I'm Back!

Sorry to have been MIA for a while there. I was studying. See, there's a company in town that requires eight hours of testing to apply to the - yes, just to apply. I had to go to the testing office first to get into the system and create an account in the practice site. Then I had a month's worth of practice testing and studying. At first it was no problem, but the more I did the harder it got. By this past Sunday I was crazy from math. I'm usually pretty good at math, but for some reason this really stressed me out. Tuesday was my test day. I did fairly well with high marks on all but one of the tests - I messed up on one of the dexterity ones. Now I get to sit and wait to see if they're interested. In March or so I finished this skirt and today the stars aligned just right to get a picture.

It's a lightweight cotton blend from, I think, Walmart that's been in the stash for a couple of years. The pattern is New Look 6382

from 2004. I got it at Mom's charity shop last year. The skirt is three pattern pieces and took no time at all to put together. I'll be using this again to make something like this outfit

from the movie CBGB. Have you seen it? I've watched it about a dozen times. I would love to have been able to actually go there and see some bands, but I was born too late. The soundtrack is great, though, and will eventually be mine.
I recently finished reading a book called Just Kids by Patti Smith (speaking of punk music). It's her memoir of her early years in New York city with Robert Mapplethorpe. It's touching, sad, beautiful, and inspiring. They really had a special relationship. It occurred to me that I hadn't heard much of her music besides the couple of songs that get radio play, so I got her CD "Horses" from the library. I rather enjoyed it and wish I had heard it earlier in my life. Her vocal style would have really helped me overcome my fear of singing in public (thanks to years of being told how bad I am from friends and family, thank you very much).
Joshua thinks I've been on the computer too long - he just nudged my arm out of his way and curled up on my lap. It must be rough being a cat.
I have to go and finish all of the chores that I didn't do while stressing and studying. I'll be back soon!

My Snowy OWL

I've been in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup since it started in the fall of 2008. It's a knit-a-long group based on the classes of Hogwarts. The OWLs are bigger projects that take about three months to complete. I've tried three times to complete my Divination OWL but the fourth time was the charm.

I crocheted seventy snowflakes. Most of the patterns are from Snowcatcher and a few are from pinterest. They will need to be reblocked and starched next fall. Since my tree is white I want to tint or glitter the edges, too, but I'm going to experiment a bit to see what looks best. The kids don't like them too much, but I'm using them anyway. I mean, I do all the work! Completing this makes me an OWL Mistress, meaning that I've completed every subject. It doesn't matter much in the real world, of course, but I'm quite proud of myself. I have to go back to court in two weeks. Yep - my ex once again filed to modify his payments. I guess he'd rather keep seeing the judge than just send payments. I'm so frustrated. But! The sun is shining and the grass is turning green again. Before long there will be flowers everywhere and the world will be colorful again.

Update

Sorry, no pictures today. I have a few things to share but have been too stressed to get out the camera. My final (for now) court date was Wednesday. My ex lost and was incredibly horrible and ugly to me as a result. The ruling doesn't mean that we'll get support any time soon, though. He hasn't paid since September and I expect him to stretch it out as long as possible - he's that kind of asshole. Kerry will be sixteen in a couple of weeks. He's so excited. I can't believe that my baby boy is going to be driving. So that's all for today. I'll soak up some sunshine (it's actually above freezing today) and get my head back on straight. Then there will be pictures of my latest makes. Happy weekend!

Silver Lining of Sorts

Last week at this time (10:30 a.m.) I was sitting in a room at the courthouse waiting for my ex to show up for our third meeting with the state's attorney about his inability to pay support. He didn't show so I get to go back in two more weeks. Not happy. He has accused me of lying when I say that he won't be honest about his income and doesn't pay what he's supposed to or at all since September, but it's all true. But enough about him... after we left, Mom and I decided to check out the Goodwill in Peoria because we hadn't been there in ages. Holy crap. They barely had anything and it was all so out of our price range - I mean, $15 for shoes. Fifteen. Dollars. I can get new shoes for that! I did, however, find a couple of patterns that needed to come home with me.

The one on the left is one I've seen on a blog somewhere. I think my love of Stevie Nicks and her old stage costume of a leotard and chiffon skirt are coming to the front on this. Of course, that's a look only she can pull off, so I'll wear the leotard like I did twenty years ago - with jeans and crazy hair. I may try the pants and top, too, if I can find the right fabric. And on the right is another vintage shirtdress for my collection. This is from 1979 and looks pretty cool. It will also require just the right fabric, but I may have something to use for a first try. So I managed to get something good out of the day after all. Hopefully the next court date will be the last one, at least for a while. Today I'll be in another waiting room - both kids are home with fevers, sore throats, and headaches. Yay. A mommy's work is never done!

