Sunrise and Blueface Leicester

I finally finished Sunrise! And this updates my 101 in 1001, number 44, 1 bag of 8 bags of fiber spun up and finished before I can buy more!  I have a few more skeins in a basket and need to measure to see what I have in total yardage and weight.

(Edit: I ended up with 2,304 yards and 8 wpi.)

Next up and half done is a beautiful roving of Blueface Leicester that I purchased from Three Waters Farm. It is a 4 ounce tip that I split into three lengths and spinning to 3-ply. I just started the third bobbin and will be plying soon.

 

Next is a bag of Corriedale top that I got with my Kromski wheel when I purchased it. It was a 2 pound bag and I have spun one skein of yarn from it.

The hard part - Getting started.

So.. it is time to think about getting to some serious seamstressing. So I was mulling over starting this Florentine dress for my daughter and I realize this is not going to be all that easy. Turkish garb is not all that difficult. I pour over dress making logs, have collected a ton of links and have found I am a picture looker and skim sites more than I read them and that is a tsk tsk on me. So, I have to settle down and do some serious research and I am making a list of starting questions to help me keep focused.

If you have looked at any of my posts, you might get that I am a "list" sort of person. You should see the post-it notes I stick everywhere with lists on them.

Preliminary Questions to get myself started:

Just what did a 1500's woman wear under that gorgeous dress we "see" and oooo and ahhh over?

What are and what are the proper names of garment pieces a woman would have worn.

Study each garment piece (once I know them): ie. what is it made out of. How will I duplicate it. Decide what they will be made of and produce a plan.

How do I drape. Read up more on garment construction.

There, that is enough to get me started. I do have 20 yards of linen to start a chemise for her (the Italian name eludes me at the moment). We did find the Florentine gown fabrics. I will post pictures soon. The sleeves we bought black velvet and the body is a very pretty rusty red color. I am one of these people that likes 100 percent natural fibers for any garb work. In this instance I didn't follow that.

101 in 1001 list update. - I did #100. We bought the Zelda game for the Wii. I used to play Zelda games so many years ago that the Wii is a new learning curve. I talk with my hands, I am not sure how many things I threw Link off of with that motion remote, haha. However, does this clash with "Learn to say no to self" and "Be frugal"? I did by a preowned copy if that puts me in the good column. :)

I am adding one to the Genealogy column. Go to 1 or 2 conferences. I do see my list is full of things that require big money. I guess it is time to stop thinking about a 2nd job and just doing it. :( Which cuts into my hobby time! Good grief.

101 in 1001

101 in 1001
October 1, 2009 - June 28, 2012

Personal
1 Blog more - - -
2 Cable bill - lets learn the due date.
3 Clean out PSP folders, tons of duplicates and this will be a big job
4 Dentist - start some needed repairs
5 Find a second job - plan to work 8 months.
6 Go to the Rochester Art Museum
7 Go to the Rochester Museum and Science Center
8 Go to the Strasenburg Planetarium
9 Learn more of the folklore of Scotland
10 Learn some Gaelic
11 Learn to say no to yourself.
12 Letterbox more
13 Lose thirty pounds
14 Move to a cheaper apartment.
15 Once a month - day trip with daughter
16 Pen Pal - so far these penpal sites look kind of cheesey?
17 Read 6 books - I buy books and don't read them anymore, I listen to audio at work (0/6)
18 Research cost of Scotland trip to build goals on. - Look at tours
19 Take a college course (or some kind of education) - history
20 Take better care of my legs
21 Visit Scotland. (Plan for August of 2012) - with Sheila.
22 Walk for 30 minutes twice a week

Finances
23 Fix them - need I say more?
24 Get $1200 in a savings account that I don't have to borrow on regularly.
25 Get HBSC 1 cc to zero balance
26 Get HBSC 2 cc to zero balance
27 Learn to be frugal
28 Save for trip to Scotland - DO IT! (Goal 8/2012)

