Monday miscellany

in which our plucky heroine is full of plans ...

One fun weekend activity was figuring out Perlenwunderwesen's small beaded dragon pattern... It isn't on their YouTube, or in their Etsy shop. I saw their quick video tutorial on the book of Face, and also found their diagram of the beading structure. It is a great deal more complicated than the tiny frogs, but makes a quite lovely little 3D creature. In 8/0 beads it makes a dragon about 1¼" tall and just over 2" long. As soon as the first one was done, the remainder of the frog beads were turned into a second dragon, friend to the first, and they are now both on the way north to live with Kestrel. I'm quite tempted to try making one from 11/0 beads (a more common, if smaller, size that I've in a plentiful assortment of colors...)

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Ordered a mailbox delivered from Home Despot, that looked quite nice in the online photos, and had overwhemlingly good reviews. It arrived on Sunday and with great hopes of easily replacing the old rusty crusty mailbox, I opened the box. Alas it was not to be. The new mailbox was suffering a fatal lack of Quality Control from the factory. The lids were barely attached at all, one hinge pin entirely missing, and the other partially detached, missing any kind of lock washer to hold it in place and the inner and outer lids were rattling long enough in transit to scratch up the edges of the mailbox.  They don't carry that one in any of the local stores, so no chance of exchanging it, or seeing if a different one is in better shape. Instead, there was a long bus trip to Jantzen Beach to return it directly. Sigh. Searching online for a mailbox built rather more structurally sound as well as aesthetically inoffensive is going about as well as my search for a new kitchen faucet. Picky plucky heroine is picky...

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~ a working sketch ~

Just a very rough sketch of my current thoughts for the black "twill corduroy" pinafore; wanted to catch the idea before it vanished. After washing and a trip to the launderette for their extra hot dryers the fabric washed up nicely with almost no shrinkage. Since this like all corduroy has a nap, it cannot be cut as usual... Information from a sewing book read as a girl still clear in my mind, a with-nap layout means all the pieces need to be laid out with their "heads" all in the same direction.  

So... cut strips from selvedge to selvedge that are the height of the skirt gores, then cut away between each one to create flare, which will look more graceful than a dirndl style gathered skirt. Since there is rather a lot of this fabric (our plucky heroine having placed the order forgetting it was 56" wide not 45"), it will be possible to cut all the bodice and pocket pieces from the remaining fabric and have enough plenty leftover to cut edge binding from. There may even be enough to put aside more bias strips for other future projects.

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A care package full of special kindness from my Mud Bay pals was on my porch today. There are 4 big skeins of taupe Fishermans Wool, so I can start on swatching fancy cables for a future Aran-style sweater. There is a small bag full of walking onion bulbs, so I can find a new spot or two to restart allium self-sufficiency. And there is a glorious miniature print of the tiniest watercolor artwork of a hawk perched on a sewing machine (intended as a gift for tinyfolk Kenya Ogidni) that will eventually grace the wall in a Tansu Terrace sewing and crafting space. The artist Jaimee Lee Gentile will be at Art In The Pearl in September, a chance to see her work in person...

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adapted from "Du Iz Tak"  by Carson Ellis

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this is silly, but it is also me: The Sugarcoated Sisters - Aphantasia

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One unexpected benefit to not being good about pulling out the weeds, is that when they go to seed, goldfinches are delighted with the buffet! There were many of them right outside the bedroom window this morning, more than I have seen so close before... 

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	Brambly Hedge slip	-	greenwaste bin
4	5 more bead frogs	-	overgrown lovage
5	"Cats Invade" books	-	greenwaste bin
6	all the bead frogs	x	recycle bin
7	two beaded dragons	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- goldfinches outside the bedroom window this morning
- tiny beaded dragons are delightful
- yarn, and walking onion starts, and a glorious miniature artwork gift were in my care package from Mud Bay

Time of Isolation - Day 2204

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine is confused...

No idea why there was no recent message about today's cancelled medical appointment, but after getting out the door a little after 6 and arriving at just before what I thought was my 8 AM clinic visit, it was a surprise and not a treat to find out that the doctor wasn't there. Since I'd skipped breakfast to get there on time, the ground floor cafe was an option for a bowl of take-out real oatmeal, then ate outdoors on the not really sekrit second floor patio. In all the years of various medical visits I've never seen anyone else in that space, though there is occasional evidence by way of food wrappers in the trash can

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~ well worth seeing ~

It was surprisingly difficult to successfully photograph the Carson Ellis mural at the St Johns Library children's room, really seeing it in person is the best option, but this fragment gives a hint at the delight.

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Started converting the stripey dress into a Brambly Hedge slip. It was time consuming attaching the eyelet to the hemline edge, the only "difficulty" being the length of the hem. The dress sleeves were cut off to salvage fabric for bias strips to finish the enlarged neck and armsceye edges, which is the next step. This will be a rare slip indeed with the large pockets of an everyday dress, but somehow seems quite suitable for the aesthetic. Lastly, the large machine sewn patch (that never quite disguised the ink spot) will be removed, the stain cut away and repaired with a smaller and less obtrusive patch.

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A while back was online chatting with Acantha about my idea of adapting the WonderBag concept to use the mylar bubblepack leftovers from grocery orders to create an insulated cozy for off-stove cookery. She found a somewhat larger than needed (5 qt) but excellent cookpot and sent it up here to PDX via Gersvinda, and it recently arrived on the front porch. A good scrubbing tonight and it will be ready for use, will allow me to retire my other large pot for textile dyeing instead, and shall inspire experimentation to create insulated "containers" from various salvaged materials...

