I don't know why I bother setting out specific tasks to be accomplished over the weekend. I never seem to get any of those tasks done. Lots of other things, certainly, but not the ones I had planned.
Friday was a total wash, as I had to be at an OES instructional thing in flippin' San Jose. I want my Friday nights back. January and February are really bust OES months, hardly a weekend without some event that consumes the whole day. Oh well. It will slow down again sooner or latter.
Saturday I went to Britex and got silk to bind my cheongsam. They didn't have china silk in the right color, do I got some nice dupioni with minimal slubs instead. It's light enough to work, the colors are perfect, and it will be a million times easier to work with than the silly china silk. Yay! I also found some really neat brown and hot pink brocade to do the Madame X corset out of, since it turns out I don't have enough of the raspberry and black stuff left over and nothing else in my stash was appealing for this outfit for some reason. I'm going to bind the brown brocade with matching pink changeable taffeta. Very obnoxious.
The reception Saturday was brilliant. The girls all did a wonderful job, and the guest of honor looked and felt like a princess in her dress. I was so glad that it got finished and fit right! That she enjoyed it so much really made it all worthwhile. She's such a sweet kid, almost like a little sister really, and it makes doing things like this for her much more fun.
N. and I ended up going out to dinner and a movie after the reception, which was a blast. We haven't had a girls night in a long time, it was good to just hang out in a non-Masonic setting and catch up a bit.
Sunday I finally got down to sewing and laundry. After a quick trip to the Height to get a mask and some foliage for my Mardi Gras masquerade dress, I got down to business fixing my old 1830's round gown. I had no fabric left over from the original project at all, so it was a little tricky re-cutting the bodice, but it worked out. The waist is a little higher, so it has a more 1829/30 transitional look to it, and I turned the long gigot sleeves into short mega-poof sleeves so it's more of an evening gown. I ended up using the bodice pattern I did for Mrs. G's dress, which fit well and has a nice neckline that works for the period. The thing went together really well, I was able to fit it to myself, and got it completely done, down to the hand-worked eye loops last night before bed. Yay for me! No pins! Well, ok, there are pins in the sleeves but they hold the sleeve crinoline things in place and that's how they are meant to attach.
All I have left to do for Saturday is arrange the foliage on the dress. I have a brilliant plan, I just need to sit down with florists tape, wire cutters, and a good movie and I'll have it done. Luckily I found a really cool butterfly mask at the art supply store, so I don't have to do any work on that. I can just focus on the floral arranging.
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
What's next!
The orange dress nightmare is over! In all truth, it wasn't a nightmare, but I am very glad to be done with all of the orange. Everything turned out splendidly last night, I even got the awfully slippy skirt fabric for the Shakespeare in Love dress beautifully pressed before I passed out at a remarkably reasonable hour.
This weekend, between orange-themed receptions and a potential cast party, I plan to tackle corset making for Madame X and the new teens dress and round one of pattern wrangling for the cheongsam. We'll see how that goes. I have to make an early trip to Britex on Saturday to pick up silk for the cheongsam bindings, and possibly some corset fabric. I think I have enough suitable corset fabric though. For the teens corset (which will actually be done with a slightly more Edwardian line, I like it better and it will work) I think I'm going to use some of the left over blue and yellow satin backed tafetta from one of the SASS dresses I did in December. Blue with yellow binding will be fun. The corset for Madame X needs to be obnoxious. I have some good red brocade I might use, but I might go with scraps of a scary raspberry and black spotted tafetta from yet another SASS dress. The raspberry with black bindings sounds like more fun at this point. I've ordered some white cotton sateen for the Regency corset, so I won't get distracted by that project in a significant way for a few days yet.
I think I need a couple of busks though. I might cannibalize my gold corset for Madame X (it's a little too small through the bust line), but that will still leave me a busk short for the Edwardian corset. Oh what to do! Hedgehog Handworks has the best prices on busks (and hoop wire) that I've found anywhere, but I have no idea at this stage when length I'm going to need. So, if I can get the patterns more or less figured out this weekend I can order however many busks I need and they will be here by the time I need to start on the corsets in earnest. How's that for planning!
Corset making benders are so much fun!
This weekend, between orange-themed receptions and a potential cast party, I plan to tackle corset making for Madame X and the new teens dress and round one of pattern wrangling for the cheongsam. We'll see how that goes. I have to make an early trip to Britex on Saturday to pick up silk for the cheongsam bindings, and possibly some corset fabric. I think I have enough suitable corset fabric though. For the teens corset (which will actually be done with a slightly more Edwardian line, I like it better and it will work) I think I'm going to use some of the left over blue and yellow satin backed tafetta from one of the SASS dresses I did in December. Blue with yellow binding will be fun. The corset for Madame X needs to be obnoxious. I have some good red brocade I might use, but I might go with scraps of a scary raspberry and black spotted tafetta from yet another SASS dress. The raspberry with black bindings sounds like more fun at this point. I've ordered some white cotton sateen for the Regency corset, so I won't get distracted by that project in a significant way for a few days yet.
