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Monday, June 26, 2006
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Almost everything but knitting
The bad news is that my nearly finished Lorna's Laces sock, needles, bag, etc. seems to be lost forever. I called lost and found today and "nothing of that description came in." I hope that whoever has it now does something worthwhile with it, like rip out the whole sock and make a new pair. Of course, now I have a lonely skein of Shepherd Sock in Motherlode that will never know its mate.
The other bad news is that Rowan Summer Tweed and Annie Modesitt's silk corset pattern are definitely not a match made in heaven. Really, what was I thinking? I'd really like to use some of that swank silk yarn for this thing, but I certainly can't afford it (and am not buying yarn until Stitches). The only thing Summer Tweed is good for is stockinette.
Oh, the negativity!
Here's productivity, a necklace I made for my mom (to wear wedding-tide) last week:
The big stone is serpentine. The stones beside that are something else (damned if I remember). The rest of it is glass beads, on wire, and it's all 18 inches long.
And here is Sophie being her characteristically adorably naughty self:
Note: fuchsias are not dog butt resistant.
Tipper @ 9:35 PM * link
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Sunday, June 25, 2006
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Holy cow, in three parts.
#1 - Somehow, I managed to win a blog contest. (I chose the Socks That Rock, as I am the only knitter in blogland who hasn't even seen it yet. Far more impressive is Jenny Raye's awesome win at the county fair. Best in show, and she wasn't even sure she'd enter! (Plus, she knit it in record time. Geez.)
#2 - I spent most of the day sewing. I have a skirt (view A, the border print with pleats) that awaits a hem and a dress (view F, with sleeves) mostly cut out (I ran out of lining, as I changed my mind about the sleevelessness). I'm particularly proud of the zipper on my skirt; it looks pretty darn good!
#3 - (File under "holy cow am I a moron!") Friday morning, I forgot my knitting on the bus. That is, I lost an almost-finished full-calf Lorna's Laces sock, on brand-new-for-this-project bamboo DPNs, in a cute wee bag. Drivers are supposed to return anything they find to lost and found by the next business day, so I'll pay the bus people a visit tomorrow (luckily, the office is near my place of employment). I will be very angry at myself and the world if it doesn't turn up.
Tipper @ 9:15 PM * link
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Monday, June 19, 2006
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Ugh. Don't ask.
Knitting: barely any at all. I might finish one front of the Lucky Clover sweater sometime before the end of the month.
Sewing: I feel like a rock star because I put buttonholes in the not-very-well-made Hawaiian shirt for Matthew using my machine's settings (without a manual, to boot!). They are sort-of good; maybe the best part of the shirt. Someday it will get buttons. No other sewing was accomplished, for which I am sad.
Beading: Hey, I made a necklace.
Wedding stuff: The invitations have been thorougly put together. Now we have to address them and mail them and hope that RSVPs roll in. We also went to get our marriage license, which has been causing endless amounts of frustration on our part. Our assumption was that because Minnesota's statutes and license form do not say otherwise, we could change our names to whatever we want. The clerk we went to said otherwise, but we proceeded with the application anyway (assuming that the clerk wasn't full of crap). After more thought, research, and personal anecdotes, we have realized that it is bullcrap and that we can change our names to whatever we want, without having to pay the $252 EACH it would take to change our names after the wedding (which was the option we were given). My only hope is that the bureaucracy is a bit reasonable in such situations and that they will refund our (nonrefundable) $100 because they didn't give us accurate information and we can just go to a neighboring county to make our application, as we've been told that our county has some weird internal policy that conflicts with the state's intentions, and that other counties do not. I almost got Bridezilla on the guy, and it turns out I should have. (Note to self: listen to instinct, always.)
How lovely: zero energy just when I need it the most.
Tipper @ 7:48 PM * link
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Sunday, June 04, 2006
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Screw knitting!
As always happens, I set some sort of deadline for myself (this weekend, it was finish the back of my Lucky Clover Cardigan) and I do everything in my power to NOT achieve that goal.
Instead of knitting, I have been making wedding invitations with the help of my groom.
But the 50 or so we finished today (well, except for the insides, which will go on leaf-green vellum) didn't take that long. The time not taken up by shopping for invitation supplies has been taken up by sewing (or, at least, thinking and reading about it).
Unlike my mother, who, for example, won a Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow award in high school, I am not a good seamstress. Most of it is laziness, which shows up in my knitting as well. I do not like having to redo anything, and I need to get over that. (Ripping out sweaters that just don't work was a big step forward in that vein.)
I don't sew often. I get into moods where I want new skirts and dresses and pajamas, etc., buy fabric, and it sits for a year or two. I also have the fabric for at least two quilts sitting in my (surprisingly small) stash.
This weekend I have been bitten by the bug hard. So hard that I'm thinking of buying a new machine eventually (right now I have a mid-1980s Singer that is less than ideal) and - gasp! - improving my skills. This means I have to remember to buy a seam ripper, and maybe I could consult one of the dozens of sewing technique books sitting around this house, as Matthew's grandma was quite a seamstress in her day. Maybe it's her spirit infecting me; do you think the cats might have knocked over her ashes?
I won't be purchasing a new machine for awhile, since my dream machines cost more than a spinning wheel, and I should probably save up for that. After all, it doesn't do much good to go on a yarn diet to save money for Stitches, only to buy a new sewing machine, right? Plus, I need to get better, and plenty of people have done more with less.
In the meantime, I will try to whip my old Singer into shape, while drooling over blogs such as Dress A Day.
Tipper @ 11:11 PM * link
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