when we get back! Frabjous day!

If you want to read a bit about what we did this weekend, you can see it here. The gf seemed to get better, and she does do so much to lead my hapless fil around, but then on Saturday night she said the most vile thing and it made me wonder if she has some sort of "brain injury" that prevents her from filtering what she says. But then she tried to gently suggest to the fil that he might not see so much of us when we are on our trip to England, having just spent all this time with him. He doesn't get it, but she seems to. So confusing. But they are gone now and we should put the past away.

Thanks to all for your encouragement about finishing the stocking. (I think I can; I think I can; IthinkIcan...) I have lots of things to show you...if I could just find the camera. Soon, my pretties, soon.

Facing Facts

I suddenly realized on the way into work today that I need to have the Shepherd's Bush stockings completed by Saturday for the LNS's finishing deadline. Saturday is also the only day I will be able to pick up the concord pearl cotton to finish that patch on the angel's dress. I don't think my FIL will be thrilled to go out to Chadds Ford (I knew we should have waited to go to the Brandywine River Museum!) and sit in the parking lot while I finish the stocking. And then it hit me:

I'm going to have to finish the stockings on my own.

I think it's going to be okay. I went and found these instructions (pdf) and these. (Because you can never have too many instructions when you are attempting something for the first time.)

I have to stop thinking of myself as the person I was in 6th grade when I sewed a jagged circle inside a rectangle for home ec. I have to believe I am a person who appliqued a cherry.

Applique V

I am almost done with the placemats. Last night, I was able to finish the applique (one looks like practice and the other is brilliant) and sew up to the point where I turned it. Now I just need to do some hand sewing and add a spot of quilting! I should finish that next week. I'll do the photo then, because they aren't going to look much different.

Then we're going to make a pocketbook. I think after that (shouldn't take too long) the instructor and I are going to make Amy Butler's weekender travel bag together. That's the plan anyway.

I'm starting to have a new-found respect for the GF. Last night, as they were packing to go to DC, I actually heard her say this sentence: "That's not my sweater; those are your underpants." I can't even imagine the circumstances under which that would need to be said. The dude says his father is a dufus (he's a brilliant former classics professor, but he can't get himself across the street without help). I think the dude finds it a little wearing to be with his father, but the older his father gets the more time he wants to spend with his son. (For example, this trip here, now. The dude and I are going to England in December. FIL wants the dude to go back in the summer.) I suspect he wants to make up for the time he was being a brilliant classics professor and ignoring his family, but he's not the only one who gets to make that decision... Or maybe not. I just don't get the English. I sit quietly by and observe, but I am so steeped in my own tradition, I find it difficult to offer other interpretations of their behavior...

Maybe it's not so bad...

This morning we returned the rental car--thanks Kathryn, that was a GREAT idea. Do you really want a recap of the weekend? Oh, all right.

On Saturday, we picked up the car and went off to Lancaster. We went to the Amish Farm and House. When we pulled into the Target parking lot, I thought this was going to be the worst tourist trap ever, but we learned a lot of interesting stuff about the AIM-ish as FIL and GF are calling them. Thought GF, judgmental as she is, finds the AIM-ish's changing lifestyle and renegotiation of the world around them to be...hypocritical. Yes, that's the word I often think of when I think of the Amish. We planned to go to the Central Market for lunch but it was 1/2 hour from closing by the time we got there, so we ate at a nearby restaurant which everyone seemed to enjoy. Then we went to Wheatland, home of Pennsylvania's only president, our only bachelor president, James Buchanan. (DD, I am so sorry your tour of Lancaster was so crappy, esp, since you love presidential-alia.) Then we drove around in the fading sunset looking at Amish farms before going to Good 'N Plenty for three helpings of buttered noodles dinner. Oh, but first, after lunch, we had to pull over to McDonalds so FIL could fight his IBS. While we were waiting, the GF starts talking about FIL's heart condition. She turns to the dude, the kindest most concerned person in the world, and says, "Were you at all concerned when your father [found out about his heart condition]?" I almost lept across the table and slapped some sense into her. What a malicious thing to say! She was on a roll, though, because at dinner she asked me, "How do you justify that [third helping of buttered noodles] on Weight Watchers?" I just said, "I don't" and then watched her eat two pieces of shoo-fly pie, two helpings of tapioca pudding, and a small scoop of ice cream. What is her problem?

