Work In Progress.... well, Actually its Finished!

The season change seems to have affected my self motivation -- slowed it down, ALOT!

Mind you, I have been THINKING of the stuff that I should do and of the things that I want to do and of the things that I have to do...

May as well start with the fun stuff...

I have been thinking of making myself a new purse, bag or tote, whatever you like to call it, but it is the thing for carrying the stuff that has to go where ever I go...

One thing about being able to sew and enjoying sewing, not just quilting is that really I can make anything with fabric, thread and scissors along with a good sewing machine and other bits.  Least of which INSTRUCTIONS always help....
Anyway, I have not carried a commercially made PURSE or Bag since I can't remember when -- well I did have a nice leather purse in the 70's, but since then...

I had bought an actual Simplicity Pattern a few years back; I think it was one of those buy one get one free or similar and I had been on a "Make the Dog a coat tangents"  so along with the dog coat pattern I picked up the PURSE pattern.   And just SO's ya know, it is Simplicity 2617 from about 2009 or thereabouts...

Not being in any big rush to complete this project, I took my time with thinking about what I wanted in a purse -- actually more thought on what I wanted the outside to look like.   I'm not one to worry about an organized interior -- a wallet and keys, and sometimes the passport -- I don't usually bother with a phone...   And I like a bit extra room in case I go to the thrift store and find some goodies that will fit in the purse...  (ha!  that sounded like I was using the purse to facilitate a five finger discount!  but no, most thrift shops always seem to be short of bags, so if I can save them a bag I try to tuck the purchase in my purse!)

So I used some of the 2 inch squares (I have hundreds cut, maybe even thousands!) and top sewed them to a bit of denim that my friend Ellen gave me awhile ago.  I expect the squares to fray as time and use progresses...

I pretty much followed the basic pattern, no fancy extras...

This is the only part of the sewing I don't like, the sewing of the front and back to the bottom/sides.  This time for both the exterior and the lining all went smooth and even with no folds on the curves and no missed bits...  When things go without problems, sewing is alot of fun!

 Now this part I do a bit different than the instructions say...  On the seam at the bottom of the lining I leave an opening on one side for about 6 or 7 inches, then I put the strap on where it attaches on the sides and with the lining and the exterior with right sides facing I sew all the way around the top edge (I had already done the inside pocket and the magnetic closure), then, trim threads and pull the bag right side out through the opening in the lining seam.  Tucked all back the way a bag is supposed to be, and pressed around the top edge, it is DONE!!

Not including making the 'patchwork' front and back the whole thing took about 3 hours, cut, measure, pin, sew, press...

Now, back to thinking on what the next project is...  I have a Oatmeal Pumpkin Pie Bars recipe that I saw in Pinterest that I am thinking will be a nice Christmas treat (make now, or tomorrow, freeze, eat on Christmas)  In case you love Pumpkin and are curious here's the link for the Bars  http://keepinitkind.com/oatmeal-pumpkin-pie-bars/

Thanks for stopping in and reading my little story!   Hope the snow is not too awfully deep where you are!!

Work In Progress -- Crochet in the Morning

This is the first time in a couple of months that I am purposefully writing a Work in Progress post...  I am still concentrating mostly on crochet (because the sewing machine needs a repairman and I am poor so I have to wait a bit yet -- might Santa bring a repairman?)

There is a crochet stitch pattern that I keep coming back to and have been using this stitch, which comes from the Red Heart site and is actually featured as a "Corner to Corner" Afghan (you can link to it here http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/crochet-corner-corner-throw ).   I keep finding things that I can make using this stitch.  I find the texture of it pleasing to my eye...  There is even a video on You Tube how to do this stitch.  I think I discovered it first about 15 years ago.  I think I have talked and shown previous projects done with this stitch.

Lately I have bought some nice cotton and/or cotton-bamboo yarns and with one of them which I think is now a discontinued yarn, I decided to make a skinny long scarf.

The stitch is exactly what is shown in the Red Heart Pattern except that it is only 6 "shells" wide and then I just keep following the pattern until it was 72 inches long.

