Day 20, 80 to go: One Red Nightgown

I will learn to make buttonholes...

Today was a disappointing day as I endured a migraine for most of it.  I was really hoping they would go away once I didn’t have the stress of an office job.  I am particularly perturbed because there wasn’t even a barometric pressure change to explain it.  Maybe it will turn out to be related to peri-mentalpause. (Thanks Moose, for that all-too-accurate name for what my girlfriends and I are all going through each in our unique and unpredictable ways.)

Once the headache subsided (and I was fortified by Coco-Wheats) I managed to get the other nightgown cut out and almost finished this one.  I am so impressed that I got this far.  Often when I have a migraine, my eye-hand coordination is shot. (I can’t parallel park to save my life when a migraine is in charge)  I only have a couple of things to do to finish this one--like learn to make buttonholes!

Oh well, at least once I learn to make them for this gown, I will finish the nightshirt that has been sitting for a year—and which I planned to make 3 years ago…

Robot pants!

Meanwhile, I got this adorable picture today from my friend Shannon.  This is her son Cyler who was thrilled with the tiny robot pjs I sent the other day.  She says that when his dad got home, he kept shouting “robot pants!”  From this picture, it appears that they live in a sanctuary for endangered stuffed animals. 

I also got a warning from my sister (Borg #5 of 8) that the robot pajama bottoms have to be used carefully.  Apparently when her boys wear them, they are put into such a deep sleep that they can not be awakened the next morning.  I swear I didn’t lace them with paregoric.  But maybe the cats cast sleeping spells on them as I made them?  They are very good at making me sleepy…

Day 13, 87 to go: Finished Bunny at Cookie Jar dish towel

Chocolate Chips, obviously.

So I finished embroidering the dish towel I had started almost a week ago on my bus ride to NYC.  As I was working on it near her sliding door, my mother mentioned that I reminded her of her mother who was always doing handwork at a window.  (You met her mother if you read the Day 1 blog.  She is kind of my guiding light on this project.)

I eventually did manage to buy the flannel I picked out yesterday from Joann.com for a mere $2/yard.  However, tomorrow morning they are selling it for $1.47/yard at the store.  So I will join the other pajama-sewing nutcases bright and early to see if they have anything good at the store that was not available on line. (Thought it’s hard to imagine beating the lovely Brainiac fabric I posted yesterday.)  I am still glad I bought on line because I won’t have to haul that fabric back on the bus.

I also hope to score a portable full-spectrum light for $2o.  It should help with the handwork and even ward off SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) I would think.

We had a nice Thanksgiving with all of my sisters and their families—25 people in total, including a couple of great kids who are dating my niece and nephew.  We missed my brother and his wife and daughter.  My sister (Borg Designation: #7 0f 8) and I set up 3 parallel tables—like in the Great Hall at Hogwarts—without room for Slytherin. The arrangement worked very well.  The table full of college and high school kids was THE place to be. They really enjoy each others’ company.

It just occurred to me that I made Maria Rodale’s raw cranberry sauce the other day and didn’t even think to mention it here on my “making” blog.  It is delicious and easy.  You process cranberries, a whole orange and the juice from another one along with some sugar and let it macerate for a couple of days in the fridge. It is spectacularly gorgeous as well as yummy.  Not overly sweet, which is how I like it, but you could double the sugar if you like…

Hat for the beast.

Zoe snatched up that hat I made on the bus and was delighted to find it was big enough for her giant mane of hair—she and her friends refer to her gorgeous abundant curls as “the beast.”

The little boys like their new robot pjs.  Their mother was happy the fabric had a blue background—it looked white on her computer when she saw it on this blog.

Clinging to Mom and Raggedies

I was stunned and delighted that Raggedy Maggie and Raggedy Lily accompanied Maggie and Lily to Thanksgiving dinner.  My sister (#6 of 8) told me that since the dolls arrived, Lily and Raggedy Lily have been inseparable.  Lily even takes her Raggedy in her backpack to kindergarten with her.  Both girls were too shy to even talk to me—they only see me once or twice a year.  But they adore the dolls.  You never know what kids will latch onto.   

Another holiday survived.  No known casualties.  In the words of the great philosopher (and my former co-worker in Youth Ministry) Chuck Babiera, “No one died, so that was good.”

Day 12, 88 to go: More robot pjs

 Not feeling worthy of this fabric.

.

Oh I think I am soooo smart, don’t I?  I got an e-mail from Joann.com saying they were putting their flannel on sale for 2 bucks a yard at midnight and if I order on Thanksgiving Day, I can get free shipping. 

I can not resist $2/yard flannel, especially when so many of you dear readers have been clamoring for pajama bottoms of your own.   I thought I would be clever and log in to my Joann account, do my shopping and at the stroke of midnight, hit “send” in order to avoid missing out on any of the good designs. 

So what happens at 11:15 pm?  The site crashes.  I am sure it is more "flannel freaks" like me hoping to minimize their annual before-dawn flannel raid on Friday at the store.  Based on previous experience with the site, I have little hope that it will be repaired by midnight, or that I will get first dibs on the adorable flannels I have selected. (so far.  I still have another 50 designs to pick through)  So waah.   I will just have to take my chances and see whether anything good is left by the time my order actually can go through.

Robot pjs for the bros.

In the meantime, I made the other pair of robot pajamas I cut out Friday.  I will be seeing my nephews tomorrow and wanted to have a pair for each of them.  The robot fabric is available on the Joann site—or will be once they have it back up and running. $2/yard…(PJ bottoms take about 2 ½ to 3 yards)

Tomorrow will involve the hordes arriving for Thanksgiving, except for my brother and his family who are painting their dining room and installing hardwood floors in their house in the Deep Baptist South.

It will be good to see everyone,  and hopefully the visiting will be long enough to enjoy each other’s company but too short to get on each other’s nerves.  There is something about returning to the scene of the crimes (being teenagers all at once in one house) that can set off PTSD, I think.  Hopefully the flashbacks will be of humorous anecdotes rather than traumatic ones.  I find it helps not to get one’s hopes too high and be pleasantly surprised rather than deeply disappointed by these get-togethers.   Crossing my fingers that everyone will have gotten a good nap BEFORE we are all together.  That should keep the whining and crabbiness to a minimum—for everyone from age 4 to 81.

Happy Thanksgiving. And Good Luck!

Day 8, 92 to go Pajamas, pajamas, pajamas

Big fan of pajamas.

Despite Fergus’ claiming this fabric as his own nap spot, I was able to cut out 3 pair of pajamas today. 

I also learned an important lesson.  Just because you still have clean underwear, that does not mean you don’t need to do laundry.  So I did laundry.

Pajamas. No Gnome.

Then I put these two pajama bottoms together. 

More robots.

I still have another robot pajama bottom to do for my other nephew. 

I have tried to generate some projects that will be portable since I will be spending a lot of time on buses in the next few days.   

Tomorrow I visit Gary, Tony and Nicholas in the Big Apple! We are going to occupy the baby disco.  Sunday I will finally get to see Leelah’s new place.   

And then, all of a sudden it’s Thanksgiving! How did that come so quickly?  So there will be crocheting and embroidery coming up. Although I may not have a chance to blog on the actual day I make it, I am sticking with my plan to make something every day. So the blog may be slightly sporadic, but there will be new stuff to see.