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July SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	15 tiny masu boxes	earrings recombined	greenwaste bin
2	black scarf hem	replace C O alarm	recycle bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes- 
- cooking pot from Acantha, transported by Gersvinda
- sleeping when tired
- had a delightful conversation with Mischa yesterday about the small god of lost things, or more accurately the god of things lost and found, and what sort of shrine offerings would be most suitable. While this pertains to the game we are working on restarting, it also seems pertinent to Actual Life. There are art projects in mind...

Time of Isolation - Day 2188

Thursday thoughts

in which our plucky heroine continues forward momentum...

leaving some tasks undone to deal with long delayed commissions

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~ more than half done ~

Golden Torc and Purple Fret award enamels for Ian

3 partial days in front of the kiln, but all this enameling done before the heat wave sets in... Once the tiny pendant settings are made, this project will be complete and ready to post. While other house tasks fall by the wayside (I see you Mt Dishmore) it feels really great to be tackling and finishing the various projects that have been on hold.

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Yesterday decided to take a chunk of the afternoon to go downtown to the "Clay Commons" market. The park it is in has a fun fountain, and there were maybe a dozen different booths with a wide variety of pottery arts. There were two different artists that had tiny ceramic pieces as well as more usual sizes, so it might be necessary to return prepared to shop for the tinyworld. Since I was downtown already, also stopped at Dick Blick to get a tube of Caligo Safe Wash ink in opaque white for future printing of the 5th god blocks on a black voile scarf...

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As part of my ongoing sew as much as I can for myself, have been continuing to work out TNT patterns for everything. Underthings have particular challenges in finding a balance between stretch and comfort. I'd hoped that using cotton lycra bands to replace waist and leg elastics would work well, but waist bands were not robust enough to hold the undies up where they belong, leading to an annoying case of "droopy drawers". Have ordered elastic from WAWAK and am now committed to refurbishing the 7 pairs already made. 

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I want to find the shade cloth curtain so it can be put in place over the western window before the heat really hits us. I've moved the worm bin back into the laundry zone for now. Might find one of the extra watering buckets and prep it to keep my rhubarb happy, ditto for the backyard persimmon. Also making some extra ice cubes will help for my own comfort, and it is finally time to switch to summer bedding and put away the flannel sheets and the comforter... There was a piece of tie dyed fabric from a play day at the local art store, and it turned out to be just the right size to make two small summertime pillowcases for the buckwheat hull pillows.

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June SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Babs brooch	thinned apples	greenwaste bin
2	5th god lino block	replace elastic	recycle bin
3	5th god corner block	-	-
4	enamels for John	-	-
5	tie-dye pillowcases	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- white nectarines are the best
- finished enameling before the heat danger set in
- new T Kingfisher library hold waiting to be picked up tomorrow 
- tie-dye pillowcases

Time of Isolation - Day 2163

a long rather lonesome weekend

in which our plucky heroine does yardwork...

started off by refilling the string trimmer, then took it to clear some of the south side yard, as far as the single extension cord tether... Next was pruning: cutting back the parking strip persimmon which is grown so large as to overhang the road, which makes it difficult for folks to park on the street. Trimming the young pears and the dwarf apple in the front yard. Cutting back (currently flowering) culinary sage that was falling across the front walkway, since disturbing bees is not ideal. Also taking string trimmer to the not-peppermint that grows beneath the clothes line along the north side chain link fence.

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It was our long memorial day weekend, and various folks were all off at various events. Most of my usual weekend pixel world video chats didn't happen. From time to time I would find myself imagining the places, usually when the sounds of early morning birds, or the scent of damp air, call forth the memory. Grateful to have those memories at least. I didn't allow myself to sink into despair, though emotional balance feels rather run through a graphic equaliser. 

Have been doing my best to improve sleep hygiene, not staying up crazy late and instead getting up early. Managed twice to get out of bed and walk before breakfast, which is a long term goal. Not sure how folks manage to create stuckfast habits, as the rule of thumb to "just do it for a month" has not been enough. Pleased I didn't let myself lie down and nap this weekend either, which behaviour has proved to be a bad plan for my equlibrium and equanimity. 

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Years ago a friend gave me a beautiful elaborate Indonesian ikat weaving ( tablecloth? wrap?). Rather than leave it forever folded on a shelf, I decided to try and turn it into a pinafore, since it was brown/black, cream, and russet. Wasn't sure there would be enough fabric, so I sketched out several possible layouts. I'd figured on making the bodice more of a bib front with straps, but then realised if the strips intended for straps were instead pieced together, there'd be just enough to make the usual back. I'll also be making patch pockets instead of my favorite XL "teacher pockets" (which take a lot more fabric). This handwoven and hand-dyed fabric is so spectacular I'm glad to have figured out a way to enjoy it often in the future.

It isn't obvious in the photo, but there was no attempt on my part to match or align the various motifs, there just wasn't enough fabric for it. While not quite a zero waste layout, there was no remaining scrap larger than my notably small palm. I did choose to feature the gores with the border design on the long edge centered at the front of the skirt (the ones with no border are on each side, and the ones with the border on the short edge are centered on the back) While working on this project, I was reminded of the images in "The Arts and Crafts of Turkestan", acquired more than 40 years ago. It was fascinating how the robes and garments were cut out from elaborately patterened ikat weave with no intent to match or balance the designs. Later I learned how intricate and therefore precious those fabrics were/are, and the difference between how I'd been taught to sew and how these robes were cut to make use of every bit of the labor intensive fabric. 