The way this yarn feels against my neck is quite nice, not too soft but cozy, wrapped around a couple of times

Looking like a difficult stitch pattern but really all it is, is double crochet and chains... oh and slip stitches ...

And that is actually a finished project....

Now the Work in Progress is also crochet; and I don't even know exactly why I decided to pick this pattern and start on it.

My Friend Ingrid dropped off a "Pound of Love" Baby Yarn the other day and I was going to give it to a neighbour of mine as she (Sandy) makes up knitted toques for our local community services and the hats and scarfs are handed out to those in need.   But then she said, even tho it is a lovely yarn -- no one living on the street would choose to wear pastel turquoise... They prefer blacks and browns and dark greens and very dark blue or burgundy...   

So I thought I will just make use of it as a baby afghan...  Hmmm....  Looking on the internet  I get lost in all the available free patterns and I am not quite sure why this one caught my eye...

Crochet Victorian Jacket  (http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/pattern-correction-crochet-victorian-jacket )

Maybe it was the super cute baby shown to be wearing the finished sample...

As I progressed along the 'skirt' part of this pattern, I got a bit lazy -- the pattern calls for a 3 row lacy design.   Now I do a fair amount of my crochet while I sit and watch the early morning news or in the evening when I am watching Person of Interest, or Elementary, or Blacklist or Survivor, so I prefer a more simple lacy design and decided to go with a stitch that is simply double crochet that is sort of an X stitch...  So this little jacket pattern is quite simple and quite easy to create your own little changes -- I think as long as you make sure that your count of stitches is the same as the patterns requirements...

It is really quite quick to work up too!  The neck/shoulder YOLK area I think was only about 3 hours  and now the skirt part is just whizzing along...  It should be done in a couple more days...

My last Work in Progress is just something that I have nothing to do with except to provide water...

My Avocado from a grocery store fruit is now 1 year old...  For that past 6 months or so it has been in a cut down plastic drink bottle - I didn't want to get too attached to it in the early stages!   I went out to my local thrift shop and found a nice ceramic plant pot and transplanted it... I think, it now is officially part of my indoor garden!

And also part of my little indoor plants is this little experiment.  I stuck a leaf into the soil (beside another plant that is in too big of a pot) and it has sprouted up a new little plant.   I can remember this is how my mother started new African Violets - she would pull a leaf with its stem and stick it into some 'MUD' as she called it, so she always had a few plants to give away and a few new ones of her own.   Now this one is a succulent but I guess the technique works for alot of different plants...  So I will keep an eye on this new little life (and protect it from KITTY teeth -- see those marks on the old starter leaf?  Yep, that was WALTER -- he just can't leave things alone!)

Linking up with The Needle and Thread Network's Work in Progress Wednesday...

Oh, and has anyone noticed that Jamie Oliver has a new (to me, anyway) show on Food Network?  It  is called Save with Jamie and it is somewhat like Micheal Smith's Chef at Home series where he shows, economical home cooking methods and ideas.   I am so glad to see this type of instructional show back on, those competitive cooking elimination contests just seemed to be so depressing -- so many people told over and over and over how badly they do can't be good for the ego or even for the watcher, can it?   Anyway, thanks Food Network for bringing some intelligence back!  Now, how can we get Home and Garden Network to show some instructional sewing, quilting, drawing, crochet, embroidery, colour instead of people buying houses in exotic locations....

The Black (and White) Cat who tried to be a Red Bunny

AH, yes!  There are many beliefs and stories and myths about black cats.   Halloween is particularly a unsettled time for our pets, particularly for those little black cats that some of our friends and neighbours have living in their homes...

Walter is just one of many cats living in nice cosy homes, but Walter has a somewhat strange owner...

Walter's "Mom" makes up stories...

Walter's "Mom" makes things with needle and thread and fabric or with balls of yarn that with a bit of "know-how" often turns into something useful, but sometimes becomes a bit of fantasy...

