Anything I Might Say...

When I thought about what to write today, it seemed ...

... anything I might say was not all that important compared to what's going on for so many people dealing with Hurrican Sandy. Perhaps one plus is knowing that in this electronic world we can care about people we only know through reading their blogs and who live many miles away. I know I've been wondering about many.

Care for. Praying for. Hoping all goes well.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - that fatality numbers are not higher than they are.

What Are You So Curious About?

sdbev wrote - I'm one who would knit both fronts and both sleeves at the same time. Not for speed, but for accuracy. Otherwise, I always seem to make some mistake that is visible to me. I say "would knit" because I am a machine knitter. I machine knit for speed. I have so many ideas I want to try out. Knitting by hand just doesn't cut it when you want fast.

In The Power Of Why, I read about a test called ISPI that identifies how people process thought. Apparently, there are millions of combinations. Amanda - the book's author - is an identical twin and yet - according to the test - her and her sister do NOT process thought alike which goes to show how actually managing to communicate is a miracle - as is how much we have in common while still being so incredibly unique.

People fascinate me. How they think. Their actions. What interests them. I'm intrigued by how one person can pursue with a cornucopia of ideas what another person looks at with passing fascination or - in some cases - absolute horror. It's not that I don't enjoy knitting but obviously not to the same degree as Bev. For her, the ability to execute those ideas quicker is of necessity while for me, there's nothing about knitting that I am so curious about that exploring the idea as fast as possible compels me in new directions.

I'm just not THAT interested. My library of knitting books is extensive with pattern and technique and how to design books. I've looked at knitting machines - I even borrowed one for a couple of weeks - and have talked extensively with knitters who have but don't use their knitting machines. What I know about myself - and what I learned from them - forms part of the basis for my decision but in all likelihood the largest component is a lack of curiosity. It's me and not a lack of knitting potential. Knitting seems as never ending as other fibre related endeavours.

I spent Saturday afternoon at my friend Sharon's knitting peacefully away in her den devoid of the sound of the roofers - who have been here for a week now - and are slowly but surely driving me crazy. I finished the turquoise wool plus sock yarn sweater with a ribbed collar band which ends right at center front. The left front starts at center front. In other areas, you can stop and start at the side seams but with both of these pieces a tail is clearly visible at center and needs to be integrated successfully into the finished garment. I don't like tails.

The neck is shaped with decreases. Armholes often are as well. Even though I've researched and implemented numerous ways to increase and decrease and create smooth lines while knitting - as I remarked to Sharon - it's a whole lot easier to just cut and sew with a knit fabric. And perhaps that's my newest conclusion. Since what I like about knitting is the relaxation of pulling one loop through another maybe I'm a scarf knitter and not much else. Give me a long straight rectangle and let me enjoy the project for its portability and socializing potential and forget the rest because as much as I'm not looking forward to stitching these sweaters together, I can see all kinds of potential in sewing garments with knit fabrics.

We take "journeys" not only to discover what we do want to do but to discover what we don't want to do. Both pieces of information are valuable. YEARS ago, I planned to stitch quilts by hand. In my mind, they were heirloom creations that would be preserved and passed down from generation to generation - an idea that didn't even make it through one quilt. Hand quilting was too tedious, too slow for me. I switched to machine quilting and so thoroughly embraced the speed piecing concept that I not only made quilts in a day, I taught others how to make accurate, well pieced, quilts in a day. And I loved it - for years - until I didn't love it any more.

Change is an inevitable and enviable and desirable part of life.

Here's the best part about thinking like a little kid: you're not a little kid. You are able to think about how you think. Self-awareness is the adult trait that elevates curiosity to a new place, where it's not just fun but powerful because it fuels not only engagement and interest, but also actual, implementable innovation. In ways big and small, asking questions makes life richer, more interesting, more fulfilling and more complete. Better. That's the power, and ultimately the purpose, of why. - last page, The Power of Why, by Amanda Lang

Bev's comment touched off some green-eyed envy. While on one level I truly believe there's a lot to be said for not rushing through every creation, on another there's a part of me that craves that kind of curiosity and the energy it generates when there's so much to explore and not enough time in the day or the month or the world to get there. When faster and quicker ways become critical and sleep less essential.