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Oh jolly, more things to add to my admin task list: look into what new insurance coverage is available... At least that task has about a half year to get it done. My current admin task is screenshot copying all the images and text from my website, since Pharamond is closing down hosting service. Then I get to find a new host and build a new website, whee!!  

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Have been thinking about a Laurel elevation gift for a friend... my 2nd idea was a knitted/felted laurel garland, but it turns out I don't have the correct yarn for that but I do have yarn to do a tablet woven Laurel band. Am now trying to find out favorite color(s), in the hope that I will also have a suitable background yarn. It has been ages since I've done any tablet weaving. Thinking about a tabletop warp weighted loom, a long term wishlist item; it might be possible to DIY something better than my first attempt years ago with a stick tied to the bookcase, or possibly modifying a tabletop weaving frame

(similar to this one below)

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	greenwaste bin
2	boro thread basket	dishrack tray	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	paring knife	recycle bin
4	boro basket 3	cut back mint	greenwaste bin
5	boro baskets 4 & 5	-	-
6	sharpening box	x	x
7	8 jars pickled beets	x	x
8	7 jars strawberry rhubarb	x	x
9	ikat pinafore	x	x
10	x	x	x
11	x	x	x
12	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- leftover stir fry from yesterday for dinner tonight, along with roasted cauliflower
- got a fair amount of yardwork done this morning, then enjoying the sound of rain on the awnings in the afternoon...
- Every day I carve a bit more on the new 5th god border block. Just past the halfway point currently. 
- found some new old stock of the good foot balm on Ebay
- the memories of good times in the past

Time of Isolation - Day 2145

Tuesday trinkets and treats

in which our plucky heroine has a pleasant surprise...

FOUND!! My beloved retractable tape measure, long missing, turned up in, of all peculiar places, between the crock pot liner and the crock pot! When plugged in to start warming up (while prepping remains of last night's chicken legs to make broth for tom kha gai) noticed the inner pot was sitting all cattywhompus, so before it got hot enough to damage the plastic measuring tape housing it was back in the sewing box where it normally lived, and the broth was able to cook properly

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~ peony ~

Not in my yard, but walking (or biking) around the neighborhood there are all sorts of delights for sight and smell. Roses blooming, and fragrant wisteria... Right now the honeybees are so fond of the sage blossoms that they are loud when walking toward the front door

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I had forgotten the Haptic and Hue podcasts, when a post turned up on one of my social media feeds for their recent presentation about the Folly Cove Designers. Not only was that a treat to listen to, but now there is a lot more content for me to enjoy listening to

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As a way to supplement my earthquake shelf, ordered two new bulk food powders to try: coconut milk, and cheddar cheese sauce. it occurred to me that it might be possible to get some of the dried cheese sauce most often found in little aluminum packets inside boxes of Annies mac, or Kraft dinner. A pound bag was worth the taste test. As was pound of dried coconut milk; since it usually comes in largish cans too big for when I make dinner for one. Yes, I freeze the rest in cubes for future use, but it would be very handy to have some shelf-stable option in the pantry . 

The cheese sauce is tasty, (tried that one with rice pasta the day it arrived) and doesn't taste near as salty as the tiny packets. It will do nicely for pasta or other starch or for veggie sauce, even not in an emergency, as will the dry coconut milk, which worked out very well in dinner tonight (faux tom kha kai) Lots of substitutions but a tasty dinner anyway. Ginger instead of galingale, fresh lime zest and juice instead of makrut leaves, brown sugar instead of palm sugar, some red thai curry paste instead of fresh chilies, and the new powdered coconut milk (very easy to rehydrate by shaking 3 tablespoons in a jar with ¼ cup water. The soup was a treat, and there are two more portions for tomorrow and/or the freezer.

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Last week was the annual five days of "Making Zen": free online workshops, and Selina Ben's "Unwritten Folded Treasure Pouch" tutorial was appealing enough that it will be my next small handwork project. Combining as it does almost origami-esque folded design, and a new-to-me decorative fastening stitch, it will be another good use for small pieces of special fabrics.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	greenwaste bin
2	boro thread basket	-	recycle bin
3	boro basket 2	-	-
4	boro basket 3	-	-
5	boro basket 4	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Good podcasts to listen to.
- Lovely scented seasonal flowers, particularly roses and wisteria.
- long missing beloved tape measure found
- honeybees love the sage blossoms
- faux Tom Kha Gai soup
- finished cutting out landscape blouse

Time of Isolation - Day 2132

betcha can't make just one

in which our plucky heroine solves a conundrum...

... and removes toxic art materials from the house;  also finishes up a second boro thread basket. Now the sewing machine and the serger will have their own, and there are ideas a-fizzing for other ways to use this technique.  

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~ strata ~

Working on a tiny stitched container is incredibly satisfying, one could become addicted to making these and the resulting small squashy palm-size basket is Just Right. This project is small enough to always have one on hand for pickup work. Limiting factor will be the thin gauzy fabric for the innermost layer.

Basket #2 will have the inner layer made from pinstripe leftovers from my most recent shirt sewing project. The directional changes remind me of geological formations. The base form I've been using was probably once a mustard jar, but for years now has been holding backstock whole peppercorns, so as it is turned about during stitching, it makes a small rattling sound, softer than a rain stick.

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a stinky saga... Last night before bedtime I caught a whiff of a most peculiar and somewhat acrid scent. Early today when I sat down at the computer for a video meeting, it came back randomly, but often enough to be concerning. (Since it smelled a bit like burnt plastic/shorted wiring! it was not something to ignore.) My pal Turquoise helpfully looked up info online about "odd smells in the home" which let me know what it likely was not... 

