Weird sizing at JC Penney

So I ordered some stuff from Penney's last Wednesday night on their Thanksgiving sale.  Normally, I'd probably go into the store and buy stuff, but these came in tall sizes so I got them online.  Problems:  they sent a large sweater instead of the medium I ordered, and the medium t-shirt I got is larger than my Eddie Bauer mediums.  More problems:  when I took them back to the catalog department, I discovered I can't get them in a smaller size in the talls.  So now I'm faced with the possibility of either not having a light blue sweater, or of altering a sweater.

My life is so complicated.

The sweater alteration shouldn't be too bad, and I've finally come to grips with the idea that I will probably have to alter stuff to get it to fit right anyway, but MAN.  I didn't expect to be swimming in mediums, and I know that this anomaly has nothing to do with weight loss.  I guess they've revamped some sizing and that's ok, but it's frustrating.  I guess I'll go ahead and order the medium tall and use one of my other sweaters as a template for the alteration.  It shouldn't be too bad, right?  I'll baste it first and try it on before committing to a shorter stitch.  It's worth it to have the extra length...I hope.

Days 29 and 30

I'll tell you what, it's hard to blog at work, and then it's hard to blog when you get home and don't turn on your computer OR you don't remember to blog until after you're almost asleep and have to be up in a few short hours.  So, you know, I do feel a little like I should apologize, but I'm not out to make any big statement or anything with this, so I'm ok not apologizing. :)

If anything, this little experiment, focusing entirely on my creativity blog, has reminded me that I do have a lot of hobbies and genuine talents.  That's pretty cool.  The frustrating thing, though, is not knowing what to do with it all, besides not having time or money to pursue these hobbies as much as I want to.  I take comfort in knowing that I have an aptitude for craft and a passion for learning--it helps keep me going when I'm discouraged and frustrated by it all.

In any case, I plan to remember this little blog of mine a little more from now on, and actually post pictures of things I've made or talk about things that have been on my mind.  It's been fun.  Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in December!

Day 28

Just a quick update on a couple of things.  I bought the most beautiful (to me, anyway) corduroy last year (see above!), intending to make a dress using Vogue 8411, but after reading several reviews on PatternReview.com, I decided that maybe corduroy may not be my best option for this dress even though I can see it in my mind.  There are too many things I'd have to mess with around the neckline.  I got some good inspiration from Boden, though, and plan to go through my patterns to see what I can use/alter/smoosh together.  Thoughts, anyone?

Today, I worked out an arrangement of "O Little Town of Bethlehem" for my ward choir--it still needs some tweaking and a transition (I'm starting with the British version, to the tune of "I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly", and going into the American version for the third verse) but it's coming along pretty well.  I am also within about 4 rows of finishing an afghan for a friend's baby and should have that totally done by the end of the week!  I'm excited!  Considering the baby was born in August!  ha ha!

Anyway, I feel sufficiently motivated to cross a lot of things off my huge project list.  It's a great feeling!

Days 26 and 27 part two

I burned my thumb while getting pies out of the oven on Thanksgiving morning--the pot-holder slipped and I grabbed the oven rack with my bare thumb instead of the pot-holder.  I got it on my ear pretty quickly (really, it works!) to cool it down enough to get the pies out, and then, as soon as I had the pies out of the way, I held it under cold running water until it was numb.  Painfully numb.  Almost unbearably numb.  Because of that, I don't have two big blisters covering the pad of my thumb at lovely right angles; I have two big rough spots instead.  I'm really glad I was near the sink and I did the ear trick (my dad picked that one up in Korea when he was in his 20s, and it really does work for some reason), and I'm really glad it didn't blister.  If it HAD blistered up, I'd be almost useless to sew or knit or crochet.

One more thing to be thankful about. :)

Days 26 and 27

Just an update, because my stomach is hurting and I need to find food soon or it will just get worse.  Hooray for acid reflux...

I did a few mending things today, and I feel good about reducing that pile finally!

Gray pants
Cream-colored sweater
Blue pajama pants
Black and white striped skirt

So I've been productive, in between trying to figure out how to hook up my cable to my TV and my TV to my DVD/VCR which has proven impossible.  I can get sound out of the DVD player, but no picture.  Maddening.  Dad and I know there's a way to hook it all up together, but can't figure it out.  It would be easier if my TV has an S-Video slot, which it DOES NOT.  ugh.

Well, small things to gripe about, really.  I think tomorrow I'll do a muslin of at least the bodice of a dress that has a wide-ish neckline I'm concerned about.  I downloaded a couple of hat patterns from Ravelry that I can't wait to try out, but I'm determined to finish at least one baby afghan before making hats for myself.  If I go fast, I should have one done by tomorrow night.