I think I need a couple of busks though. I might cannibalize my gold corset for Madame X (it's a little too small through the bust line), but that will still leave me a busk short for the Edwardian corset. Oh what to do! Hedgehog Handworks has the best prices on busks (and hoop wire) that I've found anywhere, but I have no idea at this stage when length I'm going to need. So, if I can get the patterns more or less figured out this weekend I can order however many busks I need and they will be here by the time I need to start on the corsets in earnest. How's that for planning!
Corset making benders are so much fun!
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Seeing orange
Oooo this is annoying. I had a nice happy post all finished and then linux up and crashed on me. Yes kids, I crashed linux. Again. Without even trying.
Anyway, the latest updates would be that I am exhausted, sick of sewing orange dresses (but should be done tonight after a few hours of alterations and finish work), have only managed to knit one solitary mitten this week, and have been reading Villette instead of knitting.
I love Villette. Charlotte Bronte has a much more rigid prose style than Gaskell, but it's very evocative. Again, I had lots of lovely intelligent things to say about this before my system crashed, but what's a girl to do? Hopefully some of it will come back to me.
Anyway, the latest updates would be that I am exhausted, sick of sewing orange dresses (but should be done tonight after a few hours of alterations and finish work), have only managed to knit one solitary mitten this week, and have been reading Villette instead of knitting.
I love Villette. Charlotte Bronte has a much more rigid prose style than Gaskell, but it's very evocative. Again, I had lots of lovely intelligent things to say about this before my system crashed, but what's a girl to do? Hopefully some of it will come back to me.
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Gorillas in the mist
or rather engineers...
I had an interesting conversation about the remarkable scarcity of women in engineering in general, and at my current place of work in particular. All of this stemmed from a conversation I had last night with a guy on the way home who assumed that because I was a - female and b - relatively well-dressed, I must be in customer service or marketing. Now, statistically speaking, he made a safe assumption, but it really kind of bothered me, and I started wondering why there aren't more women in engineering.
I actually know lots of girl geeks. Most of them work with mostly men, and most of them work in testing or project management rather than development. In my very unscientific observations while in college, it seemed that women left engineering and CS departments, and were not replaced, unlike every other major field where the male/female ratio remained relatively constant with all of the changing of majors going on.
Why is this so? Women make excellent engineers. I wonder if this is something left over from the days when "that isn't something girls need to worry about" or perhaps something about the work itself is not generally appealing to women. For myself, I know that my experiences in high school math classes made a serious engineering degree (or any scientific degree for that matter) difficult to near impossible. I just didn't have the requisite math background to be successful in those fields. In the end, the extra math classes and catch up work weren't worth it to me so I got a degree in history, took CS for liberal arts majors classes, and work in engineering anyway. It hasn't stopped me, but it seems to have stopped a whole lot of other people.
I freely admit that it can be strange working an environment that is at least 80% male. Being the only woman in a room full of guys can be strange, and took some getting used to. Oddly enough, I think that coming out of a women's college made it a lot easier, but it's still difficult to go through the "Holy crap she's a chick!" to "Respected member of the team who happens to also be a chick" transition period. I've learned to be professionally detached, to not socialize with my coworkers in the same way they socialize with each other, and not wear skirts and make-up too often. Of course, it all depends on the company culture, but I can see where it might be unappealing. Being looked as as a curiosity when walking around the cube-farm on your way to a meeting is not always fun, nor is feeling like you have to prove that you're "just as good as the guys."
One of the guys suggested that it might be because women tend to get more attention then they want in a predominantly male environment and so stay away from it at a more subconscious level. He's clearly never tried dating geeks. If they get to the point of being able to deal with you at all, and once everyone gets over the Holy Crap A Girl stage, you become gender-neutral (until that fatal day you wear a skirt or some lipstick and it all starts over again). It's like being Jane Goodall, the gorillas know I'm there but haven't worked out what to do about me yet.
I have no idea really. Without making lots of gross generalizations, it's impossible to really get any idea of why the figures are what they are, or how to improve them.
I had an interesting conversation about the remarkable scarcity of women in engineering in general, and at my current place of work in particular. All of this stemmed from a conversation I had last night with a guy on the way home who assumed that because I was a - female and b - relatively well-dressed, I must be in customer service or marketing. Now, statistically speaking, he made a safe assumption, but it really kind of bothered me, and I started wondering why there aren't more women in engineering.
I actually know lots of girl geeks. Most of them work with mostly men, and most of them work in testing or project management rather than development. In my very unscientific observations while in college, it seemed that women left engineering and CS departments, and were not replaced, unlike every other major field where the male/female ratio remained relatively constant with all of the changing of majors going on.