Halloween is upon us.

Children dress up as people and creatures and things that they usually are not for Halloween evening and head out to collect sweet treats...

Now, It really isn't a good idea for the family black cat to go out Yowling at neighbourhood doors or even to walk around the streets or slink behind trees and bushes and burnt out lamp posts on Halloween night - their intentions could be misinterpreted..

Some people still believe that black cats and even black dogs are EVIL and are BAD LUCK...

does that look like a growl?  it is not, it just happens to be mid-sneeze!

Really, they are not.  They are just family pets that happen to have a black coat on....   Black is slimming, don't you know!  Models and Movie stars are known to put on a black dress now and then...

Artists draw a black cat against a full moon, but its not really a scary image, it is actually a scared image!  The instant you see a black cat all fluffed up it is scooted away to hide!

So, Walter who recently was told about these and some of the other strange beliefs that seem to have followed black cats through history, hopefully, knows not to go out into the night on any night, especially on Halloween night!

But.

Walter is a very fun cat, and quite accommodating when his "Mom" gets a strange idea...  Refer back to that first photo.... Doesn't that kitty foot, look alot like a LUCKY RABBIT FOOT?  Mind you if you are carrying a LUCKY RABBIT FOOT on your key chain, Walter would perhaps suggest that the rabbit who's foot that is, is not so lucky him or herself!!

Now, Just for Fun.  And with alot,  I repeat ALOT of co-operation from a very special cat named WALTER (who by the way, seems to not be peeing in corners since his litter box was moved to a more 'socially' acceptable spot) allowed his crazy and somewhat creative "Mom" to dress him up as a Red Bunny for Halloween, so that no one would mistake him for an unlucky BLACK CAT...

Just to remind you, that is a kitty tail, not that little puff ball that is at the back end of a bunny...

Oh, oh, what the HALLOWEEN is that?

Is this really necessary?

She thinks this is funny!  Yeah, she is still laughing!!

REALLY!

HO HUM!  This has got to end sometime!  Doesn't it?

Well, Happy Halloween Everybody!

And remember keep your pets indoors or close to you and on a leash if you are out and about tonight.   The noises and the excitement out there is probably more scary to your pets than they are scary to you...

Two into One

When I first learned about sewing and sewing on a machine I learned to make clothes--first clothes for my dolls and then clothes for myself.  I must say that by the time I got to high school and HAD to take the Homemaking class, half the year sewing a skirt and the other half cooking -- I was way ahead on the sewing.

I continued with sewing clothes for myself and my children and even a shirt or two for my husband, but when I discovered quiltmaking, I left clothing behind...

Recently an aspect of clothing sewing caught my eye -- on Pinterest actually.   A thing they are calling Refashioning...

I decided to try my hand at it...

There is a knack to it, not as simple as you would think it might be!  Or maybe not as simple as I thought it would be...

I combined two, not particularly liked t-shirts into one, that I am hoping will be much more useful and being only ONE, take that much less space in the closet.

A black t-shirt type of top with very short cap sleeves and a neckline that dipped a little lower than I wanted and then had peek-a-boo features that definitely were WAY too peek-a-boo!   The second t shirt was just okay but was a bit too form fitting and was always riding up my belly!

So  The result is...

I slit the black shirt from the bottom side seams up through the sleeve.  From the back body of the purple t shirt I cut a elongated triangle for each side and fit the triangle from the bottom of the black t-shirt to the bit of sleeve on both sides.  Then I trimmed off the longer sleeves from the purple t shirt and simply sewed them directly onto the hem of the black t-shirt sleeves, now making them 3/4 length...

Now that too-low neckline still needed something so I settled for the already created neckline, but behind the peek-a-boo holes I just did reverse applique so that now, instead of seeing skin and the top of my bra, you see the purple fabric, cut from the belly of the purple t-shirt.

An experiment in refashioning two t-shirts that I had no real use for has now become, not something dressy, but at least something I can wear and feel comfortable in with a pair of jeans or slacks around the house and yard.  A much better result than two t-shirts hanging in the closet for 3 years...