Don't you hate it when you buy a lovely piece of fabric and have the perfect plans for it, and then it sits in a drawer for a couple of years and your plans change or you're no longer sure what to do with it?  I have some really pretty wool plaids that have been haunting me for at least two years (one of them for close to 10...eep) and I can't decide if I want to do a skirt with kick pleats or an A-line or a pencil skirt or if it should be mid-calf or just below my knee or ankle-length, and I'm worried that I'll cut into that pretty fabric, sew something, and end up hating it.  It's happened before, sadly, and so I sit on fabric for years and years because I'm afraid of hating it when it's sewn, and I won't have any extra to fix it or remake it.  It drives me NUTS.  And this is why I have so much fabric just sitting around in drawers and piles and boxes.

Sigh.

Day 25--Thanksgiving

Today seems to be the day, so here goes. :)

I'm thankful for:
Parents who encourage, support, and love me
Sisters who are talented, loving, smart, and good
A sister-in-law who is one of the best mothers I've ever seen, BESIDES being talented, loving, smart, and good
A brother who works hard for his family and is one of my best friends
Cousins who are so inspiring
A living grandmother who I not only adore, but who also makes me want to be a better person
Deceased grandparents I can hardly wait to see again
Cats
Dogs
The sky, the glorious sunsets here, the stars, the clouds, the moon
Nature in general
Mountains
So many friends who are inspiring, whether they know it or not!  Too many to list!
Amanda
Lisa
Emily
Julie
Julie
Mel
Becky/Rebecca
Jeremy and Lauren
Katie
Rob
Tiffany and Dave
Tina and Chad
Cindy and Brett
Hailey
Jenny
Amy
Janet
Mindi
Marilee
Lizzy and Spencer
Taylor and Drew
Erin
DeShawn
My talents
My faith
My mind
My body

I'm so grateful to be so blessed.  It's pretty amazing!

Days 23 and 24

This blogging daily thing is hard, especially when all my pictures are on my home computer and, when I get home, I don't always turn it on.  Sigh.  BUT.  I refuse to think of this as failure!  I absolutely refuse! 

So, for today's (and yesterday's) post, I will give you a brief preview of something I've been thinking about for the last couple of days, and also pictures of the yarn I spun with a drop spindle and a spinning wheel.

Preview:  On Monday, I was talking about my degree (BS in Integrated Studies, emphasizing History and Psychology, 2006) and how hard and fun it was.  The person I was talking to stared at me when I said I'd been studying the history and psychology of clothing and appearance for over 20 years.  That reaction is pretty standard, and it usually has to do with perceptions of my age, so I said "oh, I'm 35--older than I look--and I started reading about all this when I was 12 or 13."  He replied, "it's not the age, it's that I feel sorry for you.  You really spent over 20 years learning all that?  WHY?!"  I laughed it off ("Well, I can extrapolate the history of suspenders, and not many people can say THAT!" I told him...), but he really seemed appalled that someone would spend so much time and energy on something he thought was pointless.  I've been formulating my thoughts about that since then; I hope they've percolated and gelled enough that they make sense when I try to write them down later.

Yarn:

 

Wheel in action!  When I was a little girl, I thought that the yarn somehow went around the wheel.  Turns out the wheel is just a gear to facilitate the spinning of the spindle and the twisting of the yarn.  Cool. 

Isn't it sad how I can't decide if I should caption things at the top or at the bottom?  Maybe I just can't remember from post to post...

 

Lumpy yarn.  Lumpy, lumpy (Rustic!  Homespun!) yarn.  Also, isn't that orange carpet just the best?  This is the upstairs classroom at Heindselman's.  It makes me happy.  Also it makes me want to get rid of the useless old computer parts up there.

This handy thing is called a niddy-noddy.  It's used to wind yarn into a figure-eight kind of configuration after it's spun and plied.  (Look at that yellow chair!  Sort of reminds me of the brown vinyl chairs in my grandparents' kitchen.)

Here you get a better idea of how the niddy-noddy is built.  There's a rhythm to using it that's pretty fun, and it keeps your yarn nice and neat if you don't have a ball-winder or if you're selling it in hanks like this.

This is my finished hank of yarn.  I figure it's not as pretty as someone more experienced would have spun it, but I'm quite proud of it.  Besides, it'll make a great hat or a felted pot-holder that NOTHING would get through.  It's warm and soft and I did the majority of the work myself.  That's nothing to sneeze at!  My instructor told me that someone said "once you've spun your first pound, you'll be an expert".  Well, my first pound hasn't been spun all the way yet, and I'm probably terribly rusty, but the whole experience was so therapeutic that I'm going to save up for my own spinning wheel.  The mental health benefits will more than make up for the cost, I think.  It's a lovely craft and I want to learn and do so much more!