What are you so curious about that there simply isn't enough time in the day to answer the questions?

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - that a no is as valuable as a yes

A Wadder Into A Winner

The long hours didn't bother him in the slightest. "I can outwork any individual twenty years younger than I am," he boasts, and the reason is intellectual curiosity. "If you really enjoy your work, you can work sixty to eighty hours a week and enjoy every moment. If you don't enjoy it, you'll force yourself to work forty hours and you won't be happy." - Dr. Addison Lawrence at age 76 - from The Power of Why, Chapter Four, by Amanda Lang

There are periods of time in which I don't feel like sewing but they're rare and short. A couple days. Maybe. Although how and what I sew has evolved over the past thirty-eight years, the desire to sew has remained constant. It's (one of) my form(s) of intellectual curiosity. I love to design art pieces and to figure out how garments go together, how to technically and creatively improve them, and how to evolve what doesn't work into something that does - a wadder into a winner.

Knitting comes second. I like its portability, the textures and colors of the yarn, and the patterns that can be created by pulling loops through loops. I'd probably do a lot more knitting and even design my own knitwear if it was faster. However, since I'm not interested in knitting machines and stitch by stitch is slower work, for me, knitting is contemplative. Time to think.

With the roofers pounding away above and their ladders just in front of my studio window and them moving up and down and all over the front yard, my studio is not a comfortable space at the moment. It feels way too exposed and the noise and busyness is not at all conducive to any kind of productivity especially refashioning. I've been hiding out in the living room. Yesterday, I knit the second sleeve and the left front.

It's the front without the buttonholes. I prefer to knit that side first and then count rows and plan buttonhole spacing based on what I know to be true. Many knitters knit both sleeves and both fronts at the same time. I could but - since I knit for relaxation and contemplation - what's the rush. This approach is more accurate. As it is, I'll finish this sweater in three days and that's an expensive pace if you're knitting the good stuff.

Kris - thanks for the suggestion around not using a ribbed cuff. That would be gorgeous. This is a child size sweater - about a size two - and not for me. The cuffs will be good for keeping the sleeves down and for additional warmth. I have another yarn combination that is definitely intended for me and would create a similar look. I'll keep this in mind.

After the conclusion of the tucks and wrinkles piece, I started on a grey t-shirt. It seemed an easy sew until I put the neck binding on wrong side out and then stretched out the armhole even though I'd worked hard to get the differential feed on the serger adjusted correctly. I've decided to re-frame this series of stuff that's happening because enough is enough. It's been going on for months now and it's wearing SO... I choose to believe that the reason for so much resistance is because I'm on the verge of something amazing. YEAH!

Moving forward - I cut off the neckline binding and resewed it and then picked out the serger stitching, steamed the armhole back into shape, and pinned the sleeve back in. I'll stitch it with a regular machine. I've been doing a lot of that with my knits lately. After a snap test to get the stitch length and width correct, it seems to produce better results although I still use the serger to finish the hems and sew on the neck binding. Its neat along the hem and provides a firm, even edge to wrap the binding around. I like both of those.

It's interesting that years ago I bought a serger specifically for knits but now mostly prefer to use it for wovens. Marcy Tilton said something similar in the workshop.

Many of the thoughts in Amanda's book - The Power of Why - are about correlations between corporate and personal life. The goals have similarities and yet in general people give little thought to how they live their lives. It's important to know where you're going because if you don't know, you're not likely to get there. I've realized that at this stage in life one of the most critical elements for me is the ability - within reason and as much as possible - to schedule my own time. That's an important observation, one that colors every decision. It'll be interesting to see where it leads me.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the old roof is off and they've started putting down the new shingles. Hopefully only two more days and it should be done.

The Power Of Why

Almost all of the women I know who knit use circular needles with interchangeable tips. It makes sense. With circulars, there's a different distribution of weight and projects feel lighter and more balanced in your hands. It's easier on the body and more pleasant to knit.

