Sine Nominae

2011-05-20T00:08:00.000-07:00

Greetings Blogland. Long time no chat. I have been up to my eyeballs dealing with a HUGE pile of steaming wookie dung. Immigration, depression, best friends getting divorces, more depression. So I decided to pull my head out of my a$$ and do something fun again.

Sewing!!!!! A new found friend would like to get involved in the SCA and has requested help. So I am putting the sewing helm back on and scrounging for pins. This summer looks like it will be fun with new people to go out and about with.

Birthday Blanket

2010-06-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

So for my non-medieval stuff I have pictures of a blanket. I crocheted this for Avanleigh, my friends daughter, for her third birthday. My lovely husband is holding it up for me.I do apologize for the awesome shot if the dumpster. When we were going off to mail it I realized I hadn't taken a picture of the finished blanket.

2010-05-28T11:37:00.001-07:00

I have found the pattern I used for the purse that I am working on. my computer finally decided to cough it up. Unfortunately I is refusing up upload. So.... details. Bibliotheque DMC L'Art chretien en Egypt: Motif de Broderie Copte (Christian Art of Egypt: Coptic Embroidery Motifs) by Therese de Dillmont, 1890. I am working it over 2 threads on 32 count linen in black silk. I plan on making a small pouch from it with a lining of red silk and hanging gold bells from the bottom edge. I need to refresh my memory on finger loop braiding so I can make the drawstring and the hanging cord.

2010-05-27T12:54:00.000-07:00

So I am still alive. nothing like sewing your entire wedding to make you get burned out on sewing anything. I still have the Italian Doublet in the works for Jason. Just need to dig it back out. I have also started embroidering ALOT more than I used to. Thank you to Richard Wymarc for his beautiful page on German embroidery that got me sucked in. I have taken a couple pictures of the embroidered pouch I have in the works. I need to make it a little bit longer and finish the back. I plan on adding something to the bottom edge and making a drawstring channel at the top out of fabric. i hope to get this done soon so I can start on my next pouch (which is for me)

mini post

2009-10-15T16:01:00.000-07:00

So i have begun working on the Italian inspired outfit for m'love. I will again have yo apologize for the lack of pictures. I am still not seeing eye to lens with my digital. That should be fixed tonight. As for an update, i have begun cutting out the circles needed for the buttons.. all 30 of them. So hopefully i will have something to keep me out of trouble this weekend.

Speaking of this weekend I have joined a new L.A.R.P. (Live Action Role Playing) group near me. the game is based on vampire the masquerade and i will be getting pictures of my outfit in game this Saturday. Hopefully everything is dry by then

Part 2 from last night/this morning

2009-10-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

So I achieved sleep, kind-of and after a lovely breakfast debate he has chosen the official "you will copy these" pictures. I cant wait.
The first on is a slashed doublet made of silk. I will be making it in a dark gray faux suede. Not period i know but hey, it's free and in my stash. I will line it with a bright blue silk (also ala stash) so the blue shows through the slashes. I think that some hand made buttons and I think he will be good. Since this has to be legal for rapier fighting i will make a pair of venetian style breeches to go with it. I don't have enough of the gray fabric so they will probably be black. (m'love is a medieval johnny cash) I hae to admit though I do like the color combo if these trews. I might just copy them.

The second piece is a from a little earlier, Italian style. I found a fresco titled Constantines'
Dream. I love the look of it and I believe that if i made a lighter weight doublet and trews he could wear them under this. It looks, to me anyway, that could function as a robe or a coat. So the colors are a lovely deep navy blue linen blend for the main part of the coat with matching fabric buttons. Since the lining is visible I decided to make it scarlet red. I thought it would be lovely. The sash belt will also be of the navy linen, I hope. I just need to find the right shade of scarlet to line it with, luckily there is a fabric store not far away. I hope i linked the right picture so you can blow it up to see the detail. It is a truly beautiful piece.