Craft
29 Complete my first sweater - don't let it sit.
30 Duct tape dress form for me.
31 Finish duct tape dress form for Mackenzie
32 Handweavers Guild of America - Spinning CoE
33 Italian chemise - Mackenzie
34 Knit 8 skeins of sock yarn before anything more is purchased. 0/8
35 Knit a shawl for work - I am cold a lot.
36 Knit every shawl in Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. 0/25
37 Knitters Guild of America - Knitting Masters
38 Learn to knit something you don't know how - cables
39 Learn to knit something you don't know how - colorwork
40 Learn to knit something you don't know how - lace
41 Organize Knitting stash - is your Ravelry up to date? Not.
42 Research the steps to make a Florentine gown. Just how many parts are there! Yikes.
43 Spin 10 minutes a day at least.
44 Spin 8 bags of fiber before buying more -srsly wtf - 0/8
45 Spin for every shawl in Folk Shawls by Cheryl Oberle. 0/25
46 Stop hording my angora bunny fleece. Blend with a nice wool and spin!
47 Turkish hats

SCA
48 Documentation - Italian Garb
49 Documentation - Period Natural Dying
50 Documentation - Spanish garb
51 Documentation - Turkish Embroidery
52 Documentation - Turkish Garb
53 Garb - Italian (1 complete outfit)
54 Garb - Spanish (1 complete outfit)
55 Garb - Turkish - add Turkish Embroidery to 3 En'tari's 0/3
56 Go to 2 Thescorre Events per year
57 Go to 3 Thescorre Meetings per year
58 Learn about Medieval Spain. Do I feel a persona change coming?
59 Natural Dying - period - for Ice Dragon/Pennsic A&S
60 Paint mirror box
61 Tent - decide and get one, or a Ger…
62 Turkish Embroidery - Complete Entari, Period - Ice Dragon, Pennsic by 2011
63 Turkish Embroidery sampler to get a feel for the process.

Genealogy
64 20 hours per month spent on family research
65 Be more dedicated to the Graveyard Rabbit Blog… slacker
66 Census records - Baldwin
67 Census records - Duncan
68 Find a good wall map of North Carolina
69 Find a good wall map of Scotland
70 Find a good wall map of Tennessee
71 Find a good wall map of Virginia
72 Find Baldwin connection to Connecticut
73 Find current day relatives in Dundee/Angus
74 Find-a-grave - Add the stones you have to the site.
75 Genealogist Certification? (long term project)
76 Get all photo's from Mom, identify everyone and get everything scanned
77 Get the Fender tree more complete for trip in 2012 - know what you are looking for when you go
78 Get to 3 DAR meetings per year
79 Get to 3 Genealogical Society Meetings per year
80 Go to Tennessee and/or North Carolina to find ancestor cemetery's
81 Learn the counties of Scotland and their history.
82 Random Acts of Kindness site.. VOLUNTEER
83 Take 4 online Genealogy classes to further my research skills. (0/4)
84 Trace Duncan line to the DAR, it is thought John Duncan was in the Rev War
85 Transcribe!!! Genealogy documents received.
86 Visit one cemetery every 3 months.
87 Volunteer for the Ontario County Genealogical Society
88 Write to Michigan cousins on a more regular basis
89 Write to Patsy every 6 months with updates.
90 Write to the Ohio family and make contact - it has been too many years.

Cooking
91 Canning - get back to it, use the farm markets
92 Cook Books. French (20 recipes) 0/20
93 Cook Books. German (20 recipes) 0/20
94 Cook Books. Italian (20 recipes) 0/20
95 Cook Books. Mexican cook book on the shelf (20 recipes) 0/20
96 Cook Books. Polynesian (20 recipes) 0/20
97 Recipes into Big Kitchen and make cook book… 2 years procrastinated so far??
98 Save for the ultimate food processor/blender

Entertainment
99 Buy a GPS
100 Find a fun game I will like for our Wii
101 Watch the Lost Series - the only reason cuz is is instant watch on Netflix.. =/
102 Watch the Madmen Series

