A Veritable Smorgasbord!

The last few days have been packed full of activities!

Thursday, in particular...The day started with a mysterious delivery in the mail.  It was covered with Kanji and the address was China, so I knew it could only be one thing...the dress we ordered for Emma from the Cosplay company!  We ordered it just a couple weeks ago, and I was surprised that it had arrived so soon!  They estimated 50-60 days to create this dress, and it's been...what...14?  Awesome!  I was glad that it didn't take nearly as long as they said it would, but Emma's sizes were perfectly "off the rack" for the XL size.  That's right.  SHE is an EXTRA LARGE.  Those Asian chicks must be really skinny since Emma's a size 6 to 8.  What a porker.

I ran up the stairs and said, "Emma!  A dinosaur egg arrived for you!"  She gleefully tore into the packaging!  The red satin peeked through the clear plastic interior packaging and she was really excited about getting her Elizabeth dress.  She pulled out the wig, the accessories, and unfurled the dress...

And it was a dramatic let-down.  It's the wrong dress.  Hmm.  I asked her what character this dress was for and she didn't know.  I posted this picture on Facebook to see if Heide or her girls knew what it was, but they didn't.  Emma called her friend, Miss E who was able to identify it as "Beatrice" from another anime that they don't watch because it's too scary.  Note the photo laying on the floor next to the dress--it's all red and white with a little pink on it; no black or gold sequins.  Not happy.

I emailed the company and asked if it would be possible to return it, and they wrote back (in broken, but understandable, English) to apologize for the mistake and verified our order and that they would begin to make the correct dress and mail it.  They didn't mention how to return the wrong dress, but they'll probably want it back since it's a $134 gown.  And that's the sale price!  If they don't want it back...well, then I guess Emma has a bonus anime dress that she can wear.

The quilt show is coming up very soon, so everyone wanted their quilts done, and they want them now!   I quilted three different quilts this past week--a small Japanese panel quilt for Michele (didn't get a photo of it--I'll have to get that at the show next week), and a "Lasagna" quilt for Donna, which was done in the same pattern as Sharon's quilt that I finished a couple weeks ago.  For this pattern, they take 2 1/2" wide strips of fabric and sew them end to end (at 45 degree angles).  Then you fold it in half and sew those together and cut it at the fold.  Now it's half as long, but twice as wide.  Repeat process until it's about equally long and wide.  Instead of the bright colors that Sharon chose, Donna chose slightly more subdued, but still wild, colors.  The fabrics are the more modern Amy Butler or Kaffe Fassett type patterns that are all the rage now.  There were a lot of florals and leaves, so I quickly quilted it with loops and leaves.

Another large quilt I did was for a woman named Joy.  This quilt top she put together to go up for auction at her church.  While Joy's quilt isn't going into a quilt show, but it's going up for auction on the 24th--the same day as the quilt show.  I did two different quilts for her Mom a few months back--one was actually a repair from another quilter's work, and the other was a top for a wedding gift, I think--and I'm really happy that she gave her daughter the reference.  I still have to take some photos of the quilt before she comes to pick it up!

In order for two of the quilt owners to get them bound before the show, I made a trip up to drop off quilts and the pins and other supplies for our Pinning Party on Tuesday.  While I was in town, we went to the fair!  On the hottest day of the summer!  During the hottest part of the day!  We stopped at the needlework barn first; I thought that I would get it out of the way and have the kids spend most of their time seeing the critters and enjoying their fair food.  I enjoyed this Harry Potter quilt most and after a few minutes of searching, found the pattern...A FREE PATTERN...on a web site.  I also got a chance to talk to a few guild members, which was too boring for the kids and they ended up dragging me out of there within about 15 minutes.  Ah well...

We headed over to the cow barn...one of my favorite places.  I love cows...they're big and gentle, make great things like milk and butter and delicious steaks...and they don't stink as much as pigs.  Clearly an important aspect of my admiration.  This is part of the birthing center at the cow barn where this baby cow was born about four hours before.  The mama next to her was due to deliver that day, but we had lots to see and didn't want to spend the whole day waiting.

