Mostly, everything but Sewing

I find myself with more free time lately and so I have been slowly getting back into the sewing room. One of the first things I wanted to finish for myself was a robe made from this pattern.

I’ve had this pattern forever and over the years have made it for different family members. A few years ago I decided it would be nice to make a robe for myself, so I bought a lovely blue cloud patterned fleece. Well it had been sitting in my sewing room since then.

Early this year I made the resolution that I would finish it before another winter passed and I actually did finish it about a month ago, just in time for the cool weather.

Here are a few progress shots. The pattern is pretty easy to make. The shawl collar saves you a bit of sewing and it’s easy to trim with piping and to sew the facings on. Here I am putting the top stitching on the shoulder seams after attaching the back of the collar to the back neck.

No facings on the collar yet. I just wanted to see if I needed to trim back the shoulder pieces a bit. The shoulder should drop quite a bit on the robe for a loose comfortable fit, so I left it as it was.

Next step was to put the piping on the collar.

Here the piping and the facings are on the collar and it’s looking good.

After serging the front raw edges of the facing I attach the facing along the back neck and shoulder of the collar by hand.

Next I attach the sleeves. I like to press as I go, it helps you to judge if things are shaping up correctly.

The sleeves are on. At this point all I have left to do is attach the cuffs with another bit of detail piping, make the tie belt and loops and then mark and hem the robe.

Voila, a nice warm cuddly robe!

It’s good to be back!

On June 20th we found ourselves heading back to Moonridge at Big Bear Lake once more. It’s been three years since our last visit. It would have been nice to see the Moonridge Animal Park finally situated in it’s new location, but that has not happened. From what I hear relocation plans have been moving slowly and lately have stalled even more. The National Forest Service required an environmental impact study before approving the relocation of the zoo onto forest service land. Having received the study a few months ago, it is now requesting a new study. So little Moonridge Animal Park remains on Goldmine Drive, charming as ever, but bursting at the seams.

Click on the picture to read all about my trip.

I haven’t been doing to much sewing lately, but never say never. I have been dedicating all my spare time to artwork nowadays. I have a Supernatural fanart blog at

and an even newer art blog that includes all my non-fandom artwork.

Stop on by!

I keep thinking that one of life’s greatest luxuries is time for yourself, free from the demands of the rat race. Funny how that doesn’t occur to you when you are younger. I am enjoying my break.

I’ve been doing my artwork, really in depth, not just the part of actually taking pencil or brush to paper, but the part of the creative process that involves spending long periods of time reading my art books, sketching, just daydreaming on possible compositions or planning my next project. With my favorite music playing on my stereophonic headphones or playing in the background on my little music system, I can just let my imagination fly.

Right now Yo-Yo Ma’s cello is playing a haunting passages from some movie score. It is beautiful.

I have finished the Daniel Colourfix drawing in time to send if off to Ann Kullberg to include in next month’s member show. It was a long journey with this piece, but I feel it was time well spent. I learned a lot about using this paper with colored pencils. It has great potential for portrait pieces. This is the finished version.

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I started a couple of other pieces. I decided to finally try an ampersand Pastelbord that I bought maybe years ago. I’m still looking for that perfect surface to give me the results I want. My initial reaction was that it I like it even better that the Colourfix paper. It has less texture making it a little easier to get the smooth blending of colors that I trying to achieve in a portrait. And it handles blending of colors wonderfully. I can get pretty close to my goal of catching the subtle shadows and contouring realistically on the faces I draw. I’m still learning about this surface but so far it seems like a winner to me. Here is a picture of this project in work. Ironically I’m having more trouble with the background than with the face. It all comes down to having good reference material for me. I have a good reference for his face, not so much for the trees and clouds.

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On this next piece I’m using the Colourfix paper again, except that the colored pencils are Polychromos. The difference from the Prismacolor pencils are that the Polychromos are oil based while the Primacolor are wax based. I saw them at the Art Supply Warehouse when I went out there a few days ago. I had heard of the Polychromos and how beautifully the colors could blend. I seemed logical to me since they are oil based. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give them a try. Maybe they would be like working oil paints but with the control that a pencil can give you. I bought a 36 pencil set and bought a few more pastelbords too.

