The Sewing Faeries

We are the little known Sewing Faeries and we have decided to take over Meredith's Blog for the day.  We love to cause a bit of mischief here and there and she has given us the perfect opportunity.  She is out for a walk with her dog Max on a rare Friday off, something about one of her little ones having strep throat, can't go to work....blah, blah, blah.  So here we are!  

For those of you that sew we visit you every once in a while to give you inspiration and to help you through a tough project.  All of that helping you achieve sewing greatness can take its toll on us, you see we are Faeries and we do like to have a bit of fun.We are the ones who move your scissors or laugh hysterically when you can't find the reading glasses that are propped on the top of your head.  

Meredith was like the perfect storm to us.  We spotted her in Joann's one day marching purposefully to the Clover crochet hooks, she had that air about her, a bit too cocky about her yarn skills.  We knew from her past history that she had some sewing experience, limited at best to Halloween costumes and placements, but she had some experience and that was a plus.  We knew she had a sewing machine and a serger, which to us means twice the fun.  We helped her to slow down as she walked by the fabrics and notice the beauty all around her, usually she only is drawn by the yarn fumes in the store, fabrics she did not ever seem to notice.  We magically put 40% off coupons in her purse and enticed her to walk by the very simple, super easy, patterns section.  We knew if we were going to nail her the pattern would have to be on a display rack, this woman was not going to sit and flip through pattern books.  Then it happened she reached for a simple dress, six pieces of fabric stitched together with some elastic, and poof you are done, it seemed easy enough.

Meredith bought everything we told her to by whispering in her ear.  She took it all home and but it in a bin.  We waited, waited and waited some more for the perfect time to help her make this dress.  A three day weekend seemed perfect.  Normally a dress of this easy level should only take an hour or two, but with Meredith we decided to have some fun.  You see she is extremely menopausal, her hormones are all over the place thanks to the Hormone Faeries.  She gets very confused and easily overlooks the simplest direction, ah she was the perfect candidate for some Faerie fun.

First we confused her with the pattern layout, then we kept breaking the thread on her serger, it was a hoot. But when she put the arms in upside down, twice well that was priceless, we could not have asked for more fun, and she did that one all on her own!  

Finally we felt she had had enough, bless her, she needed to complete that dress before too long or we knew she would never sew again.  She is such a fun subject we knew we did not want to be done with her quite yet.  So we helped her sew the sleeves on, in the right direction, she is a therapist after all you would think she would know that your arms do not grow out of your waist.

 We helped her put the elastic in the sleeves, neck and waist without it getting too caught up on the inside seams.

And we helped her to hem the bottom of the dress, of course it is a bit wavy, her first project in ages can't look that good.  After putting the finished dress on Caroline the dress form we helped her to step back and take a good look.  Keep in mind Caroline has no waist, or hips, well she has no bust either but neither does our student Meredith.  Caroline is looking pretty snazzy in the super, simple dress that has now taken Meredith about a week to finish.

We had so much fun at Meredith's expense we had her stop by Joann's again yesterday on her way home from work, those 40% off coupons are working in our favor.  She picked up this linen blend, with little flowers for a steal.  We might have her hooked.

 Oh no what is this?  Speaking of hooked she has started something new, Lord that girl has a short attention span.  We saw her outside yesterday evening playing with yarn and swinging, with the most sublime look on her face.  This new African Flower is what we found in her basket.  We knew she was up to something when she looked so content.   We had better get busy and not let the Crochet Faries have a laugh at our expense.

Oh, and by the way, when she shows you pictures of flowers she is trying to distract you from looking too closely at the things she has made.  I mean we love flowers we are Faeries after all, but even sweet little roses should not divert your attention from her projects, and all their irregularities.

We better get going we see her walking up the driveway with that Max, he knows when we are around and growls at us a lot, which only makes Meredith lose her concentration and adds to our fun.  We might go a bit easier on her with dress number 2, I mean it is the exact same pattern, what could go wrong?

Things I have learned from sewing......

There are several thing I have learned from my sewing experience and none of them are pretty.  For all of you out there who sew, I take my hat off to you and give you a bow.  You are amazing. Yesterday I hurried up and did my cleaning, started my laundry and took Max for a walk.  I was ready to get my two dresses going.  They had been pinned, cut out and I had read the directions, I jumped right in.  So these are a few of the things I have learned from my sewing experience yesterday.