We wandered over to the beef barn where Ben started to wonder why we had to kill animals to eat them.  The thought seemed a little upsetting to him, but he got over it fairly quickly.  Cammie was introduced to the idea of the FFA and will have to look into clubs around here.  Of course, here we are living in the big city with nary a farm to be seen.  I ran into Tonya, from the quilt guild and chatted a bit about the upcoming show and our staffing issues...I assume everything will fall into place.

Connected to the beef barn was a live animal auction that was going on.  Ben got a kick out of how fast the auctioneer was talking and asked how anyone could understand him.  I totally get that.  They were auctioning pigs off at the time, and I wasn't sure if they were selling them by the pound, by the hundreds, or what.  He kept saying "one-seventy-five, two dollars..."  Maybe it was $200.  Doesn't matter...I don't like pigs.

After that, we looked at goats and sheep.  We saw little signs that said, "Wanted:  Dead or Alive" on all the pens, and then had their crime:  "eating tin cans", "escape", "ramming farmer", etc.  It was very cute!  While we were enjoying the furry critters, up steps my friend, Chris, whose boys were showing their goats!  It was so good to run into another good friend.

We wandered back to the main area to look at the rides, which we discovered were too expensive--they wanted $1.25 per ticket and each ride was at least 3 to 4 tickets, so $5 per ride per person.  The kids were disappointed, but understood that finances were not conducive for dropping $30 a kid for the infinite ride wristband.  We got some cotton candy and sat in the shade, which was also conveniently located next to the drinking fountains and the bathroom for hand washing, while the sun beat down on the grounds...it was 97 degrees that day.  I dumped a little bit of water on Ben's head to keep him cool, and we stopped for water at the drinking fountains several times, but we still got pretty dehydrated in just a couple hours.

Cammie and I shared some poffertjes from the Dutch bakery, but we missed out on the ice cream sandwiches (the "Moo-wiches") from the Dairy Maids.  After just a little more wandering, we decided we'd had enough of the heat and decided to get some ice water and lemonade from Dairy Queen and drive over to see Tara's new place (she wasn't home or we would have stopped in).  With the air conditioner on full blast and large ice waters, we soon cooled down enough to be comfortable.

We had dinner with Sharon, who explained in more detail about the mass-layoffs at the office earlier that day.  Everyone in their department was sent home after the office manager's secretary announced that the grant money had run out.  Uh...they didn't see this coming?  Apparently the boss had a head-in-the-sand technique for dealing with the upcoming money issues.

So a couple weeks ago, I got to the peak of frustration with my dishes.  I originally bought 12 place settings and I'm down to 8 plates, and a couple of them have chips in them.  While the smaller plates and most of the bowls are fine, if we have more than a couple friends over for dinner, we're going to be out of stoneware pretty quickly.  I went online and found that Macy's was having a huge sale on Fiestaware, and if you buy $50 or more, the shipping is free.  How could I resist?  I got plates in twos in scarlet, paprika, marigold, shamrock, turquoise, cobalt and plum.  This goes with the small cereal and serving bowls we already have that have withstood quite a lot of abuse in the last five years.  We broke one bowl when it crashed to the floor, but considering we bought the last set of dishes just over a year ago and lost four plates already, and I know several restaurants use these plates for their services, and friends who have recommended them, I am confident that they'll last a lot longer than the cheap Gibsons that I got before.

The Sounders played a game against the Vancouver Whitecaps this afternoon--part of the Cascadia rivalry that has endured for decades--and as a special surprise, Kelly bought two tickets in the front row at the stadium.  If you buy them at the last minute, you can get a really sweet deal on them.  Front row is perfect for short people like me and for kids who want to see the game without having to stand on seats (and probably still not be able to see).  He would have bought just one in our area, but Emma is staying with Miss E for the weekend, and I dropped Cammie off with Sharon and Miss O for a camping adventure until Tuesday.

Although we had three seats paid for, one of the seats was on the other side of the stadium, so the adults sat on the seats and Ben sat on our laps.  It was a great game and we won 2-0.  Everyone got free sunglasses and a photographer for the MLS took pictures of Ben holding his scarf over his head like the rest of us.  He's just so totally adorable!

And for my friend, Dave from Boston, I give you the Sporty Edition of Fant-Ass-Tic Days!  Enjoy!

