A Cut & Coffee

Before we had children, I worked as a hair stylist. At that time, you were required to renew your license yearly. In 2003, the industry was de-regulated which means that even though I didn't renew I am still fully licensed. I can go back to work any time I want providing I have my paperwork and if I can't find that, it's $150.00 to get a copy which is WAY less expensive than going back to school. I haven't cut a lot of hair in the past twenty-five years though. I need some practice. Neither of the two local schools has upgrading courses so I'm hoping to arrange a coffee date with one of the shop owners downtown and get his feedback on returning to work in a part-time capacity in some type of apprentice-like position. That could work.

With waiting time and knit night, I'm about nine inches up the sweater, past the split point, and have started shaping the right front neckline. It's a bit awkward with the two other sections on stitch holders but it also knits up fast. The only negative about the pattern so far is that the button spacing was designed for the smallest size which has three repeats of the garter stitch ridge pattern while the larger size has four. The button hole is after the sixth row of stockinette section so I just repeated it as well.  It's an easy fix but a beginner might not be sure.

I have an acupuncture appointment this morning and then some errands downtown and then a half hour drive out to my friend who is also my hair stylist's house for a cut and coffee, and then getting Kyle's stuff packed into the car for his move when Howard gets home from work, and then Wendy is coming to quilt tonight, and I'm sure a few other things in the middle I haven't thought of. It's a busy day.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - successful progress on knitting small sweaters after a rather unsuccessful knit year

About The Classics

I cleaned and we grocery shopped and I knit...

... two sleeves. They're blocking. The body took almost two days to dry so I imagine these will be ready to sew in some time tomorrow or possibly tonight for knit night which would be great as I'm really busy tomorrow and tonight I could get advice on the how-to from the other women.

The grocery shopping was for my son. He had the opportunity to rent a room from the youth pastor of our previous church and wants to try living on his own so he's moving out Wednesday night. I'm not sure he's ready but he thinks he is and it will definitely be a good learning curve. If you're going to do parenting well, that means saying what needs to be said which means being the "bad guy" and NOT their friend. After twenty-five years in that role, I'm just being honest when I say I'm looking forward to the break. He has six months to move back so we'll see what happens.

After the sleeves were done, I cast on the free Garter Ridge Baby Cardigan from Lion Brand using a pink recycled yarn that has reappeared twice in my stash. Hopefully this time it stays knit up. The pattern is a bit similar to the Baby Surprise Jacket in that you knit the fronts and back at the same time starting at the hem and splitting at the armholes. The shoulders seams are then sewn and the sleeves set in. That's new. I prefer the flat constructions method typically used in knitting because I already know about it's advantages from sewing HOWEVER... I'm trying new things and this is a new thing.

One of the blogs that I read - and I can't remember which one right now - quoted the advice in an older book on wardrobe building that said that as they age women should not wear the classics because they'll appear older. I've thought about that statement a lot over the last few days. It's been true of some garments that I used to wear all the time and then put on and suddenly they look frumpy. It's also true of some older women I've observed. They look frozen in time. I'm not sure that it's just aging that does it though as this "it doesn't work for me any more" feeling happens periodically in all our wardrobes but it has enough validity in my life to have me thinking about the classics and accessories and hair styles and fabric combinations and colors and other aspects that would take away from the strictness of the lines and add punch to them. What do you think?

ONLY... I don't feel like sewing right now. This week's schedule was already busy without Kyle's move and now it's super busy. Next week is looking like pure bliss. No appointments so far. That sounds like great sewing time.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - knitting to fill the sewing gap

Sham's Tablecloth Skirt

On Friday, Howard came home sick from work in that miserable man way that requires excessive amounts of sympathy only after the week not pretty, that's not something I had much of and my capacity for people was well past the overload point. There have been an unreasonable amount of appointments lately - with more this week - and that's not my typical style. I'm quite introverted and need a lot of alone time. Saturday morning, I told him I was going out for breakfast - by myself - and then sewing in my studio - by myself - and to please leave me alone. Apparently my low energy showed - LOL - as he warned all the kids to give me space.

I worked on Sham's Tablecloth Skirt. After all the things that could go wrong had lined up and taken their turn, it eventually came together. I used 60" instead of 45" fabric and one that didn't tear so I had to actually cut every piece. I cut a 45" square instead of a 44" one because I forgot to read the instructions first and then two 15" strips before I realized I didn't have as much fabric as I thought and cut them down to 14" plus two more. My waist hole was slightly smaller so in the end I think it worked okay. I am too short waisted for the suggested waistband so I cut it down and inserted 3/4" elastic instead. It's much faster to type that sentence than it was to actually do since the waistband was already attached to the skirt when I made that change.

The fabric is a lightweight, faux suede with a purple embroidered design. That's why it wouldn't tear. The suede would have but not the embroidery. And, it's static gathering. That skirt picked up every stray thread on my studio floor. By the time it was done, it needed washing again. I'm not sure how it's going to wear. I may find myself clinging to everything especially after sitting and standing. We'll see.

Sham's skirt is a similar style to Marcy Tilton's Vogue 8499 only Marcy's design has less fabric through the waist and hip area. I made the Vogue skirt in August and enjoy wearing it a lot so I want to see if I can morph the two together and get a slimmer look through the top half of the tablecloth skirt. With a smaller waist and bigger hips, extra fabric doesn't do me any favours although this one looks okay with a t-shirt over top although less fabric would be more flattering. It'll mean adding more seams and that's okay - or maybe not - because the rectangles could be part of the skirt panel so there may end up being a similar amount of seams. Either way... we'll see what happens... when I get to that.

