Realizations

It’s been a bit nuttier than normal around here. Why? Because I had a golden opportunity to share my stash with a lovely stranger — the mother of the chap who located my sewing machine last year — at the bottom of the last stack of boxes in the far back corner of my storage unit.

So I decided to go through everything, and it feels good to know these fabrics have gone to such a special lady, hopefully to nurture her love of sewing.

Now that my stash is considerably lighter, I’m realizing why it’s taken so long to shift mental climates and evaluate my wardrobe needs realistically.

(I often muttered to myself, “Geesh, you moved almost 2 years ago – what’s the holdup??)

That first year was spent in an unheated basement with very consistent temps: Cooler in summer and never above 60℉ in winter. (Not that I’m complaining – I prefer cooler temps in winter so I can wear winter clothes.)

Leaving that and having now spent a late summer, fall & winter in a much warmer building*, I’ve got a better idea of current wardrobe needs.

Now, the challenge is to start sewing!

Couldn’t resist these, from Hawthorne Supply Company, normally a quilting cotton shop. The left is cotton knit, whilst the right is Brussels washer yarn dyed. It’s a looser weave than anticipated, but should work nicely for summer. Some of their cottons are also available in other fabric types so I’m always checking! CLICK PIC TO GO TO SITE.

*My windows were open all winter unless wind blew directly in. I only turned heat on about 3 times.)

A bit of hot water ~

When I moved in last August there was hot water to spare and heating was off. I could shower any time and never have to twist the shower’s tap more than from 6 o’clock counter-clock wise up to 2.

Autumn came and it began to get nippy. I started sorting out buttons for donation & for Sis1, who uses buttons in her freestyle needlework designs. (She’s shy but if you’re interested, I’ll see if she’d let me post some piccies. Let me know!)

One Tuesday the heat was turned on. Mind you, I still had the heat turned off in my place and windows open or air con on.

Washing up after lunch one day I noticed a decided difference in water temperature: It was lukewarm. I made a mental note to check mid-afternoon.

Barely warm – I reported to Maintenance & was told the boiler would get fixed tomorrow. Meanwhile, they said, ‘run the kitchen tap whilst turning on the bath tap and eventually there’ll be hot water in the kitchen’.

Whaaaat??? It didn’t work or make sense, especially with water shortages & high prices, even if this building doesn’t charge us for water or heat.

The next day the boiler got fixed and I started washing up. Lukewarm water. Reported again. There was another problem, but it’d get fixed Thursday. I also learned . . .

Hot water temps are regulated by state law. (I’d been told this in other states, too.) The previous plumbers had been willing to raise temps above the legal limit; the current plumber wouldn’t. So we were advised again to turn taps on in kitchen and bath. Still didn’t work for me.

Meanwhile I was taking showers as late as I could, turning the shower’s tap 3/4 around. Then came the Official Office Memo I wrote about.

The boiler got another looking at/tending to, and it was announced Maintenance had raised the water temp, after signing a non-responsiblity waiver for doing so. (Quite rightly!)

So, is the hot water back to “normal”? 


Half-way. I’m still showering and turning the tap ¾ counter clock-wise. Washing up is sometimes warmer, but still not as it was when the heat was off. Will there be another chapter? We’ll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile during that last Arctic front I finally got to shut the windows, wear my fleece LB Pullovers, and was beginning to think about sewing a wint’ry vest.

How-EH-ver . . . now it’s back to the 30’s/40’s/50s. I’m sitting quietly writing this up whilst both living room windows are open. And the hot water is warm.

Wardrobe planning? ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? !  I feel like starting with anything in stash and making whatever. Sooner or later it’ll be wearable. 🤨

Oh. Remind me to tell you about my adventures with Canadian quarters in the basement laundry machines . . .

Wardrobe woes

Last winter was my first winter back in North country. Grateful for housing even in a 60° basement, my wardrobe was 2 LB Pullover fleece sweatshirts, 2 pairs of L.L. Bean flannel-lined trousers and 2 Bean long-sleeved turtlenecks, to which I added a thrifted red puffer jacket & vest. Plus a new pair of low-heeled boots.

The rest of my things were in storage, stacked haphazardly & in haste by some truckers. Now let’s skip to this past August’s move into this old & well-insulated (read hot) building.

The above photo is a much cherished piece of a soft, synthetic knit sent by a lovely friend in Edinburgh and immediately made into a midi skirt with slit. I just love it!

However, static cling is a big problem here in winter. And the skirt doesn’t have pockets. If I made a half slip out of a cotton or rayon I’m hoping that would help.

There’s only 1 seam in the skirt, so in-seam pockets aren’t a possibility. But! Somewhere around here I’ve got a long piece of the fabric left over, and I’m thinking maybe patch pockets would work.

But I’m concerned about this stretchy knit. Pockets I can line, but a phone in a pocket might make for a sagging skirt. Oh! How about if, instead of a slip, I did a lining? Might that alleviate the problem?