I HAVE BEEN INSPIRED

2009-10-11T03:15:00.001-07:00

It usually takes something really cool to inspire me tot he point that I am blogging about it at 3 in the morning. But oh well. My lovely husband, whom I love with my whole heart, has made a request of me. He needs new garb for next event season. As he fights rapier he wants....A FULL ELIZABETHAN ENSEMBLE! Holy cow! Doublet, yes. Hose, yes. Ruff, yes. Pretty slashed pumpkin breeches....still debating. The second request was for something for cooler events, only requirement is no Norse, viking, Anglo Saxon or whatever. I have a late period man.
He really wants me to pretty him up. So other than doing a little happy dance around the living room I dove face first into the fabric stash. I have some ideas of what i can make him. So here are some pictures of the inspirations.

Blah

2009-09-09T12:34:00.001-07:00

Sooooooooo. It has been a while since I have gotten on here and posted something. Quite a few things have been happening since i was last on. Most important of them is that I am now married. Yippieeeeeee! Hold on.............. had to do the happy happy joy joy dance around my computer.
I will upload some picture as soon as I get them from the photographer.

In other news I last posted that I was trying to enter the iron dress contest. Well, I put in my bid about 1 day to late so I was unable to enter. All the more time for me to plan about next year. Since you have to use what is in your stash I can completely root through all my fabrics and see what all is there instead of grabbing something off the top layer. I have to clean my stuff out of mom's garage for me to officially move so there will be much rooting.

I did discover something that I think I will be taking on though. It seems like something I would like to do since I am at home most of the time. This was the part of the email I copied.

Lady Albreda Aylese of the Mountain Freehold in the East Kingdom has issued forth this challenge to all Knowne World Artisans. She has challenged us to undertake the making of 50 things by the Society’s 50th Anniversary (2015 by current reckoning). She has made knownthree approaches the Depth Challenge, which is to simply make 50 things from your favorite art or science. The Breadth Challenge tocomplete 50 things from a variety of arts and sciences. Finally, the Persona Challenge to undertake 50 things that your Persona wouldhave done/made. There is also an option for a group to complete the challenge together. If we wanted the guild could participatetogether, or we can participate individually. Any Guild specific challenge projects can be completed for this challenge as well!

50 may seem like a daunting number, but can definitely be accomplished in the time allowed. Your challenge items must be madebetween 1 May 2007 and 1 May 2015, that’s 8 years! Surely we all complete 6-7 projects each year. If you are looking to push yourself in a particular area or to learn new arts this is a way to accomplish that goal!

Those who are interested in more information may consult the A&S Challenge home page. I would encourage everyone who will be participating in the challenge to join the Blog community and make yourselves known!

So I have to join that blog community and work my little behind off. I will enter the planning stages and post what i intend to do soon.

Packing

2009-07-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

So I am yet again making a trek to the states for wedding stuff. Almost everything is done. YEAH!!!! My mom rocks and she has been a huge help with everything. Just have to finish up a coupe of odds and ends..oh and yep my dress. Got the correct binding last night (this was take 3) so I will have it whipped up in no time. I really don't think the corset with be 100% accurate, but it will fit and stay on. That is what matters. I have also dug out a bunch of fabrics to make banners out of. They are going to look so cool. Most are the 1-2 yard pieces of brocade that I have no clue of what to do with, I just had to own it. So that is enough rambling for now. Another update on thursday of next week.

Grrrrrr

2009-07-02T14:28:00.000-07:00

So, I got my reply today. I didn't send my message in soon enough to take part in the Iron dress contest. I can sen them pictures to oooohhhh and ahhhhh over. But I can't take part in the actual contest. So I will make my dress and wow them BIG time.

What has begun already, I picked through my stuff and found my wood blanks for buttons and small beads to top them off with. SO the will be wrapped in steel grey pearl cotton and topped with a small white pearl bead. The trim will be braid, the same grey pearl cotton braided into a cord and whipped stitched down.

I still plan on doing blackworked sleeves, or I should say redworked sleeves. I plan on plotting out the embroidery when I get to my moms house. But I have a picture of the portrait I will try to replicate. This is a portrait of Bess of Hardwick. I will try to copy this dress as far as the general shape and sleeves go. I am not very big on the fur accents. I might end up doing that... someday. But for right now I will trim everything with grey braid.

