Mid-Week Snack…

Oh wait, it isn’t mid-week yet…

I’ve totally lost track of days, which is a bit dangerous when I have these online classes tucked in here and there, my big fear is I will forget to log on…

The big news is, I finished my jacket.  The jacket from hell.  The hardest thing I’ve ever tried to sew.  Physically.  You have no idea…

I actually finished the jacket last weekend, but I didn’t want to add to my already lengthy post, the post  was perfect the way it was, and I wanted to save something for later on in the week.  I wore the jacket to recorder consort rehearsal on Sunday.  Everyone asked if I knit my hat.  I said, “no”, the hat was a refugee from a 1980’s craft fair.  I found it in the stash of mittens and gloves.  But I made the coat.  They all looked at me like I had three heads.  I get use to it.

I probably went through four packages of size 18 needles, a box of pins, and a half dozen hand sewing needles.  My fingers hurt, and my nails were pricked, skin bled, and shoulders hurt.  After awhile, I could no longer get the bulky jacket even near the machine, which shuddered when it saw me coming.  I resorted to sewing the last 25% completely by hand. With pliers.  But it was all worth it.  I love my jacket, it is warm, and comfortable.  I showed my girlfriend and she exclaimed, “You made that?  It is so current…”  (I’m not going to dwell on the ramifications of that statement, I know my friend is much more youthful and contemporary in the way she dresses, and I probably don’t spend a lot of energy on current trends, I prefer timeless, which will last much longer in my closet since I keep clothing for 20+ years…)

Anyway, I finished the coat, and I finished building a new PowerPoint presentation, all that takes enormous energy and a lot of computer time.  I decided to be kind to my machine and sew something quick and painless and make sure I didn’t ruin it, throw out the timing or bend the shank.  All is well, and my Janome 6600 seems happy and relieved.  This little evening top is a Butterick pattern 5147, and I made it from some novelty fabric remnant I picked up years ago from a Joann’s in Detroit.  So I’m guessing the fabric isn’t too current.  But I like the top anyway, perfect for holiday parties.  And I have a few to attend.

And so I started on my next big project, I mulled it over while I did endless hours of handsewing on my jacket.  I want to get something substantial on one of my looms, they have been idle too long and there is this exhibit coming up for Convergence, you know, the yardage exhibit…  No pressure.  Deadline is January.  Plenty of time…

So I thought I’d do a gradient warp, from a bunch of hand dyed rayon, silk, tencel, etc. skeins I dyed last year.  I’m thinking of mixing structures twill, plain weave, with some supplemental floats.  I’m trying not to plan too carefully, just see how this takes me, dangerous I know, but worth a shot.  The worst that can happen is I don’t like the end result, and I re-sley or re-thread or cut it into tote bags…

Before I can do anything though, I need to de-skein all those gorgeous skeins, into pull balls.  A slow process to be sure.  I’m sorely tempted to invest in an electric cone winder…

On a side note…  Thanks so much for all the wonderful supportive caring comments about my last post.  It was a special night, and it helped me solidify what a gift it was by writing about it.  I toss it out into the ether, and where it lands, is out of my hands.  When it comes back with so many lovely supportive comments, that is a gift that keeps on giving.  I follow a couple of blogs religiously, one is the Yarn Harlot.  I just like the way she writes.  Within about an hour of a post, there are a couple of hundred comments.  I almost never comment, I figure she has enough to read.  But maybe I should rethink that, since every comment I got made me smile and move through my day just a little bit lighter.  So thank you…