Days 21 and 22

I realized yesterday that I could have written a blog on Saturday and scheduled it to post on Sunday, which is the day I decided not to turn my computer on.  Oh well. :) I don't have access to my pictures on my work computer (I refuse to put much personal information on here at all) so I'm not even sure what to write about.  I might do a list of things I want to make for my niblings for Christmas/birthdays, though.  That's a good idea.

Charlotte--a pink stuffed horse with pink mane and tail for her birthday, and a doll with light brown hair and dark brown eyes for Christmas

Ila--a stuffed kitty for Christmas, not sure what to do for her birthday

Nicole--a hat for Christmas, and a doll for her birthday (in May)

Isaac--no idea yet, but he loves cats and machines

So there you go.  Things to get busy on right away!  I hope I have enough stuffing for everything...

Day 20

Where was I when we left off?  Oh yes.  Rolags.  And vomiting.

The third class, I had a pretty nice sack of rolags, but I'd been feeling queasy all day.  I think I'd thrown up earlier at work or something, but I was doing ok--Sprite and soda crackers at my desk were helping, but when I got to Heindselman's, I knew something was very wrong.  I learned something that day:  much as I (and my stomach) might want to, I can't throw up in public.  I can't.  I TRIED, because my stomach sure wanted to rid itself of its contents, but I couldn't.  So I figured I'd just ask where the bathroom was when I needed it.  I made my way upstairs to our class and I really must have looked awful, because my classmates asked if I was ok.  I explained a little what had been going on and apologized in advance if I had to leave suddenly.  Which I had to, about 40 minutes in.  Afterward, I felt MUCH better and was able to practice pretty well on a spinning wheel.

When I say "practice pretty well", I mean I didn't fall over or throw up again.  You can see how awful my so-called yarn is, but I practiced and I got better!

This is the Schacht Ladybug model.  Apparently Schacht makes some of the best spinning wheels in the world and I got to use this lightweight, collapsible, portable one.  It's cute, but I ended up liking an all-wood one better.  Again, you can see how lumpy my yarn is.  I'll tell you, though, spinning is MIGHTY soothing, especially when one's stomach has been trying to kill oneself all day.

It's interesting--as soon as I really convince myself that it was TOTALLY FINE to not be really good at this right away, I immediately got better at it.   Just letting go of that expectation let me focus on learning the craft and letting my body remember.  It was pretty cool. 

Next blog, I'll show you some much better yarn and a fun tool called a niddy-noddy. :)

Day 19

I really should have been in bed an hour ago, but I've been too tired to sleep.  I hate that game.  Tonight's will truly be short because I'm going to try good old melatonin soon.

After letting all that wool dry, we had to card it.  We were lent cards by our teacher and our next homework assignment was to get it all carded and made into rolags so we could spin it.  We'd already been working with our drop spindles and a little bit with spinning wheels, but our teacher wanted us to learn the whole process from the beginning.  The class we spun our rolags (our third time, I think), I was stricken with some weird stomach bug and looked like death, along with vomiting every hour or so.  THAT was a fun class...I got to know the Heinselman's bathroom a little too well that night.  Anyway, during our second class and during the week before our third class, we carded wool and made it into rolags.

Wool before carding.  It's lumpy and you can still see plant matter in it.  In the third picture, you can see how I changed my hand position to make it more comfortable.  These cards were lovely to use, but it's still hard work.  My hands hurt when I was done.

Wool during carding.  You have to be careful not to load up the cards too much, or they won't work properly.  You can see on the towel some of the plant matter that's come out as I've carded.

Oooo!  Much less plant stuffs in this!  It's almost ready to roll up.  You kind of catch it with the other card, ease it off the teeth, and roll it up into a nice little bundle that's easy to spin.  You can buy roving, basically long strips of carded wool or fiber, that's been processed by a mill or by someone much more experienced than I, and spin from that too.

Finished rolag.  Not very pretty, but you can see the idea.  I got better as I went along.

Day 18

I remembered to blog before turning this off and going to bed!  Yay!

Today will be pictures again.  I thought I'd do some posts about the spinning class I took at Heindselman's in March, and I'll start off with what we had to do for our "homework"--picking and washing the wool.  We were each given a grocery bag full of raw fleece from a sheep at the end of our first lesson, and we were to take it home, pick as much vegetation out by hand as we could, and then wash it.  Picking out the plant stuff was a little icky at first, because it turns your hands positively black from the dirt the sheep picked up wandering around for months without a shower, and the natural lanolin of the fiber.  It smelled a little, too, but my hands were soft after doing it and the dirt washed right off with no problem, probably because of the lanolin. 

(I don't have any pictures of the raw wool, so I'll link here, but keep in mind that the wool I had was much dirtier than the picture at that link!)


