Meltdown

I hope this is not going to be a repeat of last winters fields of mud. Every time I go outside I can hear Margaret Hamilton saying "I'm melting, I'm melting..." I swear I could never get over seeing her as the Wicked Witch of the West no matter how many other roles I saw her in. She was actually a darn fine character actress and I enjoyed seeing her, even if I felt the need to clutch my own little Toto dog closer during her appearances. But enough of mud and Margaret and Toto, we have other meltdowns to move on too!

Let's start with the sewing cotton fine rib jersey meltdown. I'm not convinced I should take sole responsibility for this meltdown. Most of it yes, but there is the pattern itself

and possibly the cheap Joann's fabric to take a little of the blame.

As stated the fabric was cheap so at least I didn't waste a lot. If anyone has ever sewn fine rib cotton t-shirt knit, you know it has a lot of stretch and this was light and flimsy compared to a lot of cotton interlock. The problem came with the neck. Why would a pattern have me do an interfacing for the front V and not for the back? I wondered, but I forged ahead. I did opt out of the pockets as it just doesn't have enough body to stretch factor.

I should have made my own little interfacing piece and been done with it. Without interfacing it just doesn't work. Period. I shed a few tears, waved my fists at the sky, cursed the pattern makers and went on and finished it. I mean really, who's going to see it anyway? The only ones even remotely interested in my collar are the critters if I have dribbled anything of interest in that area, and if they want to be fed, they know not to make comments on any of my "creative" endeavors. If I had had enough fabric left I would have made bottoms and called the set PJ's. Next one (if there is a next one), will be made a smaller size and I'll do a back collar interfacing.

The pillowcase loom has been smokin' hot. Smokin' is a relative term. I got over 12 inches done yesterday which means I'm pretty darn close to calling this project a wrap.

The second warp bout is all done on the Harrisville reel and waiting for me to tie it up and get it off. I need to wrap presents and mail them off. Tomorrow the farrier comes and in this mucky environment it will be a mid morning time sink.

I almost melted my debit card it's had so much use lately. ;)

And yes, there have been some handmade gifts but I can't tell or show until after the holidays. And I gifted myself with the last of that sale bolt of the flower fabric used in pillowcases. I loved it so much I wanted curtains and there was just enough to do them for the two bedroom windows. A little over 7 yards and all at half price. Oh, and bright orange rick rack too! I'll pull that project out in February when I need some bright color.

I'm not the only one who has meltdowns. Stella has mini-meltdowns.

Since you can't hear this picture, let me say it was accompanied by multiple long and loud distress calls from under the buffet.

As sweet and laid back as she is, rest assured she is terrier and has a fair dose of that famous tenacity (obsessive behavior), especially when it comes to her Timmy's. Let me introduce the Timmy's.

There are actually 3 of them. Red Timmy is out in the dog pen and will need human intervention to save him from being lost forever in the next snow storm. This is Blue and Multi Timmy. Color doesn't matter to Stella when there is a Timmy who is trapped. It's meltdown time. She will run just like Lassie, alert us to Timmy's dangerous situation and not stop until we follow to assist in whatever grim straits Stella has found (put) Timmy in. Rarely do we need rope but often a long stick. In fact a stick shuttle works great and at least it's feeling useful. Now, I don't want to insult Timmy's world wide, but OUR Timmy's are rather challenged. They seem to get themselves into compromising situations daily, sometimes 5 & 6 times. But never fear, at the first hint of that frantic high pitched bark from Lassie er Stella, we have been trained to come to your aid, no matter what, no matter where, we are here to serve. We are professionals.

Parting shot: Reunited.