in which i find out i'm not so smart after all

Once you've been in the online sewing world for a little while, you start to realize that many home sewers (or sewists, as some call themselves) pooh-pooh the "Big 4" pattern companies (Simplicity, McCall's, Butterick, and ? what's the fourth?) and instead create garments from European patterns.

These patterns seem to be more tailored to actual human bodies and come in lots more modern, hip designs. We're talking about Burda, for example. In many cases you are required to do things like add the seam allowances (where the American pattern companies print the seam allowances right on the pattern pieces), and while this seems like a pain in the booty, it's actually good in cases where you need to do alterations (or so I've read...I've never once attempted a pattern alteration).

One such European company is Ottobre Design. They make patterns for women and children, but it's the designs for children that blew me away. LOTS of home sewing mamas use this source, so I decided to give it a try. I figured I've been sewing long enough and made enough different patterns that I could certainly figure out these Euro patterns.

First of all, this gorgeous book of patterns is hiding an ugly secret:


This is what one of the 6 pattern sheets looks like. Is that not enough to make you want to poke your eyes out? You have to get out your pattern ease and a marker, sit in a very well-lit room, and carefully seek out and trace the correct pattern pieces in the correct size. By color. Oh my peas. It is ridiculous. But I did it, because dang it, I was going to make my Daughter some adorable Euro clothes!

I went to Joann's on Sunday for a shot of inspiration. There, I ran into my first roadblock. The entire book is in metric. I mean, duh, of course, it is European. I should have done a little prep work at home to determine how much yardage I would need for the designs I was planning to make.

I got through it, and came away with a plan:


Fabric for 3 pairs of cropped summer pants and linen for a dress.

The pants:


Two cuts of embroidered twill, and one of denim weaver's cloth.

The dress:


Linen in the prettiest blue I've ever seen. Daughter has blue eyes, so I like to make blue clothing to set them off.

Well, I got the patterns traced and cut out, as you can see in the photo above. Then I went to bed because after all that tracing and marking I was losing my mind. And my eyesight, I think.

Yesterday I began sewing, starting with the pants. Next roadblock: these patterns come with approximately 10 lines of directions. The gist is this: "sew garment together."

So I did:



I did ok, until I got to the outside leg seams. The pattern pieces include a mock vent piece that extends out from the leg. I wish I'd taken a photo if it before sewing. I had NO IDEA what to do. I can sew a real vent. But how to you sew a mock vent? The instructions were so very, very vague that I spent a full half-hour flipping back and forth from the instructions to the picture of the finished pants, trying to get a clue. I searched my sewing reference books. I looked on the internet. Nothing.

I finally quit, and I swear I laid in bed thinking about it for hours. I just have no idea what they wanted me to do. I still don't. I faked it.


I sewed the entire side seam, then folded the seam allowance and vent extensions forward (inside the leg) and topstitched over them. They still need two buttons sewn on to complete the vent illusion. That horizontal topstitched seam is supposed to be there - you cut the pattern piece off, make a separate bottom panel, and sew it back on for design interest. That part was no problem. But that damn mock vent...I hope I can figure it out because I want to make more of these! Oh, and the hem is straight. Through the magic of photography, it looks wonky. I assure you, it's fine.


For the pockets, rather than turning under the seam allowances I chose to line each with batiste and turn them, because the bottoms are curved. I knew I'd make a giant mess of it if I tried to turn those under. Plus a lined pocket should be stronger, right? Daughter likes to pick up all kinds of sticks and rocks and crap outside, and all that will probably end up in these pockets.

Part of what screwed me up on these pants (besides hubris) was the fact that I chose not to add seam allowances to my pieces. I took the advice of others I've read about on the 'net and simply cut a larger size, then sewed with a regular 5/8" seam allowance. This worked for the most part, especially because Daughter is so petite and thin. However, it seems to have messed me up in the waistband area. The directions call for wide elastic, and the picture shows a wide waistband. I ended up with a puny casing that will only hold very narrow elastic. I need to try these on Daughter when she gets up...I'm hoping the elastic waist will be comfortable enough. I guess on the next pair I will add length at the waist to accommodate a much wider casing.

So it turns out I don't know as much as I thought I did. I'll be trying again, though. Stay tuned for the continuing saga. I'll be trying the dress next. I need a little break from these pants.

beat THIS

So yesterday (Sunday) morning I schlepped out of bed and got Daughter up. She padded off to the corner of the sofa to veg and suck on her fingers, and I put on my coat and shoes (over my moose pajamas...hawt!) to get the newspaper from the mailbox. I was outside for maybe twelve seconds. When I came back in Daughter was kneeling up on the couch and fully awake. This is what she said to me:

"Mommy! Did you see that chipmunk?!?"

Now, I was still kind of in half-asleep mode myself, so I was confused. A chipmunk? Like, a toy chipmunk? We don't have any of those. Uhhh...

I asked her ,"wha-? What are you talking about? What chipmunk?" And she said:

"MOMMY! LOOK! Right there! A chipmunk!"

She was gesturing wildly toward the kitchen (I should mention here that my house is laid out like this: family room, kitchen, dining room in a row). So there I stood, in the doorway, newspaper in hand, asking again what on earth she was talking about. I think I said, "what chipmunk? Where?"

"RIGHT THERE! IN THE DINING ROOM!"

And dudes, I kid you not - I turned around and saw a FREAKING CHIPMUNK streak across my dining room.

Hijinks ensued, I can tell you that much. Hubs jumped out of bed and immediately closed off the bedrooms (which are off the dining room). I got the broom. Hubs got a bucket. Don't ask me what our plans were. We just grabbed what seemed like logical chipmunk removal items. Daughter grabbed the broom and proceeded to try to find the chipmunk and, I don't know, perhaps sweep him to death. We mostly stood around, spinning in circles and shouting, "there he goes!"

Finally, we got Daughter to calm down and sit in the kitchen to eat her cereal, promising that she could watch for Mister Chipmunk (as she called him) from her chair. Once it got quiet, Mr. C came out of the dining room and hid behind the stove. I got the flashlight and coaxed him out of there after propping the front door open, and he crept around the perimeter of the kitchen and shot out the door.

It was one heck of a morning.

The question we have is, where did the little bugger come from in the first place?!? Ay-yi-yi. Never a dull moment.

little stinker

Today we were playing with Daughter's pegs. I made a pattern in one row, and she copied it. She found this to be great fun. One time she made 3 perfect copies, then just stuck the pegs in any old way on the last row.

Me: Sweetie, that's not the same pattern. What 'cha doing?

D: Oooooohhhh. That's wrong. (Takes pegs out.)

Me: It's ok, try again!

D: I don't want to make a mistake again! (Makes growly noises of frustration.)

(Discussion ensues regarding the nature of making mistakes vs. just mixing things up.)

D: Ok mommy, I will try it again! (Proceeds to quickly stick all the pegs in exactly the right places.)

Me: Hey, were you mixing them up on purpose?!?

D: Hahaha! Now I'm doing it right ON PURPOSE!

an almost finished garment

I tried several times to write this post yesterday, but Blogger refused to accept pictures so it had to wait until today.

Also, wow, how did a whole week go by?

Anyway, I've been working on Daughter's Easter dress a little at a time, and it's mostly finished:


It has no buttons right now (just pins holding it together down the back) and that ribbon is not attached - I just wanted to see what it will look like.