I spent hours this morning attempting to locate what was wrong. First opened windows in each room. Climbed up the stepladder to open the attic hatch, headed over to the far end of the workroom to check the circuit breaker box, went outside to sniff around both my heat pump and my good neighbors heat pump which is just across the side yard from the living room window. Unplugged every non critical bit of machinery, and switched off all the power strips. Periodically going outside to let my sense of smell reset...

It was clear after both walking round the house sniffing everywhere, and unplugging things, that the scent was mostly in the living room . . .  I then glanced down . . . Yesterday I'd purchased some "soft-kut" linoleum substitute, a grey rubbery slab, to carve a new printing block, and had left it on a side table near the computer zone. When picked up and sniffed, et voila, the source of the horrible odor. I immediately put it outside, and after breakfast, returned it to the art store, since it is too stinky for me to want in my house!! 

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As the last of my Sulky variegated mercerised cotton topstitching thread gets used up, remembering Fabric Despots aisles of threads, from many different manufactories (not just the single display that most shops have) makes me sad and wistful. There were so many years of shopping there, from when it was a special excursion from Olympia to Portland, and then once it was a few bus transfers away. It was such a reliable source of everything sewing related, a literal warehouse of fabrics for garments, for quilting, for home decor and all the notional items needed to make use of that fabric. We will not see its like again.

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Additional impetus to the declutter and tidy plan: sorting my smaller fabric scraps by color, as well as making clear what size of scraps are worth saving. It would be useful to have a modest box for holding packets of boro basket materials, since there are additional uses for such small containers of holding. I want to experiment with a triadic option next.

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May SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	Rosa sketch	Bad Smell gone	-
2	boro thread basket	-	-
3	boro basket 2	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- seasonal asparagus
- dopamine hand sewing
- adorable tiny boro thread "baskets"
- Past Me cleverly ordered backup filters for the heat pump air handler. Current Me cleverly made a pull handle from duct tape to more easily remove the filter next time, as it is a Very Tight Fit.
- the Bad Smell was not the house wiring shorting out, but a package of Soft-Kut printing block, now returned to the art store.

Time of Isolation - Day 2125

Tuesday tidbits

in which our plucky heroine enjoys flowers...

The gradual shift in what is flowering made my first glance out the front door yesterday a real treat. Almost gone but not quite little grape hyacinths in dark purple, along with the ongoing paler purple faux bluebells, and the barely starting dwarf lilac. The further distant dwarf apple blossoms peeking through, and the front garden beds are full of dozens of pink violets. 

There seem to be a few more birds this year, at least there are some I don't recognise, aside from the local corvids and juncos. The grassy spaces in the front and back yard are horribly shaggy, but each time I get ready to try and attack it starts to rain.

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~ apple blossoms ~

There is a random dwarf apple tree next to the driveway, and I have no idea what sort of apple it is, though it has been there for well over ten years. It was likely a giveaway, maybe leftover from some tree planting scenario. It is still not as tall as I am, and last year, for the first time, had one flower cluster but set no apples. This year there are four clusters of apple blossoms, and I will be curious to see if there is any fruit to follow. (there are plenty of bees this year)

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Taking a break from my garment sewing shenanigans, and started transferring the rest of my shirt/blouse/pinafore pattern pieces to Costco cardboard before temporarily storing them away. Time to give my brain some time to mull over what I want to do next. Also, whilst perusing the fabric storage shelves, found some Spoonflower prints that Ariadne sent me when Kestrel was a baby, but never had their chance to become kiddo clothing. Will be taking photos of the various fabric designs so we can ask directly what would be the happiest options for future garments, as K has Definite Opinions. It will be fun to sew for them.

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Good news is that the glucose test strips conundrum has been solved as of yesterday, as part of my quarterly medical visit (My PCP is still on indefinite medical leave alas, I hope she is doing okay) Bree, the PA, very kindly lent me a book about glucose and ten suggestions for ways to hack your metabolism, backed by legitimate scientific research, and not involving exotic and expensive chemical or supplemental interventions. Still reading through it, and there seem to be some changes that would be simple to implement

Alas and OUCH! While I felt just fine yesterday, today my left foot has developed a peculiar and intensely painful ache in the area of the long small bones. I have not fallen, or twisted my ankle or foot or done anything out of the ordinary, but the pain is "loud" enough to be distracting. There is no visible change from the usual appearance or difference from the other foot. Just making a note of it here as a way of tracking the issue, in case that turns out to be useful. Bodies are weird, and do things for reasons I don't always understand.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	accordion pouch	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	bone acorn earrings	electric bill found	recycle bin
4	stripey pinafore	shirt sleeve length	-
5	-	tax papers	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- tax paperwork has all had fair copies made and is tidied away
- all the spring flowers in the front yard
- what appear to be 1 or 2 potential baby pears on the Bosc

Time of Isolation - Day 2112

an interesting revelation

in which our plucky heroine has a new thought...

For many years, while I never doubted that I am a maker-of-things, indeed I apparently arrived with that characteristic, it never felt like I was an artist. I spent the philosophical aspect of my higher education learning about and thinking about why our culture chooses to draw a line between art and craft, the delineation began in the Renaissance. I don't identify as an artist, my self declared occupation on my tax forms is "artisan". To my mind and in my experience with other makers of things, "artists" are folks who make their art form irregardless of input or payment from others. And there is all the cultural baggage about what kinds of making are "art", which even if we don't agree with it, still permeates our lives, and the commentary from adults when we are children. I remember being told in reference to my creative endeavors as a teen and young adult "that is all well and good for a hobby, but you (will) need to major in something for a real job when you aren't in school. 