The grey baby sweater was very close to finished when I discovered that I'd picked up the sleeve incorrectly. Don't ask me how - I have no idea - but I completely missed these four stitches at the end. Since the sleeve was picked up and knit from the cap down, that meant ripping back the sleeve and knitting it over again only to discover...

... that picking up with a single crochet is not a good idea. It leaves holes and a flat look around the top of the cap. That's the theory I was testing so now I know only that meant removing both sleeves and reknitting them. This is why I'm knitting in size small - so I'm willing to risk and learn and re-do as necessary. I also...

... pulled out the back and fronts to the armhole stage because I discovered a smoother way to cast off that results in no steps. At the neckline, just put the stitches on a stitch holder and don't cast off at all. At the armhole, if you're supposed to cast off more than one stitch, knit or purl the first two together and then cast off the remainder and if you're supposed to cast off one stitch, knit or purl them together. It is WAY smoother as you can see between the pins above. The back/front is...

... blocking while I (re) knit the sleeves. I prefer to block by pinning the shape to size and then wetting it with hot water in a spray bottle. The annoying pink dots on my blocking board happened the first time I used it when the dye in that wool ran. Frustrating.

This morning, I'm cleaning house. This afternoon, I'm taking my son grocery shopping and for a winter coat and some new running shoes. This evening, he has a party and a late shift at work so it's mostly an errand and running around day. Hopefully there's some sewing time in there but I'm not sure.

Lorrie wrote - About the book - why not just offer it as a PDF dowload via the Web?

I've done that before with patterns and it's a great idea if I decide to make public anything I write... which I'm debating... only I was referring to the book to accompany the handbags to their new homes. I wanted everyone to see the whole project but thought a booklet was going to be too expensive. This will work.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - safe homes

Retail Therapy

My daughter has a passionate dislike of needles. At four, she screamed down the emergency ward in an attempt to avoid one stitch in her chin following a school bus accident. Apparently the mother wasn't much help. After a while of me trying to talk her into being reasonable - what was I thinking - they asked me to please stand over there. So...

... imagine my surprise when she - my daughter - decides to go for acupuncture treatments and then proceeds to tell me they are no big deal and don't hurt and are working wonderfully. Of course, I pay attention. After my disappointing...

... visit to the allergist, this seemed like a good next step. I phoned yesterday and they fit me in right away. Several other people seemed to think it would be a good next step as well. The woman before me and the man after me were also new clients.

It didn't hurt. I wore a t-shirt and yoga pants and we pushed up the sleeves and pant legs and that was it. No undressing. I lay on my back against some pillows with my feet propped up on some more and she inserted whatever she inserted wherever she inserted it - which I couldn't see lying on my back as I was - and then she set up a warm light on my feet and I had an hour nap and felt about the same when I left so we'll see what happens.

On my way out, there was a woman standing at the cash desk that I knew. She positively gushed all over me with great exuberance - more than I've seen from her in the past. She had energy. I got three hugs in about five minutes. This woman is both celiac and has extensive food allergies. I said please tell me this works for you and she said she's feeling fabulous and comes regularly. Nice testimonial. Great timing.

I didn't sew. I took my son to work, wrote in my journal, and went for lunch with a friend. I didn't research the cost of booklet either although I had what is most likely the most cost effective thought last night - a PDF e-booklet mailed on a disk. After the acupuncture appointment...

... I knit on the grey sweater finishing the shoulder of the right front and joining the back and fronts together with a three needle cast-off. LOVE that - it's so neat. Then I used a crochet hook to pick up stitches around one of the armholes with a single crochet and knit short rows to create the sleeve cap. I'm knitting down the sleeve now. Because this is wool, and will block nicely, it's working out okay. I'm not sure how it would look in a cotton or linen.

I was talking to my son last night about being under challenged and about how dangerous that can be for some personalities - like mine - and his. When I'm under challenged, I get depressed and resentful and angry and nit picky and just plain not nice to be around which is why I typically have some sort of goal that I'm working toward such as learning to improve the workmanship of my knitting - which is my current long-term goal with a short-term focus on button bands and sleeve tops. I have goals for sewing and goals for knitting and goals in other areas of my life. It's how I function best. How about you? What kind of challenges do you like/need?

You might be wondering about all those pictures of yarn. Yes... well... apparently I need a stash for this knitting challenge. Webs has a HUGE discount section of the "good stuff". I searched by machine washable and then by gauge and then checked Ravelry for the reaction to that particular yarn and ordered fifty-nine balls. Yes... fifty-nine. Four of most and five of one smaller one which is enough for size small sweaters for my exploration. It was a moment - LOL - and I'm not totally sure what I was thinking but I do have plans for it so I guess that's good and thankfully the prices were significantly reduced. Can anyone say retail therapy?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - awareness of personality quirks

Consolation Prize

It was wet, windy, and miserable when I left Kelowna and sunny, dry, and cheerful when I arrived back in Kamloops, which seemed about the right direction for an expensive, waste of time, day to be going until I stepped through the door. And then things weren't pretty. I sometimes wonder if the mistake is going away or if it's coming back - LOL - and how long it would take this house to sink into utter chaos if I wasn't here. Less than a week is my guess considering...