* I can not sew.

* I can not sew a straight seam, it does not matter how fast or slow I go, they are not straight. 

* I can not read a pattern.  Knitting and crochet patterns are so easy to read.  Really if you take it line by line eventually it will all make sense.  Sewing patterns not so much, they give you diagrams and sort of tell you what to do, and I think they assume you are awesome at sewing so they leave the rest to your imagination.

* Working on two of the exact same dresses at the same time makes my already muddled brain more muddled.  Even following this simple direction, "Sew bodice front to bodice back at the sides." Left me confused.

* No matter how hard I tried, and read and re-read the directions I ended up with my sleeves sewn in upside down, on BOTH dresses.  I wish my arms grew out of my body in a different direction but they don't.

*  When working in a gauze type fabric it is best to just throw it out if you have made a huge mistake (see above) because there is no way I am ripping out two seams sewn, 1/8 of an inch apart and a serged seam, without creating big gaping holes in the fabric.

* Decide to throw out the other dress top also because I have more fabric in this color and it is much faster to just start over on the whole darn thing.

* After cutting out new top and sleeves, put all of this away as I have had it for the day, sewing and sewing mistakes can leave you exhausted.

* Decide to clean the tile and grout in my shower because this is something I actually can do, and will give me almost instant gratification, unlike sewing.

* Spend extra long time in shower after it is clean, trying to get rid of headache I already had before I started the sewing fiasco, and try to relax.

*  After shower go outside with a late lunch and read Knitter's Magazine when my youngest son comes out to chat and tells me that my, "feet are gross and look old, and so do your hands."  

* Wish darling son, who is generally very quiet and sweet, would go upstairs and leave me alone.

* Now I have had one son discuss my aging feet and the other mention I have more wrinkles than any person he knows (which would include his 94 year old Grandmother).  Feel that like I did something wrong raising these two monsters, which would normally make me feel a bit sad, but yesterday just irritated me even more.

* Go inside to put the tea kettle on to make some calming tea, quickly put lotion on offensive feet and hands to counteract the aging process, when I notice sesame seeds all over counter and floor, from husbands lunch.

 * Wonder for the one millionth time in my married life why my husband or children can not wipe up the freaking counter after they make something.  The excuse, "I don't see it," doesn't seem to be working for me right now.  Try to remain calm and blame bad mood on sewing disaster, but know deep down inside sewing has nothing to do with the mess in the kitchen.

* Sit down with calming tea that I have made in a extra big mug, take some Tylenol for now enormous headache, pick up knitting and finally start to relax.  Working with yarn is where I belong.

*  I will try again today to make this super, simple dress, because if nothing else I am stubborn.  Keep your fingers crossed I can put in the sleeves the right way this time.

What are you up to this weekend?

Hooray a three day weekend, I am soooooooo happy.  I get to sleep in and play around with whatever I want to.  Don't you love three whole days where you can move at your own pace and putz around here and there.  I  did have a check list for myself for the weekend but it involved fun things to do.  

Number 1 is to finish my crochet African Flower Bag.  I can check that one off my list.

This fabric is not near as blue as the pictures are indicating, it is actually purplish polka dot fun.  I even created a pocket, let me just say my sewing skills leave much to be desired.

 I am not loving the button, it needs something much more fun, so this will have to do until I can find one.

I sewed on the lining with purple thread and stitched over with blanket stitch with green floss.  I wanted more stability and I did not want the lining to pull off the yarn.

Sorry about my toes sneaking into the photo, number 2 on the list needs to be freshly painted toe nails.  I bought this fabric at the quilting store Rainbow's End, and if you are a quilter believe me this is your little piece of Heaven.  The fabrics are amazing, so many colors and patterns to choose from.  They must have every quilting notion that is made, plus ribbons and patterns.  If you are a quilter and visit Florida, Rainbow's End needs to be a a priority for you.  The store is located in Dunedin, Florida.  I love it so much it makes me want to take up quilting, which I am not going to do, I have too many other things I love to do.