Costume Plans..I am nuts

2009-07-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

So i know I have a wedding to finish, but I am planning on making a new outfit. The 2009 "Iron Dress" Competition for Margo's Patterns is on again. I think with all the crap I have I can pull this off. The rules are simple. As of July 1 you have until September 15 to make a dress using on of Margo's patterns. You have to use fabric in your stash only and have $25.00 to get any extras; trim, a little extra fabric and what not. Also if one of the items is entirely hand made you get the iron needle award. So I think I will go for the whole thing.

Sooooo this is the plan.

Pattern: Margo's Elizabethan loose gown, closed front with short sleeves.

Fabric: stuff left over from the wedding and whatever I can get from my stash. Thinking of Black dress with a white underdress.

Handmade Items: Embroidered sleeves (similar to some portraits seen) in blackwork or red work with cuffs, also I will need buttons for the dress, i think about 40 of them. So that will mean going crazy making those.

Good thing I have plenty of time.I will start on the buttons asap and graph out the sleeve pattern when I get back to the states. The rest is simple sewing. I will have a photo update as soon as I can. Wedding stuff included in that. I have to finish arguing with my camera and convince it to work properly.

Rock on Baby

2009-06-18T16:06:00.001-07:00

So my fiend Jackie is having a baby boy in a month. I took that as my cue to create a totally awesome blankey. I love it and am very happy I have enough fabric left to make myself one.

TJ Hat

2009-06-11T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I have been working on this for a while. I am on the finishing stretch for it. I have the fur band cut and ready for facing. I just have to make the edges a little sturdier. Just picture white fox fur on this. Oh, and yes it did take me almost 20 hours for each applique and yes they are solid split stitch. The colors are white, gray and tan wool thread on red wool coating for the applique on a black wool ground for the hat lined with black linen. I should have it done in the next week or so. I will post a picture of it fully trimmed. Also thank you to my red bear for a lovely modeling job with the hat.

Photos

2009-06-11T13:55:00.000-07:00

PHOTOS PHOTOS PHOTOS... I got the point. So I have some here to put up. I hope you like them

So these are some of the pieces of hand work that have gone into the wedding. Each of my bridesmaids has cuffs of their dresses for the four elements. I haven't finished the fourth set yet, but here are fire, earth, and air.

The other great feat of the wedding. The blue embroidery is by myself for my smock, the trim with the pearls however is my mothers doing. I think she will be blind by the end of this. She has about half of the bolt of trim done. WAY TO GO MOM! I am eternally thankful I have a great mom who is willing to help me sew.

So this is my sewing mess. Lovely isn't it. I don't think it is as bad as it could be. So far... it has been contained to the basement with small pieces sneaking upstairs.

Our sweat shop is my old kitchen table set outside. A lovely place on warm days to sit and sew.

My smock is a mixture of hand embroidery and hand sewing. i think it one of the finest things I
have made.

These are the only pictures of my wedding dress that will be seen. The trim lovingly beaded by my mom on my navy blue brocade. The sleeves and gown are loosely based off the portrait of Eleanor of Toledo with he son Giovanni de'Medici by Bronzino in 1550. Love that dress. I love most of the gowns she wears in her portraits, but this one won the coin toss

I'm Still Alive

2009-05-28T09:43:00.000-07:00

So I am still here, alive and kicking. I have been in the states working on wedding plans/clothing. -pictures to follow shortly- So most of the wedding party is done, Yippiee. I have to still make my dress. But if you consider how much handwork has gone into me gown I have gotten a lot done. My mom (thank you!!!) has been working on the hand beading for my trim. It is only a little 12 yards chunk that needs a pearl about every inch or so. If she isn't completely blind by the end of it I will be amazed. The gown will be beautiful, I know that. I should also give a big thank you to the Gathering Grove in everett. It is the coolest coffee shop EVER! Steve lets me sit in there on wednesdays working on my handsewing and email all day on thursdays. Only for a small fee of a couple of drinks. I love it. I will have to give him a picture of my smaock when it is finished so he can stt how creative I get in his shop. Personally I think it is the chai.
I will plaster my blog with picutres as soon as I dump them off my camera.