Any thoughts on the subject, Lovelies? All suggestions are welcome!

2024 Sewing Plans

As you can see, I finally got a door swag cobbled together, with inspiration from Sis2’s gift of, amongst other things, those small red bells hanging towards the bottom.

Hope everyone had, or is continuing to have, a most relaxing and enjoyable time celebrating whatever traditions you hold dear.

Happy New Year to all!

Some happy mail brought that french terry I wrote about here. The design is called “Chalkboard” and the background is that peculiar grayed/black chalkboard shade.

The colors are more pastel than I’d thought, but the overall effect still makes me smile. I’m trying to decide what to make with it.  AND – as the fine print says – after shipping I received roughly a 30% refund in the shipping cost. Great!

As the holidays started I finally got to listen to Lisa Woolfork talking with Tiffany Turner over on the Stitch Please! podcast. They were discussing sewing plans, and espoused a mantra so perfect that I shall try to remember it throughout the year and beyond.

Plans are a set of guidelines … possibilities … NOT contracts!

Tiffany Turner on Stitch Please!

Factoring in plain ol’ procrastination, and the mildness of the weather, there’s another reason I’ve had so much hesitancy with making plans:

I’ve discovered I’m living in a “warm building.” Meaning that unless the wind is coming from the West and my windows are wide open, my place is mid-to-upper 70’s even when it’s freezing outside and my heat is turned off.

That’s too warm for me to wear winter clothes. I’ve had to get out summery things. That’s another kink in my wardrobe planning.

🥵

Update: Late today a memo from management reports the boiler’s hot water temp will be raised on Thursday, and we should be careful not to scald ourselves.

While I’m delighted we may not be doing dishes in lukewarm water come Thursday, there’s another consideration: The heating is hot water powered. 

24th December

In keeping with the season, below is a short piece (3.3 minutes) for listening.  Hope you enjoy.  Will see you on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Happy Holiday, no matter which one(s) you do or don’t celebrate❣️

PS/ For those of you familiar with Britain’s traditional A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College, Cambridge, here’s a link to the 2023 program via BBC World Service.

Please note it’s available ONLY through Thursday of this coming week (28 December).

December . . .

As you can see, one end of this long & wide scarf has got its’ fringe on.

The other end’s fringe is ready to be applied, but somehow it hasn’t made it onto the scarf yet. Have been busy with other projects and priorities. 🙄

My area has seen a first snow fall, sort of, if patches of barely covered grass counts. Maybe it was an astrological reaction to Monday’s tree-cutting exercise. The three lovely trees that provided shade of an afternoon are now gone, every last fragment. Huge sigh.

Yes, they were getting quite tall. Yes, they probably would have negatively impacted my windows and the side of the building in an unusually high wind. But now, although safer, I look out onto a parking lot, and instead of rustling leaves I hear entire conversations.

This was the view in late October & is just a memory now.

Last weekend we had our Thanksgiving Day celebration, which turns into a nice 4-day weekend, and I had planned to spend a lot of time fondling patterns and fabric. However, the weather suddenly shifted from cooler temps to COLD.

Fabric fondling plans got shafted whilst I spent time locating and laundering heavier winter clothes. But it did give me a chance to get a better overview of what I’ve got, so there was a silvery lining after all.

My necessarily amorphous plans for Winter sewing are not badly impacted, and this week’s shift back to Autumnal temps is giving me a lot more to consider, as I’ve had more time to see what others in the sewing community are making.

To be continued!

A Friday Finish

Just realized both the pumpkin-orange hat and scarf are finished and being packed away for next winter. So I’m calling that a Friday Finish. Yeah!

It also means I should get on with finishing the Spring-green shawl that’s been languishing whilst the scarf was in process. The problem is I really need a flat, well-lit surface so I can lay the shawl out whilst putting the two halves together. 🤔 And that has yet to get figured out. No kitchen table down here in my ickle room!

Meanwhile. . .

I’ve a question for any of you Lovelies who’ve gone from a free WP site to the next level. Have you had many problems, and if so, how diffy was it to get resolution?

Reason being, firstly I’m tired of you all seeing ads instead of 100% content. Life’s too short!

Secondly, I want to begin uploading some short audios about a little something I’ve been doing for yonks, but don’t write about. This is a sewing blog, after all! (Plus some crochet.) Does anyone have experience with audio, as well? I’d love to hear from you down below in the Comments section. Or even if you don’t, you’re always welcome to drop me a line!

Meanwhile ~ may you all have a thoroughly wonderful weekend!

😖 Thought I’d gotten all the ends tucked away.

A Start & Finish

Hello, Lovely Readers, and Happy Monday — or Tuesday if it’s that in your hemisphere! Over the weekend I finished up my spur-o-the-moment third woolly Winter hat and realized something:

The stitch is not rhythmic. Finding the back post, or whatever it’s called, is sometimes darn hard. The rhythm gets broken. But strangely enough, that reminded me of something:

A gorgeous 100% alpaca I’d found last summer. It was deeeply discounted at a charity crafts shop in New York, and I scooped up the 3 skeins soon as I saw them.

