Projects and end of an era

Well, on Tuesday I went back to school. College is not my favorite, but I've had a long, lovely break. In the past five glorious weeks I've been...

Researching. Since watching Vaxxed in 2016, I have been researching vaccine safety and efficacy. Someday I will be able to sit down and write a post about this issue. At the moment, I have so many thoughts and pieces of research wanting to burst out of me that I'm not even sure where to begin. All I can do is to implore you to research this topic, whether you're old, young, liberal, conservative, a parent or a monk. Googling "vaccine safety" is insufficient. There are excellent studies out there, but unfortunately you can't trust other people to find them for you. I suggest starting with The HPV Vaccine on Trial, a thoroughly well researched book which puts the information in your own hands.

Enjoying. Unusual amounts of snow, plant sojourners in my room, and Jane Austen's letters. (I pretend she is writing just to me.)

Reading. As I mentioned two years ago, Christmas puts me in the mood for old-fashioned British mysteries. This year, it was Georgette Heyer's A Christmas Party (appropriate) and No Wind of Blame. I also worked on (and continue to work on!) Les Miserables in audiobook form and Hard Times, my first Dickens book to read in print. In the nonfiction department, I loved Beyond Colorblind by Sarah Shin and The Fine Art of Small Talk by Debra Fine.

Hanging. Since writing this post, I've had to expand to a larger bookshelf (it happens to the best of us. You can never have too many books). And since that changed the look of that wall, I eventually (18 months later) decided, with advice from my home design consultant (AKA my mother), to rearrange/update my paintings. Gertrude, the disapproving white peacock, will now preside over the bed. To make room for her, The Tempest will be sold. Two silhouettes (Anonymous Gentleman and my dear Miss Austen) will now keep watch over the bookshelf wall.

Exercising. Somehow this exercise-hating girl turned into an exercise junkie. Almost. In mid-2018 I started using Fitness Blender and over the summer discovered strength training. Being able to follow Kelly via video really helps me to stay motivated through a 30- or 40-minute workout; plus the calendar feature satisfies my list-loving, box-checking nature. I have started adding in HIIT workouts once a week (or per month, if I'm really honest). I still feel like something the cat dragged in afterwards, but I hate it slightly less than regular cardio. (Strength training, though... don't get me started. I love it, man.)

Listening. My most important musical discovery in the last month was Michael Bublé's Christmas album. Some of my favorites + a person whose voice is like butter... but why try to tell you about it? Have a listen yourself. 

As always, I really enjoyed playing and listening to traditional Christmas carols, especially featuring the violin. (Interestingly, in the 2016 post I mentioned this same genre and linked to a beeaautttiful I Saw Three Ships version.) I've also rediscovered my love for folk songs, most recently 'Land o' the Leal' and 'Buffalo Gals.'

Knitting. In the past month, I've made two baby hats and started one blanket. No, no one in my life is expecting. I just find baby things easier to complete and more fun. Tomorrow I'm going to drop off this adorable panda hat and mitten set. The mittens were done within 40 minutes (not counting the duplicate stitch to add the paw detail). I enjoyed this project especially because it was simple and quick, but forced me to learn three new skills: casting on in the middle of a project, picking up stitches, and duplicate stitching. The hat pattern can be found here, but I applied the paw idea onto some thumbless baby mitts for a newborn.

Mending. Working 30 hours a week in the summer + a busy fall semester worked together to create a large mending pile. From socks to jeans to a lunch bag, I was finally able to finish some sorely needed mending.

Gluing. Hot glue has been a constant in my life since mid November, when my mom, middle sister and I created a Harry Potter themed tree for a fundraiser. I had great fun making wands by creating hot glue shapes on wooden skewers, then painting and mod-podging. My greatest triumph (which, alas, I do not have a good photo of) was The Monster Book of Monsters. First, I made a small box out of cardboard (thank you once again hot glue), covered it with a piece of fake fur, and painted the sides to look like book pages. A set of fake teeth, cut to fit, were added, as were fake eyes. A title sticker (only one of many pieces that my printer father did for us) and a braided leather strap completed the creation.