I have three sets of interchangeable needles - one set that's expensive and was intended as a treat although it turned out to be nice but not my favourite, one set in birch that's perfect for slippery yarns, and one set that's nickel plated and fabulous for sticky yarns. All three sets are organized into a small binder that's carried around in my knitting bag. Before, I'd have needed a suitcase.

Thirty years ago - the last time I knit - we used straights in either longer or shorter lengths. I preferred the shorter lengths because the weight of the project was closer to the body much as with the circular needles. That's probably why I made the change so easily. Back then, circular needles were rigid with stiff cables that twisted and kinked and were generally frustrating to work with. They existed for larger projects like afghans and blankets. I avoided those projects. IMHO afghans were for crochet.

Yesterday, I started reading Amanda Lang's book The Power of Why. Here's part of the blurb - Why are some people able to get so much more done in so much less time than others? Why do some companies flourish in tough times while others fail? Why are some countries more productive than others? Instead of obsessing over working smarter, we ought to focus on the instinctive urge to question that's so natural for young children. As Lang shows, it's possible to reignite that instinct at any age and to become more innovative and productive as well as more fulfilled in our jobs and happier in our relationships. That's the power of why.

In the book, she talks about questioning the status quo and about challenging what has always been done and how it's been done. Amanda writes - How, in our everyday lives, can we press control-alt-delete to erase the assumptions that prevent us from finding a better way forward? Is it really possible to ignore what we "know," wipe the slate clean, turn our backs on the status quo and rethink basic questions about the world and about ourselves. - and then goes on to outline a system for assessing our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats - SWOT.

I'm just starting chapter four. It's a well written book with thought provoking information, a book about innovation, about productivity, about living a fulfilled life. I started thinking about knitting while reading a section on productivity. Apparently, Canada lags behind other first world nations - in particular the United States - in productivity and needs to find ways to do the work faster.

My first thought was about things that I don't believe need to be done faster - like knitting - and about innovations that have made those tasks faster - like knitting machines - that in my opinion have taken away from the joy of sliding one loop through the other and have turned a contemplative, creative, relaxing task into a get it done as fast as you can one. Quilting went that way. Suddenly, everyone was creating quilts in a day and something special was lost - in my opinion.

And then I remembered the sequence of straights to circulars to circulars with interchangeable tips and lightweight flexible cables that don't twist or kink. On these, I certainly knit faster and I enjoy knitting more. How did we (the knitting population) get from circular needles we hated to circular needles we love? Someone, somewhere, asked the question - Why?

I'm working with a turquoise alpaca yarn that's slightly fuzzy and somewhat sticky paired with a thin, self striping, sock yarn. I'm not knitting socks. I'm knitting a sweater. The sock yarn has long runs of each color which creates interesting pooling. Interesting as in the unpredictable, uneven, uncontrollable type of pooling.

The turquoise has been knit once already and reballed. The fabric it created was too loose and stretchy for me. Part of the sock yarn is still in the original skein and part of it has been knit three times already and reballed. I played with it in June while on holidays and tried different scenarios and didn't like any of them. It was paired with another yarn at that time and when I pulled them apart, they stuck together in places and the sock yarn had to be broken. Since it was knit, reballed, knit, reballed, knit, reballed, and broken, it is in nowhere near the same configuration it came off the original skein in which explains the color distribution on the back of the sweater. Where the green reappears above the predominately blue section is where I started with the unknit part of the skein. Before that is the reballed section.

The first sleeve is predominately dark. There's a bit of color in the cuff but the rest is one long pooled section of the turquoise mixed with the dark blue part of the sock yarn. It's pretty but it's not variegated. Since I was knitting in-between reading, I started thinking about how I used to create with a focus on productivity and on the finished piece and on perfection and about how I now create with a focus on the process and on exploring creative options.