Here's the back:


I wanted to hang it up for better photos, but Daughter was sleeping when I took them and it wasn't worth trying to sneak into her closet to get a kid-size hanger. So it looks nicer when it's hanging up or being worn, but you get the idea.

Last night I got her to try it on and she looks adorable in it. I picked just the right size and it fits well. Hopefully during today's nap I can get the buttonholes made and sew on the buttons. Then I just need to somehow affix the ribbon to the dress - crochet loops at the side seams, maybe?

It does need a slip of some sort (I chose against lining the actual dress). I got some batiste at Joann's last week (and is it me, or did Joann's used to have nice, 100% cotton batiste but now only a cheesy cotton/poly blend?), so I will probably make both a ruffled half-slip and a full slip to see which looks better. A full slip might be wise as it's still wicked cold here.

It feels good to get something (almost) finished.

i get by with a little help from my friends

I have to start out today by saying a prayer of thanks for this beautiful day. Winter is set to return tonight, but today it is in the 60s (!!!) and the sun is blazing. This morning we actually played outside - didn't even need hats - and Daughter's obvious joy at stomping around in the rapidly melting bits of snow was infectious. We sat on the porch for quite awhile and soaked in the sunshine, and it was just wonderful. Yes, we go back to rain/snow/sleet for several weeks now, but I have a feeling this is the day we start heading for SPRING! Woo hoo! Can't come soon enough for this gal.

And now a question for my sewing homies: my last post was about Daughter's Easter dress - scroll down for a refresher on that. As it was so lovely today, I chose to ditch my chores for naptime and sit in front of an open window, sewing in the breeze. I got most of the bodice done but quit when I realized I don't have matching thread to topstitch with. Whoops. Guess I'm going to Joann's tomorrow.

Anyway, I was thinking about the skirt, and more specifically how to give the skirt a bit more body. The gathers at the waist will do their part to make it stand out a bit, but as it's just cotton calico it doesn't have much...oomph.

My thoughts are to either line the skirt portion with something (batiste?) by basically making a second skirt, stitching it to the bodice along with the dress fabric, hemming it up shorter than the dress, and then tacking it to the seam allowances with little crochet thread loops (like you see in store bought dresses/skirts), OR make a slip with a ruffly bottom. I have this pattern and could probably fudge it down to a size 2 (viewB). I thought of making the half-slip but Daughter still has a bit of that poochy toddler belly and I don't think it would stay at her waist.

So I could use any suggestions you have. Thanks, peeps!

look out...i'm on a roll

Wow, I don't know how long it's been since I actually posted two days in a row. Spring must be coming because my mood is slowly lifting, and I'm feeling more like doing stuff. The sunlight is noticeably returning, thank heavens.

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm anxious to start Daughter's Easter dress because Easter is so early this year and will be here before we know it. March 23 in Buffalo is not known for being warm, but I'm making Daughter's dress short-sleeved nonetheless. She has a very nice fine-gauge cream cable-knit sweater that has seen precious little wear, which will go nicely over the dress. Plus she can then wear it through the Summer and early Fall.

I'm using this pattern:

New Look 6745, view c-ish, size 2

This is fast becoming my favorite dress pattern. It's fun and easy to make, has a brilliant back facing/finishing that results in stabilized buttonholes with little effort, and fits well. A miracle! I made it in flannel last fall and Daughter has worn it to death.

Using this very simple little pattern has taught me two main things. First, don't be afraid to Frankenstein your patterns. The exact dress I want doesn't actually appear as any of the presented views. I want a short-sleeved dress with a full, solid skirt. Luckily the bodice is exactly the same for all views, so it's possible to put together any combination of pieces to get what you want.

The second thing I've learned is not to always just blindly trust and follow the pattern layout and cutting guide the pattern company gives you.

Here, look how the company thinks this dress should be cut out:

Wha-? I took one look at this and said "awwwwww crap." This is view A/B, which I want to use with the addition of two sleeves. I know I have enough fabric to make the thing, but this layout makes me nauseous. I am ALWAYS wary of any layout that has you chopping up your fabric into multiple pieces. And looking at this layout I couldn't quite figure out where I'd fit the sleeves in. Using this plan you cut two of piece #2 separately, which I also hate because then they won't ever be exactly the same.

I decided to just fold the fabric in half, selvage to selvage, to see what would happen.

Well lookee here:

It's a tad hard to see because of the white pattern-ease and the sunlight, but all the pieces fit just fine using the traditional selvage to selvage layout. I even have a few inches left over.

So. There's my sewing tip for the day, I guess. Always check and see if there is another way to lay out your pattern pieces before just whacking the yardage apart with your shears. You can't put it back together, so it's worth trying other ways, especially with tiny kid pattern pieces like this.

I'm going to try and get this cut out and marked before naptime is over. Then it's off to the machine!

alert the media!

I actually finished something!


I call it "very cherry." It's the first thing that popped into my head and I'm too lazy to try and come up with another name.

This is a very wide, swingy tank with wide, comfy pants to match. The fabric is 100% cotton from Joann's, but it has a nice weight - it's one of their higher end cottons. The ruffle is maybe Michael Miller? Not sure. It's red with white pin dots.

It was a bit tedious because of that biiiiiig ruffle and the fact that the neck and armholes are all finished with bias tape rather than a facing (for the record, I prefer facing!), but with a working serger the pants were super fast and it all came together at last.

This outfit will be listed over at BonBons along with a few other Spring items, but I am waiting until I have several things ready so I can do one major update.

In the meantime I will reward myself by starting Daughter's Easter dress. I hope to get the pattern traced tonight. Stay tuned!

back in business

Hark! What have we here?!?


Egads, it's a serger and a sewing machine, both in working order!

That poor serger is certainly not new, as you can probably tell from the sex-ay brown and orange decals. It was given to me (!!!) by a great lady I used to work with, because she bought a new one and knew I did not have one at all. I have sewn probably hundreds of thousands of stitches on it over the past 3 years, until a couple of weeks ago when it finally just quit forming stitches. I could get it to work for a few inches of sewing, and then threads would break, and I was making more of a mess than anything. So I put it away and figured it was probably just finally dead.

But then I went back to old finishing methods (pinking, mock-french seams, double turned hems), and while those methods are fine, mostly I find them tedious and less-than-professional. Plus, I want to finish up a bunch of things for my etsy shop and without serging, they just don't look as nice nor will they hold up as well in the wash. Yick.

So I figured I'd bite the bullet and take it in for a tuneup. I had some birthday money left, and figured I'd just use it for the machine. If it required more than a tuneup, well, then I'd have to learn to live without a serger. But I was able to accept the $80-$100 it would cost to get the machine working again.

I took it in on Friday to the shop where I used to work. All the ladies working there are my old friends, and they said they'd try to get it toward the front of the line (the usual wait for machine repair is anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months - there aren't very many places to take machines around here so they get very busy). Turns out the woman who fixes sergers (also an old friend) took a look at it right away on Friday, determined that it did not need a full tuneup, adjusted a few things, cleaned all the fuzz and gunk out, and only charged me $20 for 1/2 hour of labor. I had the machine back on my sewing table by Saturday afternoon.

