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 11, 89 to go: Striped Crocheted Hat

It’s been a challenging day.   Travel days tend to be like that.

Hat

Although I had that tea towel to finish embroidering, it was so dreary and rainy, there wasn’t enough light on the bus to be able to make the tiny stitches necessary.  So I settled for crocheting this hat.  I just made it up as I went.  I was so glad I had this project.  I find the rhythm of crocheting is so deep-seated in me that my mind can just wander and work on all manner of problems and notions. 

It also reminds me of all those nights crocheting with Grandma while we watched tv.  I remember watching her and being fascinated with how quickly she was able to work an afghan.  Today I watched my hands speed through maybe even faster than she did.  It always profoundly touches me when I feel her presence come through me and the memories wash across the stitches.  She died 30 years ago when I was in college.   Yet she still teaches me.

Cat

Since I was at my mom’s, neither Felicity nor Fergus were available to supervise my work.  I did, however, have Monty.  He is such a friendly and handsome boy.  He is a boarder at my mom’s while his family has run off to live in Mauritius.  They will be back to see him every summer, but at his age (12 or 13) they felt he wasn’t up to the rigors of international travel. (When he was younger he lived with his family in Senegal)

Challenging as this travel day has been, at least I wasn’t on the turnpike before this awful spill.  What a way to spend Thanksgiving week. I wonder if they will think of it as Black Tuesday?

Day 10, 90 to go: Abduction

I had a big plan for making stuff even when I was traveling.  I even had a back-up plan for making something when I got back just in case I couldn’t get anything made on the road.

This is my life.

But the bus ride home interfered.  Apparently someone thought it would be a good idea to show a movie on the bus.  Whether I wanted to watch it or not, the sound was piped throughout the cabin.  This is a problem for a Luddite like me.  I refuse to haul an MP3 player around with me. I want to hear the sounds of my actual life rather than cut myself off from them.  This is the first time I wished I could have muffled what I was hearing.  This movie was nothing like my real life.

As it turned out, the bus lights were not bright enough for me to embroider under.  And with the movie playing, there was no way I would be able to get any reading done.   It seemed that my only option was an attempt at a nap.  (Having grown up in a house full of babies and toddlers, I learned to sleep through pretty much anything, which was very helpful in college dorms.) 

The Dreaded Highmark HQ

But I didn’t learn to sleep through this train wreck of a movie, Abduction.  Not only was it playing on the screen at the front of the bus, but when I tried to look out the window, the reflection of the screen was all I could see.   Something familiar caught my eye--a building that said “Highmark” on it.  Uh oh.  Was some of this movie filmed in Pittsburgh?

Having lived in da burgh for 10 years, I found I could not avert my eyes.  I searched every scene for familiar landmarks and buildings and was rewarded about every 5 minutes.  There were good actors in this movie—Alfred Molina, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello & Jason Isaacs.  Most of them got killed off far too early.  This left that werewolf kid from Twilight and a 90210 escapee with an uncanny resemblance to Frida Kahlo to carry the Swiss cheese plot.  Sadly, Abduction sucked the life out of me and by the time I got home, I was just too exhausted to put anything together.

Frida Kahlo, Zombie Movie Star?

 

I will have to make up for this lost day by making at least 2 things tomorrow. The last time I took this particular ride, I brought yarn and a crochet hook and made a hat that my niece snatched from my hand the minute I offered it.  So I am going to take a crochet hook and more yarn with me this time too.  Hopefully the bus will have wi-fi and allow me to post pictures of whatever I make. 

The big question as of today is whether I will be able to resist Joann Fabrics on Black Friday.  They love to put pajama flannel on sale. 

Gratuitous image of Jason Isaacs

Day 9, 91 to go Bunny dish towel

Almost done!

On the bus ride yesterday, I worked on embroidering another dish towel.  I was a little distracted by the conversation of two 20-somethings sitting two rows behind me. For an hour and a half it was the usual bands they liked, roommate problems etc. And then she starts explaining to him her polyamorous lifestyle. She saves THAT for the last 10 minutes of the ride?  Geez! Couldn't she have started on the topic sooner? 