After picking it, I had to wash it in hot water.  The trick to washing raw fiber without felting it is to NOT AGITATE it.  There are natural barbs on the individual hairs, and if you agitate it (sometimes called fulling), the barbs hook to each other.  This is why you never wash your wool sweaters in the washer with the towels unless they've been pretreated somehow.  I filled up my bathroom sink with hot water (the plug for the kitchen sink didn't work right), put some wool in, and GENTLY pressed down until it was saturated.  I let it soak for a while, then came back, rinsed it, and filled up the sink again.  I did this until the wool was almost white and then laid it out to dry.

First soaking.  The water was darker than it looks here.

Second soaking.

Third soaking.

Last soaking.

Gently squeezed dry.  You can see some of the vegetation still--it's nearly impossible to get it all out by hand-picking, so you figure most of the rest of it will come out as it's carded and spun.

When the wool was completely dry, which took a few days, I put it back in the grocery bag and took it to my next class, where we learned how to card it and make rolags.

Lumpily laid out and ready to dry.

Days 16 and 17 part 2

I told you I'd talk about how I bagged the lining for Emily's wedding gown.  I was so worried about doing a beautiful job that it literally took me weeks to cut the darn thing out after I'd altered the muslin, and when it came time to put the lining in, it was even worse.  I mean, it's pretty easy to sew a lining to the neckline and zipper seam, but actually finishing a dress/coat without having ANY seams showing was daunting at best.  I really wanted her dress to be as perfect as possible and I read a couple of tutorials (one of which may actually have been in a book) about the bagging technique and puzzled my way through it in my brain until the proverbial lightbulb clicked on and it suddenly made sense.  Basically, you sew the completed lining and dress together as much as you can (neckline and down the zipper for this one), get it all wrong sides together, make a slit in one of the longer lining seams (I used the skirt back), reach in with your hand, pull the fabric out through the slit so it's right sides together, and stitch all your hems.  Sounds easy, right?  Making it make SENSE physically is the hard part.

Here's what it looked like as I was sewing it:

Big, tangled, off-white, silk mess, right?

But when I finished and fixed the sagging problem, it was beautiful and perfect.  I hand-sewed the slit in the lining closed while I was at Emily's apartment to deliver it to her.

You can't really see the dress details in this particular picture, but trust me:  Emily was gorgeous, and it wasn't just the dress. :) It was a privilege to sew it for her!

Days 16 and 17

So yesterday was a weird day at work and I didn't do much when I got home after spending 45 minutes trying on jeans at Gap and running errands for another hour or so.  Then I came home and did dishes and generally cleaned things up before playing a stupid time-wasting computer game that turned out to be very therapeutic. 

I actually had a blog idea but by the time I remembered it, I'd already turned off my computer and really didn't want to turn it back on because my power supply is wonky.  Oh well.

I'll do another post later tonight about how I figured out how to do the bag-lining technique, which is not just about lining bags.  It's complicated to explain but I managed to make it make sense to my brain while finishing up my dear friend Emily's wedding gown last summer.  It's one of those things I know how to do but would have a devil of a time teaching someone else to do because it's just that weird, but I'm glad I figured it out!

Day 15

I didn't do anything creative today, but I DID change my bed to flannel sheets!  And I DID go to Heindselman's, where I ran into one of my wildly creative friends.  She's quite amazing and very talented, and I sometimes wish I were unemployed so I could spend my time finishing projects and practicing my spinning...which is actually a pipe dream.  If I were unemployed right now I'd start going crazy after about a week because I would feel like such a burden on my family, not to mention the guilt at not being able to contribute to household expenses.

Quite honestly, today had a depressing start, and when I was finishing up my errands I realized that I'd been dreading going to work tomorrow.  I'm glad I have a job, and there are aspects of it I really enjoy, but I can feel myself getting brain- and soul-sick there.  If I didn't feel like I have to prove something every time I walk in that door, I'd be more creative in my clothing/shoes/accessories.  As it is, I feel like I can't wear anything too far to the wrong side of conservative or I'll risk someone being annoyed by it.  Colorful tights?  Relegated to their drawer.  Funky necklaces?  Still in the jewelry box.  Plaid shoes?  On the closet floor, and don't even get me started about my shiny shoes or beaded cardigans!  I'm so afraid of saying or doing the wrong thing and having it set something off that I've been lying pretty low.  The most interesting thing I've worn lately was a long orange sleeveless cardigan over a long-sleeved orange t-shirt and gray plaid pants, and even in that I was subconsciously worried that someone wouldn't take me seriously enough even though I know my job better than the people who wrote the job description.

There's a part of me that wants to wear red shoes and striped socks and purple sweaters all the time, but I am, like I said, nervous about it.  It's highly tempting to try to go back to retail, where at least I'd feel a little less weird about wearing striped tights.