Kelowna has two yarn shops. The other one is right off the main road and  easily accessible when heading out of town. It's a much smaller, more practical, less pretty yarn store that is well organized with lots of yummy yarns. I decided a consolation prize was in order and chose the Carro Magic above because it's self stripping and makes rows of color and dots. VERY fun. It's acrylic and the teal yarn below is alpaca. I bought enough of each for a baby size sweater.

I knit the left side of the grey sweater I'm working on in my hotel room and the right side - complete with nicely spaced button holes - last night in my curl-up chair. In this size, it's a quick knit which is allowing me to try out my ideas/perfect my skills faster. LOL - of course I should have done that four years ago but I started with the equivalent of a king size quilt as so many of us do.

The self striping yarn will be a pull over with a v-neck and the teal yarn a cardigan with a non-ribbed hem, lace inserts, and buttons. I've never knit a v-neck before and I dislike button bands that don't sit nicely so I'm trying different options... including blocking this "real" wool. Perhaps blocking is the answer but it does seem a temporary one in a downpour... or the laundry.

It is lovely to be sitting in my cheerfully colored studio, at my ergonomic keyboard, easily typing as opposed to in the white and chrome decor of the hotel room using a laptop with a small keyboard and intermittent Internet service. I plan to spend most of the day in the studio. I want to sew the red handles on the Sandi bag, take a "family photo" of all nine hand bags, and price out how much a little booklet would cost to put together.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - being home

My Brain Doesn't Work Like That

Getting up early is not an issue for me. I'm typically up at six and a sleep-in might stretch that out to eight only here - in the hotel with people heading off for early morning flights - sleeping in till six is a luxury. I can't believe the amount of traffic on the road already and the slamming, banging, and water running sounds all over the place. I can see the Starbucks - it's right across the street - so I'll finish writing, go get coffee, and then come back to read blogs.  It is - I hope - early enough to sneak in and out without make-up.

Aren't these gorgeous buttons? They're polymer clay made by a company whose name I'm suddenly seeing all over the place. It appears they sell to yarn stores. Unfortunately, there were only packages of four and only one package of each although I imagine if I call the company I could figure out how to get more... if I needed them... first I should have a garment for them to go on.

The bargain center at the Salmon Arm Fabricland rarely disappoints me although I've seen the stock there quite often this year. There was 1.8 meters of this heavier knit for $5.00 complete with a run down one side that I'll need to cut around. Seeing that my t-shirt pattern has a seam down the back, it should be doable.

The Vernon Fabricland almost never has anything good in their bargain section. They barely have one; it's so tiny. The flannel was 50% off and this blue stripe is so perfect for my oldest son that I picked up enough for pajama pants for him. If not now, he'll want them at some point.

Both the Salmon Arm and the Vernon Fabriclands were wonderfully neat and clean with room to move around and friendly staff. They are franchises. The Kelowna store is a mess with almost no room to move and even though it's a huge store and there were two staff persons plus the cashier right near the door when I walked in - and several others while I walked around for 30 minutes - no one greeted me or asked if I needed help. That's just ridiculous and par for the course in the company owned stores. I tried to be different when I was working in the Kamloops store. IMHO - the staff could use some retail and sales training only I doubt that's going to happen.

My friend in Salmon Arm couldn't go for coffee after all so I dropped off Wendy's quilt, visited the fabric and yarn stores, and went on to the Vernon Fabricland. The roads were wet and windy. The weather has warmed up substantially and now you need copious amounts of windshield wiper fluid while hoping all that water on the road doesn't freeze before you get back home - today - after my appointment.

I went for lunch in Vernon with my friend Lorraine and then we went to the theater to see the set for Alice In Wonderland that her husband built and was directing the set up of while organizing lighting. AMAZING. Lorraine and I are both creative but Dave makes us look like we don't have a clue. My brain doesn't work like that. It's going to be a fabulous production. It reminded me of something another friend said after she quit teaching quilting and got her real estate license - there's a whole world out there that's interesting and doesn't involve fabric. LOL... really... how can that be?

Once I was checked into my hotel, I drove over to the yarn store next to the thrift shop that I love. It's about a twenty minute drive. I was in, bought the mystery gift from Howard and the dress below, and back at my hotel room an hour later. Wow! Efficient and there was just what I wanted. The dress...

 ... is Byanca Nygaard - inexpensively - in a size I doubted would go around my hips although I knew it would fit my upper body. Good thing I tried it on. The fabric is a heavy knit so it stretched to fit my hips nicely without hugging every bump and lump. Unfortunately, the lining is woven and not so forgiving so I need to adapt it slightly after I've tried the dress on with a body slimmer. The hem should be about an inch shorter and other than that, it's perfect, and the first dress I tried on, and all the women in the store said you have to buy that dress - customers and all. Too fun. 

Now - COFFEE. Talk soon - Myrna


Grateful - finding the perfect dress easily and inexpensively

The Good Stuff

November is not prime time for road trips in Canada. The weather is freeze your buns off cold. The roads can be slippery... or not... or only in the shadows... which means driving with far more attention than summer requires. It could be snowing anything from a light dusting to an outright blizzard and the roads may close when you're nowhere near where you were going or where you came from and you're now stuck in the middle. Since you never know what to expect, you plan for anything and everything which makes packing never ending and - even so - I'm off on a road trip today, to Kelowna, the long way around, via Salmon Arm, with a stop in Vernon.

