Sunday, July 14, 2019

Over 60!

I got up early yesterday and finished the jacket from last weekend,
 and to add the buttons to the flannel shirt,
 so now my fabric tally is just over 60 yards of fabric for the year.  The thing I love about using up fabric--besides generally getting clothing out of it--is that it makes a faster dent in the sewing room.  Had I not been on a few fabric benders since we moved, I might well have decreased the overall stash by now....Ahem.  I believe both of these are from fabrics I bought since we moved here, which would be surprising to someone who didn't know me after heaving box after box of fabric up and down stairs in the move, but there was a fabric store close to my old office that I could visit on my lunch break.  That is NOT a recommended practice, and besides just being a dreadful job, I've saved myself some money by changing jobs.  :)

This morning, I'll be cutting out the next project.  I started to cut it out yesterday, but derailed myself AGAIN by debating whether I should make the pattern I picked or maybe look for a different pattern...  Honestly, you'd think I of all people would know there will be more on the next lunch break, even.......

 I also cast on the new socks,
and I am still not sure how I feel about the yarn. It's Austermann Step, and the yarn has been coated with jojoba and aloe, which makes if feel very...unusual.  Not bad, just very, very odd.  I have really dry skin that can snag yarn in the worst of winter, so I can see the point, and might save the other two balls in my stash for winter knitting, because the TRUE yarn addict doesn't just buy one skein of a new yarn to "try it out,"  She buys three.........

Monday, July 8, 2019

They Knit the Queen

So I was feeling pretty good about finishing a pair of socks over the weekend--having taken just under 2 months--when I saw this today:

They knit the Queen of England as she appeared on her coronation day in 1953.  PLUS 60 villagers to recreate scenes of the times.  I truly hope a museum snaps these up and they go on display forever.  AND that they include how much knitting time it took, because that's my first question.  Do you think they started the day after?

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Last Day of a Long Weekend

I've had a 5-day weekend, which would be more impressive had my boss not bothered the sales staff repeatedly with unimportant emails to remind us we needed to sell things and if we hadn't worked insane hours the weekend before last and STILL had to show up on the following Monday at 8--which not even the stupidest charity in the world would expect.  And the extra days were NOT charity--we won them in a sales contest.  Next time we'll know to request a break from the sales manager as well....

I've spent much of my mini-vacation crafting.  Wednesday I made Andy's birthday gift,
finishing it even a bit early, which is kind of amazing.  I debated about the next project, then remembering that the sewing room is still pretty much a crazy mess, and decided that the next project would be something I could find.  So, flannel in July:
Sure, it's crazy-hot now, but this will be a lovely shirt for winter--as soon as I figure out which buttons.
I thought the black ones would be the right choice, but I'm not sure when I look at them.  The top button is a nice grey, which I think is my favorite.  This is why there's a button stash.  I've tried buying buttons for each project as I go, but I rarely like the ones I pick out once the project is finished. 

I've also finished the current socks,
and have the next ones ready to cast on,
Sometimes one just needs to work on a sock, don't you think?

This morning, Venus and I are cutting out a new jacket.
I stiffened the fabric quite a while ago, but even though I bought the fabric specifically to make yet another draped jacket, I started debating whether I should do something else with it, so it's been in Project Paralysis for several months.  So, I'm cutting it out, and have decided my newest resolution is to use things for the project for which they were purchased.  I don't know about you, but I have fabric and yarn I've purchased specifically for a project, but then I start second-guessing myself:  should I do something different with it?  Is this really the right thing?  Should I find a different project?  How many of one pattern can one really use?  And then I don't do anything.  So, I have hundreds of yards of fabric and thousands of yarn, and I'm going to use them. As soon as I find them....

In other events, I got braces two weeks ago.  I had them in junior high, but my orthodontist didn't really understand how much teeth move in a lifetime, so when my bottom retainer broke off, he didn't think it needed to be replaced.  Well, it did.  So, now I'm going through my second round, and I can't believe how much they hurt.  I do remember them hurting when I first got them and after each appointment, but two and a half weeks later, I am STILL eating mostly soft food and blended things, and one tooth is so sore that even flossing it hurts.  Eighteen months of this. I can barely manage pasta.  The one saving grace is now I'm old enough for alcohol, which mercifully doesn't have to be chewed, and now there are more dairy substitutes.  I've been allergic to milk my entire life (true allergy, not an intolerance, which is kind of rare), so things I could be eating like cottage cheese, creamy soups, etc. are not options for me, though we have found some dairy-free yogurt that isn't terrible.  And, thank heavens, there are some outstanding dairy-free ice cream substitutes, which can be eaten for lunch when one is whiny enough.  I do need to lose some weight, and being unable to eat hardly anything does seem like a good start, though I was hoping for something like eating sensibly and exercising more.  17 months, one and a half weeks to go.............