totchipanda

My cat is insulin-dependant again ;_____;

Today's project ended up being sorting and photographing my entire stash of yarn and uploading it all to Ravelry. That was my whole morning - it was a lot of work! I have 66 yarns stashed and only had pictures of maybe 8 of them. Then I napped like a boss (almost 2 hours!), and spent the past oh, almost two hours browsing patterns on Rav. I'm starting to feel like I should get going on other stuff though, so I'll give myself another half hour (as if I was working today; I would normally be clocking out right now) and then get to it. What is "it"? Besides the light cleaning I wanted to do still, I have no idea.

Im really glad tomorrow is a holiday. I wasnt flattened by today's migraine but it sure left me without a lot of thoughts in my head. Still, i got my laundry done, put some rows into my latest knitting project, and i made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. But that was it. It was a very low-key day.

I don't REALLY have plans for tomorrow besides some cleaning (cat box and dishes, mostly). I find myself wanting to clean up some things (besides my closet), like my yarn stash. Its very small compared to many ive seen, but its annoying to me because i prefer to knit larger projects, shawls and sweaters and the like, and most of what i have is singles. Or two skeins, but often nothing with enough contrasting or coordinating colour to be useful. And, ive become a fiber snob. Most of my stash is acrylic, and not the nicer stuff. My oldest balls are the one pounders i bought in like... 2002? To make Harry Potter scarves. I am not especially interested in that now. So, do i destash it or turn into an afghan? (actually im pretty sure my fondness of large projects doesn't extend as far as afghans. There, ive answered my own question)

I finished the quilted petticoat last week and have just been admiring it on Josephine. Guido helped "style" it a little bit. He likes to hide under long skirts when they're on display and then rocket out. It has so much body, its poofed out very nicely XD Im really happy with how it turned out. I need to photograph it!

I was supposed to go to an RPG game on Friday, but the host had an unexpected situation pop up and it was cancelled. So I knitted instead, and finished my mitts. They still need to be finished ie: end weaving (boring!) but they could be wearable now if I don't mind strings hanging out. I really like them.

I realized yesterday that while I love knitting, I also feel like I've been using it to avoid sewing. Besides the petticoat, I have nothing really planned right now. I made a knitting bag yesterday (because starting a new project means needing a new project bag, amirite??) and then ran out to a picnic. But... I really want to sew things too (well the brainweasels say with nothing planned, it's too hard to start something. So that means: sew something!). So I poked at that brainweasel a bit last night and this morning.

• Finish the petticoat.
  
• Figure out how to make basically harem pants that end at the knee and also fit smoothly through the hips.
  
• Pinner apron from Costume Close-Up with the leftover from the IKEA duvet cover.
  
• Start a francaise?? I was really inspired this morning, randomly. I think I will do the cotton one first. I think i know where the fabric is D:
  
• Work on blog posts. (It's kinda related...)
  
• Redingote.
  
• A new gown for the ball next month. I can wear the one I wore in March if I need to (esp if I put the petals on it) but I also caaaaaaaaaaaan't be seen in a repeat gown! (cough cough yeah right lol) I do want to do a different style of gown, I just need to pick out a fabric.
  

Nicole wanted to do shopping "early" this morning but as its now nearly 11am, and she has a thing at 1pm on the other side of the city, I think unless we get that started in the next 12 minutes (which is how long it will take me to get to her) it's not gonna happen until evening. I could have gone to IKEA this morning. Oh well.

The past couple days it has been, colloquially, balls hot (still not as hot as LA or Texas) so I opted not to sew a giant blanket in my lap (aka: quilted petticoat) and instead have been knitting. Tonight I decided it would be time to finally post/work on blog posts, so I did that. But first! It started out hot today... but by the time I left work it was storming and raining, and the rest of the evening was delightfully cool. So I did put the giant blanket in my lap and sewed a bit first :D All I have left now is the waistbands, and it will be done. I've been trying to decide between the large pleats I have pinned in right now, or redoing it with smaller pleats, and I think I will just leave them large. The waist area is pretty much NEVER gonna be visible.

Meg brought me back some fabric from Williamsburg, and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited and happy about it (hearts everywhere). What shall I make? A round gown? Open robe? Jacket and petticoat? (wraps self up in the yardage happily)

I really need to spend sliiiiightly more time blogging. I want to finish my CoCo recap and write about the things I wore. I also really like blogs that have a list of the things they've made, and I have a page started but it is soooooooooooo bare right now. I want to add photos? Maybe I should just post the thing for now.

Still need to post the things for sale...

