rules are made to be broken

in which our plucky heroine adds another project to the homeplace...

I know that I vowed to no longer acquire "someday projects", but when a friend posted on the Buy Nothing group that there were two venerable dress forms that needed new homes, I put my name in the drawing, because I have wanted a dress form for years and years. Today this one arrived at Acorn Cottage, and will be hanging out as a sculpture in the living room, until the current open loop projects are completed and I can give her some attention.

She is looking rather Picasso-esque at the moment, but with some refurbishment, this will become my long-desired sewing accoutrement: a dress form, useful for both design work and for photographing projects... She needs both some additional but acquireable hardware, and then padding out to an appropriate shape and size.

Always better to start with a form that is smaller in dimensions than the body you are trying to duplicate, and since my shoulders, unlike the rest of me, are particularly narrow, this small form will be ideal! I know that there were some articles in Threads magazine about how to pad a dress form to match personal dimensions, so that is where I will start my search, later on this year...

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February SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	one pelican head	restrung grey beads	paper recycling
2	x	dial tone regained	frontyard prunings
3	x	bra elastics renewed	bag to Goodwill
4	x	-	-
5	x	x	-
6	x	x	-
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

today's gratitude - I am grateful for Duchess D for starting the "Buy Nothing" group, and for L for both giving away the dress form, and for her also being willing to transport it here to Acorn Cottage

weekend whatnots

in which our plucky heroine adds future quince to the steading...

Today was the fruit tree giveaway by our neighborhood association, as a memorial to Brian Duncan, who served as the association chair, and died within two years of being hit on his bicycle crossing Rosa Parks, an accident that left him paralysed. Although I never met him, I ride my bike on those very same streets, and have crossed in that intersection many times. I intend to make a decorative tree tag with the words "Brain Duncan Memorial Tree" to hang from the branches of my new quince tree

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Finished up the second pair of Log Cabin Mitts. This one is made from some vaguely Noro-esque yarn in stone-colored shades of brown and grey. I have no idea how the yarn arrived here, but it seemed like a good colorway choice for warm paws in early springtime, when outdoor chores are beginning to be needful.

This time I stitched up not only the edge of the hand portion, but a bit further down onto the thumbhole, as my fingers are wee. I knitted the last two logs on each hand with five ridges instead of the seven called for, in an attempt to get closer to gauge, which seems to have adjusted the size to fit better and not require a spin in the washing machine to shrink them down. In addition, I used the extra length of the yarn tail to blanket stitch around the thumbhole for extra reinforcement. I love this pattern, for its speed.

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March SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	stone wool mitts	hook added to mirrorside	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x
13	x	x	x
14	x	x	x
15	x	x	x

Friday fragments and Saturday snippets

in which our plucky heroine attempts not to imitate the wicked witch of the west...

Current temperature on the front porch in the shade is 95+. I have been hiding indoors since about 9:30 this morning. After an unsuccessful ride to New Seasons first thing in the AM (their power was out, so store shut down), I went to Green Zebra instead and then went back to bed! Now I am really rested, and it is about twenty degrees cooler in the house than outdoors, maybe more! I am NOT going to enamel today,. but instead get further along on the commission sewing projects, as running the iron occasionally is less heat trauma than the kiln!

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Yesterday, Tullia came over for a workshop day, and made superb progress in her metalwork efforts. Her current project is to create "hercules knot" components to re-create a Roman necklace. This was her second attempt, and while her first efforts were amazing for a true beginner, she really improved both her soldering and her wire forming. Torch soldering is not an intuitive process, as I well know; the more time spent actually doing it the easier it gets, but studying up on how it is supposed to work is also helpful. T is nothing if not eager to learn, and has acquired several well regarded technical books on metalwork skills for home perusal. I fear that I am being spoiled and that future students may not be as adroit.

She had also decided, since the previous that the kitchen here at Acorn Cottage would benefit from some non-stick ceramic frying pans, so arrived with a boxed set of two. While I am entirely unwilling to use teflon, was willing to try these out, and was astonished at how the scrambled eggs literally slid out of the pan! The light weight of the pan seems also a plus; I may recommend these to my venerable parents as Useful Kitchen Tools.