Sometimes I feel very blessed, indeed.


Since I had been fully prepared to spend close to $100 but did not, I felt justified in picking up a few cuts of calico for Daughter's Easter dress. This was no small expenditure (what is UP with $10 per yard for freaking calico?) but I think I will end up coming in at about the same cost as a store-bought holiday dress. I think it will be short-sleeved with a gathered skirt, with the main dress made from the dots and maybe the neckline and sleeve edges bound with the stripe, cut on the bias. We'll see.

I apologize for the lack of photos and lack of project talk in general around here. I thought 2008 would be a bigger year for making stuff, but I've felt very unfocused so far. There are lots of irons in the fire, but I keep flitting from one thing to another and not getting very far. Over the weekend I was reading two mind-blowing sewing blogs and I did start to feel a spark of inspiration and energy returning. Check them out and see if they don't get your creative juices flowing:

Laura's Sewing Room

Hungry Zombie Couture

These ladies can literally make themselves any garment they want. Go back through the archives and just look at the gorgeous wardrobes they have created. I wish I had someone to show me some of the wonderful tips and tricks and methods they use. I know zilch, for example, about lining/underlining, different methods for stabilizing fabrics, or resizing commercial patterns to fit me (or Daughter). I don't even know a lot about the different types of fabrics out there and how to use them appropriately (yes, I worked in a fabric shop but it was all calico for quilting). Some older ladies used to come into the shop when I was working and ask what happened to the tricot and stretch laces - they were looking for supplies to make their own underwear. Goodness, I wouldn't know the first thing about making undergarments.

So I ask those of you who sew reasonably well: who taught you? Did you take a class (or classes)? Did you learn from your mom? Your grandma? Do you just read books, or the internet, or subscribe to sewing magazines? And if you do know and use advanced methods, where do you find your materials? Because I am stuck with Joann's, Joann's, or Joann's...which I find ridiculous for a place like Buffalo. We are not so backwater that we couldn't handle one or two different fabric stores. Sheesh. There is always the internet, and sometimes the deals there are awesome, but I do like to fondle my fabrics before purchase, don't you?

I sort of have the wild idea that I might like to audit some classes at Buffalo State College. They offer textile classes and some fashion design, as far as I know, and I might be able to learn a lot that way. But more than that I wish I had an older grandma-type who could sit me down and just take me through some projects the right way, with care and patience and good materials.
I mean, I don't want to short-change my mom, who taught me all the basics and still helps me out here and there. I guess I'm just looking for some more advanced stuff.

Le sigh. I daydream. I guess I can ponder all this further while I dive into the giant ironing pile that awaits me.

trying to be a money saving mom

I complain a lot about being "poor." And then I write a post about how jeez, I shouldn't say that, we're not really poor at all and we have everything we need, etc, etc. And to really clarify it, we are certainly not poor. We live in our own house, drive two nice enough cars, have plenty to eat, have hot water and electricity that are in no danger of being shut off, wear decent clothing and shoes, and don't really want for any necessities. We have a decent savings, a few investments, no credit card debt (we use CCs but pay them off each month) and we do not fritter a lot of money away on toys or trips. To many, many people we probably appear pretty flush. And we are definitely very, very lucky that we can make life work on one salary so I can be a stay-home mom.

But the way we do that is by being extremely careful about how we use our resources. My husband works really hard to earn his paycheck, and we made the unspoken agreement years ago that I would be the steward of the finances for our home. Thus it is my job to make sure the money he earns is spent and saved in the most responsible manner possible.

Ever since I was a teenager, I've loved Sunday mornings because that's when the paper comes all loaded with ads and coupons. My sisters and I would sit at the kitchen table eating breakfast - er, brunch - and pass the ads around the table as we finished looking through them. Back then it was "what can we spend our babysitting money on? Who has makeup on sale? How about jeans?" But then in college it became more about necessities like shampoo and soap and school junk for the next semester. I used to cut the coupons for my mom and I loved it. In fact, I still remember when the coupons came perforated so you could rip them out without scissors.

It became an obsession, and it lives on. Last fall my sister brought her fiance home to meet the family, and we all came to my parents' house for brunch on Sunday. I dove straight for the newspaper ads, and he just watched with wide eyes as we 3 sisters divvied up the stuff we wanted. He said he'd never seen such a frenzy over the ads.

As a young wife I would trudge out to the car on freezing winter Sundays to drive up and get the paper from the corner supermarket. I'd ensconce myself in a corner of the sofa while Hubs slept in, merrily clipping coupons and combing the ads for the best deals on everything from cleaning supplies to groceries to personal care items. Then I'd shower, hit the stores, and come home crowing about my deals - I'd often save upwards of $20 on groceries, and get stuff half-price at places like CVS or even Target. I thought I was awesome.

I've continued to do that as a stay-home mom. We have student loans to pay down, and lots of bills (just like everyone), so I save where I can. But I am not nearly as awesome as I thought I was.

I recently discovered Money Saving Mom. I've spent many naptimes and evenings poring over her site, absorbing all she and her readers/commenters have to say about being wise stewards of the family's resources. And while I don't agree with every philosophy she shares (for example I think credit cards are perfectly fine as long as you use them wisely), I have learned A TON about getting better deals from her site. She lists all the best deals for the week for many major chains, and I'm especially fascinated by "CVS-ing" (which, I'm sorry to say, doesn't apply to everyone because CVS isn't nationwide). I have always shopped at CVS here and there, when the ad and the coupons matched up to give me great deals on stuff like toothpaste and deodorant. But it turns out you can do so much more for your budget by shopping there wisely, which I have started to do.

If you're interested, read here to understand how the CVS extra-bucks program works. It's really quite fascinating if you're a math and savings nerd like me. Basically, CVS will pay you to buy stuff at their stores. Seriously!

On Sunday I went there armed with coupons and a list. I got two 35-count packs of Huggies diapers, one package of feminine products, one 4-pack of D batteries, one 12-roll pack of t.p., and a bottle of detergent. All were name brands, and I had coupons for just about everything. My total came to $38 and change. I used lots of coupons (and they take internet coupons, by the way), and $11 extra-care-bucks from the last time I shopped there, as well as a $4 off $20 coupon I got by giving CVS my email address. After all that, I paid $15.86 out of pocket and got back $15 extra-care-bucks to spend next time. So in essence I am only out $.86 for the trip. WORTH IT JUST FOR THE 70 DIAPERS!

If you read through Money Saving Mom, you can see how she really makes the system work for her family. She somehow feeds her family on an astounding $35 per week, and that includes her CVS budget. Now, I'm not seeking to get my family down to that level or anything, but it sure would be nice to cut the $100-ish we spend each week down a bit!

Part of me feels a little embarrassed to talk about this stuff, but I know I shouldn't be. Our goals are to increase our savings and investments, put away some money for Daughter's education, and pay down our stupid student loans. (I recently made the horrifying discovery that if we don't increase our payments soon, we will finish paying off both our loans one year before Daughter starts college. There are not enough bad words to describe my reaction to THAT little discovery. Time to make some changes!!)

Plus I like the idea that if we have more, we can give more in many ways, which is a central theme of Money Saving Mom's site. If I have surplus stuff I can donate it when our church has drives for various missions. At Christmas we can get a really nice gift for the child we choose from the Church mitten tree.