September - my "something is missing" month

September has been an odd month for me for many years. I feel like I should be doing something, anything and for a couple of years I couldn't put my finger on it. About 10 years ago I quit everything I loved and looking back realize .. well we can't go back and fix, now can we. Decisions sometimes are a good thing or not a good thing, we just never know when we step out of what we know. So I will admit for shutting down and I suppose it could be considered a depression, a long one. I hated the apartment I was forced to move so my daughter and I didn't have to give up our cat. I hated losing my house because I had not worked for ten years to be a homemaker for my family. I hated going back to the job market with a ten year hole in my resume and feeling like I had stepped back, not forward and I hated doing the jobs I do just because it is what I know how to do and not really what I love to do. Yes, I confess, I am one of those... I work because I HAVE to. I love to stay home and I love being a homemaker.

Over the last two years I have started to dig out. I am back to spinning and my my my... I love sitting at my Kromski going into my zone. Spinning has always made me feel grounded and where I should be. I am so surprised I almost sold all of my spinning equipment and supplies! Phew, that was a narrow miss!

September is canning season and I realized that is my problem. When I lost the house, I lost years worth of gardening. I had over ten varieties of thyme for starters. I grew 4 varieties of basil every year. I grew rosemary, oregano, name it, if it was growable in my region, it was growing in my herb and perenial gardens. I grew medicinals, I grew a witches garden... I just grew stuff. By the time I moved there were hundreds of lavendar plants bordering my beds that I started from seed. I started most of my plants from seed. January was planning month, my husband and I gardened year round, there is always something to do even with 3 feet of snow outside.

I am used to September being hectic. Thousands of tomatoes eyeing me until put in jars. We made salsa, canned tomatoes, apple butter, jellies, jams and more. If it wouldn't go in a jar, it went into the chest freezer. We planned a year round food source and was usually to the last of the frozen and canned foods as the new and fresh was coming in. The freezer would be stocked with every freezable vegetable we grew, the blueberries we picked, and well I could go on forever. I did this for years so it is no wonder I wander around my apartment wondering what I always do with myself, haha. We moved last November to this new place and the kitchen is huge and I like the apartment far more than I did the last one that I actually stayed in for 8!!! years. I think it is pulling out by inner canning spirit. I bought a canner! I am not sure I will get anything canned this year, jars seem sold out everywhere currently in my area but it is a start and I do have a jelly I want to make for Christmas. Maybe this means I am ready to reach back and snatch up the things I gave up in order to shut a door. I am not really sure why I did this but maybe it is a clue that I was not totally happy with some decisions I made but that is where we come up with that saying... "live and learn".

So, I did commit myself to something that has been fun so far (so far meaning day 2!), we will see day 500 when much of my list is not done! I am a list person, putting a list in front of me is like waving a red flag in front of a bull, I become obsessed. Tikabelle, from a podcast I listen to, Gives Good Knit, does a list called 101 in 1001. It is actually a good list. You can put some pretty lofty goals there with that kind of time frame and it helps you not forget things you might want to do but just seem to mull over on occasion. You know.. those "I should" and "someday I would like to" or "someday I might....". But it on a list, print the list and put it somewhere where you can see it often. You just might get to those "I should" and "someday I might"'s. So far I am to 50 plus and my starting date is today, October 1 and end date being June 28, 2012. Wow, 2012. I have lofty goals but that is just fine with me. I am challenged and there are things I have been dreaming of and intend to make real. Like, going to Scotland, my dream as long as I can remember. I set a date, I am going, I will work on the funds the next 2 plus years, period. I will post my list once I have all my detail in my spreadsheet and it is more complete.

One thing on the list is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I want to knit every shawl in Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls book and actually, I want to step it up too. I think I want to spin for every shawl and then knit it. So, that is going on the list. Like I said, LOFTY goals. But it keeps me out of trouble, right?

Sunrise update.. I am getting there! I filled 4 bobbins for the last time I think. I am going down to 2 bobbins now as I am fanatical about coming out even on bobbins. I like things even, what can I say.