Mid-November Rolls Around

Now that we are in the middle of the month, all the annoying Christmas commercials are in full swing and everything that should be covered with fall leaves and turkeys are covered in green and red, golden tinsel, and playing age-old tunes over and over and over and over....  I love Christmas, but I hate that it has become more commercialized year after year.  I'm thinking about making cranberry and popcorn garlands for the tree with the kids (and the scouts), and doing other old activities.

Snow is falling gently outside our window for the first time this year--I doubt there will be any serious accumulation, and I hope that it won't impinge upon the activities I have scheduled for tomorrow, which includes driving a fair distance with one of the kiddos.

The other day, when I was going to go horseback riding, but I wasn't feeling very great and didn't have an interest in riding in the cold and rain, my friend Bekah came over and taught me an easy card weaving pattern for my loom.  I had been wanting to re-learn and she was willing to teach me, so I invited her over for the day and stay for dinner.  I finished up the inkle piece I was working on so I could warp up the new card weaving.  This one had actually been on the loom for quite a long time and had been sitting next to a window, so the yarns had faded in one section.  No worries, though; I can flip it over and sew it down so the dark side shows.  I made it in "Ithra" colors--yellow, red and white--and I figured I'd put it on a tunic that I'll reserve for my Chancellorship duties.

Following Bekah's directions to the best of my ability, I warped up a small piece using 18 cards with 44 strings threaded on it and got my weave on.  There are four holes on each card, and usually a thread goes through each hole, which creates the pattern.  I forget what this is called--the technique--but it required missing some holes with the warp threads so that the weft shows up in those empty spaces.  Quite clever.  Since I didn't use all the pegs to warp it, I finished it quite quickly--about two days.  It measures about 65" long, rather than the usual 4 yards that my loom can hold.

That was so much fun, I decided to warp up another piece using a larger, more complex pattern.  It takes a few hours to warp up--making lengths of yarn, threading through the cards in the proper direction (making either an S or a Z twist on it), making sure they're all lined up in the correct order, etc.  This is especially tricky when you make the silly decision to use FIVE colors!  More than four yards of threads, 25 cards with four threads each--that's 400 yards of yarn strung on this little thing.  What was I thinking?

The colors I chose are for the Kingdom and the Barony in which I live.  They're woven together, in a symbolic way, as the branch is woven into the Kingdom.  I don't know if it's really turning out the way I expected, but it still looks pretty cool.  I think I've gotten just shy of a yard done so far, but it's going pretty quickly.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with it when I'm done.  What I've decided, however, is that I would like to get some more colors for my weaving bin.  Maybe I'll just pick up some crochet cotton because it's cheap and I can find it very easily at the local shops.  I can get it in a variety of colors, and I hope to see if I can find it in colors that you can achieve using natural dyes--which covers just about the entire rainbow.  I picked up a book today that talks about using leaves and berries and roots to dye fibers which can create reds, yellows, greens, purples, and brown.  Besides the heraldic colors, there are lots of shades of yellow and green that would be really pretty in a belt.

My sister has a friend that she's known since the dawn of time (it seems), who is having more health issues.  She was diagnosed with a brain tumor several years ago and has been in treatment off and on while it grows and shrinks.  She's continuing to have problems again and Tara has decided to fly out to visit with her at the end of the month.  She wants to take a comfort quilt with her, so we are on a short timeline to get it done.  Since Linda is *crazy* about cats, we decided to make a block with cats in it and alternate it with disappearing 9-patches.  This is a sketch of the cat we're going to make in bright fabrics.  I'll have to find out what we'll be using for background fabrics.  Tara and I were on the phone today trying to figure out what we were going to do, and I doodled, took a picture and posted it on Facebook, consulted more, made changes, posted more pictures...ain't technology grand?!  I still have to figure out the dimensions and make it ready for construction...  Talking with quilting Sharon, she and the rest of the Pirates are on board to help with this project.  Hopefully we'll be able to get blocks turned over to Tara by Thanksgiving and get the top on the frame soon after.