And just in general, if we have a bit more socked away we don't have to live in fear of the car breaking down or the fridge or washer dying or the roof springing a leak.

America is truly a consumption-driven country. I have recently taken a vow to fight that tooth and nail, and to try to teach my Daughter that it isn't important to always get every little thing you want. We got our taxes done the other night and wow, the urge to spend, spend, spend just grips you when you hear you're getting a big refund, doesn't it? Yikes! That money is going straight into our savings account, dangit. And have you thought about what you're going to do with your big George Bush stimulus check when it comes in May? How many of you have it spent already? Hubs and I briefly allowed ourselves to fantasize about a short vacation, but then agreed it will go IN THE BANK.

Well, I hope that didn't come off as too preachy or anything. This is just what's on my mind this week (and always), and I thought I'd share my thoughts. I know everyone has very different views about budgeting and spending - these are just some of mine.

401

Whoa, yesterday was my 400th post! Wow. 400 posts and not one interesting/important/relevant thing to say. I sure can prattle on about nothing!

First things first: the bed.

It is awesome.

Daughter was totally into helping Daddy put it together:

"Here, Father...do let me help you with that support beam."

Problem is, then she wants tools just like Daddy. So we give her a screwdriver with removable tips...and we remove the tips:

"BOO!"

Why no, I don't comb her hair. Thanks for asking.

Le Bed:

Why yes, my bedroom is the size of a closet. Obviously, this shot is a lot nicer a) in daylight and b) when the bed is made and stacked up with colorful pillows.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the mattress as it arrived at our house. It was a rolled up tube about 15 inches across. I was petrified that when we cut the straps it would just be a limp little army-cot looking thing, but shazam! It explodes right up into a 10+ inch mattress! Very cool. The frame, if anyone is interested, is a solid pine platform. It's raw pine, which we may or may not stain in the warmer months. For now it smells fantastic...but then again, I like the smell of fresh-cut lumber. Your mileage may vary.

The bed was supposed to be our Valentine's gift to one another, but Hubs had apparently already ordered these before we decided on the bed:

So pretty. He also included a little teddy bear for Daughter, which blew her mind when it was delivered to our door. I told Hubs no flowers and we decided a long time ago to declare a moratorium on any new stuffed animals coming into the house, but I guess I can't always be a scrooge. And besides, Hubs told me, "I never get you anything for Valentine's Day because we're always saving money, and I'm starting to feel like a real a**hole for ignoring this holiday!"

Daughter, who hadn't even heard of Valentine's Day until last night, got into the swing of things with this beautiful Valentine for Daddy:

Totally her own design - I just put the glue where she told me to. Right now there is enough glitter all over my kitchen floor for about ten more Valentines, but it was so worth it. She can't wait for Daddy to come home.

And finally, apropos of nothing, I was thinking of the little blessings that appear sometimes when you least expect them. Now that we've finally purchased the new bed, we'll be tightening our belts for a month or two to recover, so not much fun stuff is in the pipeline - no new yarns or fabrics for me.

But one of my mom's best friends has just moved away to a warm climate and brought all her yarn over for us to take what we wanted. There were lots of partial skeins of stuff I didn't need or want, but this sang out to me:

It's 2 full (and one partial or possibly full) skeins of Tahki Twiggy Tweed. It's a pretty mushroom-y brown color with flecks of gold and rust and blue. I've never heard of it before, but it's quite rustic and pretty so I figured I'd try to make something of it.

Anyway, just a nice thing to happen considering I don't have funds to be yarn shopping at the moment.

*****

Quick announcement: I finally finished up a size 3 apple print jumper for the shop, and hope to have several more items up before next week. Please do check it out. Karen's sewing machine must be smoking...nay, on fire!...with all she has been making. Her stuff is selling fast, go take a look!




**Edit: Just below this post, the same post title is appearing. I had a problem publishing the first time...thought I'd lost the entire post, and now I'm scared to try deleting that for fear I'll lose everything. Sorry about that...please just ignore it!

401

playgroup 'n stuff

So have I mentioned that we're still doing the Wednesday morning playgroup? I must say it has grown on me, and I really like the woman who runs it. Last session (in the Fall) I was so in love with it because Daughter made a little friend who we then met up with at the playground some days, and her mom totally rocks. She's a lot like me and I don't meet many women who are a lot like me. She even looks kind of like me. Weird!

But she went and had a baby just after Thanksgiving and didn't bring her daughter back to playgroup this time. Something about not wanting to subject a newborn to freezing temps, or whatever. Pffffft. I see how it is.

They will be back in the Spring session, she said, but by then Daughter will be 3 and likely moving up a group, and her daughter won't be 3 till August, meaning they will miss out on 2 entire sessions together. Poop!

The current playgroup isn't wonderful, but it's bearable. There's a sweet girl and her daddy who came back from last time, and an adorable little shy boy whose mom is very nice, also from last time. And there's us. Everyone else is new and some of them are...odd. Like the older mom of boy/girl twins who brings grandma along - I guess because both children together are too much to handle? And the boy? Totally plays in the toilet.

What's up with that?

On the very first day this little dude raced into the bathroom and started splashing around in the wee potty. Is that, like, a common thing? I have truly never seen a child so psyched about playing in toilet water. Eee-hew.

And I always wonder about the couple who come together with their daughter each week. I find it interesting that neither one of them seems to have to, you know, go to work. Oh well, I'm sure they just have a different schedule. Still, I wonder about people. Don't you?

There's one mom who's really cool and funny and inspiring...she's a bit older than me and has 2 bio children and several foster children that she has adopted or is adopting. She brings the youngest, currently being adopted, to playgroup. I love this kid. He has maybe the cutest little face EVER and he's a force of nature. Not even 2 yet and you just can't stop the kid. Plus, last week we ran into each other at McD's and totally just looked at each other and laughed over the kids' happy meals. Ah, kindred spirits.

So, you know, it's ok. We keep going back.

Story hour is pretty corny, though. That's Friday morning. We'll see what happens there this week and perhaps I'll report on it. Ay-yi-yi.

************

IN OTHER NEWS: we got the memory foam bed!!!!!

Enough people said it rocks, go buy it, don't wait, it will change your life...so we bought one. It came today, as did the platform, and we assembled it all just after dinner. Tonight I will be hopefully having the most glorious night of sleep EVER. At least that is what I've been promised. I'll definitely report back on that one.

************

Ummmm, what happened to the Blogger's spellcheck feature?

dude, where's the knitting?

I know there has been woefully little knitting and sewing here in the past couple weeks. I'm sorry for that, it's just that I've truly been struggling with some seasonal...down-ness, I guess you could say. It's been hard to get motivated and my hands just haven't felt like picking up needles. It's odd, because at times there are so many things I want to knit I practically lose my mind and start ten things at once. But right now I've been pretty content to lounge on the sofa at night watching political coverage, sans knitting. I did start a wee pair of socks for Daughter last night at knitting guild, so maybe that will jerk me back into the swing of things.

And as for sewing, I've pulled myself together enough to sort all my garment fabrics and match them up with patterns. I have a bunch of things I want to whip up for the shop, and my thoughts are turning to Spring and Summer in a big way. Hopefully there will be some pretty things to share after this weekend.