I started this portrait with high hopes. The pencils are definitely softer and blend easier that the Primacolors. I feel that they are better suited for the Colourfix paper than the Prismacolor. They are very nice and I feel I can get some great results. They are not as wonderful as I anticipated but definitely give me more options for working the Colourfix. I started the portrait and then realized that my color palette was too limited with the 36 pencils. I reluctantly put it on hold while I order more portrait colors from DickBlick art supply. This Colourfix paper has a warmer tone which I think will make it easier to get normal looking flesh tones.

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To see work-in-progress commentary and pictures of some of these portraits go to my live journal page at:

Art, Supernaturally

I received my second shipment of Nancy Drew books yesterday. They are in very good shape. Now I just have to find a place to put them. Here I am with my whole collection.

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I won a couple of small ebay auctions yesterday too. They were for a cute little row counter and for 8 Trixie Belden books.

I’ll have to wait a while to get the books since the auction owner only accepts payment by check or money order. My check is now making it’s way to Connecticut. Once it gets there, I’ll still have to wait until it clears before my order is shipped. Oh well, I’m patient.

I made a quick lunchtime trip to a yarn store not too far from work. The store is called the Slipt Stitch and is located right in downtown El Segundo which is about a 5 minute drive from the office. I’ve been wanting to get some longer size 5 circular needles to have on hand for my work on the Leaf Lace Shawl that I started recently.

I have been curious about this store in general, since I’ve seen it referred to now and again as a nicely stocked yarn store.The Slipt Stitch is probably my best bet to find knitting supplies without having to travel very far. I bought two size 5 circular needles, one 32″ and one 42″ long. These should be more than enough to knit a large shawl comfortably. The Addi turbos are supposed to be the cadillac of lace knitting needles!

The store was very nice, full of books, yarn and all sorts of knitting supplies. It is a small shop, but still has room for a few tables and chairs in the front section. I’m sure that for local knitters this must be a fun place to come and knit and chat with the people who run the store.

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We got our day off today and spent it all at home, except for going off for a walk in the early evening. It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear, but not too hot.

I did a little sewing. I worked on my latest pair of black pants which had to have the usual alteration of cutting down the crotch length. I removed the waistband and zipper the other day, but had been putting off sewing the zipper back in. I was stalling because it is an invisible zipper. The kind that looks great once it’s in but has to be put in with a special zipper foot and needs more wrangling overall to sew in.

Quite a few months ago I read somewhere that it was much easier to put on an invisible zipper if you had a proper heavy duty metal zipper foot and not one of the flimsy plastic jobs you can get at the neighborhood fabric stores. I took the advice and searched around for a nice metal invisible zipper foot that would fit my machine. It’s been waiting patiently for me to try it out. Well today I finally used it. I reviewed the process of putting in an invisible zipper and used my new zipper foot on my machine. It went on like a dream. No fuss or muss and the invisible zipper looks great, invisible. I feel empowered! Now I will be able to put invisible zippers in anywhere I want to. Yea!

Once I got through celebrating this small triumph, I left the pants and worked on the hem of this summer dress that I had ready to finish for some time. I used my old dependable dress form and hem marker which makes it a breeze to mark even hems, even on drapey material such as this one.

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I cut about three inches off the bottom. Now that it is cut I will use my cover stitch machine to put in a stretchy hem.

I didn’t do any reading today, but yesterday I did finish The Girl Sleuth book. It was an interesting read, especially now that I have so many of the Nancy Drew books again. It will be interesting to reread the Nancy Drew adventures knowing more about the authors that created her.

We grilled some steaks for dinner. I usually don’t eat red meat, but I figured it was a holiday and could afford to indulge. It was a great meal but heavy and we went for a walk a little later to burn off some of those calories. We strolled around the neighborhood just before sunset and realized that most people were beginning to set off their little firewords displays. We were glad to get back to the house as it was beginning to get noisy and we wanted to get the cats inside.

We managed to get everyone inside the house except Max, who hid from us as soon as the booms and shrieks really started. Sometime later he slunk in, looking frazzled, poor kitty!

Later in the evening still feeling full from the steak I had a nice walk on my treadmill. I managed to burn off 300 more calories, so I think that helped to offset my indulgence a little.

So much for our little midweek holiday. It was a quiet way to spend the 4th, but just our speed. I remember when I was a little girl, my family would walk to the Coliseum in Exposition Park, which was just a few blocks away from our house, to see the fireworks display. We would sit on the grassy park outside the stadium and enjoy a spectacular performance. Maybe someday when we live far from this crowded city we will seek out fireworks displays to watch again.