Last weekend was the last soccer game of the season for the Banshees. We had a celebratory lunch at a small pizza and pasta joint where the coaches handed out these lovely scarves to each of the players instead of trophies.  Coach Charlie thought it would be funny to give Cammie a little fringe hairstyle while Coach Scott said lots of lovely things about each player.  The girls didn't have a great year--they lost every game, although most of them were really close games and their defense was quite improved since last year.  They had a good time, and surprisingly good weather so there wasn't much to complain about.  (Funny thing--Charlie isn't the coach's real name.  Everyone (except his wife) calls him Charlie.  His last name is Chaplin.  I guess he was a bit of a clown as a kid or something.  Thankfully he doesn't have the same mustache...a style that has really gone out of fashion since World War II.)

The last game of the season was a little bit drippy and quite cold, but overall not unpleasant.  The parents on our team are all really great people, fun and fair, and supportive of all the girls.  We're lucky not to have some of those obnoxious parents who yell at the refs (some of whom are teenagers), the coaches (all volunteers) and push to have their kid play more.  Our coaches are quite wonderful, fair, and work the girls well.  I hope that Cammie continues on the team since she's made such great strides this year as a forward and midfielder.  She's expressed an interest in quitting, but I'm hoping we can talk her into playing another year or two.

Tomorrow I'm teaching a class on Viking undertunics.  I don't know if I have any students signed up yet, but it'll be fun even if no one does.  I'll bring my loom and some fabric to cut out a tunic for Ben.  Speaking of which, I have to pack.  G'nite.

Girl Scout Follow Up

The meeting went pretty well, especially for a first day back.  We almost didn't have a meeting because I didn't have a co-leader for the day.  I went ahead and started anyhow, figuring I could write a note to the other parents asking them for a little more support or it can't happen.  Fifteen minutes in, my co-leader came in with her daughter (who is homeschooling this year), and she promised to be there on time for the next meeting.  She just got my email a short while before and raced over to the meeting. 

The girls drew self-portraits and I talked about Catherine of Aragon, though I didn't mention her name, just to see if they could guess who it was.  They couldn't.  I gave lots of hints about the husband--they guessed Charles I, Edward II, and Harold.  Don't know who Harold is.  Unless she was thinking about the last Viking, Harold Hadrata...not likely.  Anyway, I said he had six wives and THEN they got it!  Fun to watch those light bulbs go off.  :)

I demonstrated the stitch, but we really ran out of time for them to practice enough, so they are having trouble working on it at home.  Maybe I'll have a refresher course for next meeting and they can keep on working while we talk about other things, brainstorming how to change the world and stuff.  I'm going to be meeting with Brownie leader and the Service Unit leader in a couple days to see if I can get more information about when the books are actually coming out and if there are any other online sources to consult to get a jump start on earning badges.  I'm really irritated that they left us hanging without much to work from for the first part of the school year.

One of the things I was looking into was the "artist" badge that each level can earn, and it appears that there are no needlework or fiber-related badges anymore.  Nothing.  No quilting, knitting, weaving, sewing, embroidery...nothing.  It's all drawing, painting, and that sort of thing.  I think there's also a digital photography badge.  OK...  And geo-caching.  Really?  I don't have a GPS.  I don't know how we're going to do this, but we're gonna wing it.

Anyway, I got a bit more done on my blackwork sampler.  I decided to make a few of the blocks different sizes.  I did a bit of research and it turns out these samplers were very common in the 1500s; this was a way to practice stitches and, I suppose, to use them as a reference later for when you want to do a big project or need a variety of patterns for a shirt, skirt, stomacher, or some other big garment.  I'd like to try to make a garment with blackwork on it, so I might go down and pick up some wash-away stitching stuff I saw at the store.  I think I'll need it to make a coif since I don't trust my linen to be even-weave.  I need to look up the how-to on making a coif.  When you start, they're just this rectangle with wavy edges (like these at left), then you sew one seam and it's a hat.  I made one once but it turned out a funny size.  Maybe I mis-measured or put it together wrong...I'll have to check that.  This will count as my A&S 50 project as well as a costumer's guild Journeyman item. 

Dad sent me some pictures of the fishing adventure he and Cammie had last month.  She had a blast hanging out with him and catching a few fish.  And she looks just adorable in these armpit waders and fins. 

What's really funny is that with the sunglasses and hat, she looks an awful lot like my Dad.  Without the cigar.  She's really looking forward to going out again soon.   