On Sunday, I hightailed it over to Joann's because they had flannel on sale for $2/yard, and I picked out some cute stuff to make a rag quilt for my niece (photo at a later date). On the way out the door I told the dude he should have a plan to leave when I arrived. We shepherded everyone in the car to go to Valley Forge and we were trying to decide how to fit lunch in. There's nowhere to eat near VF, and we couldn't eat first because they had just finished breakfast (11:00). So the dude decides we should go to the Brandywine River Museum, even after I said I didn't want to go back there--it's a really small museum, and I've been there 5 times in the past two years. Six. But I did forgive him for two reasons. First, 90 year old Andrew Wyeth has a new (2007) painting in the gallery. Stunning! Worth the trip. And secondly, lunch there was cheap and fantastic. (I know, at an art museum!) Then we went to VF and walked a bit and rode a bit and hung out with deer a bit (seriously, they were so intent on the acorns, they didn't really care about us). Then my cousin invited us over for dinner, thank the baby lord jebus.

When we arrived, I walked in first, and my cousin's husband pulled me inside and asked what I wanted to drink. The next thing I knew I had a Manhattan, and things got better from there. It was weird because I tried to see the GF from their POV. And she's not really that bad. The dogs loved her (makes you think) and she liked them. She was genuinely interested in everyone. She hugged my sister goodbye. (She doesn't hug me.) It was crazy. So I'm trying to figure out if she's really okay, or if she's only nice to people who aren't related to my FIL....

PS--Alison, you did tell me three skeins of Concord but #1, I'd already bought only two and #2, I sort of doubted you since I had done the other stocking with only one skein of chablis. Sorry about that.

Good News/Bad News

Good news: they're heading back to Boston! (It's very important that the Red Sox win the World Series. My mom has a dining room table riding on it.)
Bad news: my FIL and his icky girlfriend arrive tonight. I am by nature sort of moody, and I'm in a mood. I don't know if it is caused by the imminent arrival, or if I just happen to be in a low as they approach. I need to buck up! Smiles on!

Good news: we are required to blow off work today to attend the opening of a new building.
Bad news: looks like rain, thunderstorms forecast.

Good news: Jillian's stocking is almost done.
Bad news: ran out of Concord.

Good news: I will be able to take a photo of Jillian's stocking tomorrow.
Bad news: Another trip to Lancaster is predicted; I have no idea when I'll be able to upload said photo.

Have a good weekend. No don't go. Don't leave me here by myself. Help me; help me!

Twisted Beads

This is my self-portrait wearing the new twisted bead rope that I made last night. The colors didn't show up so well--the outer layer of beads are called "matte khaki iris." They are a bit iridescent and vary from gold to green to pink to light purple. The center beads are matte cola. One woman said she wanted me to pick her beads but then said they'd end up matching the things I wear instead of her clothes. AS.IF. Apparently she has a complete lack of imagination, or thinks I do. And just because I've been singing everyone's praises (women! community! love! flowers!) last night a woman was picking colors for a second bracelet. She had these bright blue and clear beads that she was going to put with this autumn mix and some sandy transparent daggers. The autumn mix didn't really go. And the blue was not right.

"I like those daggers," I said.
"But you don't like the blue beads," she said.
[Nose crinkle] "Not really."
"Well, lucky it's not for you!" she shouts.
[Um, hello?]
She continued to explain that she was trying to get a "beachy" feel. She was on the right track with the daggers, but the blue was too aqua, which may seem ironic when a person is trying to represent water but they just weren't right. Anyway, she changed the browns, which made things better, but still it's not for me!

Gold Stone and Agate

This is the knotted bead necklace from last week. The shop owner said that I knotted better than she did. Well, as I said, I suddenly was aiming for perfection in an unbelievably uncharacteristic move. Matches the outfit I wore to work yesterday very nicely. May have to keep it for myself!

(And man, one should not photograph a 41-year-old neck from below. All those people who think I look 29 should totally see this picture before they guess my age! Also, how did I not notice the giant chin the camera angle delivers? You are so lucky I want to show you this necklace...)

Waddya Know?

I make someone smile.

Here are some of the people who make me smile. (More people who make me smile were already given the award and I tried to avoid duplication.) Now they have to pass it on to ten people that make them smile.