Laterz

Heading Home

2009-05-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

So I am going to be heading back to the states tomorrow. I am excited and nervous. I have a list a mile long to work on for the wedding, if I get half of it done I will be amazed. But I also get to see my friends and family, spend mother's day with mom and go to Eva and Andy's B-day parties. The boy is planning on coming down with his family for the long weekend. That is another matter, we are having the official meet and greet with my family. I hope everyone gets along and there are no disagreements about wedding plans. We shall see.

Music

2009-04-15T23:56:00.000-07:00

So my love got his tax return and promptly spent it. He and I now have matching I POD's. Yippieeee!!!!!! So I have a while 16 Gig to fill up with the "evil noise" I call music. Well there is a slight glitch.... I have a LOT of music. So if the 16 i now have about 9.3 Gig filled. Hopefully there is enough room for my pod casts and my audio book. We will see. I might have to up-grade to a 32 gig. If that happens I think Jay will kill me.

Reality Check

2009-04-10T12:45:00.000-07:00

So it has become apparent to me that I need to re-think things with my wedding. I have stepped back and realized that I am probably nuts for doing an entire Elizabethan theme for my bridal party. I have never made the dress the girls will be wearing and I need to do mock-ups and numerous fittings. I will only have a month or so to do this for 3 people along with make my dress. Well I am working on things for a friend's wedding right now and reality hit about 4 am. I was still up making finishing touches on simple tunics. The thought cam to me that I will be doing this for most of my stay at mom's making my dresses. HELL NO! Sleep is a good thing I have become accustomed to getting. So my plan has changed a bit. The same color will be used. Now I just need to buy simple cotton for the under dress and make up some trim for the sleeves. Easy for me. Now I can spend more time figuring out what I am going to wear. This is what the new dresses will look like.

Freedom Gift

2009-04-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

So, I have been working on quite a few things in the past week. One is a freedom gift for my friend Ryan. Freedom gift... explanation. In my household we have a thrall system. You are bid on for a certain number of hours of service. When these hours are finished you are given a freedom gift. I have been planning this for almost a year. I have gone the early period route for Ryan.The fabric is a sage green cotton, the trim bands area linen/cotton blend. The embroidery is done in a deep green and pale blue. I plan on putting trim on the sleeves, it is still up in the air as to if the rest of the trim will be on the neck or bottom hem. I might do both and make it a court tunic. I have a few other things to add to his wardrobe. another over tunic, 2 under-tunics, some pants, and a coat. Hopefully he likes all I have done. I have a few pictures to share and I hope for some comments.

Blah

2009-03-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

So the cuffs are almost done and I have about 5 pearls left to put on the collar. I had a great time at the local SCA group's meet and greet. Re-met some old friends and made some new. Diring the meeting I met the nicest lady who will help me witht he corset for my weddign dress. YIPPIEEEEE! Now I can put the Costco bottle of Advil away. It seems that everythign is going well exceptfor the corset. I am a little more lumpy that curvy so fitting one by your self is difficult. I hope to thave it done within a month or so.
I think I volunteered to head up the costumers guild here too. GAH! Do you know how hard it is to pry your foot out of your mouth. Nut I think I will try to do it. It will give me something to do and I really enjoyed planning classes.
So I will post more picutres tomorrow when I get the things done. I will also incluse the cuffs for Jay's shirt. I am proud, he picked out the pattern himself.

2009-03-27T00:47:00.000-07:00

Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings,
And Phoebus 'gins arise,
His steeds to water at those springs
On chaliced flowers that lies;
And winking Mary-buds begin
To ope their golden eyes:
With everything that pretty is,
My lady sweet, arise!
Arise, arise!

From Cymbeline
W. Shakespeare

Not Sleepy

2009-03-26T03:35:00.001-07:00

So I am having one of THOSE weeks. I can't sleep. I lay down and shut my eyes and think I have been there forever getting a little sleep, nope about 15 minutes have gone by. So I decided that is I wasn't going to sleep I will do something constructive with my extra time. So I have finished on embroidery project that was rescued from the bottom of my "get it done someday box" and have been working on another wedding project. The one from the box was a needle book I began a month or two ago. I put it aside when things got busy and forgot about it. Well it looks like I will have it for this eventing season. the other is the sleeve cuffs for my smock for my wedding dress. I highly doubt that they will ever be seen, but I will know that it is there and that makes me happy. Took a couple of pictures before the camera battery died. Hope you like. So it is 3:45 am and I think I will have a cuppa tea and do a bit more embroidery.