Also, just because I feel like complaining, my serger and my oven are both dead. Dear George Bush, please expedite my 'economic stimulus' check because my home is falling apart. Thanks.

mmmmm...viscoelastic

Ok, sorry about that post yesterday. Guess I was in a foul mood. Today is looking slightly better, anyway.

And now, I need some input! Even if you've never commented before, please oh please if you have any insight into what I am about to say, do leave me some words of wisdom.

Hubs and I are about to buy a new bed. It has taken me 5 loooooooooong years to finally convince my husband to do so, and we want to choose wisely. Our old mattress and box spring is absolutely trashed and desperately needs to go, and in its place we are considering one of those newfangled memory foam mattresses, with "viscoelastic memory foam." That's the one where you see the girl on the commercial jumping around in her nightie while a glass of wine sits undisturbed on the other side of the bed. People, I am that glass of wine, and my husband (who is almost twice my weight) rolls around all night. I bounce around like a freaking pinball when he tosses and turns and it is seriously impacting my sleep.

So we're looking at a queen size, 10" foam mattress and a platform bed. What I'd like to know is, do you have this kind of bed? Do you love it? Do you rue the day you bought the horrible thing? If you know anything about these beds, please share!

monotonous

The crushing weight of these cold, dark, gray, dreary days has effectively broken my spirit. I must say - again - I don't know if I can bear to live here for the rest of my life. Anyone who has visited and/or lived in Western New York knows we have a lot of really beautiful weather from, say, May through September. But the rest? Ay-yi-yi. It's bleak. I needs me some vitamin D.

Here's a question: what does it say about my skills as a mother when my kid is currently amassing every single toy in the current McD's happy meal set? We've got 3 FurReal Friends so far. And that's after I railed against crap food in this very space. Shameful. At least we ran into another mom/kid from playgroup so I don't feel too badly about it. I do feel kind of guilty about eating a double cheeseburger when literally every other person in the place was eating a filet-o-fish sandwich. It is Ash Wednesday and I'm a horrible, horrible Catholic. Although, hang on, does McD's really count as "meat?" Eew.

Between playgroup and McD's we stopped at Joann Fabrics. I needed sewing machine needles, so we got those, and then we wandered the aisles of fabric. The only teeny spark of inspiration I experienced was when I saw that Joann's is finally carrying some sweet print knits...not the thermal ones (don't like those) but the nice, soft 100% cotton interlock. I didn't buy any, though. Sheesh, you know you're down when wandering Joann's does nothing for you. All we bought was the needles and a bag of (overpriced) m&m's for Daughter, who stayed dry all night and asked to go potty at playgroup before doing a dribble first. (It's been a battle to get her to inform us.)

Guess I'll go clear the dirty dishes from the sink. Then stare into the freezer waiting for dinner to jump out at me. Then switch loads of laundry.

Oh, the monotony.

for sale

Did you see us on the news yesterday? I know the Today show had some video of Buffalo this morning - mega wind and snowstorm, which knocked out our cable modem. No internet for the entire day?!? You might as well say "no oxygen" because I seriously almost died. My husband found me at the end of the day in a withered heap next to my laptop, one finger repeatedly hitting "refresh" in the hope that google would appear.

So this is a slightly belated announcement.

For over 2 years now my good friend Karen and I have been discussing the idea of selling our handmade clothing online. Folks who see what I make for Daughter have been telling me to do this for a long time, and I guess it's finally gone to my head! We've decided to give it a go. Right now there are just a few things listed as we get going and figure it out, but there will be more coming soon. Nothing fancy, mind you, just the well-constructed, hard-wearing garments and accessories we make for our own children. I can personally vouch for the little dresses I am selling, as they are exactly the same as those I dress Daughter in. These jumpers hold up beautifully through wash after wash, wear after wear. They are always Daughter's first choice when she goes to her closet in the morning. I hope some of you out there will be interested in dressing your own wee ones in our creations!

Please visit us at our little shop - bon*bons: handcrafted delights!

(I'm gonna figure out how to link it in my sidebar any day now.)

a little confession

Is it just us, or do your children behave differently for you and your spouse? We have a bit of the "sweet for Daddy, holy terror for Mommy" going on here sometimes. Usually, probably because Daddy is around less and not the primary enforcer of rules, Daughter is generally more well-behaved for him.

But! Today I had an appointment and they both came with me, but when we found out I'd have to wait an extra 20-30 minutes for an additional test, I sent Hubs out with Daughter to get something to eat. She'd been angelic in the waiting room, so she earned herself a trip to Tim Horton's for a muffin and a milk. Off they went.

45 minutes later I walked out of the office to the car to find Daughter in her carseat with no jacket on and Hubs sitting there looking...let's say 'perturbed.'

Turns out all had gone well with the eating of the muffin and the drinking of the milk, and Daughter had even entertained all the old folks drinking coffee by dancing around to the overhead music, but when Hubs said it was time to put her coat on and go get Mommy, she began a series of high-pitched screams that just about broke the windows of the donut shop. This is Hubs' worst nightmare, so I can only imagine the scene as he threw her under one arm, grabbed her coat with the other, and removed her from the establishment (still screeching).

When I heard this story I gave Daughter what-for and told her there would be no videos or treats for the rest of the day, blah blah blah. But inside? Inside I was thinking, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

addicted

Just what I needed, something else to be hooked on. No, I'm not talking about a craft or a project. I'm talking about Jericho.

Have you seen this show? It is freaking awesome. Hubs got the whole first season and I was reluctant to watch...it didn't interest me when it premiered in 2006 and I wasn't into it now. A series about a town surviving a nuclear blast? Bleh. I don't know why, but that didn't do it for me. However, Hubs wanted to watch it and when he put on the first episode I was simply too lazy to get up off the couch and go do something else.

We watched the entire first season (22 episodes) in 3 nights. This is riveting television, people. Somewhat far-fetched in some ways, for which it gets blasted on various message boards, but it's television and it's entertainment. If "24" can get away with it for 6 seasons (or however many there are now) then Jericho should certainly get a chance.

The gist is sort of this: small town in Kansas witnesses but survives a nuclear blast. There are many of these blasts all over the country. No communications, no power, limited resources. It brings out the best and the worst in people, and we watch as the story broadens from one family to the entire USA. The viewer is kept in the dark a lot, along with the characters, so you actually care what is going to happen.

This show was cancelled at the end of spring '07, but a massive write-in campaign convinced CBS to order 7 additional episodes to wrap up the storyline. The first 3 were leaked so we've seen them and I can't figure out how on earth they're going to wrap it up in just 4 more. Luckily they were all completed before the writers strike, so at least we'll get to see them, starting next month.

I really have to recommend the show. With what looks like only 29 total episodes, it's not a huge commitment, and the storyline is deep and very interesting. Much better than the 'reality' schlock most channels are showing these days. Check it out.

If for no other reason, watch it for the scene where Skeet Ulrich gets out of the shower. Gratuitous? Oh yes. But you won't hear me complaining. If a wet, half-naked Skeet Ulrich doesn't get your motor running, I'm sorry, but you are dead inside. He's hawt. ROWR.


(Thanks to everyone who commented about preschool. More on that in the future, I am sure.)

newbie

Let's talk about preschool for a moment, yes?