It is hard to have the desire to create and to have it stifled, but maybe I'm just overreacting, which seems to be a theme this month. :) 

Days 13 and 14

Yeah, yeah.  I missed yesterday.  At the end of the day, after I'd turned off my computer, I realized I hadn't blogged anything like I'd wanted to, and then I was too tired to care.  I don't think anyone's going to come after me for missing a day, but I kind of feel bad--the goal was to blog every day in November and I missed one. 

Oh well, right?  Not that big a deal. :)

Today I had wanted to make a Christmas tablecloth for my mom but the main fabric hasn't been preshrunk and I don't wash things on Sunday.  I'll throw it in the wash first thing tomorrow and let it run while I do some errands.  Since tomorrow is pay-day, I plan to hit up Heindselman's in Provo (ignore the negative reviews; it's a wonderful store!) to get some size 11 double-pointed knitting needles so I can make a hat from the chunky Wool-Ease I've had sitting around for a  year.  Since I only have a vague idea of what size I am anymore, I am also bracing to try on pants because I have a Gap groupon that must be used this week or I'll lose $25.  I may or may not cruise to JoAnn and see what the new patterns are, but that's really contingent on how much money I can spend.  Just because it's pay day doesn't mean I'll have a lot of play money.

Let's see.  What to blog about today?  Something easy, again.  In 2006, I signed up to do a table for our Relief Society Christmas party.  I have quite a few music boxes that hadn't been displayed for a while, and I used my mom's Christmas dishes and napkins and tablecloth.  I used to work for San Francisco Music Box Co., which is WHY I have so many music boxes, and when the store closed I took home several plastic risers we used for displays and some random bits and pieces, including some pine bough picks.  I used a riser under the main water globe and disguised it with the picks.  Two of my favorite Santa figures/music boxes EVER were on either side right on the table.  I used some Christmas bead garlands around the picks to make it more festive.  It was so much fun!  Someday, when I have my own house, I would love to go all out for Christmas like that.  I have so much Christmas stuff...well, it's not THAT much, really, but I have a lot of ornaments and tinsel and other things.  I don't let myself buy more unless it's really pretty or unusual.  I ask myself, "will I regret not buying this someday?" and if the answer is "yes", I buy it.  Case in point:  last year, Target had the CUTEST penguin melamine dishes for Christmas, and I didn't get them.  I have regretted it so much that I'm going to splurge on this year's penguin option, even though it's not quite as cute as last year's.  This is also why I have a dozen bright pink ice skate Christmas ornaments, trimmed in white faux fur and white pompoms...

Anyway...ha ha.  Pictures!

Day 12

I've been studying for a history test for the last couple of hours and my head is full of Christine de Pizan, Magellan, Cortes, Pizarro.  I discovered an easy way to remember which guy conquered which South American nation:  CorteZZ AZZtec MexZZico vs. PPIIzaro IInca PPeru.  Doubt I'll ever forget that now...ha.

Let me look through some pictures...

Aha!  Back in February, I heard through Yellow Bird Fabrics blog about Anne Barge coming to Alta Moda Bridal in Salt Lake for a trunk show and lecture.  I know that's a lot of links but you will not regret clicking on them if you like pretty things. 

I asked my lovely mother if she wanted to go with me (Laresa couldn't or something, I don't remember why) and we headed up to the Salt Lake City Library for the lecture.  I was surrounded by fashion students from SLCC and at least one of the owners of Alta Moda, so I felt a little intimidated.  I think mom and I were the only civilians there!  I got to take pictures of the four gowns Anne had chosen to display, and I got to meet her.  I felt like a GIANT because I had at least 6 inches on her, but she was so gracious and friendly and put us all at ease.  She talked about how she became a bridal designer (she was at Priscilla of Boston sketching the dresses on display and was offered a job as an assistant!  The ODDS!) and how much she loves pretty things and wonderful fabric.  Anne is one of the designers who will gladly alter a design to make it wearable for an LDS bride (you can see some examples on the Alta Moda website), and she sources her own fabrics.  She works with mills in India that create fabric just for her.  Actually, they'll send out samples to all their clients, and the client who likes it most or chooses it first is the one the rest of the fabric goes to.  It was a really wonderful day and I learned so much!  Thanks for going with me, mom. :)

(several) Pictures:

Close up of the fabric of the dress on the left--this was made in India.  If you look closely and if the quality is good enough, you can see that the texture is applied fabric, almost like applique.  Gorgeous.

Bodice detail.

Skirt detail.

The backs of the four dresses.  We sat right up front!

Skirt applique detail.

Gorgeous bodice detail--the beads are applied with chain stitch right onto the bodice--painstaking and beautiful work.

It looks like rivets, but it's gunmetal or bronze colored sequins.  The ribbing in the fabric is a custom weave for Anne Barge.  There is an example of this dress for LDS brides on the Alta Moda website.