At one time, I would have knit socks with sock yarn. Using sock yarn for something else is growth. In fact, combining two yarns is growth. Before, I'd have been upset about the pooling and I'd have tried to manipulate the sock yarn to create identical matching pieces - two sleeves that looked the same - two fronts that looked the same - a bottom edge the ran completely around the project and matched at the side seams. I'm not that person anymore. I looked at the pooling and decided to knit each piece, see what happens, arrange them in the best configuration, sew them together, and add details to blend. If you knew the old - one right answer - me, you'd know how clearly that illustrates what Amanda is teaching in her book. It's not too late to develop innovation, curiosity, and a questioning of the status quo. YES YES!

And I don't have enough turquoise yarn. That will be another question to answer.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - new perspectives

Tucks And Wrinkles - The Conclusion

Tomorrow, I'd planned to attend an art exhibit, visit with my friend Lorraine, and explore a favourite dress shop called South of Pine - all in Vernon. It's not going to happen. I'm sniffling. And cold. And not sleeping well. While annoying - tomorrow aside - it's rather good timing if I'm about to get a cold since my schedule is mostly free. We'll see. I've swallowed extra vitamin C just in case.

These pictures are slightly overexposed, the better to see the black. All of the pieces are underlined with light weight interfacing. I fused the fabric to the interfacing and then cut out the pieces individually to maintain size. It didn't work. For whatever reason, they kept shrinking. The center front panels shrunk an additional 1/2" - one entire seam allowance since the pattern is drafted with 1/2" seams.

The dolmen sleeve pattern looks VERY similar when flipped arm side out or body side out which is how I accidentally cut the first piece the wrong way. And it was late. And I was tired. And that's the way life's been going lately. I'd planned for the tucks to be running vertically. Post mistake, they are running horizontally in the back and...

,,, vertically in the front - which - referring to the science of lines - would make my butt look wider and my bust look smaller. With my figure, that's a scenario best reversed.

Due to shrinking, the seams were sewn as narrow as possible. When I tried it on, the resulting garment fit well in the bust and was huge through the waist and miles too small over the hips. I spent three days working on this piece at the Design Outside The Lines retreat, another two days morphing it into a skirt, and an additional four days re-working it into this shirt that became a coat. Three...

... times is my limit. Barb tried it on and when it fit her, I said it was hers if she finished it and bundled up the garment, extra fabric, the remaining pattern pieces, and handed her the package. Since she'd just spent four days telling me how gorgeous the developing piece was, I know she loved it and will wear it. Better that than in the trash or uselessly hanging in my closet. NEXT!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - vitamin C, warm snuggly blankets, and hot baths

Tucks And Wrinkles - Part 2

One of us failed to communicate clearly - as in either Barb said it wrong or I heard it wrong - because she's leaving this morning instead of tomorrow as I thought. This doesn't surprise me. The last time she visited, we went to the bus station only to discover that her ticket was for the next day. This must be catch-up. Only it's snowing. Hopefully the roads are open and good.

I wanted some kind of bridge between the tucks and the wrinkles. The fabric is a dull black - all of it - no matter what tricks lighting seems to take - and anything I tried in-between was either too shiny or too sporty or too different so I made "piping" of a sort by...

... folding a strip of the knit in half and zigzagging over the edge to create a picot edge and then...

... trimmed the strip to 3/4" measuring from the picots. The results were...

... soft and pliable and matched perfectly even if the fabric looks blue above and red ! below. Seeing these colors made me wonder if the fabric was overdyed and the light was picking up the "original" color. Just goes to show that the camera does indeed lie.

The line of lime green thread is a guide. First I basted the piping in place by hand and then secured it with a basted line of lime thread exactly where I wanted the seam line to be. The side front or side back was then pinned in place and I re-stitched with black thread ever so slightly beside the lime thread encasing it in the seam allowance and creating an accurate seam. I often use thread or pressed creases as guidelines. Anything to make it easier.

Tomorrow - the conclusion.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - safe, warm, dry studios

Tucks And Wrinkles - Part 1

This morning when I woke up everything was normal - as in no snow - like on the previous two mornings. Saturday morning the street light was full of flurries and you couldn't even see the valley.  October does seem a bit early for snow.

We've had snow and then rain and then sunshine and then hail and then snow. I'm not sure what else could have been thrown into that mix and it didn't really matter since Barb and I have spent most of the time in the studio playing with brief forays to Fabricland.