Tomorrow morning, I have an appointment with the allergist and I'm leaving today to avoid a three hour trip in the early morning hours in goodness only knows what weather. Although I'm attempting to think of it as an adventure, it's really just a night in a hotel with a book and my knitting and the time to actually write this year's Christmas letter because if it isn't written and in the envelope and labelled and stamped by the 1st of December, then we're past the best before date and it isn't going to happen. It needs to. I haven't written for the last few years and there are elderly relatives who think I'm the one who died BUT... that's not the reason for going to Kelowna. It's for the appointment and as I've told anyone who asked, I'm totally prepared to hear that I am allergic to "everything" and I'll be unbelievably upset if I'm not. Someone somewhere will need to explain these reactions.

The reason for travelling via Salmon Arm is to drop my friend Wendy's quilt off to be long arm quilted by an absolutely amazing quilter who lives there and not here and not in Kelowna which would have been most convenient. This little detour takes me about an hour and a half out of my way so depending on the weather and on how long I chat over coffee with the friends that I'm visiting there and in Vernon I will - hopefully - have time to shop the thrift stores for a possible Christmas dress, the yarn stores for a possible present to me from Howard, and the "other" stores for his present. I have the list. And... possibly... even though you know I don't need to... there's the bargain center at Fabricland.

HOWEVER... even though there is a fabulous thrift store next to a gorgeous yarn store on Pandosy, none of the above is critical - not like getting Wendy's quilt to the quilter. This is her third completed project in nine years. Wendy is the friend who quilts no more than two hours a week and not always and only at my house. It takes forever for her to finish a project. This queen size quilt for their bed has been over three years in the making. The top, the backing, the batting, the thread, and a print out of the picture above are packed in the car ready to go. The picture is of the quilt on my bed that's heavily quilted in a wandering feather pattern. She wants something along that line.

It took us three and a half hours yesterday - including lunch and a visit to the yarn store - to complete the Christmas shopping for everyone but each other. After thirty-one Christmases together, Howard has come to appreciate my organize it and get it done approach.

We stopped at the yarn store because - while others might - I do not typically appreciate, practical gifts. Definitely do not buy me something for the kitchen and only get me something for the studio if I really REALLY want it - like the outrageously priced, steams like a dream, iron from last year - or if it's something that is completely worn out and I'm asking for it - like the cutting mat on this year's list. Yarn that I can't afford and wouldn't normally buy for myself seemed like a great gift idea after reading Stephanie's book. "Listening" to her talk, I decided to acknowledge what I already knew - that there's a discernible difference to yarns that it's now time to explore. That said, I'm a little nervous about getting hooked on "the good stuff" because I know what a difference quality can make and I knit really fast and I don't make that kind of money only...

When I was quilting, I never used anything but high end quilting fabrics. With my fashion sewing, I stick to higher end fabrics ALWAYS bought on sale. Since I have such a huge stash and rarely a sewing emergency, that works. With knitting, I've been stitching with acrylic and acrylic blend yarns because of the price of the natural yarns. If after this "gift" experience I'm completely addicted, I'll need to become just as good at shopping for quality yarns on sale as quality fabric. That's tough when you love color. Yarn seems to come in more colors than fabric.

The woman working in the yarn store is part of my knitting group. She tried to talk me into a smaller yarn for lace work or socks and when I said that I preferred working with sturdier yarns (but not bulky) she said it was time to take my knitting up a notch. I found that an interesting comment because while I do agree that we should always be stretching and growing - and in fact that ties into what I said yesterday - I also think it's very important to know your style and not attempt to be any other kind of "knitter" than the kind of knitter you are and what's the point of knitting with yarn you don't like?

I have tried lace work and like it in smaller doses in larger yarns like a double knit but that makes sense. I don't wear lacy frilly clothes. I'm a classic, clean lines, kind of girl. I've knit socks using every method under the sun and I hate knitting socks and it has nothing to do with the socks and everything to do with the continental method that I knit with. It's not the best for going in circles, every stitch is twisted backward and that drives my tendinitis crazy. That said, I'm giving socks a second thought. I may re-learn a different method of knitting just for socks, one I used before learning this faster, smoother, except when you're going in circles, method. We'll see and maybe not because...

... I'm more intrigued with designing my own projects. That only makes sense when you look at the textile art and the fashion sewing and the projects like the handbag project (note the finished JoAnna bag above) that really intrigue me. Not following a pattern and making up my own is just par for the course.

Right now, I'm knitting a baby size grey sweater out of 100% wool. It's a mini dose of the good stuff as well as the starting project of a study designed to move forward from a basic sweater while progressively growing my design skills. Baby size seemed like a way to test my theories without committing a life time to each step of the project. And it's time. I thought I'd only returned to knitting a couple years ago and this weekend realized that some of the patterns in my stash are dated 2007 which would mean I've actually been back four years this fall. It is time to move in new design directions...

... and to get going on this road trip. I'm off as soon as I finish reading blogs, taking Kyle to work, pack the last bits, and eat breakfast. There may be a posting tomorrow morning or not. I'm not sure yet. Check back and see otherwise on Thursday.