After the tree was donated, I decided I wanted to finally finish another project which has languished in my closet: a gourd fairy house. Being an avid Tolkienite, I felt that it ought to resemble a hobbit house. Which, naturally, entailed painting the front door emerald green and installing a gold doorknob.

A view through the front door.

It is a very small and simple house, consisting of a front room/study/kitchen, a tiny dining room/parlor, and a loft. The furnishings are for the most part natural — a mushroom serves as a built-in stool, the dishes are made from acorns, and a leaf comprises the pillow.

Through the right window to the parlor, set for tea.

Looking in the left window to see the sink. 

Other details you might notice are the lace curtains, the sink made of a shell, the letter box with party RSVPS, and There and Back Again lying on the desk. (Not pictured: a cuckoo clock by the door and a painting from a bottle in the dining room.) Though spending time on a fairy house with no practical purpose felt a little childish, I enjoyed the quiet detail work and look forward to displaying it in my children's nursery (which will be literary-themed, of course).

Cutting. My hair! I was eight years old the last time I cut my hair. I went home and cried in my parent's bathroom, and regretted it so much that for eleven and a half years I only got trims. Until January 2, 2019, when I cut sixteen inches off.  There was definitely some mourning the day before, but I am pleased to announce there were no tears after the fact this time.

Baking. Dozens of muffins, luscious peppermint brownies, delectable gingerbread biscotti, spicy pfeffernusse, and scones of various varieties, all accompanied, of course, by copious amounts of tea.

Watching. Besides the old Christmas favorites, over break we watched three movies which were new to me: The Man Who Invented Christmas, Castaway, and Saving Mr. Banks. All three movies were very different and very delightful. (Not quite as well-liked was The Remains of the Day. I did not feel the ending had resolution. The addition of one line would have reformed it for me.) Emma Thompson is just an amazing actress, and it was fun to see Tom Hanks in some different roles as well.



After such a wonderful break, it's hard to go back to the constant busyness of school. It is so easy to step into a mindset of complaint when I think about college. There have been some very real frustrations, and I do legitimately feel that I learned more when I was homeschooled (I certainly enjoyed it more). I enjoy being around people, but it is exhausting to be so often gone from my home or too busy to see my family.

But I also have much to be thankful for. When I received a scholarship to this college in spring 2017, I praised the Lord over and over for His provision. I have a great job cleaning an office — in addition to working a few hours a week at a preschool, with 50 people under the age of six who constitute my best friends on campus — which allows me to graduate debt free.

In addition, I feel closer to the Lord than I ever have before. My first year of college was hard. I don't mean academically. I mean being in a secular environment five days a week which constantly whispered, implicitly if not explicitly, There is no God who cares for you. I quickly realized that without the Body of Christ, living in a God-cursing world is very, very difficult. Even once I was able to get into a Bible study at my church, I struggled with feeling alone or unheard by God. I am so thankful the semester ended when it did. I wasn't thinking suicidally or considering leaving the church; but I was in need of a detox from the foolish rhetoric preached day in and day out at school. Over the summer, I had the necessary time to examine my heart, pour over the Bible, and remember the One who cares for me, who is nearer than a brother, who has a husband's heart for me.

The fall semester had difficult moments as some of my classes examined issues of homosexuality and I had to be in very dark places. But it was different than my first year. In all the hard times I knew that the Lord is unchanging, that He gives us laws only to bring freedom, and that He is present and loving.

When I constantly complain about this season of life — which in reality, is really very short anyway — I dishonor the One who regulates time, who provided this scholarship, and who made my life. Besides the fact that it doesn't bring me much joy, either. It may be a stretch to say I'll ever love my university or that, at this point, I want to love my university. But I am tired of living in a state of dissatisfaction that dishonors God, when I could live by gratitude. I have made this resolution before — to be thankful and stop complaining about college. Now, I nervously post this to the Internet, because even if only two people read this, saying it "aloud" gives me a measure of accountability.

It's good to be writing again, dear readers. I would love to hear how you spent your holidays.