Weighed in at 150.6 this morning! I think my efforts at logging every single calorie I eat is beginning to work.

I ran a few errands today. I needed to get size 5 circulars in a longer length, I only have a 16 ” one. That is okay for starting the Leaf Lace Shawl, but will get crowded when I get further into the project. By the way, this is what the shawl looks like now. Isn’t it a lovely color? I think it is called plum.

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I also need to get more row counters. With so many knitting projects going at once, I need more counters to keep my count on separate projects.

I stopped by first at Salvation Army to drop off the bag of give away clothes that I have been accumulating. While I was there it occurred to me to see if they had any yarn. I found a large plastic zippered bag crammed with yarn for only $10. I grabbed it, went up the counter to pay and was thrilled when the woman charged me only $5. She said that today they had a half off sale on everything. It made my day. The yarn is not high quality stuff. Mostly it is acrylic yarn of the kind sold in Joann’s and Walmart, but most of the colors are great and there is a lot of it. It will be nice to have more scrap yarn, possibly to make more afghans. I made a big addition to my stash at only pennies a skein, my bargain-shopping urges have been well rewarded today.

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Next I stopped at Michaels but didn’t find either the needles or counters I wanted. I left the store and started wandering toward Ross which I haven’t been to in a while. But before I got there I decided to duck into a store I’ve never been in. It’s called G Stage and mostly sells clothes for young girls, which is why it never interested me. But I spotted some bright summer blouses in the window and decided to go in and check it out. Close up I didn’t like the blouses I saw in the window, but I found a great deal in fresh summer hued T-shirts. They were extremely inexpensive and the quality didn’t strike me as too bad. I loaded up. Powder wasn’t impressed, but aren’t they colorful?

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I finally made a start on the Leaf Lace Shawl tonight. I’ve had the pattern from Fiber Trends and the yarn from Elann sitting around for many months now. I already made a practice shawl, so it was time to start on the real McCoy.

I’m using this chart reading tool that I bought at KnitPicks the other day.

It looks like the cover of a notebook, but it is really two metal pages covered in black jaquard fabric. It comes with 4 magnetic little bars that you can use to secure your chart to the cover boards. It has little straps with snaps that either keep it closed or set up like a little easel.

Here it is, being very helpful in marking my spot in the Leaf Lace Shawl chart.

Last Thursday I came home to find that another order from Elann Yarns had arrived.

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This is a selection of yarns I bought to make another afghan from one of my yarn books. The Elann online yarn store as a great source of good quality wool yarn at very reasonable prices.

I devoted the morning to some house cleaning, washing clothes and organizing my art room. Once my drawing table was cleared off and cleaned up I did a little work on some of my colored pencil drawings. What I like to do when I have some time on the weekends is sit at my drawing table, surf on the computer, read bits here on there in my current reading books, make todo lists, and generally doodle and while away the time very pleasantly.

While I was whiling away today I was also keeping an eye on a couple of eBay auctions of Nancy Drew book lots. One lot was 14 books of 1960’s edition whose price was holding at about $25 dollars.

Another lot, also of 14 books from the same type of 1960 editions that I’m interested in, were going for about $18.

Of course on both of these you also had to consider the extra shipping and handling costs, which on one was about $18 and the other was unspecified. I was willing to make a bid on one or both of these lots if the price didn’t get out of control at closing. Unfortunately I realized that both auctions were scheduled to close just about the time we were supposed to be going out for dinner. I dawdled a bit so I would have at least a chance to make a bid and see the closing for one of them. So while getting dressed up for dinner I kept running back to the computer to try to put in a bid at the very last second.

I was thrilled to see that my bid for $36 won for the first lot. I swooped right in at the last second. It came in about .50 short of my bid limit. Combined with the shipping and handling price for this lot, each book will cost me about $3.90 which was just the range I wanted. The next lot didn’t close for another 20 minutes or so, and since I didn’t want Marty to faint from hunger ( I was pretty hungry myself) , I put in a bid and took off. I just crossed my fingers and hoped other interested buyers wouldn’t outbid me in the meantime.

To not make this too suspenseful, I did win the second auction for $37.09. The shipping and handling was eventually calculated at $9.59, so my total price was $46.60. Even better than the first one. I’m happy and vowing to stay away from eBay for awhile