Talk soon - Myrna


Grateful - friends to stop and visit while on road trips and corporate hotel rates

Four Weeks Friday

On Sunday morning, as my friend sat down next to us in church, she slipped her hot pink phone into the left cup of her bra where she could feel it on vibrate. She's expecting. One call and a happy event and she'll be cuddling her new role - Grandma. While it makes me laugh to watch her carrying that pink phone everywhere and hopping to its tune, at the same time it's strange how many of my friends now have grandchildren and the possibility that I too could be a Grandma at some time in the not so distant future. How did we get here?

I'm forty-nine. I don't remember turning four. I do remember turning nine. Forty-nine is nowhere in my scope of understanding even though I've been at this stage for half a year now. That approaching fifty thing feels old at the same time as graduating your youngest child feels young and free and more available to possibilities. I certainly do not feel Grandma-ish although I know that when and if it's my turn to slip a pink phone into my left bra cup and hop to its tune, I'll learn and I'll do my best - to figure out how to answer the phone and how to be Grandma. Life is about relationships... and learning.

Ten years ago - when I made the original quilt that became The Handbag Project - I stitch signed my textile pieces with my full name. That evolved to signing just my first name and then later, once my pieces were mounted on stretched canvasses, I signed the back of the work so that the buyer could hang the piece in any orientation they chose. Since they were abstract designs, that seemed a nice bonus added option. It's rare to find my full signature on anything anymore. JoAnna will have a "rare" bag. The signature section of the original quilt ended up along the side.

When we took occupancy of this house, the previous owner had not completely emptied the basement. She was an elderly woman with limited help and many possessions that proved impossible - like a pool table and a scrabble board to name two. The table went to the neighbours and the tiles onto my button shelf. Since JoAnna is a teacher, I really wanted to use the letters and planned for them to go on the back like a label. They didn't fit there. They're on the side.

The Handbag Project is almost complete. I'll show you this last finished bag tomorrow. Now that I'm done sewing, I want to learn about photography and - hopefully - take better pictures of each piece. I've ordered a how to photograph your craft projects book only it was a pre-order and won't be here for another month. I'm not sure that I want to wait that long to ship these bags out of the house but it could be worth waiting for the learning and the possibilities of the pictures. We'll see what I can come up with on my own and then I'll decide.

With each piece, I had no idea what the finished bag would look like. I started with something - the hands - and responded step-by-step to the developing bag. Along the way I learned. For instance, this last bag has stiffener in the bottom and side. Stiffener was new and now that I've tried it, I have some take-away knowledge about what to use (cardboard in this case), cutting the shapes, the size of the shapes, inserting the stiffener, and if and where I'd use stiffener again. We learn to do by doing. We learn to do better by practicing. I'm a huge advocate of self directed learning. Try it. See what happens.

Last Friday, Shams showed a fabulous "tablecloth" skirt on her blog complete with detailed pictures, a tutorial, and a link to an on-line calculator for the only potentially difficult aspect of the design. It was a workshop in a posting, so detailed and precise that any of us can make that skirt by following her instructions. In fact, I'm thinking of making it for the Christmas party in a few weeks. Sham's posting was generous and thorough so imagine my surprise when...

... in her next posting I read about a request for a sew-a-long. Really? A sew-a-long? For a skirt that is a square with a hole cut in it, an added elastic waistband, four long and four short seams, and a hem. At the risk of offending anyone - which would not be my goal - and with the hope of encouraging everyone - which would be my goal - Shams gave all the information that's needed. No hand holding, step-by-step, sew-a-long is required. So unless the critical part was to sew in a group and finish together, just do it.

Just follow the instructions, cut out the fabric, stitch as directed, sew it up, and see what happens. If it turns into a skirt you love, fabulous. If it turns into a skirt you hate, that's fabulous too BECAUSE you have learned something. If it turned into a skirt with potential, try it again, in another fabric, learn about the drape, about length, about ways to finish and press the seams, about manipulating the pattern, about more or less ease at the waist and so on. By my calculations, this skirt will take just over two meters of fabric and not much stitching time while offering great opportunities to develop your "try it and see" muscles, grow your artist, and gather learning in return.

Last week, I commented on how all the books seem to be written at the beginner level. They claim to have "everything" you need to know about XYZ subject and then, once I crack the cover, I find they've left out the very information that I wanted to know. It seems that everything - using beading as an example - is how to string beads as opposed to how to design a necklace using the principles and elements of design. I think one reason for this abundance of lower level information is illustrated in the request for a sew-a-long for a five piece, straight seams, not hard to do, skirt. Doing and even failing are the greatest teachers in the world. Just do it.

As said, my version may be a Christmas skirt. The party is in two weeks and four weeks Friday is Christmas. That seems way too quick like the year has flipped by in fast forward and it should really be spring that's approaching, not winter. I love the holidays but only when I'm prepared ahead of time and can enjoy them from a "done" perspective. I have a few traditions that are important to me each year and the rest I let go. One absolutely key to me element is to shop early. When the kids were younger, I finished shopping in October. Now, I wait slightly longer because "big kids" take longer to know what they want but I'm definitely done by the first of December. And we shop together. Howard and I are going today; we'll be done tonight. Good and enough. Gifts are not what I consider the highlight of Christmas. My daughter and son-in-law were not coming and now they may be able to come between Christmas and New Years. A hug in person - that's a highlight.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - risk taking, just try it and see, ability, pink phones

Everything Left Over

There's snow piled up on the ground this morning. It started coming down heavier some time last night and is still falling this morning in that gentle, softly moving, pretty in the street lights and somewhat treacherous on the ground, kind of way. Kyle is on an early shift which is good. There are less cars on the road at six in the morning. 