Michelle at Cozy Egg
Glenna at Eye of the Needle
Carol at Garden of Stitches
X2 at Hip to be Squared
Cathy at It will be Funny Tomorrow (It will!)
Lee at Lake Stitcher
Adrienne at Martini Made (and sometimes she makes me think!)
Melissa at Musings from a Three Bedroom Ranch
amy! at Needles and Hooks
Jo at Needleworker not in Paradise

Here's the thing about this. It's nice and all, but it's really just a chain letter, isn't it? Only if I don't pass it on I won't lose my job, no body parts will fall off, and no one I love will die. It's got a yellow flower and that makes it all seem so happy and unchainletter-like. I'm not forcing anyone to pass it on today--that should make you smile.

Applique IV

Thanks for all the birthday wishes. Very kind of you.

I've got nothing to show from applique class--we're using Janomes at the high school and no one has a manual. So we spent an inordinant amount of time last night trying to make a blanket stitch. Then trying to make a buttonhole stitch work like a blanket stitch. Oh, you think they're the same, until you try to sew it on a machine. Usually on a machine, the straight edge of a stitch would be on the right, with the decorative bits pointing left. But with buttonhole stitch it's the opposite, so you have to "stitch backwards" which is easy enough until you have to turn a corner. (Or you're me and can't rotate shapes in your head.)

So I spent most of the time in class using the seam ripper. I think I'm going to work on the placemats on my machine at home and just use a satin stitch...if I can fit it into the cleaning schedule. FIL arrives Friday. Boy, time flew! They are arriving Friday night, leaving Tuesday for DC and coming back Friday to spend another weekend with us. They seem to think that this is somehow better. But really, it's all the togetherness that I find so difficult. I wouldn't give a crap one way or the other if they were in Philadelphia so long as I got to go to work. But being trapped in a two door Honda Civic driving to some local tourist destination is going to suck the very life from my soul...

Blog Action Day

In honor of blog action day, today's post is about recycled crafts.


I have been carrying around my expired transpasses because, well, after a while it seemed like bad form to start throwing them away. For now, at the end of each month, I tuck the old one into a small plastic pocket on my craptastic freebie "briefcase." (The dude got it at a conference. The lettering has worn away, I can't even tell you which it was, though you can still see "Pittsburgh 2005" on it.)

The passes are plastic, but not as thick as a credit card. I have them from September 2005 when I was living in Exton and paying $170 to commute to the city every month and will continue to accrue them at a significantly reduced cost (and commute time). They are very colorful and I can probably remove the "F" stickers (they go where the sample says "not valid" so they know a chick's supposed to use it). One has a hole in it from the time they punched it (they can do that) during the SEPTA strike. The "Anywhere" passes have iridescent bits too, probably to avoid counterfeiting since they are so valuable. The cards are about 2"x3" and I have 24 of them (and counting).

What can they become now? Any ideas?

Birthday Meme

A day late... our phone is out and DSL is not working.

---

Meme instructions
1) Go to Wikipedia
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year.
3) List three events that happened on your birthday
4) List two important birthdays and one death
5) One holiday or observance (if any)

On October 14,

In 1066, the forces of William the Conqueror defeated the Saxon army at the Battle of Hastings. (Interestingly, I used to use my birthdate as a way of remembering this battle that Sister Judith called "the most important day for the English language.")

In 1773, the first recorded Minestry of Education, the Komisja Edukacji Narodowej (Commission of National Education) is formed in Poland. (I've worked with the Polish Ministry of Education.)

In 1966, the city of Montreal inaugurates the Montreal Metro. (I've ridden that!)

Births:
In 1890, Dwight D. Eisenhower, U.S. general and 34th President of the United States (1969) (My sister also shares a birthday with a US president.)
In 1949, Katha Pollitt, American writer
Deaths:
In 1977, Bing Crosby, American singer and actor

Observance:
World Organ Donation Day--do you have the sticker on your license?

Knitting Decisions

I had asked for ideas about what to do for my mom with that scrumptious yarn she bought for me to knit. Finally, I asked her what she wanted, and she thought I could make a vest out of it. Um, vest? One skein? I was thinking I could use the color for the front and do the back in black ("Back in Black" now running through head. Must hum "Smoke on the Water.")
A couple of days later she called me. "I saw this cowl thing you can make from the yarn."
"Sort of like a scarf knit as a tube?"
"Yeah, you could make me one of those."
I'll think about it. I might be able to make her something in beading or applique class, and then the yarn can wait until after Christmas and not cause me so much stress.