After reviewing my patterns again, I decided to work with Diane Ericson's #105 Skylines - the view bottom left. I tried this garment on at the retreat and it was very flattering although the fabric she used had less bulk and more drape than the direction mine is going in. Mine may be more of a jacket than a shirt.

At the retreat, I stitched tucks into eight panels of fabric and stitched the panels together intending to randomly shape the resulting tube into a skirt. That didn't work so I took the panels apart and used a pattern to cut them into a trumpet skirt, sewed it together, and that didn't work either. The tucks were not random enough and were running downhill across my behind. NOT flattering. For this project, I started by taking that skirt apart and then used two panels each for the two side fronts and the two side backs of Skylines reconfiguring the tucks into yardage approximately the right size for each piece.

For center front and center back, I used some of the remnants of the t-shirt muslins - same fabric - and wrinkled and fused it to interfacing. Even though it's a very thin knit, the resulting fabric is somewhat bulky which is how this project started heading toward a jacket. The interfacing also adds weight.

Because the center panels were fused and the knit was thin, I underlined the rest of the pieces with interfacing as well. For most of the garment, I used Fusi-Knit but ran out on the side back pieces. Since it was after closing at Fabricland, I rummaged through my interfacing box to see if there was anything else in black and came up with Pati Palmer's Perfect Fuse Light. The package I bought is 3 yards, 60" wide, for $23.50. It is GORGEOUS.

Most likely I bought this at the pant workshop in Portland about four or five years ago and it's sat in the interfacing box ever since. Now, I'm wishing I had tried it a whole lot sooner and that my wholesaler carried it by the bolt. This could easily become my absolute favourite interfacing. If you haven't used this product, order some and see. It's soft and light with beautiful drape and alters the hand of the fabric minimally - far less than Fusi-Knit does and Fusi-Knit has been my favourite up until now. I can't say enough good things. I'm feeling darn near gushy and you know I'm not exactly gushy.

The project has been a comedy of errors - not unexpected considering how life is going lately although it's making Barb laugh. It may end up wearable. If not, it's been an interesting experience. More later.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - stored supplies and surprising new discoveries

Odds And Ends

It's been forever since I felt like doing anything around here and - ironically - yesterday my mojo returned. Along with cleaning house and getting groceries, I primed the metal front door and the one to the garage. Both are in the front entrance way. Both were eighteen year old yellowed white. With just the primer, they look a lot better, as does the ceiling where I painted over the discolor from the previous light fixture, and the hall doors with new knobs. It's good. I also made soup and ran a gazillion errands and did other odds and ends and it wasn't until late - late - afternoon that I made it into the studio to look at patterns. There are three contenders although I'm going to look again just in case.

The larger leopard print view of Butterick 5498 has appeal. I'm not sure about the raglan sleeve and need to read how the fall at the front is faced. My fabric is one sided. The same with...

... McCall's 5241. This one is the most similar to the cardigan in the boutique but I'm not trying to replicate the cardigan, just to make a garment with the similar tucks which is why...

... I'm also considering Marcy Tilton's OOP Vogue 8088 - the view on the left with sleeves. The picture is out of focus which is really unusual for the Vogue website. I don't normally wear clothing with little shaping but - because my fabric is lightweight with drape - this could work and the larger pieces allow for play. Play is good - LOL.

I've mentioned before that clutter gets in the way of productivity for me. It sits on my nerves and niggles. While it's not exactly cluttered, there are a whole lot of things still undone in our house that are similarly niggling - one of which is the laundry room. Earlier this week, Home Depot had a cabinet sale with select units for $99 each. We bought some and hopefully they'll go up this weekend. It'll make a HUGE difference not only to what's stored where but to my ability to paint and dye fabric. We'll still need a sink and that's okay. We have plans for moving the one from the kitchen down. For now, just getting the cleaning supplies off the laundry room floor and the paints out from under the stairs and into the cupboards will be a massive step forward.