 I had some extra fabric from the bag and I remembered reading somewhere on Pinterest about how to make a t-shirt that is too tight a bit bigger.  I loved these polka dots so much I thought I would give it a try.  So I got busy, and frankly created a big mess.  How could sewing two seams on each side be such a problem?  Well if you have to re-do your serger and the thread keeps breaking (insert several swear words here) it becomes an issue.  So a very quick project became a bit of a pain, but it is finished!

 I also decided that I wanted to sew a few little dresses for myself.  You see I am a bit insane and I can not stress to you enough that I can't sew.  That last thing I seriously made was Halloween costumes for my boys.  About 17 years ago I made some dresses to fit my expanding belly as I was pregnant, but since then, not a lot has been made.
 

 I swear I am trying to conger up my Home Economics teacher from middle school Mrs. Koch.  I am trying to remember what she said to do and what all those symbols mean on the patterns.  I think I got a pretty good grade on the sundress that I made in school, even though I did not back stitch or tie off any of the threads.  I was so worried it was going to fall apart the day we had to wear it to school for a fashion show in class.   If these two dresses turn out you all will be the first to know, if not I am not uttering a word.

I have gardened a little bit, mostly weeding which I need to complete tomorrow, so that can't be checked off  my list, yet.  Look at my gorgeous rose tree, well it is really a bush that has been shaped into a tree.  I re-potted it a few weeks back and it is loving the extra space.  The blooms keep coming, and now it is too high for the deer to eat, they love a good rose or hibiscus flower for a treat.

They have a very delicate fragrance.  Lovely.

A beautiful walk on the beach with a friend this morning was such a treat.  We walked five miles and got to reconnect over beautiful sand, warn salty air and lovely little waves. 

Here is the African Flower bag with my yarn bombing/tree art.  The bag is heavier than I would like, and it looks like a messenger bag, which is actually the look I was going for.  The funny thing is if you put some books in it, or a lap top (which I do not own) it will be heavy.  I am all about the process not the final product, so I may never even use this bag.  But I like that I figured it out all on my own and completed it even if it isn't spectacular.  That puts me a 9,180 yards of yarn used this year.  I think I might have a yarn problem don't you?  

I have few little things to make for my sister Claudia, I get to start those today, another thing to cross off my list.  What is on your list for the long weekend?

Sadness, new yarn and a finish

The devastation in Oklahoma has been so sad.  My heart goes out to everyone experiencing the loss of a loved one, the loss of a home and the loss of a life that felt safe.  As I watch the news I hope that those lovely people, who have lost so much, can find peace and know that the country and the world are praying for them.

On to other things that seem a bit trivial at this time, but life continues to move on, even when it doesn't feel quite right for it to do so.

My yarn order came in from Patternworks yesterday.  There is really nothing more fun then a bag of yarn arriving on your doorstep.  I ordered the colors for the hexagon bag and a few more to once again tackle the Lucy bag from Attic24.  We know how my last one turned out, it was a disaster that I ended up felting trying to salvage it.

Having to wait on yarn makes you have to work on something else.  And boy have I been putting my nose to the grindstone trying to finish this.

This is the Sixteen-Button Cardigan by Cecily Glowik.  I found this pattern in the book Simple Style by Ann Budd.  I need to call mine the Fourteen-Button Cardigan as I only put on 14 buttons, or as it has been known on my blog for quite sometime The Blue Malabrigo Sweater.

 The ribbing at the bottom has some interesting details  It creates a lovely triangle shape on the sides and the back.

This sweater is made from the bottom up even though it looks like a raglan which is made from the top down.  It is made in one piece until the sleeve line.  Once there you start your sleeves up to the point where they will be attached, you then attach the front, a sleeve, the back, a sleeve and the remaining front.  It is once again knit in one piece with the ribbing decreases, which are very simple to do.  

Once you knit up the button bands, which I did in a 4x4 rib not the 5x5 as per the instructions, all you have to do is sew up the arm seams.  It all sounds so easy and effortless now that I am done, but a sweater is a big undertaking, especially for someone like me who lately has a very short attention span.