We've been running ragged this past week with soccer practices, games, Girl Scouts, karate, and school.  Today was picture day at school followed by picture day for soccer teams.  I ordered a group picture for each of Cammie's and Ben's teams, but I snuck this one while they were setting up.  These really are a terrific bunch of girls.  Not all of them are destined to be stars, but a couple of them may go on to play high school or college ball--they're good and passionate.  One of them is new to our team this year--last year, her coach was not very supportive and critical of her speed and grace.  Not a good experience for either of them.  Our team isn't about that, so Coach P (on the right) asked her to join our team and she's having FUN!  And that's the important part.

I'll have to keep that in mind for scouts, too.  Even if they don't earn badges, we can still have fun. 

K

Between Projects

I've got so many irons in the fire, the forge is looking like a porcupine.  Besides my ridiculously busy schedule with two kids in soccer and one in karate (and I have made it clear that they are only permitted one sport at a time), I also have Girl Scouts coming up where I am the leader, three quilt guilds where I am the secretary for one of them this year and the quilt show coordinator for next year, SCA and all the art projects associated with that.

Emma's karate is coming along and her sensei decided she was ready to test for the yellow belt (starts white, then yellow, orange, green, green with a blue stripe, blue, blue with a brown stripe, brown, then black...at least, that's what I remember from the display on the far wall), but the test is THIS Saturday in Redmond, which is a bit of a haul (not horribly far, but not just down the street), and we are already double-booked for the weekend. The next test date is in mid-October, so Sensei is starting to teach her the yellow belt stuff now, just to give her a head start for the test after that.

Cammie was delivered to her aunt Nancy for a couple days to hang out with her favorite cousin, Nate.  He's a year younger than her, but they've been the closest of pals since toddlerhood and we try to get them together at least a couple times a year, and recently, each summer for a few days.  His birthday was a couple weeks ago, so they're having a belated birthday party for him and we'll go back to fetch her on Friday.

Ben is continuing to dislike soccer.  He complains that he's too slow, he doesn't kick the ball hard enough and doesn't have the strength.  I'm thinking that maybe he'd have a better time with karate, too.  We'll give soccer a couple more weeks and if things are really going poorly, we'll have to decide whether to pull him out and sign him up for karate at the Y instead or what.

The yurt is coming along--we cut the new rafters from the hem-fir and screwed in the lag bolts on Monday.  I need to re-drill the holes in the tono to accommodate the larger rafter pegs (the lags are 3/8"; I drilled 1/4" for the ill-fated 3/16" pencil rod).  After that, I may actually get to set the thing up!  I still need to sew the roof for it, but it's getting darn close to being finished!!

I also finished one of the two yellow thistle knee socks.  I have 30 or so rows of yellow to knit, and the second will be done.  I'll be happy to have those off the needles and sent on to the new owners.  I'll also like to have the $50 in my pocket for having finished them!

A few new projects have surfaced, too--I am commissioned to make a couple sets of Elizabethan clothes for 8 and 9 year old girls for Halloween...or rather, All Saints Day.  The girls at the Catholic schools get brownie points from the priests for dressing up as Saints, so the girls chose St. Margaret Ward to be their chosen saint.  She rescued a priest from prison for having continued to hold services after Catholicism was made illegal.  She smuggled a rope into the prison to help him escape and things went awry when the rope was accidentally left behind and a boatman who was in on the plot was caught and ratted her out.  She was one of 40 who were named martyrs of England and Wales.

I may also have some clothes to make for Tyrssen's lady, who likes things frilly and girly.  Elizabethan it is!  I don't know if I'll be able to make a proper bodice without fittings, but I should be able to make most of the other parts--chemise, skirt, sleeves (for indoor wintertime events), ruffs, etc.  What I'd like to try to make (for myself first) is a coat from that era.  I've seen other people wearing them and they're just spectacular.  I'll have to see if I can find a pattern.  The internet is the most amazing tool!

I don't have to be anywhere until 3:30 tomorrow, so I think I'll spend a couple hours catching up on housework.  Sheets, laundry, vacuuming, bathrooms, countertops...there's a lot to do.

G'nite.
K