Hubs and I have decided we are not going to send Daughter to a 3 year-old preschool program next fall. She will turn 3 in April and would certainly be mature enough to attend a preschool setting by September, but we straight up don't want to send her yet. It's my opinion that at 3 most children are still 'babies' in many ways and if possible they should remain home with mom (or dad). Obviously if both parents work outside the home and the child is in daycare of some kind, that's different. I'm just talking about people in my situation...stay-home moms.

At the risk of sounding braggy, I'm going to say that Daughter is really bright, quite precocious, and surprisingly social considering the lack of kids to play with in our neighborhood. She runs right into the room when we go to playgroup, shrugging off her coat and throwing down her mittens so she can join the kids already playing. She sits nicely at story time, cleans up after herself when we have snack (without being asked), and is almost always friendly and willing to share. At library story hour she's the only kid in the group who sits in her little chair and pays attention to the story, only speaking when the librarian addresses the kids/asks a question. She introduces herself to the other kids and answers adults when they speak to her. The librarian stopped me this morning to comment that "she's very bright...she's really doing quite well."

Yes, yes, of course I think she is amazing because she is my kid. I know how it sounds, and I apologize. I'm just trying to say that I don't think she NEEDS preschool right now. She's a really capable little kid and I like being around her. I set the bar high for her behavior (though I never expect her to do more than she is capable of at her age) and she rises to it. I look forward to another year together at home, doing our thing.

But that's another issue. Our "thing" is sometimes pretty lazy, and because we live in the boondocks & gas costs a fortune, we don't head out much. We aren't fortunate to have indoor playgrounds like some of you do. So we do playgroup (a bargain) and story hour (free), and this morning one of the story hour moms told me about a gymnastics place that has good tot classes plus free-play time several days a week (expensive classes, reasonable free-play charge) so we might try that. I'm also pondering swimming lessons.

The question is, how many things am I supposed to sign my 3 year-old up for? And should I be calling all the local preschools now, to observe classes and get Daughter on "the waiting list"? I overhear other moms talking about this stuff and I'm getting paranoid about it. I mean, what's wrong with letting your little one just play and learn at home until 4 years old? Am I really naive here?

I'd appreciate (gentle) feedback about this topic. This is my first time going through it and I'm concerned about doing too much or too little. How do/did you all handle these issues?

back in the saddle...ish

Ok, my sewing machine and I have mostly made up (though my serger is still giving me the finger) and I've been able to tackle some projects over the last couple of days. More on these in a few days, but here's a preview:


(Those loose threads are from machine-stitching the buttons. Pulling them through to the back will be my handwork for TV-time this weekend.)


And I've chosen a new sweater for Daughter. It's another Starmore (hey, you can't argue with perfection), but with only 3 charts to follow this time. I'm going to try it using the Joann's Sensations 100% wool I picked up for a song back in the fall.

I really wish I had more to say, but it's been a slow week. Playgroup yesterday, story hour tomorrow, my birthday on Saturday...that's about it. We all have colds. It's freezing and gray and bleak outside, and all the days kind of feel the same. You know how it goes.

grumpy

I know I've been absent. It's just I'm really dang grumpy right now and there's nothing much to say. It's freaking freezing cold here and no matter how high I turn the thermostat my family room will not rise above 63 degrees. On the flip side of that the upstairs of my house is a sauna in which I cannot sit for more than 5 minutes without opening a window. So figure that one out.

I tried sewing yesterday but I kept frigging it up, so nothing to show/say about that.

Daughter started both playgroup and story hour last week and I want to publicly thank the parents who brought their sick, hacking, coughing, runny-nosed kids to these activities because now we are sick too. Daughter has a full-on headcold, and I have a sore throat and general run-down feeling. Tomorrow is our day to bring snack to playgroup, so I somehow have to get us both bathed, dressed, bundled up and out the door to the grocery store because wouldn't you know it, I don't even have one unopened package of goldfish crackers or animal crackers or anything that we could bring. As it is already 10:30 a.m. don't ask me how we're going to accomplish all that before lunch and naptime.

See? Grumpy.

f.o. - killeany

After one last late-night effort, I've finished Killeany.


Here it is in all it's unblocked glory. Uncropped photo, too, because I'm in a hurry today and just wanted to get this posted fast.

The deets: Killeany from....some Alice Starmore book. Possibly The Children's Collection, though don't quote me on that one. Look, I'll be honest here: our main downtown library branch has most of Alice Starmore's knitting books. Meaning, the whole library system has exactly ONE copy of each. If I were an unscrupulous loser thief I would rip out the security tags and STEAL THEM ALL because as most of you know, they go for hundreds of dollars on amazon and ebay. So I take them out, lose my mind over the awesomeness of the designs, and photocopy the ones I want. I don't even feel bad about it, because if A.S. or the publishing companies want my money (and I am definitely willing to pay for these designs) they should put all these books back into print. Jerks.

Oh, I'm sorry, I went off the rails there for a moment.

The point is, I'm not sure which book has this design.

Anyway, it's Killeany, and it's knit from about 7 skeins of Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in the asparagus colorway, though I think that color name is a misnomer. It's more of a bluey-green. Very pretty for my fair child. I used size 7 & 8 needles, and made the smallest size. It's actually quite big and boxy when I stretch it to size, but I'm tempted to leave it unblocked because Daughter is very petite and thin, so it may be less overpowering this way.

This is a great knit, though a slow one. I was way more of a tortoise than a hare with it, which I'm not used to. Feels like I've been knitting it since about last summer, though it was started in November. As usual, the design is wonderful and the instructions flawless. I do adore the perfection of the Starmore designs I've knit. (Not that my knitting is perfect...I'm talking about the designs themselves.)


Here's a closeup of the lovely cabling up the front. The back is identical. So complex-looking, no? It really wasn't hard, just a little tricksy following 6 different charts with differing row counts. I used a pencil and paper to keep track and it was no problem. Not for a beginner, but I definitely recommend it for an experienced knitter looking for a bit of a challenge. The last thing I'll say is that the design does seem a bit masculine to me. It's shown on a girl in the book, but for some reason I think it looks boyish. Hopefully the color feminizes it a little.

Oh, and the yarn? It came from my mystery benefactor, who sent me an anonymous gift certificate to Knitpicks last summer. After some sleuthing I think I may know who you are, and if you are reading this I thank you again, from the bottom of my heart.

And finally, happy birthday to my good friend Karen, who has a really thought-provoking post up today about re-entering the workforce after many years as a stay-home mom. Go wish her a wonderful birthday, won't you?

itty bitty pretty

I'm not too foo-foo, as longtime readers here already know. I do like pretty things, but understated. I really love to be challenged in my hobbies, though, and I think with knitting and crochet that often means you're going to be heading in a fancy-ish direction. Lace, lots of cables, delicate things...and sometimes that's exactly what I need.


This is technically a Christmas ornament, but I think I like it as a tiny doily to go under one of my (very few) knick-knacks. It measures exactly 5" across after blocking, and is made with size 30 crochet thread and a size 10 steel hook. That's a hook so tiny that if I wasn't careful, I stuck it right through my fingertip while hooking the thread.