A few weeks ago a friend repaired my scratched oak dresser. The picture above is the scratch before she raised the grain with water and then rubbed it with iodine and the polished the dresser with coconut oil. The picture below is after. You can still feel the scratch but you can't see it. She always uses natural products and has repaired some seriously damaged furniture with this method. Bugs don't like coconut oil and it's natural, inexpensive, antibacterial, and something else I can't remember but it works. Yesterday, I oiled the counter top on the island since we won't be finishing it anytime soon and it looked so wonderful, I oiled a few other pieces too.

Thanks Kristin, Alison, Dawn, and Carrie for your comments on A Year Without. I'm definitely going to contemplate a year with. It's interesting being as old as I am. I'm far more clear on what I can and cannot do - like stop buying fabric - which isn't going to happen - but limiting fabric - it could. When I was looking through the patterns yesterday, there were quite a few I haven't gotten to yet and really liked which highlighted that there's no need to rush to this current 1.99 sale but I know in the future that I'll still buy new patterns that are more unique because unique is the direction I'm headed in.

Alison - life transition seems to be another word for pain and change and I do know from experience, as I'm sure you do, that transitions eventually lead to sunshine and something good but it sure isn't pretty in the middle. For me, the quickest way through is to let go of control only I'm not the greatest at that so I often spend forever regurgitating the issue. HUGS - best of luck. It will come clear.

In terms of creativity. It is truth that less can be a real push toward more because needing to do X but not owning Y enables you to start thinking differently. My year of play was very much that way and the zero waste concept I'm working with now has similarities. One of my favourite textile artists has lived substantially below the poverty line her entire adult life and creates amazing pieces from things people give her and thrift store finds. Her work encourages me to think differently.

Barb arrived late last night. We had dinner and chatted and this morning will start playing in the studio. In-between play I want to put two coats of paint on the doors because the weather is turning and soon they'll be too cold to paint. I'd rather it stuck. The roofers are a couple doors down now. I was right. They are going to be sharing our retreat. LOL - oh joy!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the mojo returns

A Year Without

Goodbye Valentino just completed a year without buying ready-to-wear and The Vivienne Files is about to embark on a year without shopping. When I think about a year without, I'm all for a year without debt, stress, conflict, poor health - things like that - all of which are mostly beyond our control or impossible to eliminate in one fell swoop? But no - in this concept - a year without implies giving up something that is completely within your ability to give up. Hmm...

Giving up shopping or buying ready-to-wear wouldn't be much of a challenge nor a savings for me. I doubt I buy even a half a dozen items a year. The same with shoes. Or jewelry. LOVE IT but rarely purchase a piece and typically as a souvenir. Shopping is not a temptation for me; it's a source of inspiration and I'm definitely not going a year without inspiration. 

Travel? No. I only travel short distances and have four trips planned for next year already. Eating out? I enjoy coffee and lunch dates with friends way too much. It'd never happen - at least not completely. Fabric? Patterns? I'm weak in the face of fabric. Addicts typically are. Patterns are an idea although I can all but guarantee that the minute I know whether I'm sewing for a girl grandbaby or a boy grandbaby that would be that so perhaps I could give up fabric except for fabulous pieces substantially on sale (which is how I shop anyway) and patterns except for baby patterns. What about a year without with stipulations?

I've only started thinking about this concept and wondering about possibilities. The idea has appeal. I've done it before. My year of play in 2004 was a year without in that it was a year of using what was already in the studio. That choice impacted me tremendously both personally and artistically. Doing without made me more creative. It helped me achieve goals. It changed how I approached life. AND - as far fetched as it sounds - it made me a stronger better person.

What would you choose to go a year without?

Whatever it is - for me - it won't be a year without creativity. That would be synonymous with a slow suffocation. I would prefer it was a year with substantially increased creativity. Perhaps there's a way to word doing without so it's doing with something else. With is the flip side of without and I like how positive a year with sounds. Even though it was a year without, a year of play sounded like a lot more fun. It was a forward goal. It's something to (over) think about some more - LOL!