Button Cuff

You know I have a love for buttons. I've spent more than a little time on pinterest looking at beautiful things that people have made out of them and have seen an amazing array of cuffs. I decided to give it a try.

The large main buttons were made into a bracelet before but the string broke - these are rather heavy and I shouldn't have just threaded anything through them. I placed them first and added the rest a couple at a time. The larger red ones are the extras from a Halston III blouse, his line for J C Penney in the early 80s. I was surprised to find them in one of the jars that I got for Christmas. My original plan was to only use red but the fabric, silk from a vintage tie, is very colorful so I decided to add the white and blue.

It fastens with two loops made from a pony tail holder. They are perfect for use as a fastener since the skinny elastics don't work for my thick hair at all. I wore it today and it's really comfortable. Tomorrow I'll be going through my buttons again to start on another one (or more!) in some other colors. This first one isn't great since I didn't really know what I was doing, but it has really sparked my creativity. I should really get to work on some new dresses to go with my bracelets!

Socks For My Boy

I told Kerry that he should be wearing his wool socks to keep his feet warm. He replied that he couldn't find them - not surprising since his room is a disaster. He requested a new pair in Dallas Cowboys colors. He's a good boy for me, so I got out the dyes and had some fun.

I'm not sure how one of the gray stripes turned out a bit wider, but he doesn't care. He put them on right away and is excited to wear them.

Now if he would only wear a heavier coat...

A Book Review, Kind Of

Back in 1989 my dear friend Debra and I each bought a copy of The Andy Warhol Diaries. She, being an artist, was a fan of his work. I was aware of who he was and trusted Debra's taste. We read it then. I don't remember a lot about my thoughts from that time. I'm sure I was shocked at all of the talk of drugs. I was probably more interested in his friendship with Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran. Well, I pulled the book out early in December to reread since I've been in a 1970s state of mind. This time through I've noticed so much. He talks a LOT about drugs in the 70s. Did any of the celebrities get angry and try to file lawsuits? I don't know that I'd want the world knowing that I did all sort of substances in front of my kids, for example. He didn't go into detail about the rumored debauchery at Studio 54, probably because the person he was talking to already knew all about it. I would like to hear more, though, being a bit curious as to how bad it really could have been. Andy worked so much. His work days seem to be twelve or more hours a day, sometimes even on Sundays. I've seen pictures of lots of his paintings, but there must be hundreds more for me to see, not including the private portraits that he did. I'll have to check the local library for some books of his art collections. After working until nine or so he'd go out with his friends for dinner and clubbing until the early morning and the get up and do it again. He must have been used to it, having lived that life for twenty-some years. There are some people, like Bianca Jagger, who are in the entirety of the diaries. He talked of a different group of people as he got more into the Eighties. Up-and-coming stars must have sought him out for publicity since he knew so many people and was seen everywhere. He seemed lonely, though. There are several entries where he spoke of wanting a romance. I imagine his schedule made having a boyfriend difficult, especially in those days of hedonism. I was very aware, this time through, of how many people died from AIDS. Living in the middle of nowhere, we didn't get too much news of AIDS until later in the Eighties. Andy starts talking about it in about 1982, although he referred to it as "gay cancer" because it didn't have a name yet. He was really worried about it, even without a lover. I wonder if people wouldn't give permission to have their pictures in the book. There are two sections of photos, but they're both small and the pictures are kind of blah. Andy talked about having a camera with him all the time. What happened to all of those pictures? Maybe they're all in another book somewhere. I guess the review part is this - it's an interesting book, especially if you're a fan of that era (mid-Seventies to 1987) or are a Warhol fan. The editor claims to have left it mostly intact, so if that's true it's a close look into the mind of an artist and celebrity. It's made me wonder, of course, what he would have thought of today. A person can become famous for a picture on Instagram. The internet has created a new world of celebrities. And reality television...Warhol's movies Eat and Sleep kind of started the "reality" genre in a way. I'm sure all of the Real Housewives would have loved having portraits painted by the same man who painted Jerry Hall and Liza Minnelli. Now I need to decide what to read next. Should I hit the library for a biography of one of the Studio 54 crowd? Maybe back to Sherlock Holmes? Dragons and wizards? I always have a tough time deciding. A final note for today...yesterday I was browsing CVS while waiting for a prescription refill and saw, in the Valentine's Day section, a gift set of Halston cologne and body lotion for $14.99. I wonder if it smells the same as it did when it was new. I let Eric know that I'd like to get it. It's a bit sad, though, that Halston is on the shelf while Coty Musk is locked up. Okay, that's all for today. No pictures, sorry. I'll share some knitting next time as soon as I get this project finished.