Reading

2009-03-10T23:23:00.000-07:00

So I have recently poked my nose into a wonderful book, again. I would suggest it to anyone. Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. Set in the sixth century, Gwynneve, a nun at the monastery of Saint Brigit writes her memoirs.. It was one of those books that painted a full picture for me. When I finished it I just had to sit for a few moments and reflect.

After that i re-discovered a fabulous book on one of my boxes. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: women in classical antiquity by Sarah B. Pomeroy. It is amazing and opened me to areas of study I hadn't thought of before. Ancient female poets and lyricists I have begun to search for and admire. Of all of them Sappho, born in approx. 600 BC on the island if Lesbos. Not many pieces of her work remain intact. There is mostly fragments of her work along with others.

In the first century BC, Antipater of Thessalonica, wrote a catalogue of the most respected and famous women poets, whom he called the nine earthly muses. The nine were: Praxilla, Moero, Anyte, Erinna, Telesilla, Korinna (or Corinna), Nossis, Myrtis, and Sappho. Each scrap of writing I uncover by these women the more amazed I am of their abilities.

I am more tremulous than shaken reeds,
And love has made me like river water.

Thy voice is as the hill-wind over me,
And all my changing heart gives heed, my lover.

Before thy least lost murmur I must sigh,
Or gladden with the as the sun-path glitters.

Sappho

2009-03-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those images that you can look at again and again. Each time I see this one it makes me think. it is a stone in a retaining pool of a fountain in Seattle. Taken on a beautiful day.

2009-03-10T00:28:00.000-07:00

Well I finished a nice week home with mom. Shopping for the wedding and visiting family. So far so good, everything is going well. I cam home to plenty of work, cooking, cleaning, and helping my flatmate's sister with her wedding. So all of her things will be ready for delivery by Easter and I will only have mine to worry about. It seems my life in entirely dictated by sewing projects. Good thing the weather is so yucky I have no desire to go outside.

As a side project I have been designing a crocheted blanket. Hope to put up pictures soon. Just need to finish the directions and the border.

Photos

2009-03-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures of my trip to mom's. I am thinking of taking her advice and taking a photography class. Maybe someday

It Has Begun

2009-03-03T09:10:00.000-08:00

So I have had a lovely trip to the states to visit my mum. Most of the shopping for the wedding is done I just have to get started on all the sewing. Luckily I have been able to work on the embroidery part for the last few days. i should have the partlet finished by Friday and be able to begin on the rest of the dress. Pictures to follow as soon as I get batteries in the camera.

My Shiney

2009-02-07T21:33:00.000-08:00

Well it is completely official now. I have my ring and begun planning the wedding. I am very excited about he whole thing. I now have a picture of my ring on my little paw. i really love it but the best thing about it is that I can finally say I wear a size 8.

She Said Yes

2009-01-21T14:14:00.000-08:00

So, it is official i am going to get rice thrown at my head. I can't believe that I have found a man dumb enough to let me make him miserable for the rest of his natural existence. giggle. But really he has a special place in my heart and I know that without him my life wouldn't be the same. SO I now will be posting pictures and notes about me going wedding nuts. I know i will go crazy but it will be the fun kind of crazy.

SNOW

2009-01-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

So it is snowing again. I have changed my mind about it, no longer pretty or peaceful. Not it is like a downpour of flat maggots barricading our car and making the roads nuts. So I hope this weather ends soon. I am planning on going to the states for a holiday within a week and I hope that all will be well when I do.

Happyness

2009-01-05T00:18:00.000-08:00

So I have arrived home safely from the states and visiting my family. It was really good to see all of them, especially my new cousin Hunter. A very handsome man if I say so myself. So I have looked out my window as I sit down to write this and I realize it is snowing AGAIN! It's not like the other 4+ feet were nothing. So I have to realize the my other half will be home from work tomrrow and We will be snowed in again. Goodie.