Pearls before Swine

I thought I would be able to show you my knotted necklace last night, or even today. It turns out that I am a perfectionist about making knots. I'm not a perfectionist. I have never unstitched when I could fudge or cover up or stitch over (really!). I have never used a toothbrush to clean the house. I have never stayed up all night to get things just right (especially not for work or school). But when it comes to making knots between semiprecious beads, I've got to get them right. So I spent a lot of time taking knots out of silk cord with extra-long tweezers last night. (At home, I could use needles which worked a lot quicker.) At 10:10, I put in the last knot, but I need to glue it. Then I can attach the clasp. I will have to wait until next week to finish my necklace.

The necklace--which I might give to my mother--is made from crazy agate and goldstone. I'm totally in love with goldstone, and I may have to do many, many more pieces with it.

The pearl stringing teacher, Renee, was great! She was very patient, especially with me because it took me a while to get it. She even encouraged me to leave some of the knots I made in the necklace. (They were too loose! I was having none of it!) She commented on what a great group of friends we were. Given that of the 12 of us, only two pairs knew each other before, it is a great group. Everyone encourages each other, and everyone thinks I have a great eye for color. I never get tired of hearing that! It does, however, make me shudder when people pair light pink pearls with a medium blue lapis drop, or ruin a perfectly fabulous carnelian necklace by using a silver clasp. Am I allowed to discourage them? It's for their own good.

Applique III

Last night we finished sewing the background and began cutting out the applique pieces. I hardly noticed time passing and before I knew it, it was time to pack up and go home. I was trying to finish cutting out my pieces, but I had to pack it in with just one branch left.

And everyone really liked the new bag that I was packing it into (on sale at Joann.com--not available in the store--with free shipping). It holds my 17x24 cutting mat and has little pockets for everything else. Perfect for class. And I can store everything in there so I can just grab it and go.

When I got home, I finished cutting and fused the pieces so next week, I am ready for the buttonhole stitch. Maybe I should make and fuse some shapes onto scraps so I can practice next week. Okay, that's my assignment for next weekend, because that's a really good idea.

The women in class continue to surprise me by being so supportive of each other. Last night, I sneezed. You have to know I have this sneeze my mother says sounds like a kitten. (I do let it all out!) Someone said, "You have such a cute and little sneeze." I said, "It's the only thing cute and little about me." Several women objected; one said, "I don't know your personality, but why would you say that about yourself?" Wow. And that's just one example.

I don't know why I feel such surprise. I went to women's college so I am very used to this compassionate behavior. I think it's this woman at work who is warping my sense of women's community. She's very anti-woman; always badmouthing someone. She makes me think of something Madeleine Albright told a group of girls at a high school she visited, "There's a special place in hell for women who don't support each other."

One Step Forward

Alert readers may have noticed that my sheep on Jillian's stocking was floating in mid-air. I was not so alert. When I was waiting for the dude's delayed plane, I noticed that the crook wasn't lining up properly. I searched and searched and then realized that I had put the sheep in the wrong place. I had done quite a bit of new stitching, adding the head and the arm during my WW meeting. I was thinking about how to unstitch the mistake, and thinking backwards as usual "last in, first out." It was much easier in the end to take out the rose on the dress, the yellow and black border of the dress, the shoe, and the green sawtooth design. See, I'm a frickin' genius! The design should end up being about an inch north of center, but that shouldn't make that much difference.

I didn't stitch on Sunday, I was cleaning like a mad woman. (The bedroom is so clean! I put the pile of shoes on a rack on the inside of a door and much of the furniture back into the craft room. I also apparently shed enough to make a wig--or perhaps Victorian hair art--a situation rectified by several Swiffers. I should probably be too embarrassed to tell you that...) Then I had lunch with an old friend, and we went to a panel discussion of this book. A few of us from the class of 1988 had a nice chat meandering in all sorts of directions. The next thing I knew it was 4:45 and we were going to be late to Sunday family dinner. Apparently, home is where they hold dinner for you.

Elisabeth's Stocking

It's all over but the charms. I finished this on 10/2 but I didn't get a decent photo until today. I started this on or around August 30, but I didn't really work on it until sometime after September 12. So I think it might be possible to finish the other one in about three weeks. Let's hope!