I found the pattern in this book, Romantic Crochet. It's a Better Homes & Gardens book, available super cheap at both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. If you are someone who likes thread crochet it's a nice addition to your crafty library. There are projects using all weights of crochet cotton, many Victorian-inspired, and of all sizes. Also included are several very pretty worsted and sport weight afghans (which I would love to make if we could possibly store any more blankets in this house), and some children's items but they're a little...80s, if you know what I mean. They could still be nice if the maker updated the colors a bit (what was with the peach & green in the 80s?).

I have my eye on some lovely tablecloth edgings and pillowcase edgings made with size 40 thread and a size 11 or 12 hook, but I can't find thread that fine in the craft stores. I guess I'll have to order it online. Anyway, lots of lovely gift ideas if you're a homemade gift maker.

Ah, it's a dark gray day and the snow is falling. I'm off to unload the dishwasher for the seven-thousandth time and get some chili started for dinner. Hope you're all keeping warm wherever you are!

stormy weather...and a tutorial

People, I am so tired today. We had an incredible storm last night that woke me, terrified, at about 4 a.m. Hubs told me today that winds reached 65 mph (in nearby Rochester they had gusts of 74 mph), and our bedroom is on the outside wall with the wind blowing directly at that side of the house. It was either raining or hailing or both, and I was quite literally afraid something was going to happen to the house. I ran to check on Daughter, my heart pounding, and found her to be sound asleep. But I was good and wide awake by then. Thunder and lightning continued for some time, and I was too tense to get back to sleep. I finally did, but it was a lousy night. Hubs had much the same experience, so I don't think we said more than 10 words to each other this morning. Mostly grunts. Sooooo tired. I haven't been outside to check the yard yet as the wind is still howling. Plus it's cold again...no more 60 degree days. Boo.

But I have a little something for you.

Nothing is in a very good state to be photographed and blogged, so I'll do a quick mock french seam tutorial, ok? Maybe it will help someone with their sewing. Here's how it's done.


First, press the seam open as usual. I am showing a sleeve here, obviously, and I am using a sleeve press inside. It's a great tool and I highly recommend it if you sew a lot of garments.


Next, fold both halves of the seam allowance toward the center and press. These are 5/8" seam allowances, and my sewing books say to trim them down first, but I don't bother. It's easier to do it with a bit more fabric and you have less chance of scorching your fingers.


Fold both sides toward the middle and pin.


Stitch down the middle, removing pins as you sew. You'll be stitching parallel to the original seam. This process will catch the raw edges inside and make a nice finished edge.


Here's the finished seam. The original sleeve seam is the top line of stitching, and the mock french seam is the bottom line of stitching. Now this can be pressed to one side and you proceed with the garment's construction as usual.

It's a nice method and looks a bit neater than a serged seam if anyone catches a glimpse of the inside (though I still definitely use my serger a lot).

lazy weekend

I have to confess that when I was in high school I found AP Government to be just about the worst form of torture in the universe. I hated it, couldn't care less how the government works, didn't want to read about it or write about it or take tests on it. (My husband, on the other hand, was a political science major in college.)

But now I am a big ol' grownup home-owning, tax-paying, fuel-using, grocery-buying, child-rearing citizen. And I kind of care about what is going on in the government. Rest assured I'm not going to go into my politics on the blog...that's just asking for trouble...but I will tell you this: Hubs and I pretty much hunkered down on the couches this weekend and watched CNN nonstop. I am VERY interested in and fascinated by the 2008 election, as are many of you, I'm sure. So this weekend we spent an awful lot of time watching the news, building block towers with Daughter and 'eating' all the 'foods' she made for us in her play kitchen.

Oh, and knitting! Of course, there was knitting. I knit pretty fast when I'm wound up, and the debates and commentary got me good and wound. I may have shouted at the t.v. once or twice. Ahem.

Anyway, here is an almost-finished sweater I've been working on for Daughter. Truthfully, she is outgrowing almost all her sweaters - they are getting too short and her wrists are sticking out. So she does actually need some new ones, yay! This is Killeany, in pieces:


It's an Alice Starmore design, but I'm sorry I can't remember which book it's from at the moment. I'm making the size 3-4, which is 23-24 inches across the chest. I think I started it back in November, but between the complexity of the design and the holiday season it's been a slow knit.

All that's left to do is finish the second sleeve saddle, seam it up, and knit the collar. I've never made a sweater with saddles (which are those strips coming out of the top of the sleeves, for the non-knitters reading this), so I'm not sure if it would be better to lightly block the pieces before seaming or not. Anyone have experience with this? I want the saddle to fit the shoulders properly.

The yarn is Knitpicks Wool of the Andes in Asparagus. I'll give full project details when the sweater is finished, and hopefully get some shots of it on the child. Though it is a very unseasonable 55-60 degrees here just now, so it may be awhile before she wears it!

Now, the sweater was just worked on here and there, but I really did whip this up over just the last 3 days or so:


This is the first of two socks using Knitpicks Felici sock yarn, one of their newer lines. I must say I LOVE the feel of this yarn. It's soft and springy, a lot like Regia, but softer in my opinion. I was a little bummed out by the striping at first - it's a bit wider than I expected - but overall I'm pleased. Here's hoping the second one comes out looking like the first. I'll be casting on during naptime...while I watch some more CNN.

Christmas dress

I remembered to get Daughter's Christmas dress out of the closet before she fell asleep today, so voila:


How new and exciting! Har har, yes, this is the same jumper I always make. But here's the thing: I wasn't planning on making a Christmas dress because Daughter already has a plentiful wardrobe of lovely garments, and she isn't growing anywhere near as fast as she was, so I had no need to make something. Then Hubs started giving me a hard time about it and implying that it's possible this lack of a new Christmas dress means I don't love her enough or something (it was late, the logic was fuzzy, I don't know). We're talking less than a week till Christmas and now I have to prove my love for my child by whipping up something appropriate for holiday wear?!? Nevermind the fact that I swore off sewing any more garments for her before the new year.

So since I really had to bust a move, it was back to an old standby pattern. I'm pleased with how sweet it came out, except in my rush to finish I cut it with the nap going in the wrong direction on this lovely corduroy. Doh!

The great thing about making the same simple pattern eleventy-billion times is that you get a lot of opportunities to improve on it.


I did two new things with this dress. First, I sewed mock french seams on both side seams. A mock french seam is really, really easy to do and a fabulous alternative to finishing the raw edges with a serger or a zig-zag stitch, especially on a curved seam (which this is). I could show how it's done next week if anyone is interested, but the technique can be found in any basic sewing book*.


And here I chose to bind the raw edge of the facing with bias tape. This was actually somewhat due to laziness, because my serger is put away and I didn't feel like getting it out for one garment. Also, I don't have black thread for it and I don't like how white thread looks on these dark fabrics.

So that's that. There was a Christmas dress after all. Of course we never got around to taking our traditional "Daughter in front of the tree" photo...that tradition made it 2 years before dying. Hopefully we can get it going again next year!

Also, please give me a golf clap 'cause I finally got onto Flickr AND I figured out how to get the photos from there to the blog. This is a big achievement for me, due to my technological backwardness. Now I can get all the old project photos up there and my computer can stop gasping and choking on the gazillion image files I've been storing. Yay me!


