So, some stuff got done. Some stuff is still left undone, but I'm working on it. 
Prayer Patches... Yes, an ongoing project. Worked on some at lunch, have a few working at home. As we're collecting these, it's cool to see the different sizes - some are making small squares, some are doing rectangles and it's kind of interesting to see what's being used for yarn. Most of mine are left-overs - they have a story... "this was from Manu's layette; this one is a kid's hat; this one is from a scarf I made for Hubby." I love that these yarns were used for projects for people, even though yes, I have purchased a few balls of yarn for this project. Just being able to complete these, rather than having to stare at a whole Prayer Shawl that I know will take me forever? This is a great idea.
Christmas Knitting... Well, one hat down, one to go. Unless I get a streak going, which - honestly? Isn't likely. One year, maybe I'll start early and do hats for all the nephews. This one is ideally for Kid #1, who loves red. Though like I said, he's got a navy blue coat, so maybe he'd like the other color of the one I'm planning for Kid #2. This is the Lion Brand Wool-Ease, and of course the Emergency One Day Hat, which in this case took me ten or eleven days. I didn't knit straight on this - I've got 3 part-time jobs, so while I did have times where I had "solid whacks of knitting," mostly this was row-by-row after a yoga class or when I had a few moments.
All in all, I still adore this hat; this time, I skipped a K2tog somewhere, and I had a little "pip" at the tip of the hat - which I promptly pulled to the inside! I suppose I could add pom-poms to this if I wanted to do that. And I might - my friend Kelly at Le Mouton Rouge has some fantastic ones available! And yes, she does mail-order if you need it. I'm going out there December 1st with my friend Roberta the Opera Singer, and I'm pretty sure that I won't only be window-shopping... Decreases - wow, so magical! As you can see here (I hope), the evenly placed "blades" really add some style to this hat.
One of these days, I may try this hat in a hand-painted, or marled yarn. Not necessarily a self-patterning one, but one where I have lovely colors working through the entire thing. Hubby could use a new hat, but I'm not sure this one can fit him, since it's literally a kid's hat!
The Vicar's Banner... So for some idiotic reason, I volunteered to do a banner for the Vicar's installation. Why do I do this? Why? What's going on in my brain? Obviously, a cognizance of time is severely lacking.
(Hubby is hauling in a stash of yoga chairs - they've been recalled and have to be disposed of - we had to buy new ones, which wasn't fun. But neither is a student in a collapsed chair!)
Sooooooo. Trip to the fabric store after germinating an idea. This is the idea: a tree, where we can dip our palms in paint and add "leaves." At first, I was told to do greens, but the Vicar wants LOTS of color, so I bought paints of all the autumn shades I could find.
I got duck cloth - heavy stuff, because it's a banner that has to hang straight. Then I called my mom... I was pretty sure that I had to wash it first, because most fabrics have a finish on them. I was concerned that the finish would preclude the paint from sticking properly.
So I had to stitch up the sides. I bought 2 yards, which is insanely over-buying, but I'd rather have more than have to piece it. The point of stitching on the cut ends is, of course, to keep them from raveling. You have to wash this fabric to get that finish off. I did a 1-in. seam (ish) and honestly, it doesn't matter the width of the seam unless you've bought exactly the amount of fabric you need. So if I'd bought the 1 yard, I'd have done the seam closer to 1/2" or maybe a bit less.
I did the same thing to the brown fabric. In that case, the white thread shows up; obviously for the duck cloth, it doesn't - but again...doesn't matter. I'm not picking the seams out. I also bought iron-on interfacing to put the tree trunk on the duck cloth. It's not an item I'm wearing, so the iron-on will stick nicely, and if I have time, I can do a running stitch or mattress stitch (which would be a lot more festive, and easy enough to do) in embroidery floss to double-secure the sides of the trunk. Just in case someone folds it up to store it, right?
My sewing skills are at best rudimentary. My embroidery skills are, if I may say so, quite good. I have an aunt (sadly, she's in advanced Alzheimer's disease) who showed me how to do needlework in exchange for babysitting. Good on her - she didn't pay me; it was "lessons for sitting." Yeah, I know - but you know what? Learning that was cool and for a long, long time, she was my favorite person and the person who (not only being my godmother) I went to when I had problems or questions. Everyone should have an aunt like that.
My sewing machine is equally rudimentary, but I love him (yes, I consider it a male) and I have had to really push back at people who've said to me, "This is practically an antique - you need to buy a new one" when I've had to have it repaired. I must also say that I've only had it repaired three times. And I've owned it for... gosh, nearly 40 years! Dang. It's old. Dang. So am I...
Here's a photo of my baby. While St. Clare is the patron saint of sewing, I call him Quentin, who's the patron saint of tailors. I'm no tailor, but what the heck? He has to have a name.
He does three things: He goes backward, forward and zig-zag. He does make buttonholes, but I can do them faster and neater than he can (sorry, Quentin).
Quentin has seen me through sewing my own clothes in college, repairing jeans, making household items, Christmas ornaments, and such, and making baby clothes and various baby blankets throughout the years, as well as his crowning glory: Domestic Violence Supply Bags (bags my mom and I did up for packing with toiletries and toothbrushes - they were put in backpacks along with a pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, underwear, socks, and a sports bra -- for use by social workers in rape cases). Now, he's semi-retired, even though I have a few projects in my linen closet. He's had problems with his bobbin tension occasionally, and really, that's what the 3 repairs were.
