Tower Love

I've been having a lot of stress lately. A Lot of stress. I've spent probably too much time talking about it in my Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup group. I've been friends with my "dorm mates" for several years now and know that they will offer good advice and have experienced much of what I've been going through. Well, something unexpected happened. I was gifted a pattern collection that includes this lovely design:

I got several cards in the mail:

and then I got my first-ever magic yarn ball full of amazingness:

with a purse pattern that will be steampunkified and an apron pattern that may protect me from my baking flour explosions:

I've also gotten many private messages with support and ideas to help with my problems. I can't fully express how much it means to know that these wonderful friends care so much about me. I do have a couple of finished sewing projects, but it has been blah and rainy here so the pictures aren't turning out well. If the sun comes out later I'll try again.

Some Reading For You

During my morning blog reading I came across a couple of great posts and I thought I'd share them with you. Lauren, the creator of the Wearing History sewing patterns, has this great post on creating a finished sewn item that will be loved. I'm going to try all of her tips this summer...and maybe splurge for a couple of her patterns. I mean, check out the beach trousers and the WW11 work overalls! I think the overall pattern as a playsuit would be so cute and cool for summer and beach trousers would help me channel my inner Jean Harlow. What do you think? Kristen wrote a wonderful entry about body image. It really spoke to me. I have my issues, of course, but it breaks my heart when my beautiful girls complain about their size - they all are healthy, active, and wear the smallest jeans available for juniors. Seriously, Erica is one size bigger than Khloe even though they are eight years apart. Since my surgery last year my fibro hasn't been bothering me. I've been able to move around, dance in the kitchen, walk laps around the track - I feel so much better and want to dress to show how I feel even though, according to the charts, I'm overweight. Our force-fed mentality on what's attractive makes me sick. Anyway, Kristen is having a sewalong that I'm trying to figure out how to join. It's for skivvies! I'd like to make a slip or a vintage-inspired cami and tap pant set but don't know if I'll be able to get to the fabric store. I found Kristen's blog when she hosted a Pushing Daisies sewalong. I'm now obsessed with having some Chuck and Olive clothes....obsessed, I tell you! I watch the show all the time (it's been playing on the Chiller channel) and am trying to decide where to start. Eventually I want to get the blu-rays since I love the show so much - sometimes fast-forwarding through the commercials gets irritating. I've been looking around the internet for screen captures from the show but haven't had much luck...sometimes my searching skills aren't so great. Okay, I veered way off-topic there. Sorry. I have a finished top to share but can't get a good picture. I'll try taking the camera outside to see if that helps. I do have a finished knitting project for you

It's a duster for the swiffer handle! I used Red Heart, in purple of course, because the acrylic is supposed to grab dust better than smoother fibers. It's totally throw-in-the-washer safe, too. I'll tell you what, though, those loops really fought me. I understood the mechanics of making the stitch but the execution, well, I was all thumbs. It turned out well, though. Now if only I could get one of these kids to dust for me! I'm working on a post for tomorrow. See you soon!

Embroidery Plans

A few weeks ago on Wendy Knits, the only pure knitting blog that I read, I entered a contest to win a Scandinavian embroidery book and won. Yay!

I'm so inspired by all of the projects...let me show you:

The book covers several different kinds of embroidery and has instructions for all of them plus patterns and tracing paper. I'm thinking about making this top out of some crinkle cotton and adding a design around the neck and maybe the sleeves. I keep looking at the amazing hoodie and have to remind myself that I haven't embroidered in a long time and should choose something a bit less intense. I could eventually make more than one. I have plenty of fabric and floss - the fabric is from a yard sale and the floss is from the auction. I just need to cut out my shirt and get sewing! Khloe has been watching a show called Pretty Little Liars on netflix. I know that it's a popular program, but I don't get it. The main characters are really quite slow-witted. Even Khloe comments on the stupid things that they do. Maybe the show is so popular because the cast is really attractive. Maybe, being an adult, I'm just not supposed to like it - I think the target audience is teens. Have you watched it? What do you think?

I Love Macrame!

I mentioned that I'd gone to an auction a few weeks ago and had a great time - and got some wonderful goodies! I haven't worked up a post about it because my basement flooded again so I've been trying to dry it out and will be spending some time scrubbing and preventing mold. Bleh. But! One of the lots I won was a big stack of McCall's Needlework magazines from the 60s and 70s. Last month one of the classes for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup included a choise to do some macrame-ing...so this is what I made

It isn't great because I used yarn (stash-busting) and haven't knotted in a long time, but I'm pleased with how it came out. It's very summery. I hope to get lots of wear out of it. I took a cleaning break this afternoon to sort out a bag of embroidery floss from the auction. I haven't done any in quite a long time but recently I won an embroidery book! I'll take some pictures and tell you about it tomorrow because it's really cool. I have a whole sewing and embellishing project in my head. Let's see how long it takes to actually get done...heh heh.