Kaput

2008-12-31T09:22:00.000-08:00

Ok I won't pretend to know what Jason speaks of when he is doing something with his computer. All i will say is that I know using the words motherboard and fried in the same sentence is a BAD thing. So on boxing day we were at Future Shop.. aka hell and bought a new computer.

I'm Dreaming of A White Christmas

2008-12-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

So, I love Christmas as much as anyone else. But this is too much white. I had planned on going to Kamloops BC with my boyfriend and his family. I guess there muse be a lot more snow than i thought because the Greyhound Station was closed. So we are staying home just the two of us (four if you count the cats). So I am making us a lovely Christmas steak dinner with all the trimming I can find. We exchanges gifts last night, so he in enjoying the new headset i got for his video games and I have a lovely new digital camera (YIPPIEEEEEEE) I can take decent pictures of my projects. Love to all and I hope you have a very happy holiday.

NEW PROJECT

2008-12-22T15:29:00.000-08:00

Made a little something for my honey. He asked for a bag to keep his stones in so I set to work. I think he got a little more than he asked for. Lucky for me it passed inspection.

Hat Part 3

2008-12-22T15:17:00.000-08:00

So it has been another 12 hours of work. If i get this done by january it will be a mericle. But it is looking good. I have 3 more patterns to do then I am ready to assemble. --I hope--

Halloween Costume

2008-12-22T15:05:00.000-08:00

So I finally pulled Jason's coat out of the closet for a picture. Not the best quality but it works. Needless to say he loves it and looks very dashing in his whole pirate regalia. A lovely royal blue upholstery velvet with black corduroy cuffs and silver buttons (about 40 of them). I will get a picture of him in it next month at the big event.

Yule

2008-12-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

So it is only a few days away. Do you think i am done sewing. NO. I have a ton more to do and it is great trying to get the stuff done for the boy when he is stuck at home due to the snow. Hopefully it is better tomorrow and I can get him out of the house. I can say what i am doing but Shhhhh. He never checks my blog anyway. He needs a new doublet for fencing. So I am making him one... in the period way though. All handsewn. (i think i am nuts) a lovely cobalt blue wool gabridene with black trimming and handmade buttons. I will get pictures up when I have them. As for the snow. I have a couple of pictures

Friday

2008-12-12T11:01:00.000-08:00

SNOW
I woke up this morning and it was snowing. I was really nice looking out my front window and seeing a flurry of little whiter things falling from the sky; making it cold, wet, yucky, mucking up traffic and life in general. Did I forget to mention that I walk to the market on Fridays. Now i get to walk, with my grocery trolley in the snow. Ohhhh goodie. I think I am going back to bed.

1 AM

2008-12-02T01:36:00.000-08:00

So it is now approx. 1:30 am and I can barely keep my eyes open. I have been planning on making my lord a new fencing doublet for yule. DO YOU THINK I CAN DO THAT... Noooooooo. He is always curious about what I am making and love to watch me sew or doing embroidery. (handwork of garb is how I pass the time when he is playing video games) So I had to lie through my teeth, say I was going to sleep early and as soon as I knew he was asleep, get up and sew. Now the issue is that the machine rattles the table and makes a ton of noise. Sooo i am posting this out of sleep deprived annoyance. I will just sit on the couch and work on it by had, it's easier to do the padding that way. When it gets to look like a piece of clothing and not a pile of fabric i will post a picture. Until then I had better get some more work done before he wakes and discovers I am not there.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T11:16:00.000-08:00

Well, Thanksgiving is over and done with for another year. It has made me think a lot over the past weekend. There was no great feast in my house, just my boyfriend, our roomie and myself. I made a little chicken with a few side dishes. I sometimes forget that I live in another country now. Many if my friends say it's just Canada, but up here they celebrated thanksgiving over a month ago. It is sometimes difficult being away from my family, especially on the holidays.
Yule is no exception. Due to work schedules I will be going home a week or so before to see my family. The I will be going with my boyfriend to his families home on the day of. A little sad for me. I will miss the big family gathering. Who knows what will happen though.
The best I would like to have this season is for everyone to be happy and safe. But as the work stands now I hope that isn't too much to ask for.

