Friday, January 18, 2008
Oh man!!!!!!! I got some nice Christmas & birthday gifts this year, but Jan is the gift-giving genius!! Gourmet + green: a Meiji macadamia matcha treat to try, my very own chasen (matcha whisk!), and Glen Baxter's Gourmet Guide! (!!)
Posted at 5:31:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
(Not to mention the Blissen undersea t-shirt she gave me for Christmas, which I wanted so much and love LOVE.)
Thanks galore!!
My birthday package from January arrived today and I am excited. (& I don't get excited easily at all, despite how I may come across on ALB.) I retreived it from the doorstep right before leaving on my errands, so I saved it to open when I got home, and I've been brimming with anticipation all afternoon.
Posted at 5:24:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
My eyes are all wonky tonight and I can hardly type straight (I keep messing things up and having to fix them) (probably it's from focusing them in a different sort of way, sewing) but I have to add that I really really love the material I made this bag out of. It deeply appealed to me the moment I saw it (with Susie and Alex, at the Main Street Market in Middletown). Although I only looked at it for a second, I went back and bought it the next day after realizing I could probably use it for the bag I wanted to make. (I didn't know for sure; I thought it might be too unravelly when cut, but it was fine.) I love the random looking pattern of rectangles, and how texturey it is, the softness and richness, and how wintery the colors are, all heathern and mauvish. It looks very like the tea room, I realise.
Posted at 2:54:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Posted at 11:22:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Dean keeps declaring my new winter bag "the best bag ever," but I'm pretty sure he said the same thing the last time I made a bag. (That was about his bike bagsket, I think.) It is definitely, absolutely, without a doubt, the smoothest bag project I have ever engaged in. I had to redo ZERO things about it, and I just made it straight through, from start to finish, in the proper order, without any real difficulties figuring out what I was doing. In other words, I think I put it together in the simplest/most sense-making way, rather than the randomest, most confusing and backward way. I am impressed.
It's constructed the same way as a lined zipper pouch (like those ones I made for Jan), really, but with the addition of the strap and the extra pocket in front. Oh, and + the cotton batting to make it extra snuggly. And it's made exactly the same way as my ocean bag, which, despite initial misgivings about how much I'd actually use it, I end up grabbing all the time. It's really comfortable and just the right size when all I want is my wallet, keys, and Zi/Treo, which is almost always. I don't think the ocean bag is very wintery, though, so that's why I wanted this one.
Anyway, it's super-simple, so all I need for photos are these: 1) cashmere scarf bag straight on (including my hand fondling it, to show the unzipped Treo pocket, which is made from more of the same stuff), and 2) cashmere scarf bag from the top, to show the upholstery fabric lining, and the pocket in a zipped state. The zipper on the top also zips, of course, but I never zip that one unless I'm putting the bag down and have stuff inside that I really want to be secure. (Which is extremely rare, since the stuff stays in just fine with the zipper unzipped in most cases, and I like being able to just reach in.)
You can't see it in the photos, but the rectangles line up nearly perfectly on all sides! I'm pleased galore about that. (I decided to start using the word "galore" a lot, BTW. Mostly to say, "Oh, thanks galore.") The only thing I'm slightly concerned about is that this is my smallest bag yet (about 6½ x 9), and I'm pretty sure that will be a good thing, unless it's difficult to slip items in and out. I'll have to give it a test-wear tomorrow. It's definitely very, very touchable and is exactly what I envisioned.
P.S. I got Dean to admit when he saw the final product that it does not look "professional". :-)
Is the man in the long black coat Death? (I'm having another INT soundtrack Repeat Mode situation in the car.)
Posted at 5:44:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Tremendous day for my soap fetish! First I found mini-bars of that out-of-print sandpaper soap at CVS, and then, to my complete astonishment and delight, I found Sudz "In the Pink" grapefruit & lemongrass soap at Shaw's. I have been looking for it continuously since I read about it on someone's blog on September 3rd, and it's the whole reason I tried that other Sudz soap (which I love, but can never find) in the first place. In the Pink is like the mangosteen of soaps, practically! Well, not quite. Almost. I wonder if I'll even like it?