Yesterday Guido was singing me the song of his people. Most of his meows were of the "I want attention" variety, but I couldn't figure out what he wanted. He also cried after using the litter box :( It was still going on as of 7:45am today. He seems to be sort of better? There's still some crying after the box, but it's been a MUCH quieter evening.

I was tidying this morning and found the missing 4mm needles. I was (am, really) using them to hold the stitches of a hole on a scarf until i sussed out how to repair it. Its been like a year o.o

Oiled Jenny this morning, even in places the manual doesn't say to oil. She sounds much better, less kachunky.

Picked up some ribbon to finish the quilted petticoat. Maybe it would have been cheaper to buy at the fabric store but they don't tend to have the same variety of colours. I almost spent more on the ribbon than the fabric lol. I'll get to work on that later. Right now i am trapped under the cat and we are probably going to nap.

I need to remember to do blood donations in the evening. I couldn't donate for so long that I don't know if this was a problem when I was younger, but these days I'm totally useless after donating. I picked up sewing machine oil on my way home (and rolled my ankle stepping out of their door and hit the ground) and spent the rest of the day lumping on the couch. I did knit a bit (finished Baa-ble hat #2 before I left, though they both require end-weaving and pompoms; started a shawl; thought about starting more fingerless mitts, but the missing 4th needle of my 4mm set is a problem), took a nap, read some patterns... and now its 8pm and I'm starting to feel like I have brains in my head again. At least if I donate in the evening, I will only be awake for a few hours before sleeping through a lot of the recovery.

But my blood goes to children, so you know. Not gonna stop, even if I can't arrange the timing to my liking.

I'm trying to decide what to work on. What's coming up that I need sewing for? I can probably get away with whatever's in my closet for Hallowe'en. I need to make a dress for the ball at the end of September (but basic dress takes me like 2 days, plus I don't know what I want yet).

Animethon was this past weekend. I barely dressed up, being stuck minding Nicole's booth in the dealers hall on Saturday, and then judging the craftsmanship on Sunday (that's when i dressed up lol), but people watching and seeing all the great costumes on Sunday was really inspiring. I was so pleased by the amount of young teens and kids dressing up, and i always enjoy seeing people's creations of things they love. I have a lot of OPINIONS about cosplay turning into basically a modelling industry, but that's neither here nor there. It made me want to create stuff.

I added some "yes soon" costumes to my fb folder. Im a little embarrassed to admit i put the first one in there 3 years ago and haven't finished it yet. Its just too small, and i even put tje sleeves in by hand! All it really needs is a hem and then i can sell it. And tbh, i have a couple more costumes like that so... I should get on that. Esp realizing that i "treat" myself a liiiittlw too much D:

In that vein, last week i was trawling blogs (as i do) and i tjink i decided what to do with at least one of my unplanned purchases from LA. Im reasonably confident i can get a round gown out of tje dark green. I'm tempted to try a turque robe out of the dark blue, if i plan very carefully. Right now im poking my brain at how the robe could sit close at the back when it has no front? Im sure it'll come to me eventually. Theres a fashion plate that shows this colourway and it would be so great if i can pull it off (gah i dont feel talented enough to do it, but i put it in writing now, SO)

Working on the quilted petticoat. Im handsewing it, partly because trying to wrangle the fabric under the machine is a headache amd a half. But im really enjoying it, ans its going reasonably well. I know how i want to treat the hem but not sure i want to spend more on that than the fabric itself. And do i match the brown as best as i can, or go for a contrasting colour? I'll have to take a scrap to the store and find out :3

Wednesday i was flattened by a migraine. I had to go home because my tummy was just not having it, and i spent the rest of the day in bed. It was awful. Yesterday i still had lingering pain, but i went to dance class anyway. It was the first time in about 3 months, and it was great, even if i couldn't do it for long.

And my glasses arrived! That was so fast! I got the regular ones on Wednesday and the sunglasses today. They are huge and fabulous.

I cobbled together a mockup for the redingote today. It started life with the pattern i made for the white dress (previously RH heavily altered to a Janet Arnold pattern) mixed a little bit with JP Ryan's riding habit. The photo is on Instagram (same username). Im kinda impressed? It fits me better than it does Josephine, but the fact that it fits at all is kind of a miracle lol. I really dont know what im doing so much when i try to modify patterns. Later i drew up the collar and put it on too. It needs some tweaks still. On the LACMA patter the collar meets the lapel but on mine there is a gap. Do i extend the collar or tighten up the lapel?

I put a sleeve on it too. Its a mostly unaltered sleeve the riding habit, i just shortened the head and it would need the cuff narrowed. Who needs to lift their arms pfffft. (maybe me...)

My peach cobbler is delicious too, if ever so slghtly too sweet (after i reduced thw sugar by almost half!)