Tutorial: Winter Cloak

Well, hello, my good friends! I know I just posted so as far as my life goes I don't have a lot to say… I'm going to a marvelous mystery masquerade party (hey, Nan, see the alliteration?) at the end of the month and I have been sewing a lot to prepare for my costume. My most recent endeavor was this cloak, a pattern invented and given to me by the lovely Author of To Write or Not To Write.
This project started with my sewing machines kicking out on me… and ended the same way. In the middle I was able to get my 1970s one to run smoothly, but then when I tried to force it to do difficult things (I take the entire responsibility), it gave out. I'll have to do some work on it when I get a chance. But you don't want to hear about that! You want the pattern. Well, here it is.

Tutorial: Warm Winter Cloak

Difficulty (1 = easy, 5= hard): 3.

Estimated Time: A few days of sewing if you have a machine.

You'll need:

• As many inches of flannel fabric as you are tall, plus 12-30 inches more (i.e., I am five feet tall and I wanted a spacious hood, so I got a little over two yards). The more fabric you buy, the larger and more beautiful your hood will be.
• The same amount of fabric in cotton or muslin, to use as lining.
• Thread that matches the flannel in color.
• A sewing machine
• A needle
• Scissors
• ½ yard of ribbon, optional

Instructiones:

1. Wash and dry both fabrics according to manufacturer's instructions. Take your flannel and hold it around your shoulders so that the short ends are parallel to the floor and the bottom edge just touches the ground (or is as close to the ground as you want the edge of your cloak to be). Place a pin a little higher than where your shoulders are. Lay your flannel out on a surface you can cut on (I use this), and trim away the fabric that is above the pin (around 15-30 inches); this smaller fabric piece is for your hood. Lay the muslin against the flannel and cut off the same amount. Set aside the hood pieces.

2. Now you're going to pin the two fabrics together, wrong side to wrong side. Lay them out so the edges match up and pin them together. 

3. Then, go around and carefully turn the edge over about ¼ inch and move the pins so that it is holding a ¼ once-turned hem as well as holding the fabrics together. Once that is done, go around and do the same thing, turning the ¼ inch edge under ¼ inch more, moving the pins as you go.

Here's a bad picture to help explain. See, I've pinned the two layers together and I'm in the process of turning it over the first time.

4. Now, top stitch all the way around your rectangle, by hand or machine, or both if your sewing machine quits working and then starts again. 

5. Repeat steps 2-4 with the hood pieces.

6. Now here comes a slightly tricky part: the gathering. Set your sewing machine's stitch length to the largest stitch size. Set the tension as loose as it can be. Sew one line of stitching across one of the short ends of the main cloak. Then, sew one line of stitching across three sides of the of the hood piece: one short end, one long end, and one short end. It is important that you do not sew three lines of stitching but continue the same line of stitching through all three sides. Be sure to leave long tails on both the main cloak and the hood.

Gathering.

7. Take the bottom thread (if you were sewing with the flannel facing you on top, this will be the thread on the other side) and gently pull on it. If you are pulling on the bobbin thread, this will create gathers. Pull on the threads on both sides of the cloak and use your fingers to slide the gathers on the edges into the middle. Place the cloak around your shoulders to check if it is gathered to your satisfaction, adjust if necessary, and set aside. Repeat this step with the hood. Hold it next to the cloak and gather it as much as need be to make the edges match up without one being longer than the other.

8. Pin the fabrics together and stitch them together with a basting stitch. Be careful not to pull out your gathers as you go. (DO NOT use a sewing machine in this step! It WILL kill your machine! Sew by hand only!! Believe me, you do not want the guilt and shame that will inevitably follow ignoring my warnings and your own internal warnings!)

9. Go back and stitch the hood and cloak together again with a smaller stitch. Do it twice if you are worried about it holding together. (DO NOT use a sewing machine in this step! It WILL kill your machine! Sew by hand only!!)

You can stop here if you like and use a safety pin to hold your cloak together in the front. Or, you can cut your ribbon in half and sew each half onto the cloak as shown:

This is the inside of the cloak. The wrong side of the ribbon is facing us.

Whatever you choose, it will be a beautiful cloak! 

Get a load of that full hood!

Have fun!
Au revoir,

Tutorial: Beautiful Bubble Book Garland!