As Allison noted, it's really close on the chablis. I ended up with about 4 inches left over, and I was really stingy, stitching as far as I could with each and every thread. I tried to stitch the wing in spirals to avoid the stripey look, but I think since I changed thread so often that didn't really work out as well as I'd hoped.

One down; one to go. Here's where I am with that:

Applique II

These are the fabrics I brought with me to applique class Monday night. I managed to get everything cut out and do a tiny bit of sewing.

I actually picked (most of) them out right when I got back from the first class. I gathered all the supplies I needed that I had hanging around the house. Then as soon as I had a spare moment, I went and got what I didn't have. Do you think I'm excited?

I'm sorry to disappoint Lee by using the machine, but the point of taking the class was to become a better sewer, which is on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days (#40). There are a few absolute beginners in the class--never taken their machines out of the box. I have it all over them: I can actually thread a machine.

It's a 10 week class. I think you're going to be sick of me by the time we're done!

Earrings!

These are the earrings I made on Wednesday. Kind of hard to see in this scan. The top bead is an olive-y green (get the feeling I like this color?) and the bottom is sort of cola colored--definitely translucent. I used copper as my metal, and the French wires have little baubles. I learned wire wrapping which is pretty straightforward. They're a little longer than I thought they'd be, but I got a lot of complements on them.

Next week is pearl stringing!

Busy is an Understatement

So, um, why did I think it was such a good idea to start taking classes while we are preparing for a major campaign at work? It is crazy-busy in my life right now. I haven't had a chance to tell you about my applique class or the earrings I made and I won't get to take photos to decorate such a post because tonight I have CPR and it is just always dark when I try to take a decent photo. I'm a total nut.

In about an hour on the bus, I read crazyauntpurl's new book Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Car Hair. It was good. It's not quite as funny as the blog, but it's all written in really short chapters for those with no attention spans. It made me a little sad that I never went to the WeHo SnB because that would have been my Stitch n Bitch (see map below), and how many times did Kate try to get me to go? How many times did I try to make myself go? But I thought people would think I was a crap knitter because I sometimes use Lion Brand, or because I rarely do anything very complicated, or when I was doing complicated things, like Sissy's poncho, I needed total silence and to do lots and lots of counting. I worried they'd think I was a smart ass and a fat ass. Clearly, I should not have worried; I should have just gone. But the book ends on a pretty happy note. I've got a little quote over on the 101 page.


View Larger Map
They wouldn't let me show you the 2.8 mile line from my house (Pickford @ Robertson) to that crazy space near Hancock Park. But that was it. 2.8 miles.

Prevent Cruelty to Chess Players

In honor of Garry Kasparov's entrance into the Russian presidential race, I wanted to talk to designers about their game boards.

There are rules! You can design all the damn gameboards you want but they will be useless unless you get it right. Let's just check out what the geeks over at the US Chess Federation have to say. When it comes to gameboards, it's "light on right." It's not just the USCF, either; those crazy kids over at the World Chess Federation (FIDE) say so too; see rule 2.1 in the FIDE handbook. Even the idiots at wikipedia get it right.

I know there are at least two designers who check in here every now and then. I hope they will help me spread this important message.

Help prevent cruelty to chess players.
Help prevent cruelty to chess players.
Help prevent cruelty to chess players.
Help prevent cruelty to chess players. (It would have been fine if she stopped at 8!)
Help prevent cruelty to chess players.
Help prevent cruelty to chess players.
Help prevent cruelty to chess players. (Eight, people, eight squares by eight squares.)

Rocktober Goals

Here is what I set out to do in September

1. Finish Promise of Summers to Come--I did work on it, but stopped to focus on the stocking
2. Work on 60th birthday gift--Not so much
3. Work for 10 hours on the marquoir--you've got to be kidding
4. Finish Elisabeth’s stocking, Shepherd’s Bush--yes, photo soon.
5. Sew caterpiller eyeglass case--um...I reprioritized based on deadlines
6. Stitch sheep ornament for SIL See it here.
7. Stitch Fancy Work ornament for BIL --bit of a fiasco

My goals for October

1. Finish Jillian's stocking, Shepherd's Bush
2. Finish 60th birthday gift
3. Finish Summers to Come
4. Start present for Sissy