This sweater is made from Malabrigo Rios, in the colorway Azules which is darker and more vibrant than seen in these pictures.  I think the sun has softened the color, but sun was needed to see the detail.  I simply love this yarn, it is so soft and wonderful to work with.  It is pure merino superwash so it feels beautiful in your hands.  It has a nice weight to it, not heavy at all just yummy, the yarn is just  yummy.

 I used a total of 800 yards for this sweater and that was with making it a bit longer in the torso and arms, I am pretty tall and my arms are pretty long.  It really fits nicely which is a huge bonus after all the time and energy put into making it.  Energy strictly for perseverance not for the actual knitting.  Not a bad sweater to make if you are newish to knitting, the directions are straight forward and there are not a lot of seams to sew up, I am not a fan of seams. That is finished project 19 for me, and adding in the baby blanket I made for my great nephew that is a total of 8,820 yards of yarn used this year. 

Today Max heard that I had written about his little adventure on my blog, he not was not happy. I believe I have seen that look from my teenagers, translated it means, really Mom, could you embarrass me anymore?

Hope you are having a lovely Wednesday.

Random thoughts on a Monday

I am all over the place today, I don't have to work because one of my little ones is very ill.  I don't want to get sick or bring an illness home for my son who is about to move into finals, so no work for me.  On a day like today, no work is a bit of a surprise, I am not quite sure what to do with myself.  So I feel like I am all over the place not really settled if you know what I mean.

So random thoughts are on my mind, a bit of this and that is swirling around my brain waiting to come out.

 Last year Max and I made a pact, we decided we were going gray together.  He has been going gray since he was 3, you know he has a terribly stressful life here taking care of all of us.  I decided to stop low lighting my hair a year ago and let it go.  No more long expensive hair appointments for me.  I have to say that we are both doing well in this pact of ours.  I now have long gray hairs all over but a very big streak of gray just over my left eye.  My Mom had a streak over her right eye, I like it.  When I pull my hair up which is how I wear it most days the whole left side of my hair is gray, while the right is not.  I look like a puzzle with pieces that don't exactly match.

 The African Flower Bag remains just like it was last time you saw it, please Patternworks, get my yarn order to me so I can finish this!

Would you like a weeding tip I read about in my paper for sidewalks and pavers?  Mix one gallon of vinegar with one cup of salt, and one tablespoon of dish detergent.  Place on your problem area and before you know it you have a bunch of dead weeds.  I should have weeded before this little trick, so now I have a bunch of dead weeds in cracks in my pavers.  It took a total of 5 gallons of vinegar to do my whole walkway, but it is still pretty inexpensive and not so harsh on the environment as store bought weed killer.

 It is soooo hot here already that some of my flowers are beginning to die.  Good bye beautiful petunias that lasted all Winter long.

 I re-potted Her Highness a few weeks ago.  Last year she did not grow very much and her flowers this past Christmas were few and far between.  Everything I read about Christmas Cactus' does not seem to work for this one.  She loves to be outside, she loves to be in the hot and humid weather, and she loves to be re-potted.  So we are going for what works for us and not what I read about.

There are little tiny leaves already growing.  I am thrilled.

I am thinking of making The Tranquil Tank Top by Lion Brand.  You can find it on Lionbrand.com but I seem to be having difficulty loading the pattern link for you.  It is currently an KAL with Lion Brand, I won't be knitting along, I just may be knitting at my own pace.  That is when I finish this.

The blue Malabrigo sweater is almost done .  I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the finish line, the big celebration at the end.....just not yet.  Patience and perseverance are not my strong points.

My gardenia's are still in bloom.  I have to enjoy them from outside as I think the strong but lovely fragrance is stuffing up my nose.  They are so beautiful but I think I would give up a couple of my of bushes for some gorgeous lilacs.  I miss those beautiful flowers every single Spring.

And to end this post I have to tell you a little tale about my Max.  This is the door from my garage into my kitchen area.  My Max is so well behaved, he never and I mean never walks out this door unless he is told he can do so.  He might put his two front paws out, but his behind is definitely in.  I can leave the door open for a long time and my boy will not move.  Well that was until last week.  I was cleaning and pottering around my house in the late afternoon when I saw the back door open.  This is not unusual because our door often does not close tightly, but it was wide open which was a bit strange.  I closed the door and went on my way.  About 20 minutes later my husband came home and yelled my name (not an unusual occurrence) and said that Max had greeted him outside by his car when he pulled in.  He heard the thumping of Max's tail on his car before he opened the car door.  That little sneak pushed the door open and decided he could go out and have a little smell-a-thon all on his own. When he came in he looked at me and put his head down and tried to walk right past me.  The nerve of that sweet boy.  We had a serious talk and he swears he won't do it again.  Look how innocent he looks!