I think all these styles are still on the Anne Barge website as they're from her Spring/Fall 2010 collection.  Her prices are relatively high because the quality of the gowns is also high (I've seen a lot of wedding gowns in my time, and these are some of the highest quality) and she uses a lot of silk.  I told her how grateful I was to see something different from the glorified prom dresses around here.  Don't get me wrong--the glorified prom dresses are (mostly) pretty and if you want one, I won't stop you!--but it was refreshing to see something more mature and elegant for a change.

Day 11

I've been thinking all day about my grandfathers, cousins, and friends who have served and are serving in the military.  I know "thank you" doesn't quite cut it, but it's all I can say because there are no words for my gratitude.

I was going to do another picture post, but decided instead to talk about my predilection for picking up rocks.  I think it started with my granddad (my dad's father) who also picked up rocks.  In fact, I think he gave me one of my first rocks--a good-sized chunk of obsidian.  I remember going to places like Bryce Canyon and wanting all the rocks in the gift shop when I was little.  If it's a pretty color or an interesting shape, my eye is immediately drawn toward it.  This is why there is a rock from somewhere outside St. George in my car, a piece of possible pink quartz on my desk, several rocks on my windowsill, and a box of them in storage.  Another thing I just remembered is taking a white rock from a neighbor's flowerbed when I was 6 or 7.  They lived across the street from us in a trailer and had white rocks around a tree or something, and I thought no one would mind.  My parents found out and told me I shouldn't take rocks from other people, and I catch myself picking rocks off the sidewalk and putting them back in flowerbeds even now.  I don't, however, hesitate to pick up rocks that are in parking lots or on trails unless I know it will disturb something.  I rarely come home from an adventure without a rock in my pocket.

Can I tell you what they all are?  Nope.  Do I remember where they all came from?  Not a chance.  Do I want to give them away?  Nope, not a chance.  I could get all poetic about the whys, but let it suffice that I just like rocks, smooth from the river, broken off a mountainside, or faceted and polished.

I guess I figure this has to do with creativity because I notice texture, shape, color, and weight in a lot of things.  I like to touch things, and that includes rocks. :)

Day 10

Finally fixed my lamp.  My fingers are sore, I'm tired, and I'm grumpy about it, but I'm glad I finally fixed it.  I had to reconnect the wires in the socket, but I couldn't get the new socket off.  At some point yesterday it must have gotten bent and as I was trying to take it off, it broke.  I ended up cutting the wire since I couldn't get inside to the switch any other way.  After another 45 minutes, it's ready to go.  For now.  The rod inside it has mysterious rust so that'll have to be replaced eventually.  Right now is not that time.  At all.  I wouldn't be surprised if the darn thing fell over and broke all on its own.

Stupid favorite lamp...

Remember how I broke my mom's water globe?  Here is where I'll probably get a replacement globe.

So I have a frustrating story and a link.  I think that's good for today, especially since I said I was going to bed two hours ago and I'm obviously not nestled anywhere but at my desk until this gets published.

Done.  Good night.

Day 9

I'm trying to fix my favorite lamp--I went out to Lowe's and got a replacement socket and I've been trying to screw the darn thing on for the last hour.  Part of the interior of the lamp has rusted somehow and it's giving me all KINDS of grief.  So this post is going to be a short post of intense frustration.

The end.

Day 8

Today has been focused on office work (for which I get paid) and housework (for which I do not get paid).  I didn't do much of anything when I got home from work but chores; my usual Monday nights, I go to bed early because I work in the temple on Tuesday mornings, but the temple is closed for its semi-annual maintenance until November 23.  Because I don't have to wake up at 3:45 tomorrow morning I feel a little restless and wrong right now.  Maybe that's why I've kept so busy since work!

I left work 5 minutes early and as soon as I got home I started some laundry, heated up dinner (leftover pizza from Friday night), did some dishes, scooped the kitty litter, practiced the piano for Sunday, ate dinner, cleaned up the kitchen (mostly), knitted, figured out how to rearrange the furniture in my room, played with the cats, had my dad help me find out which part of my favorite lamp needs to be replaced, and now I'm blogging.  Busy day!

About the lamp--a couple of years ago, one of the cats knocked it off my nightstand and the switch hasn't worked properly since then.  I have to jiggle it to keep it on, and tonight we took it apart and figured out that it's the switch itself that needs to be replaced.  Once I get a new switch (this is the entire socket, but all I need is the internal switch), it'll be easy enough to reconnect the wires and put it all back together.  I'm really glad it's an easy fix because I would be very sad if the lamp couldn't be repaired.

Funny, I've always been curious about how things work, and now I realize that my curiosity more often than not has led to developing a skill.  I feel confident I can repair a lot of things if I set my mind to it, and that's pretty cool.  