Our plucky heroine went on to have enough varied peculiar jobs to have an appropriate resume for a back of the novel blurb, should I have turned out to be a writer of words rather than a manipulator of stuff. None of those things was a career, a real job, though I have been a working taxpayer since I was fifteen. Since 1993 I have been making SCA regalia, using my enameling and metalworking skills. And while I am fairly competent at what I do, I rarely ever spend my non-work time in that genre, unlike the metalwork "gods" I have been fortunate enough to meet or know as friends. This disconnect is part of what manifests in my mind as imposter syndrome, my not having the behavior like the other artists I know. 

Whereas there is always part of my brain that is designing, not jewelry, not regalia, but my personal clothing. When talking about my dissatisfaction with Karen last week, I came up with the idea: "Making jewelry and regalia is my day job; creating whimsical unique garments is my art form."  This counterchange of how I think about what I spend my time doing may be a solution to a mental and emotional challenge that has caused me pain for decades.

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~ what a mess ~

Yesterday, when it became apparent my workshop wheelie chair(s) weren't rolling as well as formerly, it turned out that over the years the chair casters have been collecting random frelch, mostly snippets of thread that end up on the floor while sewing occurrs! This is not acceptable, and obviously my ongoing attempts to send bits and pieces into the large workshop wastebasket are ineffective. 

What to do, what to do? Aha! One of my favorite designers, Ann Wood, has a pattern tutorial for making "stitched vessels", little containers made from precious (or not so precious) scraps of fabric. I already bought this pattern last year, it is currently residing in my folder of assorted future/someday projects, and I've intended to do something about the growing pile of garment sewing cabbage*. A pair of smallish containers to be placed right next to the sewing machine and the serger will be next up on my handwork list, though for now some small teacups will have to suffice. 

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Finished up the stripey pinafore that is intended to be overdyed chocolate brown/black instead of off-white/black. Very pleased with the various width black linen bias edge binding and overlay. I used a second strip of bias to cover the places along the bottom edge of the skirt gores where it had been necessary to piece the fabric, and once I completed that, it reminds me very much of some Elizabethan skirt decoration.

My overdyeing turned out to be not quite as successful as hoped for. Apparently Procion MX #119 "Chocolate Brown" can be just a bit tricksy. The resulting color reads more like a dark grey than any sort of chocolate. It isn't perzactly brown at all, nor black, nor grey, but one of those betwixt-colors that I love but cannot name. And, since I didn't actually strain the dye (not having a suitable strainer) there are a few fairly subtle splotches here and there where the magenta in the dye mixture left speckles. Thankfully not alarmingly vivid given the overall darkcolor, but I notice them, sigh and alas. Once the pinafore is dry, it will get a careful looksee, (note from next morning, the magenta is in fact difficult to see if one isn't looking for it) and hopefully it will be friends with the rest of my wardrobe, despite being a peculiar dark rather than the hoped for chocolate brown.

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adorable Totoro ongiri bento

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Although Parkrose Hardware was having a 50% off sale, my plan to get over there and buy some Gamma lids ran headlong into the reality of spending multiple hours getting there and back. It is over an hour and a half each way on transit, with three transfers. Plus their full price is significantly higher than full price at TAP Plastics, so even the large discount turned out to be a little over $2 per lid. So, instead, time for a bit more housey chores to get done this weekend

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	accordion pouch	tiny beaded star	greenwaste bin
3	bone acorn earrings	electric bill found	recycle bin
4	stripey pinafore	shirt sleeve length	-
5	-	tax papers	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- my friend Claire is on vigil for the Order of the Laurel
- new stripey pinafore pleases me despite not being brown
- vocation avocation revelation

Time of Isolation - Day 2110

* "cabbage" is a collective noun for fabric scraps... 
some historical context in this post

sociable Sunday

in which our plucky heroine leans into her current obsession...

It seems that lately all I want to do is refurbish my worn clothing, sew a few new garments to replace those too worn to mend, and plan out how they all will interact nicely. In this time of multiple systemic collapse, why am I focusing on such a frivolous thing. It isn't all I focus on or take action about, but it is the only thing that brings me any delight, pleasure or even satisfaction. I can't make there be snow in the mountains for summertime water, or sanity in the halls of power, but by golly I can have clothing that pleases me to wear and amuses and delights random folks out in the world. 

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~ is grey okay? ~

The finished stripey shirt finished, plus details... As currently existing, the fabric reads as light grey from any significant distance, with the handmade glass buttons definitely and defiantly taupe and black. While am still tempted to overdye it, so as to let it join with the brown sector of the wardrobe, that color group already has multiple shirts and blouses, while the grey/black group is quite sparse (and also missing any pinafores in good condition) Alternatively, a taupe overdye would let it play happily in both colorways.

... I tried on the finished shirt today, and discovered that I have two (2!) different and unmarked sleeve pattern pieces in my pattern envelope. One is for a three-quarter sleeve, and one for a full length. Guess which one was used to mark out the shirt fabric... Yup... a significant oops!... the shorter one, which makes the sleeves about two inches too short. Fortunately, there are fabric scraps remaining large enough to cut two wide strips, which will be given a bit of embroidery decoration, then used to lengthen the sleeves. A bit below the intersection of armscye and side seam the entire sleeve will be sliced open and the additional fabric will make the sleeve the correct length in the least disruptive way.  And, two new sleeve pattern pieces will be cut, and each one will be labeled with RED magic marker as either "full length sleeve" or "three-quarter sleeve"

 . 
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The beets that came in my produce box still had their tops. I remembered to cook the beet greens while they were still in good condition: first melting some butter in a saucepan, adding some of the Ethiopian spice alternative that the aunties gave me, then some green onion and the chopped up greens. It was, when mixed with a scoop of cottage cheese, just enough for a single lunchtime serving. I miss life in the Before Times when we could safely eat in restaurants, but at least the savory flavors can still be enjoyed. 