Well, hello! Nice to see you. We gather together today to witness the union of – er, the making of a beeeauuutiful garland made of book pages! (The tissue paper flower poufs are not included.)

Psst… you can see Weenie if you look close.

Tutorial: Bubble Book Garland

by Lady Awdur

You will need:

• Scissors
• A pencil
• Oodles of books that you don't mind cutting up (they'll be ruined)
• Something round to trace around (I used a cookie cutter with a 3-inch diameter)
• A ribbon, as long as you want the garland (I made BLANK garlands BLANK feet long, so I used around BLANK feet of ribbon. Mine was white and ¼ inch wide)
• A sewing machine (glue might work, too, but I didn't try this so I don't know)

How you do it:

First, trace twice as many circles as you'll need (you get three circles per foot, so if you wanted to make a three foot garland you would trace (3x3) x2 = 18 circles. Got it?). I traced 300. In most I did all words, in some (to vary it up) I got some of the picture:

I mean, it's Weenie. Who wouldn't want him in the garland?

Then, cut out the circles (that's pretty self-explanatory). After you have all of your circles cut out, you will need to prepare them for sewing. Unless you cut your papers from books that have no pictures or anything and all of them look the same, you might have a preference which side is up. The circles are double layered, so that they have some strength and aren't just floppy little pieces of paper, so one side of each circle will not be shown. If you care which side is in and which side is out, you'll want to lay them out. For instance, Weenie's other side looks like this:

It's just not Weenie.

And I much prefer Weenie, so I grabbed another circle and put them together with the sides I wanted facing out. Once you've prepared all of your circles and stacked them (not on top of each other but just barely overlapping so that you can grab one circle pair without grabbing more than one), you'll need to get out your sewing machine.

The overlapping stacks.

Prepare the ribbon by cutting one edge in a forked design to guard against fraying and make it look pretty. Lay it across the sewing machine and put down the presser foot.

Make sure you have some tail to tie the garland with. Grab a circle pair, place it under the ribbon, and sew all the way across. Keep sewing for ½ inch to 2 inches (whatever you think looks best) past the circle (you'll just be sewing on ribbon at this point), then add another circle pair (herewith referred to simply as a "circle"), sew across, sew for an inch or so on the ribbon, add another circle, and so on.

My garlands were made to hang vertically, so I did very short garlands, no more than 11 circles on each, so if you were doing horizontal garlands you'd have to figure out how many circle pairs you'd need to do.
When you've done as many as you want, cut the ribbon and the threads of the sewing machine. You're done!

Here's what they look like at the end:

Sorry the picture is so bad. Hey, I'm not a photographer.

Close-up of the forked tail.

Hopefully you don't mind how the ribbon twists a little in between. You could probably eliminate this by sewing each circle on individually instead of sewing from on end of the ribbon to the other. That seemed like too much work to me, though.

I sewed these on a Singer Fashion Mate 252 – how crazy it is that a machine from 1971 runs so much smoother than my 2005 Singer Simple machine?? I guess they really don't make them like they used to.

Au Revoir,

P.S. Does anyone know how to get other google fonts beside Arial, Courier, Georgia, Helvetica, Times, Trebuchet and Verdana on Blogger? I thought I had it figured out… but no.
EDIT: Thank you very much to The Author for helping me with the fonts!

Hot hot weather.