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I continue to make gradual knitting progress on the knitted octopus baby toy... I found the chime ball that I have had since back in the late 80's, when they were first a "thing"... It occurred to me that a pleasant sounding baby rattle would be a nicer gift for my beloved friends than one that rattled like a spray can, (which is how the jingle bells sound inside the octopus head)so have set the chime ball aside to embed inside the octopus mantle when I am at the stuffing and sewing stage.

6PAC progress

I was lucky enough to be one of the winners in Shams blogiversary giveaway, and am so excited, these zippers arrived safely in my mailbox today! They are even more attractive in person. They are a lovely texture, not flimsy OR harsh, but rather like a strong smooth ribbon, and the stripes are woven into the fabric. They would work well with either a middle weight jacket fabric, or a heavy weight pinafore fabric, like corduroy or denim... not sure what is in the stash that would be suitable but am looking forward to making something for the cooler weather that surely will arrive sooner or later.

I am considering making the planned 6PAC grey corduroy pinafore with a front zip and zipper pockets as well. It would have to be shorter than my usual, more like knee length than mid calf (might be time to play with the croquis again...) and could have some balancing neckline embellishment in black/white to help tie the whole thing together. Have plenty of time to think it over, as I don't plan on starting the pinafore till next month...

Am making very slow progress on everything, partially due to the hot weather, with temps over 90(F) I just get so wiped outm and today I was sick as well, bah! I have managed to finish the EF refashion; there was a lot of hand stitching, as the Eileen Fisher fabric was very textured, and it seemed like machine sewing the alterations would have stretched it out in an unsuitable way. I think it will look well under my pinafores in the cooler autumn weather, and might also be able to be worn open, over summer dresses as a sort of shirt-jacket.

So, that makes two tops finished, and next up will be a grey rayon popover dress. Wondered if it would be rather superfluous by mid September, but as our current weather is rather unrelentingly sunny, another hot weather dress will actually be useful! This design is quite a fast easy sew, consisting entirely of rectangles and triangles; the loose fit is cool to wear, and choosing drapey rayon keeps it from looking entirely shapeless.

inside out

...in which our plucky heroine, in the interest of remembering to stop looking at the closed door and focus on the now, turns her winter woolies to turn her luck, or at least her attitude...

because honestly, some days lately have been like this:

(from xkcd)

Started out yesterday by gathering up all the yarn hats that I so busily knit back when knitting (with some of the donated yarn) was all that I could cope with doing, and took them over to the Hawthorne New Seasons, where there was a drop box from this group, which is coordinating getting new handmade warm winter woolies to homeless folks and others who need them...

:::

I decided that part of self-cheering-up might be to make something totally frivolous... black linen! gauze + big grey pom pom trim = a pom pom cowl scarf! (if you want to make one of your own, the directions that inspired me are here) It can be worn long, like a regular scarf, or doubled and short like a cowl. It is surprisingly warm, almost as warm as a wooly neckscarf, and the pom poms are just goofy enough to make me smile...

  

:::

Yesterday was definitely a counterbalance to the previous whingified days... in the afternoon, the faint bubbles of new ideas surfaced with this idea for a sewing theme pendant, all set about with charms... salvaged and scavenged and fabricated in-studio... there will be tiny little painted enamels and layered metal bas-relief, and needlefelted whimseys. I anticipate trying some new technical experiments in 3-D micro enamel. Whee!

And later that evening, after a work meeting, my friend D came by with a dear little container of holiday cookies and fudge, and a holiday card that when I opened it, required a Great Big Squee! (guess who is going to see Great Big Sea?)

:::

weather or not...

...we are ready, the rainy season will soon be here.

With that in mind, my first priority has been finishing the rain hat. This is my second homemade rainhat, as the first was too small. For this one I was able to add a nifty detail: tiny loops to anchor hat decoration.

Being very fond of hatbands and suchlike, this will allow things to be attached to the hat without compromising the waterproof aspect, as the seam the loops pass through is sealed. It will be interesting to look for suitable rainproof bits to use, as the silk scarf and wool flowers from my denim hat are clearly inappropriate.

Working with Goretex is fiddly, not specifically for the sewing, but the seam sealing is a trial. The sealing tape must be heat-set in place, and my iron is an awkward tool for small curved spaces. If not exceedingly careful with the press cloth, hot iron parts can contact unprotected areas and melt the coating on the fabric. Fortunately that only happened twice, and with extra seam sealing tape, was repaired.