Before my daughter switched cities, she lived a few blocks away from one of my students and when I went to visit, I could visit both of them. During one visit, Patti gave me a big piece of dyed ruffle fabric. It's gorgeous and there's enough still left for something for myself.

The ruffles are attached to a net background too flimsy for a bag so I layered the fabric over a multi colored print, batting, and backing and zigzag stitched between each ruffle - which sounds so much easier than it was. Holding back the ruffles, inch by inch, to get between them was tedious BUT... we must struggle for beauty - LOL - it's perfect.

JoAnna is an art teacher. She's exuberant, colorful, outgoing and talks with her hands. I bought the burnout image above of the woman dancing and the one below of a sunflower on one of our shopping days. Both work fabulously. Sunflowers are one of her favourite flowers.

These burnout designs have been sitting in stash for a long time. The woman who made them was selling the most gorgeous, lush, beautifully colored quilts at high end prices. They were uniquely quilted by another friend of mine. I knew she had done the work because I recognized her style although I did ask the seller to confirm my guess - which she did.

The pieces were being sold without noting on the information tag that the woman selling them had not done the quilting. The tag implied that she had. That made me uncomfortable. It was one of those technically right but ethically wrong kinds of things - at least in my opinion. I debated what to do and later told my friend so she could decide how she wanted to handle the situation. It was too bad because - done differently - they could have had a fabulous partnership. The way it was done left a bad feeling.

One thing I attempt to keep in mind is that sewing is a big industry and a small community. It's so important to have integrity and to build a solid reputation.

The picture above looks dull. In real life, the colors are more vibrant. There are two yellow and two purple buttons at the top and the bottom of the row of embellishments and a purse, two hands, and a face bead in-between. JoAnna has an EXTENSIVE collection of purses and she often carries two or three at one time. They're eclectic and fun - like a lime green watering can - and you love them at the beginning of a day and hate them by the end when you just want to glare down the next gushing woman who exclaims loudly OH... I love your purse. WHERE did you get it?

Go away. Go away. Go away. DO NOT ASK.

JoAnna's favourite color is orange. Since there wasn't much in the bag, I added large orange buttons to the bottom as purse feet. They're 1 1/2" in diameter and stacked two high with blue thread to hold them in place.  In hindsight, I should have glued the buttons together first but... being hindsight and all... they're just stitched.

The McCall's pattern came with a handle piece that works quite well. I'll use it again to add the red handles to the Sandi bag. I didn't add them before because I wanted to see what other options might develop while I was finishing the rest of the bags. I'll morph the pattern a bit - slightly shorter, slightly wider - and it'll work. For this bag, one handle is purple/grey plaid and the other is purple/pink/polka dot. Fun.

The lining is made from everything left over. This is the last bag so I dug through the project box and pulled out and pieced together any larger sections of fabric. The lime green is for the sides and bottom and the red with lime stripe is the inside pocket. The other pieces are the inside front and back. No one piece was big enough so every section is pieced from smaller bits. It's eclectic, exuberant, colorful, fitting.

At first I felt like I was compromising using this pattern and not the original idea for a frame bag however - now that I've worked on the project some more - I'm happier with this shape. Along with being a teacher, JoAnna belongs to a book club and enjoys writing poetry and journalling. I think she'll get a lot of use out of this shape, more than she would have with the other one. It's good.

The bag isn't finished yet but most of the decisions have been made. What's left is to put the sections together and add the zipper. Hopefully, I'll have that done to show you next week... along with a picture of what's still left over - all that scrap breeding. Now I need to figure out what to do with those pieces - LOL.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - friendship

Five Small Plain Blue Buttons

We had our first significant snow fall last night and the world is blanketed in white this morning. It's pretty and... from what they said on the news last night... it's going to snow most of the weekend. That's when pretty wears off and the joy (not) of shoveling begins.

Speaking of joy (not) I went to the dentist yesterday to have two fillings replaced. Apparently my mouth is getting old and starting to fall apart. Really? How not like the rest of me. While I know they meant well, I wish they hadn't asked me every two minutes how I was doing. I felt like a case... which I am... but let's not make it so obvious. I like my dentist but can't stand the dentist if you know what I mean - and - asking me every two minutes was driving me crazy. It's a little hard to protest when your mouth is stuffed full with rubber and cotton. Mumble mumble. After I take Kyle to work this morning, I'm going back. One filling is a bit too high and I can't close my mouth or chew. It's a new diet plan - how to be crabby, hungry, and thin.

I highly endorse STARTING. Once I did, I spent most of the day in the studio and had a fabulous time stitching. Ideas flowed. Just start. It's good.

After the two hands were stitched to the front of the bag, I embellished them copying the "wedding ring" idea from the Ruth bag. Rather than rings on every finger, JoAnna is the type to thoroughly enjoy one ring on each hand.

The large expanse of stitched taffeta seemed a bit plain. It's amazing how long you can spend in your button collection to come up with five... small... plain... blue... buttons. They add points of interest, fill in the background, and balance the developing design without taking over.