One thing I'd like more of is creating without knowing the end result. It's an energetic way of working with many learning curves. The first three pictures are of a cardigan in a local boutique that I saw a few weeks ago and in another shop there were some sleeveless shell tops also with random tucks. Both remind me of the tucks I started at the Design Outside The Lines Workshop. The piece above is one of eight panels. If I finish this project, I could accidentally be on trend. What a thought. This morning, I have a whole bunch of errands to do getting ready for Barb but right after that, I'll research possible patterns. More later.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - I finally painted over the patching in the entryway and guest room and it looks MUCH better. Having a guest coming was a wonderful push to get it done.

Closer To Finished

Tomorrow, my friend Barb is coming for a week - of sewing. Barb is one of the easiest, undemanding guests ever and a delight to have visit.  Sometimes she'll just disappear from the studio and she's in the kitchen making dinner or baking or downstairs throwing things in the laundry. Gotta love that.

With a guest like her, there's no pressure to get things done but it's nice to have a deadline. The last time she was here we were mid renovations with plywood floors and unfinished details. Since then, the studio has moved twice. In this new one it's difficult to see at the work counter because your back blocks the general lighting. I've fixed that. These under counter fixtures have a tilting feature that allows you to direct the light where you want it.

I find task lighting increasingly more important as my eyes age. I've re-attached the bright light to the machine and will add one to the serger some time soon. There's also a desk top Ott light for when and if and whoever needs it.

Adding another shelf above the computer desk freed up a shelf above the work counter which will allow me to move things around and maximize space better. In a studio this size, every bit of space is precious.

This cabinet has those self closing drawers that suck in tighter than tight.  Getting them open has been hard on the fingernails, especially the bottom drawer full of patterns. Handles are good.

And the design wall is finally off the floor allowing access to another electrical outlet. After five months the other way, it's actually an adjustment to see it in place. I'll adjust. The studio is closer to finished. There's putting in a better light in the stash closet and adjusting the doors left to do. Later.

In the saga of funny things that are not. I used a stud finder to locate the studs for securing the shelf supports. I'm not sure what it located but it wasn't a stud. The supplies are light so I hung the shelf up anyway. If it falls down, I'll figure it out then. It takes four screws to hang up the lights. It took massively longer than that to actually do it with the screws refusing to enter the wood and winging off to the corners of the room. I punctured my finger to the drawing blood stage twice. The lights connect to each other and then plug into a common power source. My source comes from an extension cord plugged into an outlet behind the cupboards  The extension cord is two prong. The lights are three. Howard pulled the third prong out. It's a ground. The outlet is grounded. The handles for the cabinets come with their own screws which were - naturally - too long. It took three washers - determined one at a time - behind each handle to bridge the extra distance. The sticky on the back of the stick on bright light had de-stickied itself and the light kept tipping over and off. I had to make new sticky. We lay the new, clean, white flannel on the floor, lay the design wall on top, pulled the fabric taut around the back and stapled it in place. Apparently, my newly washed floor was not totally clean because my new white flannel no longer is either. Now to figure out how to clean it hanging up. Speaking of which. I thought Howard had put the second screw in securely before re-checking the level so I let go when he moved. It fell down. More stuff!

Yesterday's bible study was Mathew 5: 3-12. God has such a sense of humor. It reads: You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you. You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought. You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat. You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for. You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world. You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family. You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

LOL - I'm not sure I want to be so blessed.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - garden fresh vegetables and a drive in the (mostly) sunshine to get them

The Rookie Move

Typically, I wake up at six. Today, it was after eight with a nine o'clock appointment which means I'm only getting to blogging and that first cup of coffee now. Life's been like that lately. For months. As I was telling Peng, my acupuncturist, it feels like the universe is picking on me. It's so funny, it's not.

Here's an example. On Sunday, my friend was passing through town on her way home from a trip back east. We both needed a good chat and went for breakfast at Hello Toast - a place that was once a favourite. Just getting there was complicated. There was construction on virtually every corner and most of the downtown roads were closed so we parked a few blocks away and walked, had our breakfast, got a coffee refill, told our waitress we were just going to chat, and she said that was fine. About twenty minutes later the manager comes up and says as you can see there are people waiting and this is not the kind of restaurant for visiting on a weekend. I'm going to have to ask you to leave. REALLY! We'd been there maybe an hour and a half and I have eaten in that restaurant almost weekly for years and have had long visits with other friends on other days that were busy with a line-up and it was never a problem. Apparently, the restaurant has turned into a gobble and go so I won't be going there anymore. Stuff like that. Stuff like...