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Today was alarmingly warm, for the beginning of April. It was almost 85°F on my front porch this afternoon. This does not bode well.

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April SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	glass button shirt	apple tree pruned	recycle bin
2	-	tiny beaded star>	greenwaste bin
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
-Sunday is the day of the week when I get the most social contact, usually three zoom meetings with different groups of people. - faux ayeb begomin for lunch
- Bartlett pears are so delicious
- being able to share a few sewing tips online
- most of the time, I've enough colors of embroidery floss for the projects that I want to make

Time of Isolation - Day 2096

Friday fragments

in which our plucky heroine reaches for bootstraps...

The warm weather on Monday was a fluke, as going forward throughout the week the weather returns to the more usual for this time of year. It has been grey, and drizzly and not particularly warm. Which is fine. 

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~ not buttons but tiny shelves? ~

There are many tutorials online about turning avocado pits into buttons, and how sturdy the inner seed becomes as it dries. Out of curiosity, decided to slice up the most recent one... These little semi-circular slices, while they could be trimmed into small discs and drilled with holes, rather call to mind miniature wall brackets, and could without much difficulty be repurposed into 1:12 scale rustic decor for the tinyworld. Hmmmm....

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With my focusing on completing unfinished projects, the ruffle-edged pillow shams have been completed, and hopefully soon be on their way to their new home, and the bank account a bit more pleasantly enlarged.

The Icelandic cardigan has been ungrafted into pieces, and is getting marked center back and either side in order to better line up the upper and lower sections. Sister made the sweetest interpretation, that once it is altered to fit me, 'twill be like "a warm hug from Dad".

While there are more of my own personal wardrobe projects eagerly awaited, my immediate next effort is to finish Bab's heraldic brooch. Maybe the experimental abalone inlay project will get its turn not too long after that (to replace the lost Mexican silver horse brooch), that is, once I finish with the small enamel award pendants for John. Those enamels are the last thing in the workshop line, my queue is almost empty.

Time to experiment as well with what sorts of enameling I can do without using silver. I switched to a fine silver ground over four decades ago, for technical reasons. Copper has always been less spendy, but much trickier for cloisonne. Now that silver (never inexpensive) has more than tripled in price, it is really affecting the choices artists must make, and it is probably time to switch back to copper... I'm considering moving away from  my beloved cloisonne to limoges style enamel for regalia, as one example.

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The last week or so have been particularly rough. Aside from the multiplicitous dumpster fires that are our current timeline, which are more than enough for anyone who is paying attention, there is no obviously immediate personal reason. Doing my best to seek and pay attention to small joys and bits of goodness is sometimes enough to contradict the brain weasels. But not always; recently the weasels are winning. Plucky heroine is Very Stubborn about not giving up, though. I seem to remember an idea of making an actual ARTifact of anti-brain-weasel serum, maybe time to revisit that idea. I think Acantha had some relevant ideas...

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It is always a small thrill when my internal database tosses out a word that fits my writing perzactly, and the spell check says nope, but double checking several online real dictionaries says yes, and then that dopamine moment of clicking "add to dictionary"

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Month SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	ruffle pillow shams	-	-
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Super Supportive - Chapter 274 !!!
- using chevre as a feta substitute (not quite the same flavor profile, but an improvement on a bike ride in the cold rain)
- quince rosewater applesauce
- that dopamine moment of clicking "add to dictionary"

Time of Isolation - Day 2066

so much time on transit

in which our plucky heroine spent hours on the bus...

Finding a 22" long zipper in beige or tan was more of a challenge than expected, and required an excursion to the posh fabric store Josephine's Dry Goods, in residential SE, as that was the closest possible source. Fortunately, the resipei embroidery is very suited to being stitched while riding the bus. And when I got there, they didn't have two of the same color, so I bought two that were close but not identical. Foolish me didn't think to ask about that over the phone.

When I got home and could take a look at the emailed receipt, it turns out they are buying their zippers from WAWAK. Which is what I should have done in the first place, given the extremely good prices and selections that WAWAK offers. I'll go ahead and order more in the three most likely colors, since they are less than $1 each. 

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~ day 9 ~

I've had this little Japanese inlaid wooden box since I was a girl. It is about 6 inches tall.

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Rather than going directly home after buying the zippers, instead rode the bus all the way to Grocery Outlet, to pick up suitable cheese (different from my regular sharp cheddar) to top the eggplant parm I want to make tomorrow. Had to look up a few recipes to get an idea of what the usual ingredients were, and decided on some mozzarella. 

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Tomorrow I am going to draw two Objects Of My Affection, as tonight I am just too tired to draw at all (sad). It is much better when I draw at the start of my day, not wait until before bedtime!