Since the first hat does not fit me, it is up for a giveaway, being too useful to discard. The hat is waterproof, black Goretex, and in the same style as my own hat pictured here. It will fit a small adult or large child, with a head circumference of 22" or smaller, the pattern called that size "medium".

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Took advantage of the remaining sunshine yesterday to gather more bay nuts - picked up another 5lb from the big tree on the next street over. It took about a half hour; peeling off the husks took about an hour and a half. The yield was 2lb nuts, the rest gone to use as mulch. Perhaps the husks would be a good natural dyestuff, as it definitely stains my hands a rusty orange color. Some folks use avocado peel as a dyestuff and the plants are related...

≈ : ♥ : ≈

Yesterday, there was a fresh egg laid in the henhouse... Perhaps it was premature to assume that there would be no homegrown eggs this winter, or maybe HennyPenny can tell that thoughts of stewing hen soup are in my mind?

Tuesday tidbits: random small projects

Finally took a bit of time and stitched together the parts of the knitted jellyfish that I promised B's nephew A when he was visiting this summer; now to find out where the family is living so it can be mailed off...

The first attempt at making a rainhat came out quite well, with one problem - the hat is too small! (about 22 7/8") The combination of the seam-sealing tape +the lack of stretchiness + the nice soft fleece lining = not quite the right size for my noggin. Thinking of offering it as a giveaway. Fortunately there is enough of the Gore-tex for me to make another larger hat before the winter rains start, and Rose City Textiles is actually quite accessible by transit, even though they are in the NW industrial zone. If you plan any outdoor-type project they are friendly, helpful, and have an astonishingly wide array of supplies and material, as well as an interesting selection of knit fabrics, including sustainable/organic.

Working out a design for the coat-into-vest SCA sewing project I volunteered for, as part of the group of folks that are working on clothing for the incoming royalty. This should be fun, and I'm enjoying looking at the inspirational images album posted by K, thinking about some large-ish scale Scythian animal motifs... Of course, this project is currently a bunch of pieces of wool, and unfinished coat-garment to be remodeled, some felt, some floss, and a bunch of nifty little silvery metal dome-studs.

Spent another several hours on the phone to DHS attempting to straighten out the confusion around my HMO selection. Every person I've spoken with has been very helpful, but every person has told me something different. Each time it is supposedly sorted out another new letter arrives a week later with different information, sigh...

My young hens are moulting, and the days are shorter week by week - there will be no more Acorn Cottage eggs 'till spring. The store eggs just don't taste as good, even the spendy free-range organic ones. Maybe next year will be the year to check out how well eggs freeze, and put the summer excess into storage for the dark days.

How do folks feel about a Halloween Crafternoon? I'm planning on the afternoon of the 31st, so do let me know if you want to come on over.

some teaparty tidbits + a giveaway

When did this happen - or, do I really look like that?...
I took advantage of my guests this afternoon to have a picture taken, outside, and without my arm at an odd angle to hold the camera far enough away to catch my reflected image. It is always a surprise shock to see a photograph of myself. What I really notice however, is how much I look like my beloved grandma "Nana Fay", somehow in my mind's eye I look very different, and somehow not as old, even when I look in the mirror.
I like the split cowl knit top much better as worn here, under a jumper (this one is black silk noil.) The rayon knit fabric is so thin and soft, it feels wonderful to wear.

~ : ♥ : ~

Another fun Crafternoon teaparty...My dear friend Megan was first to arrive, bringing still warm! homemade oatmeal bread. We had a nice visit back in the sewing room, till she had to leave to complete some necessary tasks, about the same time as the doorbell rang for more visitors. It was Stacey and her sweetie Barret, who rode over here on their bicycles, along with Vandy. A bit later, Marya and Aelflaed showed up as well. There was lots of happy chatter, and much tea was consumed. A possible Mother's Day Gift Sale for April 23/24th was discussed, and a "swap-your-stash" supply trading day is planned for the Crafternoon teaparty on April 25. A bit later we all trooped outside to make use of the remaining sunshine daylight to take some photos documenting Aelflaed's knitting. I couldn't resist saving this one -

(this photo needs a caption)
~ : ♥ : ~

So apparently over the last few years I have written 400!?! posts about various things. Seems like a lot of writing, and worth commemorating. So by way of doing that, I'll be choosing someone to receive a special prize, and all you need to do to enter the giveaway is to comment here on this entry, with a caption for the photo above. I will choose the winning entry on March 7th.