Hat Part 2

2008-11-24T08:30:00.001-08:00

Well, I have finished the first pattern on the hat. It took me about 15 hours. After some study I decided to put a black outline around the patterns, much better looking. So I have gone though and added a border to all the patterns. This is the first one that is complete. i think it looks great. One down and Five left to go. I hope I can get them all doe by January so I can gift it to my Head of House. I think he is going to flip.

IT'S FINISHED

2008-11-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

So I finally finished one of my on going projects. It is a hood of light weight burgundy wool with hand embroidered appliques. They are embroidered on than wool with teal silk in a split stitch. The hood is sewn by hand in black silk thread. I love this it is light weight and I can wear it at most events without getting too hot. Now I am thinking about making hand wrapped buttons to close up the front instead of my clasp. Will have to think more on it.

This is a close up of the applique. I stitched the pattern, then applied it to the hood. I was thinking of putting an edging around it, the jury is still out on that one.

Moving With Cats

2008-11-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have commented on the joys of packing with cats. The really are wonderful creatures but when the decide to assist you it can be...a test on your sanity. Like when his Lordship Chubby (yes, Chubby is his name) decided to help me pack. I think this was during the first hour of inspecting the quality of the suitcase i was using. I still don't know if it passed his test but he was very unhappy when i decided to end his inspection early. It was even better when the two decided to take up an upper management position and view
from afar. As long as the basket wasn't moved, wiggles, touched, or breathed at everything was fine. It is soooo nice to know that i will have this quality of help the next time I move, and some wondered about the Nyquil comment.

New Project

2008-11-16T11:49:00.000-08:00

So, I have been working on a new project. An Embroidered hat. It is a gift for my head of house, hopefully he likes it. It is based on a pattern of a torque from Champagne France from the 4Th-3rd century BC. The first image is the basic outline with the outline of the pattern piece done in running stitch. The second is about 10 hours into the embroidery. It is done in DMC embroidery wool on a light coating wool in split-stitch. The finished hat will have two motifs in white, two in grey, and two in black. I am going through thread faster than i thought i would. The embroidery wool is thin and it stretches. I hope to start on the grey by Tuesday. Will posy more pictures then.

Relax and have some C offee

2008-11-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

So I spent part of my evening out on the deck having a cuppa and doing the most amazing thing. Watching children play...outside! No wii was involved, no video games. Just a bunch of boys playing baseball. What was even more amazing to me was that many of them didnt even speack the same language. But they were all still sout there together and havign fun. One can't help but to ponder if their choises of playmates will remain the same as they grow older.

Ahhhhhhhhh

2008-11-09T21:33:00.000-08:00

Finally moved into new home. Insert happy zen like music here. No Nyquil was not used to tame small clawed beast, but a large bag of kitty nibbles was. Boxes are daunting, cats are hissing fluffballs until they admit they like eachother. Now if I can only get my living room back from the clutches of the evil flat cardboard deamon life would be great. Tomorrow we finish this un-packing battle and win the war.

The next big quest. Find the very safe place i put my slippers so I can wear them.

When you need to laugh

2008-11-05T21:37:00.001-08:00

Some days you need to listen to them and others you need to stick you fingers in your ears and scream at the top of your lungs

2008-11-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

Looking at my life being packed away in boxes yet again. It make me reflect on many things. Mainly one thought goes through my head. How in the HELL did i get all of this crap into on room. One of the unknown mysteries of the universe. I think i have come to a conclusion. There is a temperal displacement within each woman's closet. You never see the back of it you just know that there is enough room for a few more things. Then when it comes time to move. BOOM!!!! You see the reality of it. You are a pack rat and you need more boxes. Well this pack rat is almost fully comtained.... now to pack the last item. 1 cat with very sharp claws. Pack Rat is thinking Nyquil in the kibble.

2008-11-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

Annoyance with living with liars and freeloaders. You make and attempt to do something nice for someone and it bites you in the ass. I makes you fell as though you shouldn't try to see the better side of people. But now that i am armed with knowledge it make me wiser, and the freeloader... well to put it nicely. White Trash