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Friday the calendar master pages were finished, now off to the copy store, then they need be cut to size, have punched holes and added string, and will be ready to either mail out or hand off to my local pals. Am quite happy with the slightly rustic hand drawn effect of doing all the words and numbers by hand rather than using digital fonts. That said, I will be scanning in the finished pages to also save as PDFs, so I can email them as files for my out of country pals to print out.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	calendar master pages	-	orangeflower water
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Very Helpful clerk at the copy shop, did several adjustments to  my master copies so they would print out as well as possible
- a tiny indulgence, on the way home from Josephines Dry Goods, I walked the seven blocks to Fifty Licks, and bought myself a mini scoop of my favorite "Lemon Coconut Saffron" sorbet
- made a really tasty tomato sauce for Sunday's eggplant parm, using half of the remaining freezer tomatoes, assorted veggies, herbs, and dried mushrooms. Yesterday I sliced and oven roasted the two eggplant that came in the produce box this week, so all I will need to do tomorrow is layer the ingredients and bake it

Time of Isolation - Day 2022

double trouble

in which our plucky heroine gets entangled...

two factor authentication is a good idea in theory, but in practice it makes me want to tear my hair out. Particularly when attempting to sign in to one site it then wants to send a code to an email account, and when I try and sign in to the email account it wants to send a code to my phone, which then wants me to find a code somewhere in my email and round and round. Grrrrr. If I liked playing with strings, I would have been born a cat

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~ mossworld ~

They never get old, I never tire of looking at them. This is from Monday, walking back to the bus stop after my eye appointment. The early morning light was still very golden...

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sewing progress report: lines 5 - 8 on the resipei embroidery are complete and am working on the last underline and then the drawing of the ice cubes. Still finding it very relaxing. 

Finished the collar for the flannel shirt, after carefully trimming back the undercollar ⅛" on either short end before sewing the upper and under collar together. This pulls the outer layer just a bit which keeps the underlayer underneath. It has been edge stitched, and the raw edge basted, ready for when it will be needed. Also temporarily basted twill tape to the center front of the bodice pieces, to keep the bias edges from stretching out of shape before the whole thing gets assembled.

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~ day 8 ~

This little camera was a birthday gift from my parents, over 20 years ago. I remember how pleased they were and how happy I was. It still works really well, particularly for macro photos.it is also really really small, about the size of the palm of my hand, and my hands are about the size of a midsized child

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Spent time in the sewing/guest space today, picking up a few of the larger more obvious items to put away. Fortunately most of what is in this room actually belongs in this room, and will be returned to the storage shelves, at least temporarily. That is what they are for after all. It was a surprise and a treat that the pattern for my long janes showed up folded in amidst some jersey fabric. Particularly since I had been dreading going through the process of taking a pattern from the extant garment, as I knew there was a pattern somewhere... As this is the time of year long janes are needed, and most of the pairs I have are getting rather "worn to a ravelling", at least two or three pairs are on my ASAP sewing list.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	-	-	orangeflower water
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- Ursel is now on Discord and we can chat there
- I recreated most of the (missing) Advent Swap list
- sitting at the now mostly cleared off dining table feels really lovely. My hope is to extend that sensation throughout Acorn Cottage.
- chatting with Turquoise online reminded me of how fortunate I am, in being able to sit and look out at the various birds in the yard and the sun on the plants. Feeling very appreciative.

Time of Isolation - Day 2020

go get your eyes examined

in which our plucky heroine is up and about before dawn...

As indeed, my visual fields test was the first task on the list this week. So, up before 6, got to eye office at 8 when they opened, along with rather a lot of other folks so there was a long line to check in. Unfortunately my mask doesn't cooperate with the machinery, so had to change to a KN95, which only added to my stress. Thankfully as far as test results can discern, my eyes are okay... I always worry, because family history, and more so after my dreadful corneal tear last year, but as long as I keep using eye drops, the doctor said there appears to be no significant changes.

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~ day 5 ~

My electric teakettle is terribly useful, and is filled multiple times a day. Not just for the obvious, but also when washing dishes, or cooking. For years I had either a saucepan, or the sort of teakettle one filled and put on the stovetop, but after the time I absentmindedly walked away from the kitchen and came back far too late to find the heat coil red hot and the enamel base of the kettle melted into the burner (which necessitated discarding both and replacing the burner) my pal Elfrida gave me this electric teakettle that cleverly turns itself off when the water has boiled.

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Valerie of the custom pillow shams came by today having found the specific edging trim for the next set of shams. I still need to get suitable 24" zippers, which will first of all entail phone calls to see if anyplace local has something suitable. Bolt is closed for the next few days, but maybe Modern Domestic? Otherwise will have to venture further afield. 

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Put in time cutting out more pieces for the plaid flannel shirt. The peplum sections, and I decided that mirroring the two ends of the collar would make enough of a difference that it was worth the trouble. There is a whole lotta math in sewing, as I calculated the various rectangles needed for collar and cuffs and front button bands. My next step on this project is to read the instructions for the tower placket, as adding that before sewing the sleeves to the body will be easier.

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January SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	final alphabeast drawing	painted mini tree	recycle bin
2	-	-	-
3	-	-	-
4	-	-	-
5	-	-	-
6	x	x	x
7	x	x	x
8	x	x	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- holiday lights in the darkness
- the busdriver recognised me, and noticed I was "going the other way" from where he usually sees me on the bus. I guess my attire is pretty distinctive
- my eyes got a basically clean bill of health, in that they are not any worse than they were a year ago, and the optical technicians and doctor were willing to mask at my request.
- Gersvinda came by this evening with a grocery sack full of winter veg from Acantha; onions and potatoes and squash oh my!
- A belated birthday gift package of treats from Iceland, several skeins of blue Lettlopi, a delicate pierced metal tree of life ornament, and a bar of soap encased in felt with a pony design. 

Time of Isolation - Day 2017

a surprise and a treat

in which our plucky heroine gets more than she bargained for...