If you are loving the Miss Maggie Rabbit so many people have made in blog land I suggest you pop over to Alica's blog at Posie Gets Cozy and order yours before this shipment gets all bought up.  I ordered mine last week.

What random thoughts are swirling around in your head just waiting to get out?

Flowers and a Free Day

How is everyone today?  I am having a lovely day.  I had the day off work!  Now we know my job isn't overly stressful, but it is having to be at a certain place, at a certain time, with a plan for therapy and with a happy face that can become tiresome.  I also drive a LOT to get to and from work and I drive in a LOT of traffic, I swear just not driving as much today has lifted my spirits. 

When I was at work on Thursday I was chatting with the Medical Foster Mother I work with and she was telling me her family was taking her out to breakfast for Mother's Day.  She is in her late sixties and has been a Medical Foster Mother for 37 years, I worked with her and her children years ago before Mr. 19 year old was born.  Now I go to her house every Tuesday and Thursday morning to see the children in her care.  So I had an idea, I would go to work and be with her little ones on Sunday and she could go out to breakfast without having to worry about them.  I am already approved to be a respite worker so there was nothing to do but for her to say, yes.  She thought about it maybe 5 seconds and thought it was a great idea.  I had a great time with the boys, we got all their therapy in and she got to go out to a nice, leisure breakfast.  So today I had off.  Hooray for me.

She bought this beautiful plant for me for Mother's Day.  How nice was that? 

So today I got up at the crack of Dawn to get my son up, I made some tea, I exercised, read blogs at a leisurely pace and went out to breakfast with a friend I haven't seen in months.

I picked up my son at school and didn't have to rush to get there.  I came home cleaned, and cleaned without feeling rushed.  Even some of my outdoor furniture got a good bath with mold and mildew cleaner.

 

 I walked around watering my flowers.  This bougainvillea was recently re-potted. It looks beautiful with the gardenia's behind it.

 I watered the newly planted plants in the garden hoping there was not much damage from the deer.  They think my house has the best appetizers in the area.

 I took a few minutes to enjoy my view.  A view of trees and sunlight.  The back of my house butts up to a swamp preserve area, it isn't very wide,  as sometimes I can hear people from the next subdivision over, but it is my little area of paradise.

My African Flower bag is on hold, I had to order a bit more yarn to finish it off.

The blue Malabrigio sweater has come out of the Feel Good Basket for a bit.  I have completed the bottom portion up to the arms, I have completed the bottom of one arm and have started on the second.  Soon I will be gathering the fronts, back and arms onto one long circular needle and finishing the yoke of the sweater.  You understand that I won't be able to wear this for a while, it is in the mid to high 80's here.  But I look forward to the finished product, well that is if something else doesn't catch my fancy, which knowing me is entirely likely.

And this evening when the sun goes down just a bit you will find me here, swinging and reading or knitting.  A great way to end the day.  I think I could get used to more days off if they were all as nice as this, moving at my own pace and pittering and puttering around.

Hope you are having a lovely day, too.

Mothering is Like Gardening

 I spent a lot of time outside today in the garden, that is after I took Mr. 19 year old to the airport and sent him on his way.  You all know that Motherhood has been on my mind a lot lately, well today is no different. 

 It seems to me that Motherhood is a lot like gardening.  You carefully plant a plant or a seed hoping for the best.  You care for that plant watering, fertilizing and making sure it gets lots of sun, and sometimes you have an amazing flower and sometimes things go wrong.  No matter how hard you try things just may not turn out the way you want them to. 

Gardening like motherhood brings you to your knees, there is sometimes backbreaking work to be done, and sometimes there is a time to be still, and watch, letting the plant grow at it's own speed.