I made a strap out of the main bag material, and it seems pretty sturdy, thanks to a generous application of stitchwitchery. Haven't sewn it on yet, though. I will tonight, but first Dean wants to go look at hangar heaters. (!!)
P.S. Now that I have In the Pink, I really really want that Rough Seas flavor.
I've three-quarters finished my winter bag, and all in one night! Dean keeps calling it very "professional" looking, I think because I ruffled when he said it the first time, when I asked his advice on zipper colors. Professional?? As if I wanted to be anywhere near that word! Ha.
Posted at 1:35:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
Anyway, it's going veeeery smoothly, except I haven't done the strap yet, and I hope I haven't made a mistake in leaving it until now. I can never remember the order of things. (Anti-linear brain's not a random blog name.) The bag's made out of 1) a cashmere scarf I bought for $12. (?!) at the Tibetan Bazaar in Middletown, and 2) some upholstery fabric I got at Fabric Place (RIP) ages ago, I think right after I made my very first bag. (The shad one.) I was rooting around in my stash for a lining and noticed they go together very well.
It also has snow-from-yesterday cotton batting sandwiched in the middle, and two zippers (Treo pocket and top). But no strap, yet. And I'm not quite sure what I'll use for the strap, either. The scarf material seems a bit delicate; we'll see. But anyway it's a great linear design (squares and squares) and exceedingly touchable. And my chief concern in things I'm going to be handling is that they are touchable.
I also finished putting away the Christmas tree today, and I know I'm going to miss it, for the lights. A warm red-and-gold glow's so nice in winter when it's dark for the great majority of the hours that I'm awake.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
A squall. I was in the store for only about 15 minutes, and when I came out my car had an inch of snow over it. I had to brush it off. The falling flakes were huge, messy shapes, each one nearly an inch across. Beautiful. Getting dark right then, the white brilliant against the deep blue sky and the shiny black of the wet roads. The fallen snow looks exactly like real cotton batting.
Posted at 5:26:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Posted at 4:38:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
!!!!!!! Just checked the mail. (It's beautiful outside, white everywhere.)
In my box:
a large white 12½" x 9½" USPS envelope, return address, "Postmaster, United States Postal Service, Shawanese, PA 18654-9998." Hand written in an unfamiliar handwriting is my address (blue ballpoint) and "Do Not Bend" (blue marker) with another "Do Not Bend" on the back and an official "FRAGILE" stamp on both sides.
Inside the envelope are two stiff pieces of cardboard, sandwiching my birthday card envelope (about 9" x 6") from Mary (stamps hand-cancelled, otherwise pristine) and a Routing Slip note of explanation from her postmaster which says, "Too Nice to send through machinery at the Post Office! Dave". WOW!!! I'm pretty sure Mary didn't know anything about this (?), because she was wondering why it didn't arrive by my birthday.
It IS a jaw-droppingly beautiful envelope: translucent, with gorgeous labels, cool old stamps (Cape Hatteras National Seashore!), and a glued-on hand cut sea star and big orange octopus. But wow. This is unprecedented.
Wow, I feel so good today.
Posted at 3:12:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Ha!! Pretty accurate, I'll admit.
Posted at 8:44:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Which Alice in Wonderland character are YOU?
You scored as the Walrus! You like to look after yourself and indulgence is your favourite vice. You use charm and manipulation to get what you want and don't mind taking someone else's share... if they aren't watching of course.
Posted at 6:06:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
??! We're at Novaki's and just walked by the gelato case, and right on the end is VANIGLIA flav! It must be Italian for vanilla.
My Gs called on the phone to wish me happy birthday right as we were about to leave, and the G told me to "Have a yummy time." :-)
There's a big storm coming tonight (natch) but it isn't supposed to get heavy until midnight-ish, so it won't interfere with going to Novaki's. Does this mean my birthday jinx is wearing thin?!
Posted at 2:34:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
I just opened my presents from the Gs (they came earlier this week via Amazon.com but I studiously avoided looking at them closely) and I love love LOVE them. (Well, they were from my wishlist, but, still.) Fables from the Sea and Fables from the Deep! The watercolors are gorgeous, and there's even a tale about a sea cucumber.