After lunch took a walk over to Sewlarium only to find out that they were closed so decided to check in at the Goodwill to look for buttons (ie mens shirts that might have enough, and of an acceptable color). Found some in a perfect dull teal blue, and thought, hmmm... 11 buttons for $6.99, not bad. When removing them from the shirt I realised that there were two smaller secret undercollar buttons as well (that will be perfect for the upper buttonhole on the tower placket). I had never seen hidden collar buttons before; rather than the usual buttonhole in the collar point, these had a wee twill tape button loop sewn into a seam in the undercollar.

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~ further resipiei progress ~

Finished embroidering line 7: "Put in mor water." This has me not about a halfway done with the second page. The first page has just as much text and more illustrations, so I expect it will take longer. 

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The flannel is a non-symmetrical woven plaid. Glad I noticed that while laying out the bias cut front bodice, and not after it was cut out.  Instead of cutting double layers, after cutting out a single layer piece for one side, it was flipped over and carefully matched with the correct plaid stripes to mirror the alignment on the other side.  Never too old a dog to put new tricks into use; I'd heard of doing this, but never before needed to put it into practice.

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There is this annoying thing the body does, when for some reason it gets a nasty glitch in the sub-scapularis region. To the point of it being painful to breathe. It has done this on random occasions for at least the last fifty years. No obvious activity sets it off, and after making breakfast and been up for a while this morning, there it was. Bah! Getting dressed was a challenge. While I managed to do a few housey chores, eventually gave up and went back to bed, trying not to move. Very thankfully, whatever structural alignment was out of whack sorted itself while I was napping, as I woke up about an hour later able to take a deep breath again. 

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pairs underwear	vegetable steamer legs	fridge science experiments
2	knitted shrew	shrew eyes	yard waste bin
3	1 pair undies	Gamma bucket lid	recycle bin
4	2 alphabeast  drawings	one page of the embroidery transfer	recycle bin
5	1 alphabeast  drawing	daypack mended	recycle bin
6	phone pouch	cleaned keyboard	x
7	transit pass case	undie waistband	x
8	x	Otterbox case	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- secret undercollar button surprise
- stupid body glitch only lasted half a day
- clever trick to mirror non-symmetrical plaid 

Time of Isolation - Day 2011

Sunday betwixtmas

in which our plucky heroine has an unexpected visitor...

Early this afternoon, the doorbell rang! I practically jumped out of my skin, as I had been sitting and reading, but to my surprise and delight it was my friend Drusa (Kate). I'd not seen her in person in I don't know how long, certainly since before she moved away, so getting to exchange multiple hugs, and some porch visit time was really special. The knitted shrew I made earlier this winter was for her, as shrews are her special favorite animal, and she really likes it. And is enjoying the bonus Advent Swap treats. She gifted me with some homegrown eggs, and an assortment of her homemade goat milk soap. I am so happy she stopped by to visit!

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~ moar Advent Swap treats ~

an additional assortment of tiny treats, including a maneki neko bell, a lampwork pendant that is also a top, a crocheted/knotwork flower?, a star bedecked packet of rhubarb seeds, a hand painted gold star sticker, a box of red bead cubes that look like coral, and a delightfully painted mushroom depicting a tree in a floral landscape. That folks come up with such a wide variety of things that fit in 1¼" space never fails to amaze me!

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Today I found out that the Liberty-esqe fabric is truly Liberty lawn, and was a gift a number of years ago from my friend Cricket, purchased when she was in London. I shall treasure it even more, and enjoy adding it to my new sewing project. It will become the accent fabric for my teal plaid shirt

Speaking of which, Past Me cleverly downloaded all the many pages of the tower placket instructions and put them in a notebook, in the bookcase with the other sewing tomes. This will be everso useful when I get to that stage in the shirtmaking, since I have only ever made a tower placket once before,back in February of 2020, when I made the grey houndstooth plaid flannel shirt.

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Winter 6PAC Lucky7

dk neutral overlayer - dk neutral bottom - dk neutral coat - alt color overlayer - alt color bottom - alt color top - color link top-

- brown linen pinafore - brown jersey long janes - brown raincoat - teal linen pinafore - teal jersey long janes - teal floral blouse - teal/cream/brown plaid shirt

This is the current wardrobe sewing plan, subject to change as whim decrees, but this group of garments will be a very welcome and easy to integrated addition.  It's tempting to add accessories, a la Vivienne Files - thinking about an Alabama Chanin headscarf, or blue painted shoes to replace the pair that wore out...

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Thinking ahead to New Years, it seems like a good idea to do some cooking ahead. The menu is fairly set. Black-eyed peas, greens, carrot coins, and Sister Gigi's corn pancakes (an optional but delicious and appropriate addition). Since the big box of greens was on sale at GrocOut today, I will cook those today and freeze them. There may be room in the freezer for some of the corn pancakes as well, if I use frozen corn as an ingredient.

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December SMART goals (x=extra)

#	THINGS MADE	THINGS FIXED	THINGS GONE
1	2 pairs underwear	vegetable steamer legs	fridge science experiments
2	knitted shrew	shrew eyes	yard waste bin
3	1 pair undies	Gamma bucket lid	recycle bin
4	2 alphabeast  drawings	one page of the embroidery transfer	recycle bin
5	1 alphabeast  drawing	daypack mended	recycle bin
6	phone pouch	cleaned keyboard	x
7	transit pass case	undie waistband	x
8	x	Otterbox case	x
9	x	x	x

today's gratitudes -
- a clear instructional tutorial for sewing a tower placket
- a surprise visit from Drusa
- "Digger", by Ursula Vernon

Time of Isolation - Day 2010