You get yourself all dirty, you sweat and swear a bit too.  You keep your fingers crossed that there will be a beautiful garden growing from all your hard work, but sometimes it is too sunny or hot, or too rainy and there are pests that eat your plants and weeds popping up every time you turn around.  Sometimes you have planted things too close together or you have stood by too long and things have gotten out of control, and find out that now it is much harder to get things back on track, but you have to you have no choice.

And sometimes you are blessed with a beautiful bloom that was hiding in the dark waiting for the perfect time to show up and make you smile.

To all you women out there I wish you a wonderful day tomorrow.  I don't believe you have to have children of your own to celebrate Mother's Day.  There are all kinds of ways to be a positive influence in someones life and that needs to be celebrated for the mothering that it is.  Maybe you have a classroom full of children you mother everyday, or pets at home that you share your love with.  Maybe you are a special aunt or neighbor that provides love for someone who needs it.  Maybe you mother your friends and co-workers. Maybe you are now mothering your parents because of their ages and now the role of daughter has turned more into the role of a parent.  I hope you all see how wonderful you are loving and helping others.  So in the garden of my life I celebrate my children, the children I work with, and all the other young adults I am around, but I also celebrate each and everyone of you.

Happy Mother's Day.

A Beautiful Sunday

Today is just the most gorgeous day.  Here in Florida during Spring we went from chilly right to hot and humid.  Today is perfect.  The humidity is low, the sun is brilliant and the temperature is hovering around 76 degrees.  You can sit outside and and not sweat to death.  Perfect, perfect, perfect.  After my chores I am going to plop my expanding behind in my swing and crochet. 

Yesterday was also lovely, I made a quick trip to the Honeymoon Island, to the beach for a long walk.  The skies clouded up and were threatening rain by the time I reurned, but the walk was lovely.  My vow was to make it to the beach more to enjoy the fact that I live in Florida, I think I may need some reminders to help me achieve this goal.  Life gets so busy, between taking care of my family, my house, and work there is not a lot of time to venture to far.  I know I have to make time, really to help my sanity.  Maybe I can help your sanity with a few pictures.

At the very tip of Honeymoon Island you can see the lighthouse on Anclote Key in Tarpon Springs.  This lighthouse is non functioning, but there is always hope of restoring it.

 Spaced out across the beach are these lovely benches with a tribute written on the back for loved ones.  I think this is a  very nice way to remember someone you love.

On to more yarny things.  I was originally going to make an eight petal African Flower square for my bag, but then decided that the thought of sewing all those squares together was not going to be fun.  I did not like the way the squares looked so I frogged the outer layer of crochet. You have to understand that math is not, nor ever will be my area of expertize.  So I just kept going with the eight petals not giving it a whole lot of thought.  Guess what octagon's do not make great shapes for a bag.  I figured that out a bit late I am afraid.  I went back and looked at lots of pictures on Pinterest and guess what?   I know this will not come as a surprise that most of these flowers are made in a hexagon for a reason, they fit together nicely this way.  After pulling apart two of my flowers and fussing quite a bit about it, I took a look around and decided that one of the trees in my backyard needed  a bit of dressing up.

I decorated this lovely tree with my three remaining octagon shaped African Flowers.  I think it looks rather lovely.  Since I live with all men, who never, ever venture outside to help in the yard I think this might go undetected for years.  I just might be adding on to this tree art with some bits and bobs of yarn fun.  Goodness knows I have lots of flowers and things left over from projects.

This is actually how it is supposed to look.  Wow imagine that, shapes that fit together.  I am having fun with this new project although as you can see after all this frogging, not much is getting done.

The blue Malabrigo sweater made it out of the 'Feel good basket" for the trip to Ohio.  I did lots of knitting while waiting for Mr. 19 year old to get his rear end in gear so we could pack.  I am now ready to separate for the fronts and backs.  You would think this would motivate me but the thrill of African Flowers has taken over my brain.

Thanks for all your heartfelt comments on Motherhood.  You all are so wonderful, each and every one of you.  I am blessed that you take the time to comment and be a part of my life.

Hope your Sunday is glorious and you are finding time to do something you love.

I forgot to tell you my wonderful friend Taci at Taci Studio is having a fabulous give away.  Once again I really don't want you to enter because it ruins my chances, but if you feel you must, go ahead and pop on by her wonderful blog.