Day 7

I got all productive today and decided to fix a couple of water globes that had floaties in the water.  One of them is a Peanuts one that is my mom's and the other one is a carousel horse of mine and I thought it would be a good Sunday afternoon project.  I worked for San Francisco Music Box Co. several years ago and learned how to fix all kinds of music boxes there so I figured it would be like riding a bike...which it was, after I broke one of the globes and ended up with glitter and water all over me and glitter, water, and glass in the sink, because I forgot that pliers are an essential tool for taking a figurine/plug out of a water globe.  More about this fun adventure later; I'm quite frankly too tired to think about it anymore even though it was eventually very successful.  Also, my hands hurt from dealing with pliers and silicone sealant.  Oooo!  A teaser!

Today I will just talk about a set of jewelry I made a few years ago.  The cabochons are Dry Creek turquoise which, as far as I know, is only found in one area in Nevada.  My granddad gave them to me a couple of years before he died and I made a pendant and a ring to set them in when I took a jewelry class.  I later retook the class (learned a lot more from a much better teacher the second time around) and remade the pendant.  The ring was made using the lost wax casting technique and the pendant was soldered.  I wore them to my granddad's funeral in 2005; I think he'd have liked what I did and although it's definitely not perfect, I'm happy when I wear them and that's what matters.

Day 6

My stomach has been bugging me for the last couple of hours (it's as if my stomach is chewing on my esophagus, which is just about as pleasant as it sounds), and I accidentally just drank some sour milk (I don't routinely sniff before I pour because milk doesn't hang around here long enough to go bad), so I think today's post will just be pictures and a description of the current state of "my" sewing room.  Actually, I share it with my mom and sister, but they will both tell you my stuff takes up at least 80% of all the space in there.   

Originally, this room was our playroom, but then dad decided to install counters and cupboards so we'd have a place to do homework and other projects.  I don't think it got much use as a study room before he made it his office when he worked from home.  The pegboard above the sewing machine was my dad's (he has a MUCH BIGGER one in his shed now).  It's such a handy place to hang things!  I can't imagine a sewing room without one at this point.  Three racks of thread, an old lamp we all love, a pile of magazines to go through, my mom's (her grandmother's) sewing box, fabric yardage, a couple of pairs of pants to alter, some cut-out shirts for my brother, and some REALLY BRIGHT satin my grandmother saved from the dump 50 years ago.  I have no idea what to do with the satin but it might be fun to use as a quilt back or binding or something.  It's just so bright!  I think it's acetate, and I'm fine with it softening up and losing some shine when it's washed.  The Amazon box in the corner?  It's there for the cats to sleep in when they want to keep someone company.  We're nothing if not good hosts...

Mostly my stuff, here.  The chest of drawers is full of fabric yardage (I mean FULL) which is why there is a neat stack of fabric on the cutting surface.  The stuff on top of the magazines is reference books that didn't fit anywhere else, stencils, and a couple of issues of Dwell.  The magazines you see are 10 years of back issues of Victoria before they became defunct and then came back.  The colorful magazines are back issues of House and Garden.  To their right are some books and pamphlets.  The plastic bins have trim, ribbon, fat quarters, and zippers in them.  The boxes on the chest of drawers are all my patterns.  The ivory sewing box is mine, as well as the little portable kit on top of it.  I keep a sweater in the sewing room on the back of a chair for when it's chilly, but mom commandeered the chair and I haven't put the sweater anywhere else yet.  The plastic drawers have craft supplies of various sorts in them, including about 30 long skinny hot glue sticks I bought 10 years ago and haven't used up yet.  You can see our little sleeve board that was made in West Germany (telling you how old it is) and was given to us by a friend who didn't know what else to do with it.  It's been very useful!  You can also see a couple of bolts of fabric on rolls.  One of the rolls is a beautiful dark pink silk I bought when I was engaged and intended to use as part of my wedding dress (still do, in fact), and the other is a red-green iridescent taffeta I bought because it was pretty.

My dad built the platform the cutting table (an old desk/conference table) sits on and it's been really handy for storage.  As you can see, there is plenty of room there for my sister's fabric (in the pink drawer unit), about half my fabric (scraps in the boxes you can sort of see on the left), and various craft containers, as well as bolts of muslin and interfacing and possibly some batting behind everything.  I don't remember everything that's under there right now.  Branwyn was in the room being a ginormous pretty princess...as usual.

  

It's not the tidiest sewing room in the world, and I really need to actually SEW things out of all that fabric, but it's neater than some I've seen and worked in and it has a TV mounted on a wall arm, as well as all my DVDs.  It's a happy place in many ways and I'm incredibly grateful we have the space for a room just for sewing.  We're pretty lucky!