Actually, it struck me as a sad story--apparently some guy in his 30s convinced her in college that polyamory was the way to go.  All I could think was that he was a pervy old man refusing to give up his long-term partner and finding a way to get some nubile college chick on the side.  Somehow she seemed to think she was getting something good from being in a relationship that could not possibly be exclusive while she was young.  But I never heard a word about love or intimacy or commitment. Not as components, not as intention, not as expectation.   That just made me sad. It sounded like she was trying to impose some sort of rational theory on relationships,. Sage old spinsta that I am , I could have assured her that was pointless.  At least in my experience, love sneaks up and bonks you on the head--no matter how rational you try and be about it.  I just wish I had had a copy of Keeping the Love You Find in my bag to hand her on my way off the bus.

L-R Nicholas, Gary & Tony

I didn't get anything done on my making project today because we went to Baby Loves Disco where there was 80s music, a bar and children dancing their butts off with their parents.   Here are the dancers in question.

Spinning Leelah in the Vortex of the West Village

After so many years of talking about each other, I finally managed to introduce Leelah and Tony TO each other.  Gary and Leelah hadn't seen each other since we were in college 28 years ago. Today, they ignited a bond over their mutual love of 80s bands and dancing... Tony and Leelah talked shop about being massage therapists. And then there was Nicholas. He immediately fell in love with Leelah as most men do.  He is an outrageous flirt. He spent a good half hour turning Leelah's chair into a carousel and spinning her around and around.  Leelah reports that this is not a good combination with Jack Daniels.

I shall return to the catlings tomorrow. I missed having them sleep on me, although Nicholas came and snuggled this morning while his dads slept in, so that was almost as good. :)  More portable making on the agenda for the next few days...

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.

Day 7, 93 to go: Robot PJs and Gnome #1

The first thing I made today was a batch of Ghirardelli brownies.  Nothing special, but a good source of warmth and chocolate in the kitchen (which is also where I sew.)

Just the right size.

Then I whipped up the robot pajamas.  They went really fast.  My sister sent me her kids’ measurements and I am kind of proud that I predicted what size her kids would be now when I cut them out earlier this year.  (I must have cut them out too late for them to get any use out of them last winter.)

I learned that another of my sisters is reading this blog because she guessed the general concept of the tree skirt.  Of course she had an incredibly unfair advantage since she is Zoe’s aunt.

Gnome #1?

This is Zoe.  She loves GNOMES.   No one can really explain why.  She just does.  So she dressed up as a garden gnome for Halloween in this gorgeous costume my sister Barb made for her. (Barb is her mom.)   Zoe is an incredibly creative person.   

Dressing up as a garden gnome is one thing.  Having the leadership skills to convince all your friends to dress up as lawn ornaments is even more impressive, don’t you think?  The group included a Kissing Dutch Girl, Flamingo, Lawn Jockey and best of all, a BVM.  Because no lawn is complete without Our Lady of the Lawn.

So the official name of this design is The Amish Gnomes of Whoville.  Amish because, like Amish dolls, they won’t have faces.  Whoville because it occurred to me that a bunch of gnomes holding hands around a Christmas tree was an awful lot like the big musical number in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. (The Boris Karloff cartoon version, NOT the horror show that involved Jim Carrey. Anyone want to sing along? Dahoo Doris, Fahoo Foraze Welcome Christmas, Christmas day.  Just wanted to make sure it was stuck in your head too if it was gonna be stuck in mine)

There are a total of 21 gnomes who will encircle the tree.  My plan is to make each one different and individual somehow.  This is the first gnome.  She is at the far right end of the skirt. Hopefully my design process will come together better as I work my way toward the front of it.  

Gnome #1

This one is very loosely based on Zoe’s Halloween costume.  Green waist cincher, red hat, braids, white peasant blouse and then a skirt with a kind of miniature PA Dutch print I had in my stash.  I don’t have any yellow in my stash. Or orange.  So I went with the red heart fabric for the apron.  It seemed Christmasy. Hearts are big in German folk art.