I am going to give this idea another try.... I have a skirt that might benefit from being a straight line to an A-line -- maybe gusset inserts that sort of flare out?

Well, I think I will look again in my closet to see what doesn't get worn and maybe put together something that does.

How 'bout you? Got anything in there that has been in the closet just too long and that you are willing to sacrifice to the idea of experimentation?   Remember, sometimes you have to fail to learn, but sometimes things work well enough to again be useful!

Life Used to be so Hard...

Just a line from a song...

I know I have not been posting very much lately and it is because it seems my morning  routine has changed somewhat.  I generally write best first thing in the morning.  For some reason I have started to sleep later and my early morning writing time has suffered...

I did not move this morning til almost 10 am!  My bed was just so very warm, and extremely cozy and I did not want to move because my cat Archie was laying snuggled beside me.  The peace and the warmth and the comfort was just something that anyone is reluctant to give up, I would think...

So I layed in bed and thought about little things and some big things and some things that have been puzzling me this past week...

I have been wrestling with government forms online....  The way things are done and the way instructions are worded can be quite confusing.   I have mostly muddled through...

Now after I finally did get my body to move and break the peace and comfort of the morning, I put on my shoes and my sweater and went outside in my little backyard and photographed some of the birds who are gorging themselves on my generous supply of black sunflower seeds...

This one -- a woodpecker type (I an not one to look up species or official names) is way too big for this feeder, but he/she has been around a few times and works very hard to get a hold on the edge and snatch a few seeds...  There are actually a pair, but only one ever seems to manage the trick on holding on...

A very frequent visitor all summer long. But doesn't stay through the winter, so I suspect he is filling up for a flight south...

I think these are both chickadees, tho I am not sure if  they are the same variety...

again one on the feeder and one on the fence and if you look close, the ghost of one in flight...

this is the crowd scene, two on the fence one on the bracket and one on the feeder, and invisible another 4 or 5 just above in the branch of the cedar tree.

I and Walter (the cat) and Archie (the boss cat) and Pearl (the dog) spend long minutes everyday watching these and a few other birds visiting our little safe environment (the cats never go outside and the birds have no idea they are being watched and meowed at! and dreams of feather plucking going on in little kitty heads)

Now, back to my Lazy Sunday Afternoon.... Watching birds, petting cats, thinking about what to make for dinner... Pork Chops?  Yes, that sounds fine...

I'll try to get back into the habit of writing -- it has been a bit of a lull, but we all have those don't we?

Reinventing a "Easy" Crochet Slippers Pattern

Pinterest is a wonderful place to make new and old discoveries!  I do believe I browse through a selection of the pictures at least once each day.  Mostly I use my ipad for browsing Pinterest in the ''wee hours" of the morning when I wake up and wait for my DH to come in from his night job...

My PINS seem to be quite heavy on the various crochet projects, but one of the things I find most disappointing about some of those enticing projects is that when you follow the 'links' to their origin, they turn out to be patterns that you have to pay for... I'm poor!  I cannot go buying everything that strikes my fancy, not just because buying those patterns would break my bank, but I probably could never find the time to make all the items!

So the other day -- well, on Saturday, I came across this pin for Easy Crochet Slippers:

 

And I followed the instructions (tho there is an error on row 6, 7, and 8 -- at least the way I read it)

These slippers tho turned out quite excellent -- I even made a pretty crochet flower to adorn each slipper!

 

 

But there is a problem...  I used a worsted weight yarn, actually an almost chunky yarn and they turned out to be just about large enough for perhaps a middling size child, maybe stretchable to a ladies size 4...

 

The pattern provides for no enlargement or different size instructions...

 

Okay then...

 

I decided to take on the challenge and have been crocheting, and uncrocheting, and counting and 'balancing' so that I can enlarge this pattern.   And yes, I do believe a very similar pattern is available for a price somewhere else -- but I already told you the money story...

 

 

So.