... the rookie move with the turquoise t-shirt. There's a part missing - a critical part. It must have been all those quick and dirty t-shirt muslins that are to blame causing me to forget the lessons of pattern cutting 101. While laying out the pattern, I was carefully conserving fabric and had just pinned the left front - upside down - and cut it out when it occurred to me that when you have a left front and a right front, you cannot flip the pattern. However... I hadn't cut out the right front so it seemed as if it should be okay. NOT. Even though I'd only cut that one piece, there was absolutely no way in which to turn the other pieces to cut them all out of the remaining fabric so I tried...

... piecing in scraps, right side up, on the part that would be visible, hoping the seams would be tucked under the wrap portion. After I'd sewn the shoulder seams and pinned the side seams, the tacky little scrapping it together zigzagged seam went right straight across the left b--b. Not exactly the look I was going for. I've ordered more fabric since this was - of course - a piece I picked up in Vancouver and not one I'd bought locally. All I can say is I hope this is a t-shirt I enjoy wearing and wear often because it just got expensive but - either way - I'm determined to win whatever war this is going on!

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - laughter

An Orange And Black Coat

There was a mishap with the turquoise top - a rookie move I'll tell you about tomorrow. Maybe it was a gift. I decided it was not the weekend for practical, it was time for something fun so I cut up the orange black fabric that I'd cut up and cut up and cut up before and made an orange and black coat - in size three - using Simplicity 2745 - again. Earlier this year, one of the women in my knitting group had a baby girl and I hadn't made a gift yet. It seemed the perfect time. 

The main part of the garment is the black side out with the orange side used for accents. The trim on the collar looks like crochet and the...

... collar is a double layer. To sew it, I basted the seam line on the main body of the garment and serged off all the seam allowances on the collar pieces which were then matched one to each side of the neckline. The collars are stitched in place 1/4" from the edge and then zigzag stitched over the edge and then stitched again 5/8" away from the neckline encasing the seam allowance and creating a support for the collar.

Last week at knitting, the Mom was making a cardigan for her daughter and trying to choose buttons. Everyone kept telling her that the bunnies and flowers and other cutsy things were perfect but that wasn't what she wanted. She wanted something more sophisticated. Since cutsy is not my style, sophisticated works for me.

There are four godets between center front and side front and center back and side back with an orange bow at the top of each.

There is no lining. On the inside, the seam allowances are pressed open adding black contrast. At center front and on the sleeve hem, the orange "wrong" side is pressed to the front. All the edges are serge finished.

For the ruffle, both long edges of a one inch strip were serged and then the strip was basted down the middle by holding my finger behind the presser foot to gather. The gathered strip was attached on top of the hem with a narrow zigzag stitch.

Apparently, I can't shoot a straight picture but you get the idea. The back and...

... the front. I'll wrap it up and take it to knitting tomorrow night. Hopefully the Mom is there. It's not hand knit but it is custom made with a wool blend. Good. Enough.

This little coat took about ten hours to make. It was a lot of fun particularly because I knew who it was for. Mass production is never fun in that way. I'd been contemplating creating children's clothing to sell and have decided against that idea. In fact, I've decided to stop thinking about anything to do with fabric, textiles, or sewing as a career. From a financial point of view, the coat would have to sell for $250 less the gallery commission less expenses to even make minimum wage. I know there are people who would pay that much for a little girl's coat but I do not know them or how to find them and I don't even want to look. From a spiritual point of view, God isn't opening those doors and it's time to let it go and see where He directs instead of assuming I know the answers. From a personal point of view, the last thing I would want is to lose my love of sewing because I'm pushing it to be something it's not meant to be. Better to have fun, be creative, and maintain my stress release. It feels like a good decision. Now to not pick it up again.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - some friends were in an accident with a semi-truck on Saturday and walked away completely fine. We're very grateful.