I don't need fancy-schmantzy machinery. I wouldn't know what to do with it! One guy tried to tell me that I needed "a machine that does embroidery that you work through your computer."Bulletin dude: I can embroider my own self, by hand. When I'm sewing, I'm not in front of my computer - on purpose! And I'm not a quilter, so all I need is Quentin.
Anyhow -- see this mess? That's the duck cloth after being washed and dried with wool dryer balls. I can go into quite a dissertation about how bad those dryer sheets are for you... the chemicals in them, the "slime" they actually leave on your skin and your towels... Ahem.
I didn't want any kind of finish left on this fabric, so the dryer balls were the thing to use. I didn't add any extra oil, but the banner does smell lightly of lavender. That's not all bad, right? Maybe that's an omen for how smoothly this project will go. I hope. St. Quentin, do your thing!
What I'll do next is iron it. I'll starch it after it's done - heavy-duty starch on the back of the project so that it hangs nicely. I was going to do it with the fabric doubled, but Mom insisted it would be entirely too heavy. She's probably right. But if I starch the back, it should stiffen up nicely and hold its shape. If nothing else, I can put a tassel on the bottom of it. I have time to go grab one.
Digestive Enzymes... I'm still having problems with that bout of food poisoning several months ago. It's eased up significantly, but my digestive tract is still messed up. I talked to my chiropractor and two things came out of it: I probably need to see a naturopath and get food tested; and I should be taking digestive enzymes. I do take a probiotic, but the enzymes might help settle my stomach and its ability to do its job. I've been on GERD medication for a while, so my system is already "slowed up" somewhat. It's getting worse. And I'm uncomfortable. Having extra weight on my bones doesn't help, but I haven't felt this bad since before I was diagnosed with GERD. That's not good. The gastro guy appointment is in a few weeks.
And I can't remember to take those ^*%& pills!! Which is very weird. Normally, I am very compliant with medications, but for some reason, popping one of these before every meal is a pain in the rear end.
The bottle is, of course, incredibly large. I'm not keen on carrying that around. So I snagged an empty Rx bottle, put a label on it and stuck it in my purse. Maybe THAT will help me.
When I remember to take it, it does its job. When I don't remember, I pay for it. I'm actually looking forward to the gastro appointment, just so I can assure myself that all of this "will pass."
Shabbat Shalom... In response to the Pittsburgh massacre by a home-grown terrorist (Yes. That's what it was and he is.), our local synagogue opened up its Sabbath services last night.
You want to know what was incredibly sad? The fully kitted out cop standing at the doorway. The Rabbi speaking about the persecution - historical and ongoing - using words only he could use, and that I will not use here (slang, reinforcing the disrespect and cultural ignorance). And the fact that the congregation had, apparently, heard it all. It makes me sad for my community, because on the surface, we all get along. I mean it. By no means is it Utopia, but in the circles I travel, I never noticed what the Rabbi spoke of.
You want to know what was incredibly uplifting? So many of the Gentile community turned out that they ran out of prayer books. The Rabbi, looking out over all of us sitting there, bemused by the "backward" prayer book, and looking expectantly at him and the young cantor, said, "I'm so happy to see everyone sitting out there!"
I've actually sung Hebrew before - sparingly, but I've sung it. And I was trained in Sanskrit chant...but this book was a little beyond me (in a good way). The ladies sitting behind us were very helpful. And up in front of us was a literal passel of nuns, who came out to pray and support the congregation. We made our way through the service and I hope that the congregation felt our support. When the alleged "commander in chief" spews such hatred and divisiveness, he really doesn't have to give specific instructions. All he has to do is "normalize" the simmering nastiness. Which he's done in spades. And which he totally disavows, like a true dictator does.
Last night gave me hope.
What was left undone... Well, at least for a few weeks. I actually ran out of Clary Sage oil. That's just weird. I usually never run out of this stuff, but somehow, I did. This is a favorite spray in our yoga studio, and I had students asking about it.
I fiddled with this blend a few years ago, and now with the Young Living Essential Oils, it's more consistent. Some other oils don't have the overall consistency that these oils do. I wish I could share the recipe, but honestly, it's pretty much "what I feel like at the time." Sometimes, I do more geranium. Sometimes, more Clary sage. Sometimes, a balance of both. It really all does end up with how I feel on that day. Both men and women like this. I think guys think that yoga studios are 99% white women. Which, unfortunately, they are. I have very few minority students, and I'd love to have more.
Anyhow, my point is that this spray goes over well with everyone. I've never had anyone say they disliked it (and they would!).
Today, at the studio, we have a ceramics trunk show, courtesy of a local artist. This is something I might spray beforehand, just to freshen up the space and put people in a good space.
Either that or I'll diffuse "Christmas Spirit" but I won't play Christmas music yet. I'll put a nice instrumental playlist on. Not to soporific, but relaxing.
Random Picture...
I have to do a cake for the installation of the Vicar (because, you know, I've got nothing else to do...). Seriously, I had always planned to do the cake. The other stuff just got added on, which is something I've got to get better at delegating or refusing. But that's another blog.
I scrolled through the cakes I've done in years past, and I'm thinking this may be something I may do. The Vicar wants lots of colors, and this might be the best way to incorporate that. Her invitation is a rainbow, and she wanted colors on the leaves on the banner. I have leaf-shaped cookie cutters,which is my way of achieving this effect.
I'm likely to use the oval pans, and make one large 2-layer oval,and "torte" it - cut each layer in half horizontally again making 4 layers total. There's going to be "heavy munchies" so I don't have to do a 200-person cake, thankfully. This one should serve about 70 people. And we'll have lots of other food there. We feed people well, that's for sure.
Now all I need is her favorite cake flavor. That shouldn't be too hard...
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