 

Translating and increasing, not only length but width and re calculating the number of stitches at the toe end...  A few of the rows are taking two or three or even four tries to get the count right, but it is coming along nicely...

 

So far....

 

Now, a few more rows and a few more stitches to count and perhaps a nicely fitting ladies size 7-8 and maybe even stretch to 9 should be done in a day or two...

Then the next question for me, might this be my first digital pattern to list on etsy, or should I just make the slippers and sell them in my etsy shop?  How about Mother/ Daughter slippers? A pair in each size?  I wonder if that would be a selling feature?

Or I could post the Pattern on Ravelry or Craftsy, either for free or for a small fee...

They are fairly different from the original pattern -- even from the very first round of stitches, so I don't think I am copying, but I have been inspired by the first pattern...   Any opinions on that score?

Let me know what you think...  One way or the other, I will have the instructions for "Snippy Crochet Slippers" by the end of the week!

UPDATE

 

I have completed the larger size slipper and have created a slightly different finished top edge for it...

 

Here is a comparison of the original slipper (size 4 womans) using a almost chunky worsted weight yarn and my reinvented pattern (about a size 7-8 womans size) using Red Heart Supersaver yarn - purple)

 

I am working on the second one of this and my numbers and written instructions seem to be making sense!

 

 

I think the purple one actually is better shaped from toe to top of foot...  The picture doesn't show it that well, tho... Take my word for it!

 

Still working on a few minor details, and once perfected, perhaps I will start over with a larger size that might be small to medium men's size.... We'll see how ambitious I am! 

Can you Multi-task?

Strange what people might consider multi-tasking...

I for one feel that this idea of multi-tasking often means your attention is divided and you really don't do either task to the best that you are able.

But then in some cases why is it okay for someone to walk or drive while talking on a cell phone or as I saw the other day a young woman walking through a parking lot using one of those cool pens, tapping away on her ipad...

BUT its not okay to sit in a lecture and work on a small crochet piece?

Phones in movie theaters, phones while having lunch with a distracted friend, phones interrupting conversations...  but crochet in a back row while an instructor talks, is called intrusive and rude...

Hmmmm....

I think it is simply that more people believe that talking and paying attention to a game or a text message on a phone is IMPORTANT and using your hands for a silent activity is not...

Anyway, I am crocheting for myself a small bag using a quite simple single crochet stitch, no counting, no variation of the basic stitch and not even turning as it is done in the 'round'...

and amazingly enough! I can not only crochet while listening to a instructor give a lecture AND answer a question or two put to me while maintaining an even rhythm of stitches  I can then spend time in the morning crocheting and watching Gordon Ramsey (the chef) on TV making a pork butt roast with a orzo salad and panchetta (which I don't think I would actually make myself).

I don't think my multi-tasking is quite as disruptive, but for some MEAN reason, people who talk on the phone or answer texts think I am not giving them my attention if I crochet while talking or listening to them....

 

Why is that?  Do you crochet in public, or do you hide in a closet in your basement to create the things you do?

 

And that's my little rant for this week/month/year....

 

 

WAY BACK MACHINE...

A few years ago, it was up to me to sort through, clean up and get ready for sale my Mother's house.  At the time, there was so much to do and I was also dealing with a illness that hospitalized me for a few weeks.  So to make sure I didn't miss anything, much of the stuff was packed up into boxes for proper perusal at a later time.

So, recently, I found some greeting cards in one of the boxes that my grandmother sent to my father when he was still in school, or as a young man.  My father was living with his grandparents on a farm and his mother (in those days a single mother was quite osterized!) worked in the city.

These cards were sent somewhere between about 1930 to 1950...

 

the Christmas card above is actually a postcard.

They are in great condition for greetings sent in a whole different kind of world!

 

I like that they are signed by my grandmother and when I see her writing I remember all the cards she sent to me over the years -- but unlike my Dad, I did not put those cards away and save them.

 

Warm Memories...

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back!

I sure don't know how I would manage a lifestyle where I had to work for someone else for 8 hours a day!  I did it at one time, tho.  House, Kids, Job, Quiltmaking, Pets, and More...