*At this time I must evangelize about owning a good, basic sewing instruction book. I have two; one is by Better Homes & Gardens, one is Vogue. They're essentially the same, but I've found them both to be useful for different things. If you do not own a good, basic sewing instruction book, take that Barnes & Noble or Amazon gift card you got for Christmas and go buy one right now. Shockingly, I have found mine on the bargain shelves at B&N [I think I paid $7.99 for the Vogue one], which is criminal because I think they should be displayed on a pedestal with several spotlights, though the low price tag does mean everyone can own one. It will change your life, I promise!

merry christmas to me

I'd intended to share Daughter's Christmas dress today, but whoops, I forgot to grab it out of her closet before naptime. Perhaps tomorrow.

Instead, I'll share what I found under the tree on Christmas morning! I'll set this up by saying two things:

1) I dream of rolling around in huge piles of yarn. My husband thinks that's really weird, but bless his heart, he indulges me.

2) I consider myself to be very "analog" and I fight technology every step of the way. Don't ask me why - I can't explain it. That said, here's what I got for Christmas:


Two sock samplers from Knitpicks (enough yarn in each to make 6 pairs of socks) plus a skein of undyed sock yarn...and an Ipod Nano! (Second generation so no video, according to my husband...this is the first thing everyone has asked me).

I never would have asked for an Ipod...listening to music in a portable way left me behind loooooooong ago. I had a portable CD player once, and I used my regular AM/FM/tape walkman up until just a couple of years ago. Plus I'm mostly home taking care of my kid, so I don't even have that many opportunities to listen to music that isn't Raffi or Sesame Street or whatever. Since I am kind of technologically backward, it has taken me many days to figure out how the thing works. Which is sad, since I am approximately the very last person in America to get one (I am well aware that there are 5 year-olds bopping around listening to their Hannah Montana tunes on an Ipod). Seriously, even my mom had one before I did (but she doesn't know how to use it at all, so I don't think that counts). So it is very cool of my husband to goose me into using modern technology, and I'm reluctantly coming around. I think I like it.

If you need me, I'll be knitting socks galore and listening to some mid-90s alternative.

you haven't heard from me in a month and I'm showing you my bathroom...nice!

HELLO!!! Happy New Year! I'm back, peeps, and changes are afoot around here.

I've got lots going on and many things to share, but first things first. Hubs and I spent a very romantic New Year's Eve (from 9 a.m. until about 2 a.m. New Year's Day) giving our first floor bathroom a cosmetic face-lift. I know that may not be what you had in mind for my first post back here, but it is certainly foremost in my mind as we've been working on finishing touches all morning.

Quick background: our house is old (1945) and non-traditional in design (either a lake cottage or tiny postwar G.I. bill house that has been expanded several times). We do not have a 'master suite' nor even a 'master bedroom,' so there is certainly not a 'master bath.' Our house has 2 bedrooms on the first floor; we sleep in one, Daughter has the other. There are 1.5 bathrooms. Our full bath is the first floor bath, and is located at the opposite end of the house from the bedrooms, behind the family room and off the back hallway as you head for the back door. Because it is the first floor bath, whenever anyone comes over they see it (if they need to, uh, go).

Now, we forgot to take a 'before' shot because we had a lot to do and were anxious to get started, but suffice it to say the bathroom was a dingy old mess. The walls were a neutral cream. The floor is off-white linoleum with a taupe design. The shower bar was discolored and had been painted around so many times the ends were all crusty. The trim looked as though it had only been primed with white, but never actually painted. The toilet seat was oak and the hinges totally pitted and corroded. The cabinets were oak but chipped up, worn, and nasty, with pitted, corroded gold-look knobs/pulls that had cracked porcelain inserts. The oak medicine cabinet was HUGE and had semi-functional mirrored doors that drove us nuts as they never stayed closed properly. The t.p. holder and single towel bar were installed improperly and had also been painted around many times so there was crusty paint around the dirty porcelain brackets. The radiator cover was rusty and had several layers of chipped paint. And finally, the ceiling light fixture/fan looked like it was from the middle ages - filthy discolored/yellowed plastic with a bare bulb in the center, because the cover for the light was long gone (we never had it...gone before we bought the house).

Dudes, to sum up, it was a horrible bathroom. It was a large part of the reason I never, ever invite anyone to my house. I was so embarrassed by it, I cringed when even my own family members visited and used it. So last week I asked Hubs if we could, as sort of a holiday gift to ourselves, cosmetically re-do the bathroom. Obviously, if we could afford it, I would love to just gut the room, but that is not possible. Also, the main parts of the room are quite functional, so there's no real need to replace them.

We set a sort-of budget of about $200, based on some research and preliminary shopping, and ended up just slightly over that.

Prepare yourselves...the color is slightly shocking.


Valspar paint in Heirloom Red, satin finish. This paint must be used with a tinted primer, which I insisted on. (Hubs thought we'd be fine without...ha. No way.) The trim and cabinet front are also Valspar paint, in Quail Egg, semi-gloss finish. New, properly mounted 24" chrome towel bars (one single and one double) are Inspirations by Moen (as is all the new hardware). Sorry about that glare on the wall - it's from:


The new light fixture, with a new beveled-edge 30"x24" mirror mounted beneath. All the white woodwork is painted in the Quail Egg paint. The cabinet door has its shiny chrome knob in place, but the drawer pulls came with screws that were too short for the thickness of our drawer faces, so a trip to the hardware store is imminent to purchase longer screws. Special bonus: picture includes me, with ratty hair and glasses and an old sweatshirt. Mmmmmmm. Hott!


Wow, sassy new toilet seat! I can't tell you how much I hated that old oak one with the rotten hinges. Ugh. Also, new chrome t.p. holder to match the towel bars. Shiny! Things still needing to be done: replace random purple wastebasket (college leftover), and repair toilet bolt...that one is just sitting there, as it broke right off when Hubs tried to tighten them down. Ummm, scary, as that means the commode is not moored properly on one side.


And here we have my beloved Nautica plaid shower curtain, a wedding gift and the inspiration for the red paint in the first place. I really like how it sort of brings the room down a bit in feel - the red and chrome are a tad formal, but the plaid is fun. Hubs demanded a new, curved shower curtain rod, and I have to say he was right on the money with that. If you feel cramped in your tub when taking a shower (if you don't your husband probably does), I highly recommend one of these curved rods. You gain a crazy amount of space in your shower. It's a small investment ($40) for some serious comfort. This rod is also the Inspirations line - all the hardware mounts match.

All materials are from Lowe's. I'm very, very pleased with how this project came out, and am no longer embarrassed by my bathroom. Want to come over?

Two points: I don't like the Valspar paint. It seems to be the Lowe's in-house brand, but I prefer the consistency of Glidden, which we usually buy from Home Depot. Lowe's had everything else we needed, though, so we went with their paint. I won't do that again. I found it to be gloppy and drippy. Your mileage may vary. Also, a totally amazing product that I used to remove the one-half inch thick strip of caulk from around the vanity (yes, why remove the old caulk when you can just keep piling it on?!?): Painter's Pal by Goo Gone. Sorry, that listing is for a case of the stuff...I found single bottles at my local hardware store. It is the best stuff for removing just about everything, though I used it primarily for caulk and paint spills.

So that's that! One project (mostly) done. Only eleventy-billion to go.

Oh, and I hope you all had a lovely holiday season. We certainly did, and I'll be revisiting it here in coming days.

It's good to be back.