This button is from a black cardigan that JoAnna bought for me at second hand store. She would rather have bought it for herself but she'd reached her closet quota for that month and wasn't "allowed" anything more - meaning self imposed guidelines - only she couldn't leave it behind because there were seven gorgeous beaded buttons on a $2.00 sweater. It became my gift. I'm not sure if she'll remember but it seemed appropriate as did...

... this dragonfly bead. For years, every summer, we made a shopping circuit where we'd spend the day driving in a big loop stopping at whatever shops intrigued us. One of JoAnna's favourites was a gift shop whose name had something to do with dragonflies. I can't remember exactly but I do remember that they used brown bags with a stamped dragonfly on the front and that it's somewhere between Kelowna and Penticton. It's most likely not there any more but...

I'm working on the back of the bag now. It uses some more souvenirs of explorations which I'll show you tomorrow. A specific project like this contains both creative fun and creative push. While it doesn't necessarily have to be a gift, a project with a challenge and a theme and some guidelines can be a really good thing. And remember to enjoy the process. It's not all about the end project, it's about the journey to get there and - if you're lucky - you get a bonus masterpiece too.

Carrie - a strata unit means one where the maintenance is taken care of by fees paid. In our case, it's a townhouse complex although the unit we like the best is half of a duplex.

Remnant - Someone told me rather forcefully the other day that blogging is a waste of time. I appreciate the encouragement

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - to be stitching again and that my car is all wheel drive vehicle and safe in snow

A Bag With Baggage

There comes a time when you can no longer rationalize and justify away procrastination with appointments and home viewings and visiting guests. You run out of excuses. You recognize I am procrastinating and you ask yourself why?

I left the JoAnna bag until the end because JoAnna's love of details made it the bag that I could be the most creative with. However. While there are all kinds of ideas dancing in my head for the shape, for the closure, for the handles, for the overall look, I forgot - or chose to ignore - that it was a bag with baggage. It's for one of the women that I no longer have any contact with and unfortunately our parting of the ways was more than a slow drifting apart. It was like the divorce that came from out of nowhere when you thought everything was fine and whose after shocks remain cuddled in pain.

When you realize that you're procrastinating, there's only one way through. Start. Make a decision that moves you forward and move. For me, that was to chose the zipper. I picked a hot pink color that matched with one of the hands. It's a bit long, a bit fat, a bit separating and that's okay - kind of ironic actually.

And then, I lowered my expectations to a less emotional and far more manageable level and instead of drafting my own slouchy shape with a self-manufactured purse frame and bead encrusted handles, I picked the only purse pattern in my stash that would fit the size of the hands. View C. McCall's 4531. Decision made. Moving on.

Earlier, when I made the Cindy purse, I used this purple crinkled taffeta as the binding. At the time, I remember thinking that it would make a fabulous lining for the JoAnna bag and it might still but first I'm using it as the outside. Starting on the front. Maybe more. We'll see. Later. I work one step at a time so I don't actually know what's coming next and that's good.

I layered and quilted the taffeta and then cut out the front pattern piece and shaped around the hands and determined their placement on the front. Then I patted paint on the side and watched it dry while I read some more essays by Stephanie. Now that I've started, I can continue. Sometimes, the hardest thing to do - and the only thing you can do - is START.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - a friend told me recently that we don't get over the hurt of our past, instead we learn how to go on by healing and then carrying our scars into our new normal. So true. I'm grateful for her sharing.

Two Months Today

Tonight is knitting. Last week, I took the yarn and started the scarf. This week, it's going back in its new rendition - the jacket. I added ribbed cuffs and stitched up the shoulder seams yesterday and will single crochet around the edge and add the ribbed collar tonight. OH... and it needs five buttons. I'll dig through my stash and see what I have - hopefully five of something that works.

These handbag books came in the mail yesterday and are going back today. They're beautifully done - great eye candy - and yet they either have the crafty type style I'm not interested in or not quite enough of the information I was looking for. I find that frustrating about books lately. They all seem to be written for the beginner level only I think beginners might find they'd hoped for more steps in the instructions. A big four pattern could actually be a better learning tool. Interesting.

On Saturday, after I'd finished the main body of the baby jacket, I went back to working on the bubblegum pink sweater. The back and fronts are re-knit. Next are the ribbed button bands. I prefer to knit those on when doing the fronts only I wasn't willing to work out all the buttonhole math until I saw if the stitch pattern and the size worked out this time. It did. Now I wish I'd knit it on. Oh well.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee - the yarn harlot - is a fabulous writer. I read her blog regularly and ordered her latest book - All Wound Up - to have a closer look at her humorous, creative, non-fiction, stories from real life, approach to writing. I'd like to improve my writing style and have been looking into writing classes. Unfortunately, there's not much available locally but something will come up.

Did I mention the bracelet blanks? I ordered them so long ago that I can't remember. They came. All six dozen. In sizes from 1/2" to 3". These are lightweight aluminum blanks in a standard six inch size. They are "mini canvasses" and a great way to learn about creating textile bracelets. That's on my to do list after the JoAnna bag that never seems to get started never mind finished. It will. Eventually.

The make it fun approach of The Right Brain Business Plan: A Creative Visual Map for Success by Jennifer Lee appealed to my creative side although I've only glanced through it enough to know that I'll keep and read it. How to run your business books are quite applicable to life, a place where we want do well, have fun, get ahead, and live our own version. IMHO any tool that helps you know what you want and create balance is valuable.