All summer I kept trying, spectacularly unsuccessfully, to crochet a hat with two strands. Finally, I gave up and frogged it all. (An interesting task in itself, as I’d been using double strands, remember?) But I shall return to it. Eventually . . . .

Meanwhile, back to my pumpkin hat. There’s almost a full skein of it left, so I went the matching scarf route, using a very simple US double crochet. I’m calling it a palate-cleanser.

Plymouth’s Chunky Merino Superwash #131, Pumpkin Spice.

Flannel Archeology

I’ve been thinking Spring & Summer clothes lately. (Oh the luxury of having four seasons, instead of only hot and hotter.) And since my wardrobe, such as it is, is mostly in storage, it means I’ve lots to think about. 😁

Starting at the bottom, there’s shoes… which I needed last summer, but in the midst of moving, decided not to worry about. Now, especially since everything is either very worn or somewhere in storage, desperation is setting in and Decisions Must Be Made.

I’m leaning on several different colors of trainers/sneakers, whatever the current term is. Anybody have a US-based suggestion? The last time I remember reading about what’s fashionable for footwear — don’t remember where — was whatever shoes you like.

Before I decided to sit down and start writing this, I did a bit of research to determine when this navy flannel came into my hands. Would you believe January 2019 was the first mention in a post? (Which probably means the fabric arrived in late 2018.) In my digging, I found a para at the end of this post mentioning them. (There’s also a good chocolate cake recipe.)

I do recall getting the trousers into wearable form at some point, but was never really satisfied with the look of wide-legged flannel trousers. At least, not on me!

So I did more seam ripping several months ago, dusted off a yard stick to straighten out the crotch curve, and am converting the trousers into a skirt. Just need to sew, cut off the extra fabric, re-do the elastic waistband, and even out the hem. I’d love to use some wide, crazy-design bias tape, but all mine is in storage. Etsy, here I come!

Whither this Weather?

Bizarre! 85 degrees F. (31 or 2 C.) before the middle of April? In upstate New York?!?! I’ve no idea if the shawl I’m about to finish will be needed this Spring, but we’re still due some more moderate weather. Fingers crossed, eh!

Beavering away late this afternoon, sewing in tails, etc…

Meanwhile, I’ve ordered another pattern – the Helen’s Closet Pattern’s Avery Leggings. Assuming we have Spring, I don’t have any tights to cover chilly legs, and I’m not about to try store-bought lest nightmares ensue. 😱

I did my research, reading other bloggers’ experiences and did take a glance at the listing on IG. Now comes the most difficult part: Finding the right a half decent fabric. One of the bloggers mentioned Mood Fabrics, which is not only in the US, but my state, and there’s a sale on.

Let’s hope that’s a sign . . . . . .

Sunday a’ready?!

Looking at previous posts it’s really been busy weeks around here, but not quite the busy that equates to lots of blog posts, if you know what I mean.

I’ve managed to get 4 pattern PDFs sent off & returned on A0-sized paper, and the one with the most pieces is now cut out. I’m so fortunate to be able to do it this way, but I really admire all the sewists around the world who don’t have a choice.

Rather than write about sewing plans, here’s a wee update on what’s actually happening – which is crocheting. It’s crocheting, because it requires little prep & takes up minimal space. I can grab it for 10 minutes & put it down for 3 days. Plus I can listen to an audio book on Libby whilst doing it. And this stitch pattern is sooo relaxing!

Yes, this is a lighter green than in photo below. I’ve just started the second skein, & currently the piece is 24in/61cm long & growing.

Some History — I’d been looking for another crochet project and thought a soft, warm shawl would be a good thing to have. But before I could get onto Ravelry, my three sisters & I had a Zoom convo.

Talking about current projects, I mentioned looking for a shawl pattern. Sis3 mentioned a crocheter on YouTube she really likes. I got his (yeah! men crochet too!) URL and am just as enthusiastic as she. Check out his Easy Fall Scarf for Beginners.

Yes, I know a scarf is not as wide as a shawl. I have plans . . . 😉

Yes, the current green is lighter than the darker green here, but yarn is the same Plymouth Encore, 75% acrylic/25% wool & washable! My gold ski cap is the same yarn.

silent Sunday ~ NOT!

After a friend found my real sewing machine in the bottom box in the farthest corner of storage, I’m contemplating sewing clothes again! Maybe even those two tops I cut out in September, when I discovered the used machine I’d hoped would like knits didn’t.

That was so discouraging I gave up thinking about sewing, which was almost easy because there have been other irons in the fire which I’ll reveal later. Besides, as every sewist knows, once the stars & the right machine are in place – we’re back in business!

Time to gather up the PDF patterns purchased before the move, see if PDFPlotting had changed, and send down an order for printing. As you can see, they’re just back yesterday . . .

Four lovely NEW patterns to cut out ! ! !

Let the games SEWING begin!