So from here until Christmas, you can expect to meet the rest of the Gnome Collective.  If you have any ideas for gnome costumes or tributes, I welcome them.  Should there be a Miss Piggy gnome, for instance?  Or perhaps a Browncoat gnome.  Zoe won’t know what it is, but I will.   Maybe I will include characters from musicals she loves. Wicked, maybe?

Anyhow Grubsneerg, you came the closest.  You want pajama pants or a sleep shirt?

Day 6, 94 to go: Zoe’s Tree Skirt (Part 2)

It matches the thank-you card!

When I opened my email this morning, I discovered that one of my sisters actually reads this blog.  Who knew?  She wanted to make sure I knew what size to make those pjs for her boys—you know, the ones that I didn’t work on yesterday.  So I guess I am going to have to break down and assemble them.   I got a very sweet thank-you note from her sons in the snail mail today. (I had sent them some magic trick decks of cards)

Note to my sister: Hey Martha, this is the fabric I picked out for your kids’ pajamas.  Based on the image on the thank-you card, I am guessing you like it?

I worked on Zoe’s tree skirt again today. I stitched that ginormous rick-rack to it and discovered that I have really good spatial relations skills.  I had about 4 yards of it, which was not enough to put around the outside edge of the skirt as I had originally envisioned.   Yesterday I had pinned it in place to get an idea of how it might fit into the design I had in mind. 

Arbitrarily, I decided to sew it 4 ¾” from the edge.  Not 4 ½”, not 5”.  I have no logical reason that 4 ¾” struck me as right.  I basted the rick-rack in place and discovered I had found the circumference that was just right for the amount of rick-rack I had available.  There was about an inch left over at each end, which was perfect to tuck under to finish the edge.   I could have done math out the wazoo for hours to figure it out.  But it turns out, at least for today, all I needed was to follow my intuition. 

Any guesses?

I also worked on a series of pink sections that I had started making last night.  I stopped when I got tired of the intricate cutting, thinking I probably had another dozen or so to make.   Today I pinned them in place only to discover I had gotten tired of making them just as I'd made the last one I'd need!  I am feeling quite triumphant about my sense of space when it comes to sewing.  I don’t know how I did that, and am wondering if anyone would be impressed if I put that on my resume.  This is what the back looks like today.  You can see the straight line of the basting on the large rick-rack, the curvy stitching along the bottom edge of the rick-rack and then a line of stitching at odd angles above.  Can anyone guess what I am making?

I am in awe of my spatial relations skills today.

How about now from the front?  Any ideas? Please guess in the comments section below. If you guess right, I will whip up a pair of pajama bottoms for you.  I thought up a name for this design—as if it were an artwork on display in a gallery.  I will reveal it tomorrow, along with a sample of one of the pink sections finished.

So far, blogging daily has been really helpful to my getting-through-the-day process.  The discipline was tough to force myself into-both making something every day and then writing about it.  I don’t feel like I have gotten into my writing groove yet, but I do sense I am getting somewhere.   
If you want to read an incredibly entertaining blog, I highly recommend checking the link here to Sharon Wheatley’s blog, My Own Space.  She is married to a guy who went to school with my younger sisters.  She is a Broadway musical actress. He is a music theater professor and music director.  They live in NYC and have two daughters with the most lovely literary names, Charlotte and Beatrix. Sharon writes in the funniest voice and manages to make both the crises and the daily drone of life entertaining, exciting and full of cliffhangers. She is also the author of a book called Til the Fat Girl Sings. How can you not love a book with that title? (And it's really cheap on Amazon right now.)

I love Fleece.  And also shrubbery. Ni!

Apparently today was Felicity’s day to take the watch.  She perched herself in the middle of the table for a while on alert.  Then she crawled into the pile of fabric and took a nice long nap.  She is a big fan of fleece fabric.

As I was finishing up this entry, Fergus jumped up on the table to play with the mouse.  Not a toy mouse.  The computer mouse. I had no idea he understood IT.