Today tho, the House is not such a big job, because the kids are grown, so there are no toys or papers or loads and loads of boys jeans and t-shirtsin the laundry, and Kids I must admit are not on my radar anymore!  My job, just sort of faded away and I never did bother to look for another, so I get to do what I want when I want all day long.

So what do I do with my day?  Organizing seems to take alot of time.  I am beginning to think we, and that WE means everyone, have too much STUFF.   My sewing room has been under a major overhaul -- it has been about 2 years worth actually and is now really looking like a manageable heap!

Some of the things coming out of the sewing room, tho are going into my new WhichCraft Pearls Etsy shop  where I am working on finishing up projects, big and small and listing them for sale!  Even unfinished items that were given to me that I have put my own spin on to create Mug Rugs that perhaps someone will just not be able to resist!

 

Or perhaps an ecology conscience buyer will be looking for christmas supplies, like gift tags created from a stack of used christmas cards!  Love the ribbon I found to add to these tags! and there are more batches to come!

 

 

It takes a fair amount of time to list and describe each of these items and often I find that the hours between breakfast and lunch have been taken up with photography and writing enticing descriptions for the items in my shop!

 

I still manage my Susan Being Snippy Shop too which is mostly quilting or sewing supplies and patterns and lots of buttons (I have more buttons in shoeboxes than I have listed in the shop), sometimes quilt blocks and other quilting things are in that shop...

 

 

 

And the big question is...

Do you make any money at this?  Well, to be honest, it sure would never pay the mortgage, but it probably would pay for a trip to Vegas each year or something else that might be a nice change of pace! (if I didn't spend a portion on things like yarn and thread and other necessities of life!)

 

Now, why did I title this post 3 steps forward...?  Oh yeah, 'cause I was working on a project that has been waiting for MONTHS to be done and when I finally got to it yesterday, what I thought was a complete set of supplies turned out that the cording to go around a decorator cushion was 4 inches short!  So a few steps back to the fabric store to get that little item and hopefully that job will be done later today!

 

That is if I don't fall asleep mid afternoon -- as with city life, there is the occasional rowdy neighbour and guests that insist on getting louder as the night wears on, instead of quieter...  And being rather SNIPPY as I am want to do now and then, when I let the dog out in the yard this morning I let her bark (at the door to come in) for a few extra minutes as my own bit of revenge!

 

Happily Busy and Busily Happy....

Pulled muscles - Work in Progress

As you may know, from my last post, I have started a new exercise regime...  Mostly walking... but also trying to make an effort to stretch and a few other tidbits when I am walking...

Well, in the process, I pulled a muscle in my back --nothing serious -- just a bit of tightness,  but it became a bit difficult to sit at the sewing machine --- maybe it was even working at the sewing machine that caused the 'pull'.

So for the last few days I haven't been sitting at the sewing machine, hunched over (not really hunched) making things but instead sitting in my recliner making some more crochet snowflakes from the book I mentioned a month or so ago called 100 Snowflakes 

 

In the last two days I have managed to crochet 14 of these little treats!  I am thinking I might put some of them into my etsy shop, once I have got them blocked and stiffened...

 

 

For a few of these snowflakes from the book, I have actually been 'elaborating' on the designs and creating a few of my own variations!

 

 

I haven't shown any of my very own versions here, but basically I have adjusted a few of the designs from the book that are 6 pointed stars to either 5 pointed stars or even a few 8 pointed stars...

 

Being my own designer is quite the process, tho in a couple of cases, my written instruction was not so clear, even to myself, so to make a second one, I will have to look at the original to make a second one! If I get the writing instruction straightened out I'm sure I would find my own designs easier to understand!

 

And since he has not appeared for awhile on the blog here is a peek at WALTER, peeking at birds that are sitting on the roof of the townhouse across from ours...

 

 

 

Linking up today with the Needle and Thread Network...

and Freshly Pieced (see the button on the side bar to link back)