Day 5

I had to dig through my archives to find the last time I talked about the afghans I made for my niece and nephew.  Kind of sad that I posted about making them but can't remember posting about finishing them, and I didn't include pictures of the toads with their "yarn blankets".

This post, I have decreed, will be just pictures of a couple of things I've actually finished, instead of the pictures of "my" sewing room I took tonight, which would just frustrate and irritate me.

So.

Here we are!  They chose the yarn and the basic patterns themselves.  I got creative with the stripes and borders.

This is The Lad's finished afghan.  I mailed it to him something like a year ago, and he loved it.  He declared that it was big enough to cover all three of his little sisters, and has since said that it keeps monsters and bad guys away at night.  I am quite pleased about this.  It's fun making something someone you love will love.  I hope he takes it to college with him. :)

He really did choose all those colors  himself.  I asked if he was sure, but reminded him that I would do whatever he wanted.  He said he was sure, even about the gray.  My sister helped me put it all together in a more or less aesthetic way and my quilt group really loved it.  I bought more of the light green yarn and decided to add another stripe in light blue before finishing with a border of orange and rainbow.  This was the first time I'd done a border so some of the stitches came out weird, but who's going to care?  Not me!

This is spider-loving four-year-old Charlotte's afghan.  Her favorite color is pink and she loves stripes, so this was just as fun, if not as colorful, as Isaac's, and I think she loves hers just as much as he loves his.  My sister (who went with us to the "yarn store") said that Charlotte went right for that variegated yarn and didn't want anything else.  She helped her choose the off-white to make stripes.  My parents were able to pack it in a suitcase to hand-deliver in February when they went for a short visit.

Of course, I had to include one with Branwyn and Cassidy checking it out and giving it their approval...  The finished product made the tediousness of sewing in all those ends, worth it.

Day 4

Well, last night got away from me and I didn't turn on my computer and peacefully blog like I thought I would when I got home from work.  Here's how it broke down:

Thursday night
5:00--think I'm leaving work but then a private client of my boss comes in for an appointment with him at 5.
5:20--finally leave the office after boss is 20 minutes late from a meeting.
5:35--arrive at home.
5:37--dad tells me he's going over to the church to help with a Relief Society activity I had decided I didn't have time to attend.
5:38--figure I might as well go if my dad is going to be helping.
5:39--scoop two litter boxes.
5:45--think about what to wear as I vacuum the basement.

6:15--finish vacuuming, think about showering because vacuuming got my heart-rate up, change my mind.
6:16--pull out my black sequined skirt (I didn't make this one because it was cheaper to buy it), hold my breath and cross my fingers that it fits, debate shaving my legs and then figure no one will notice if I just wear nylons.
6:27--finish getting dressed after trying on two different tops and going with the coral cardigan instead of the purple satin blouse, decide to wear flats since I wore heels Wednesday night.
6:27:30--put on makeup.
6:35--finish makeup, close blinds and curtains, make sure cats are fed, lock the doors, turn on the outside .lights, check the caller ID on the phone, grab my keys, drive to the church which is 2 suburban blocks away.
6:40--get to the church, have a WONDERFUL time, eat a WONDERFUL meal, talk so some WONDERFUL people, get several compliments on my skirt, be grateful for such a great ward and the chance to wear something sparkly two days in a row.
9:30--drive a friend home, say hi to her kids, compliment her house with "it looks like a family lives here!"
9:40--get to my own house, say hello to my sister, think about doing dishes, do laundry instead, process some bad news about someone else.
10:10--get laundry out of washer, hang it to dry in my room (easier than letting it wrinkle sitting in the dryer overnight).
10:20--have prayer with dad and sister, wash face, brush teeth.
10:40--clean scarves off my folding screen, dig out two other sets of fabric panels for it, get it ready for a friend to borrow this weekend.
10:57--realize it's no use booting three of the four cats off my bed and settle in to (finally) sleep.
Friday morning
12:04 AM--wake up to let Gidget out.
2:47 AM--wake up to let Zelda out
5:20 AM--wake up to let Branwyn out and Cassidy in
6:40 AM--actually get out of bed

So, you see, nothing got blogged.  And there is nothing in this blog that deals directly with creativity...except that I made the fabric panels for my screen!  It came with boring white, and I lived in a basement bedroom when I got it for my birthday and wanted it to be colorful.  I took some measurements, calculated the yardage I needed, and made three other sets of panels.  Right now, the screen is white because my bedroom is light periwinkle with bright pink curtains and the panels I'd made to match the other bedroom don't really match this one.  One of these days, I'll find some really great graphic fabric in pink or yellow or black and make more panels.  That would be fun.  It's fun to have a piece of furniture that is easily customizable!

PS:  We have four cats.  The smallest (Gidget) is 10 pounds.  Brannie, the biggest, is at least 14.  They are very spoiled and very loved.