It's two months today since we put our house on the market. We've sold a lot of houses over the years and I can't remember if any other one took this long. And that's okay. Even though I've alternated between patience and impatience, and am doing better at some points than others, and would really like to get on with it now, it's been a great experience because I'm learning so much.

I've been journal writing, which in my case is more like praying on paper, and I'm excited about the things that God has shown me. I don't believe in some unknown hand of fate or putting things out to the universe. I believe in God and I'm thrilled to have a direct line to the guy in charge even if I wish he would speak louder into the mike so I'd know exactly what's going on. I think - LOL - that my control issues might be part of what we're working on.

I wish I'd written everything down in point form because I can't articulate it all - some of it's more a feeling of peace - but here are the highlights. I've realized that creativity is my area of expertise and the place where I need to be whether in a business format or for personal growth. The hand bag project illustrated that I need to shift my creativity in a challenging, stretching, growing direction and try not to have extended "paint by number" type projects which is why I bought the bracelet blanks. I want to have something I'm working on that is growing me as an artist, keeping my brain alive and active, and generating creative excitement.

I've thought about writing and how much I enjoy organizing thoughts and concepts and teaching them. No decisions have been made but I am debating writing another book. For now, I'm looking at ways to improve my writing quality and style. I've been reading books on creative non-fiction and studying the style of writer's I enjoy like Stephanie. It's a start BUT the important part is I've realized that I can do this - write better and more - and it doesn't have to make money. Making money is not the point. Using my ability is. That's a huge awareness for me. AND THEN...

... I've thought about finances and the importance of lowering or eliminating our debt and of learning to live within a budget and of pacing things like renovations and new furniture and about eating in more than eating out and SO MANY aspects of money management and I'm excited about accomplishing more in that area. Over the past few years, we've made tremendous strides on our mortgage and I want to extend that into other areas. I track our expenses so I know I'm doing better already. I haven't spent as much in the last thirty days on fabric and books as I was spending per week at the beginning of the year. Although the handbag project and re-reading my art/writing/business books are a HUGE factor in that, I can see what's possible.

When you're moving, you think a lot about furniture and re-decorating - or at least I do. The concept of making a home has been tickling in my brain. Not so much about what goes where and what color should it be but a home as in a place that's warm and comfortable and welcoming where the people who live there as well as others who visit want to be. We're moving to a strata unit. I will be on the younger end of the women who live in that community. Some are very lonely. I've thought about being welcoming and friendly and having an open home. It seems to me another way of supporting and encouraging others which is really important to me. I'm not sure what might happen but I can see how positive it could be.

AND... I've thought about getting a job and have weighed out what's important for me in terms of time and money and family and balance. At first, I felt a lot of pressure to work and now I've come to the conclusion that unless I absolutely have to for reasons I'm currently unaware of I can continue waiting for the job that meets that criteria. That's a luxury I realize and one I appreciate. It's nice to not to be running around in circles worrying about it and to be focused on what I can do. This is good.

SO... I wonder if there are more lessons for me to learn first or if we'll be moving soon - LOL - or if it's even connected or if one of the lessons to be learned is that we're not moving at all. We'll leave our house on the market into the early spring and if it hasn't sold by the beginning of March, take it off as we can't move between mid April and the end of June due to holidays and events already planned. Time will tell. Hopefully, I can remain calm and creative and open to whatever more God wants to teach me. I hope.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the desire to learn and grow

EZ's 3D Vision

It was a weekend of visitors and house viewings. In-between chatting and cleaning and getting out of the house so people could look, I knit. Knitting was less messy than sewing and easier to pick up and put down. You'll notice that my project morphed. After one repeat of the yarn stripes, a garter stitch scarf seemed endlessly boring so I knit Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket instead.

The jacket is knit in one piece. Some people "get it' right away like the friend who was here for the weekend. When I asked her what she thought I was knitting she said, it must be a sweater because here's the sleeve and she was right. Other people remain confused all the way to the very end when they're trying to figure out which way to flip the edges to transform the organic shape above into the sweater below.

The ability to see in this way is called three-dimensional vision. Mine is pretty good but not nearly as good as Elizabeth Zimmerman's, the woman who designed this sweater in 1968. I'm intrigued with how her mind worked and would have loved the opportunity to sit down and chat with her. I think it would have been a challenging and inspiring conversation especially since Elizabeth is credited with revolutionizing the modern practice of knitting. That's quite a reputation.

Now that I've knit the pattern, I can see all sorts of ways to manipulate the colors and stripes within the design only I doubt I will because - for the most part - I think it's ugly. Even mine. The yarn was prettier knit into the shorter rows with larger pooled sections of color on the scarf than it is knit into the longer rows with minimal pooling of the jacket. Something similar could be said of almost all the renditions I've seen.

The only versions that have appealed to me are those knit with multi-colored yarns that do NOT  have long colorways or the ones where color has been carefully managed like the yellow and white striped one further down on this page at the Schoolhouse Press site. I intend to add a collar to mine - in the purple-ish color - as well as cuffs. The collar will give it more appeal and the cuffs will balance the garment better. As it is now, the sleeves seem disproportionate. If you look at that page above, you can see that they're short on the baby modelling.

Howard has today off and Kyle works at noon so it's an in and out day. The house is clean. I don't need to do that so I may just knit again. We'll see. I would really like to get to JoAnna's bag but not with interruptions. It's too hard to sew like that especially when the thinking and forming part.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the sharing of great minds