I SWEAR I have not forgotten you! I have been caught up in dealing with health issues with my Mom. I can't seem to get to the PO when I actually have money for postage in my hot little hands. I'm hoping to get "them" mailed this week.
And oh.. Cheryl... check out Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series. I bought all four (the fifth one is out, but I haven't had the funds to venture in a book store lately) and spent the last week reading them. They even knocked Nora's second book in her new trilogy out of the reading schedule... and knowing the fifth one is out there is making it hard for me to read anything else! Tegan
Song of Fire and Ice. Ah. The good thing is when the last book was delayed and delayed and delayed again, it was because he being forced to split it into two books. So the next book was nearly halfway written when A Feast For Crows was published. I read his blog on livejournal. My kids are huge fans and talk about Martin's characters like they are real people (sometimes to my husband's confusion...)
FWIW - I wasn't worried about being forgotten by anybody - Tegan ;^) And am a little slack on getting to the PO with some promised stuff heading to NH myself. Been busy sewing - with the machine for a change.
Anyhow - I have sewing "design" class tonight, and am way, way, behind - so I'm going to drag myself to the other room, and then out to the truck which has my big roll of drafting paper, and come back in, and take over the dr table and try to finish drafting this stupid pattern so I can make the muslin, so I can fit in on self, so I can then redraw the pattern so I can then bring the correct, real, pattern pieces to class so I can whip up some stupid, or not so stupid, design for an interesting top, so that if I'm lucky I can then get that muslin laid out. Sure, I can get the first muslin made and fitted by 5 or so. No problem, HAH. Well, at least the machine is working well.
I did pretty much finish my knitting needle case - which I decided to dash off and then turned into a auilted back, with a strip-pieced flap, and, well, of course it's more complicated than it should've been. But, on this topic - I made some needlebooks out of the left over atrip pieces. They're kind of cute - little quiltied outers, and inside, a piece of cotton batting backed on fabric - the needles will go into the batting. So, when Cheryl gets hers - she can say if she likes it - I'm thinking of refining and then adding this to the fob collection for when I finallyhave the business selling some pieces. And the website re-up, and my new stupid Loudoun county business licesnse in hand (waiting on the permit from the Homeowners Asso).
LOL - it does feel that way. I've been a little disappointed with this class, but they let a couple of students in that likely shouldn't be taking this class. They should just be doing the "bridge" class - on how to use a custom sloper (fit garment/pattern) to fit a commercial pattern (make the alterations to the commercial one so it fits perfectly). In this class it's about implementing an original design - how to draft the pattern starting with the basic fit one. We've had to spend too much time explaining really simple basics, and listening to the 2 wacky women - ok, only 1 is really wacky - the other differently wacky - who keep interrupting with irrelevant stories, or the like. Last night the instructor came over and whispered "Ellice - I really missed you last week - just to talk to" .
Anyhow - I learned something really neat. I had about 4 sketches, and we liked 2 of them a lot. Then I pulled out the last issue of THREADS - which has an amazing Devore velvet top on the rear cover - kind of deep V neck, and a ruched empire waist. So, I re-sketched and decided to do a waistband that is lower in the back, and then curves around and up - not quite empire, but with the ruching, which will then fall to lightly skim/float (not pregnancy big) down to the high hip. (hips big - don't want to expand out - I do better in cropped, shorter jackets, etc) Anyhow - I was thinking of a sleeve that would be a bit asymetric - and voila - teacher asked if I knew about "hanging sleeves" - HUH? My brilliant answer. Turns out, its a sleeve that basically encircles the arm at the top, but is open such that it's only on the back side - somewhere from up on your bicep, or at the elbow - or however you design it. Very interesting - so I made some 1/4 scale patterns, and played with them - and it's a little bit Renaissance looking - very cool - and will drape differently depending on the placement of the true bias vs straight of grain. Of course now I have an excuse to go use today's 30% off at G-street - I'm going to try and find some nice, soft velvet (drapey) for this, else maybe a silk. It's going to be a "dress-up" top (don't think I want to do a long dress, though it's possible). Last night - and I was at the bigger G-Street (not the one nearer the new house) all I could quickly find was $40-$50/yd velvet - and even at 30% I'm not doing that - since I'm going to end up estimating the fabric.
Oh, so true. Gives you some hope for all our SOs and DHs. There is however a backlash- at times now it appears that DH has paid attention - as opposed to the glazed over look he usually gets when I talk about some of this stuff. Last week he joined me on the B-day Scarlet Thread jaunt - and actually was talking stock and threads with one of the owners. Then he suddenly looked up and said "Oh, my G_D ... I know about this ...AAAAGGGHHHH" and all of us women laughed. OTOH, he also noted on one of my samplers that the blackwork area - which was off by 1 thread - was off and not up to my "usual standards" - so I pulled it and redid. Same piece - there's a double row of 4-sided stitch, and he wasn't sure if it was all pulled exactly the same....Argh. I told him it was fine and when the piece is stretched for framing or bellpull it will be just fine.
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