It is hot. It is the last day of April, 82 degrees, and sleet is predicted for May 2nd! So this is the midwest. We have a saying: If you don't like the weather here, wait 5 minutes and it will change!
I've been contemplating moving to South Dakota or Canada – somewhere that never has temperatures that exceed 80º (or 85º, in heat waves) and has a 100% chance of snow every winter.
Like 6 inches of snow. For two months straight. :)
Or maybe England... I might like England – or Scotland – or Ireland – or France – or the Mediterranean! Pretty much Europe entirely. But especially Britain.
I do not like the heat. I like it cold. And so I sit inside and blog. I would rather be outside enjoying the beautiful spring afternoon/evening. But this is not spring weather, it is summer weather. But anyways.
I'm having trouble with Maurelle. I'm supposed to write this story for school, and I want to finish/chip a way at my Arthurian Chronicles this summer, so I'm trying to finish it. But I'm at the hardest part: the very middle.
Mostly I've been reading Ben-Hur and knitting. I like knitted washcloths, so I knitted one. But I think I should have used different yarn because it doesn't work the greatest. Now I'm trying to knit a shawl but I don't think I have enough yarn.
And we've been really busy in the last week, so I easily found excuses for not writing (I'm using one right now: I need to blog!). I was in Arsenic and Old Lace (I was Officer O'Hara – we had a lot of girls playing boys because there are 10 boy parts and 4 boys). We had practice Monday-Wednesday, show on Thursday, rest on Friday, Show Saturday afternoon, then we stayed to watch the other show (the homeschool group I did it with did two plays this semester), and then struck the set. Hmm... One says "I'm going to strike the set" but it doesn't look right to say "we struck the set"...
I really want to work on my laundress story... And my gladiator story. AHHGH!
Maybe someone can help me with Maurelle.
See, the problem is this: I'm more likely to write a "man who learned better" story than "heroic quest" story. I'm supposed to write a heroic quest. But I have a hard time with writing a quest type story unless it's an ACTUAL quest.
So Maurelle's object is her freedom. The thing she learns is to be more selfless. So I had a chapter on her learning to be more selfless. But the thing is, I don't believe we can learn to be selfless by ourself. And she isn't a Christian. So I thought about having her become a Christian and she learns (a) to be more selfless and (b) outer freedom isn't important because she's free in Christ.
But that would have two problems:
1) It takes the story in a totally different direction. I didn't want this to be a salvation type story because I'm bad at writing those. This is because I myself didn't have a conversion moment, an actual time I can point to and say, "Here I became a Christian." I've been raised Christian, so I don't know how to realistically write about a conversion moment.
2) If I write this, it's no longer a heroic quest because she doesn't strive for her object and win it.
My sister Nan suggested she learns to trust. I like this idea, and it comes naturally from the story:

Gabrielle shook her head again, sadly.

“There is not one who is free, Maurelle. Not you, not me.”

“You can have anything you want!” I gasped, realizing I had said the words aloud. I turned, and fled back the way I had come. I passed the campsite and stumbled along until I came to a thicket so dense I could not pass through it. I flung myself down and cried, then, sobbing. Was nothing trustworthy or sacred?

No; no, it wasn’t. I had always known that. It was the creed I lived by; the standard by which I justified all my actions. I had come up against a cold, hard wall, but it was one I had always known (with my mind, if not my heart) to be there.

This thought was no comfort me.

It was Gabrielle’s parents who had betrayed me; I would have no guilt in carrying out Raoul’s orders, even if I knew, in my heart of hearts, that they were not as innocent as he made them out to be. By luck, by fate, by some good fortune, I had been offered a way out, not three days ago.

But could I trust him?

I felt cold, and not just because of the icy wind. I couldn’t trust him anymore than I could trust Gabrielle. I  couldn’t trust anyone. Had I not just realized that?

You don’t need to trust him.

The answer came so naturally that I wondered at not seeing it before. I didn’t need him, and I didn’t need Gabrielle and her pampered parents. I could tell Gabrielle what she wanted to hear and give Raoul what he needed – just so long as it fit my purpose. I could play on both their needs, and still get my freedom.

I stopped crying; things would go on as before. I had no need to feel sorry. I would be free, and no one would stand in the way of that.

The only problem with this idea is that it takes the story in a different turn. But, still would the freedom thing.
So maybe I will pursue this direction. Meeps. I guess I should. But if I do I have to rethink the whole rest of the book. AGAIN.
I need to work on Maurelle I guess...

Dress making Tutorial

So, one day I decided I wanted a dress. My sister and I were making a skit, and I wanted a sort of Greek-style wedding dress to go with it (chiton, anyone?). We had none of these. WELL, that wasn't going to stop me!
"Fine," I said, "I'll make one."
The reaction I got? Well, it was what I expected:
Slightly bemused look and a "Okay, if you really want to." A sort of "have fun with that" response.
My family has no faith in my ability to sew. So, I'm not an expert, but I made barbie dresses from a particular website (AHHHHH! BRAIN FREEZE! I CAN'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE SITE!!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY MEMORY???!!!) that doesn't use seam allowance. And do you know what happens if you don't put enough seam allowance? And with a Barbie, you have very, very, very little room for a slipup. And this was a year or so ago.
But the dresses turned out relatively well.
Do they care? My family hears "doll dress" and they think "easy."

Well, in case you didn't know, a pattern in which all of the pattern pieces are stacked on top of each other and there is NO seam allowance in the said pieces and in which there is literally no room for a mistake, that is a difficult pattern.

I'm not exactly mad at my family, just kind of disappointed, I guess. However, I made this dress completely by myself, with no pattern at all or any assistance at all and it turned out pretty well. Even my sister and parents thought so.

This pattern is really easy. Even a professional amateur like me can do it.

So, the basic idea of the cutting of the pattern is this: you are going to cut out two rectangles.

So far so good.

Measure from your shoulder to the floor, or to wherever you want the dress to go (you want a knee length dress, measure from shoulder to knee).
Add an inch or two to that number and write it down. Now measure from shoulder to shoulder and add about six inches.

My measurements were 52 inches and 22 inches, if that helps at all (but I'm super short and have really small shoulders).
Now lay out your fabric and use a pencil or something to draw a square with your dimensions (52 by 22 in my case). I got lucky and was using a sheet (more on this at the bottom) so I didn't have to hem as much as you will have to.

 

Cut out your fabric and hem both squares. Have fun. :)

 I suggest using an iron and some pins to help with the seams and hems.

 

 And maybe use a ruler or something with a straight edge to make sure these hems are straight.

Okay. You've finished hemming. Your hoping this is going to amount to something cool because all that hemming was really boring (hopefully you remembered to play some music).

At this part you need to take some more measurements. Since this dress has two slits in it (for walking-ease), you kneed to measure the slit area. I measured from my knee to the floor, because I wanted the slit in my dress to start at the knee and go to the floor.
Then, measure from the top of your shoulder to right under your arm.

Now, lay out the two panels of the fabric, right sides together (right side is a term for outside part). Choose one end to be the bottom of the dress, and measure your slit measurement (that is, if your s.m. is 23 inches, measure 23 inches from the bottom edge of the fabric, and put a pin where the 23 is.)

Starting at the other edge of the fabric, measure your arm measurement (if the a.m. is 8 inches, put a pin on the 8 inch mark and the 0 inch mark).

Sew in between your slit pin and the beginning of the arm pin area. Repeat on the other side.

You should now have two rectangles, joined at the sides, but not all the way from top to bottom.

Sew about one inch of sewing at the very top right and the very top left. This forms the sleeves.

Now you are ready for the darts (which are wonderfully easy don't let anyone tell you otherwise).  You will be measuring, basically, how long your back is. Measure from the base of your neck to the bottom part of the small of your back, or from your neck to your waist.
Write the measurement down. Now, lay out your fabric, and choose a side to be the back. Measure your measurement from the top of the fabric to wherever it ends (my measurement was 16 inches).

Measure approx. 3 inches from the right side; sew your first dart about 1 inch thick. Measure 3 more inches; sew the next dart, again, about 1 inch thick. Measure three more inches and do the last dart (you guessed it: 1 inch thick). If my instructions don't make sense, look up a youtube video on making darts, and you will understand them.


Looking at your dress, it should look like this:

 Sew along the dart lines you pinned off, and turn your dress inside out.
Try it on. I recommend using a belt with it, although without the belt it doesn't look too shabby either.

Oh, dear. I don't like that picture one bit. It makes me look so extremely not tall. Then again, I AM extremely not tall.


So how did I get stuck using a sheet (albeit, a pretty sheet). Well, it just so happens that all of the fabric we have is one of two things:

1. About 2 feet square.
2. Upholstery fabric.

And the thing is, my mother doesn't sew, my sister who still lives at home doesn't like to sew, and so my dad is the only one who even touches the sewing machine, save me. He's made some costumes for us before, and doesn't do too shabby a job, either.

But he doesn't sew enough to know my dilemma. *sigh* If only I had someone to commiserate with me. But oh well.