Why is this so? Women make excellent engineers. I wonder if this is something left over from the days when "that isn't something girls need to worry about" or perhaps something about the work itself is not generally appealing to women. For myself, I know that my experiences in high school math classes made a serious engineering degree (or any scientific degree for that matter) difficult to near impossible. I just didn't have the requisite math background to be successful in those fields. In the end, the extra math classes and catch up work weren't worth it to me so I got a degree in history, took CS for liberal arts majors classes, and work in engineering anyway. It hasn't stopped me, but it seems to have stopped a whole lot of other people.
I freely admit that it can be strange working an environment that is at least 80% male. Being the only woman in a room full of guys can be strange, and took some getting used to. Oddly enough, I think that coming out of a women's college made it a lot easier, but it's still difficult to go through the "Holy crap she's a chick!" to "Respected member of the team who happens to also be a chick" transition period. I've learned to be professionally detached, to not socialize with my coworkers in the same way they socialize with each other, and not wear skirts and make-up too often. Of course, it all depends on the company culture, but I can see where it might be unappealing. Being looked as as a curiosity when walking around the cube-farm on your way to a meeting is not always fun, nor is feeling like you have to prove that you're "just as good as the guys."
One of the guys suggested that it might be because women tend to get more attention then they want in a predominantly male environment and so stay away from it at a more subconscious level. He's clearly never tried dating geeks. If they get to the point of being able to deal with you at all, and once everyone gets over the Holy Crap A Girl stage, you become gender-neutral (until that fatal day you wear a skirt or some lipstick and it all starts over again). It's like being Jane Goodall, the gorillas know I'm there but haven't worked out what to do about me yet.
I have no idea really. Without making lots of gross generalizations, it's impossible to really get any idea of why the figures are what they are, or how to improve them.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Project Planning
My personal life should not require this much documentation but what is a girl to do? The costumers guild open house meeting was this weekend, and I now know what my costume event schedule is for the next 6 months, and boy have I ever got some sewing to do! That's the only real problem with doing WW, none of my costumes fit anymore.
Anyway, the sewing-related event calender is as follows-
Feb. 26 - GBACG goes to the Gaskell. Will wear the Madame X dress. Need to make a new corset and re-set the waistband of the skirt.
March 5 - Rubicon dinner. Black tie affair, will make a cheongsam from some lovely silk from the stash.
April 9 - Belmont Stakes event. Will make a 1911 dress I started planning 3 years ago. have all the fabrics, and 90% of the trim. Just need something to make a belt thing and a new corset.
June 4 - Visit to Pemberly. Will be doing an 1810 or so muslin dress and spencer to go with a hat I got at Costume College several years ago. I have everything for this dress, but need a corset.
Aug. 20 -Peacock tails. Will be making a late bustle dress out of some scary purple and green checked stuff that hurts the eyes (perfect for a late bustle). Actual event attendance is tentative, if I'm in school back east I may not make it.
Sept. 11 - Gatsby. Again with the law school problem. Will probably wear the dress from last year.
October - LOTR dinner. Might be worth coming back for the weekend for. Will make one of Eowyn's dresses I think.
November - Dickens. Must finish mourning dress and make a new day dress if I am able to do the event.
So far, everything can be done using stash fabric, except for the mourning dress. Probably I will have to get some coutil or other corset fabric, since I have at least 3 corsets to make, but that's not a big deal (or unexpected really). Of course, this also isn't taking into account SASS dresses, Ren Faire dresses, or any other client work...I'm trying not to think about that right now. I want dresses for me this year, the client work is going to have to get fit in around my own projects.
Anyway, the sewing-related event calender is as follows-
Feb. 26 - GBACG goes to the Gaskell. Will wear the Madame X dress. Need to make a new corset and re-set the waistband of the skirt.
March 5 - Rubicon dinner. Black tie affair, will make a cheongsam from some lovely silk from the stash.
April 9 - Belmont Stakes event. Will make a 1911 dress I started planning 3 years ago. have all the fabrics, and 90% of the trim. Just need something to make a belt thing and a new corset.
June 4 - Visit to Pemberly. Will be doing an 1810 or so muslin dress and spencer to go with a hat I got at Costume College several years ago. I have everything for this dress, but need a corset.
Aug. 20 -Peacock tails. Will be making a late bustle dress out of some scary purple and green checked stuff that hurts the eyes (perfect for a late bustle). Actual event attendance is tentative, if I'm in school back east I may not make it.
Sept. 11 - Gatsby. Again with the law school problem. Will probably wear the dress from last year.
October - LOTR dinner. Might be worth coming back for the weekend for. Will make one of Eowyn's dresses I think.
November - Dickens. Must finish mourning dress and make a new day dress if I am able to do the event.
So far, everything can be done using stash fabric, except for the mourning dress. Probably I will have to get some coutil or other corset fabric, since I have at least 3 corsets to make, but that's not a big deal (or unexpected really). Of course, this also isn't taking into account SASS dresses, Ren Faire dresses, or any other client work...I'm trying not to think about that right now. I want dresses for me this year, the client work is going to have to get fit in around my own projects.
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Design Docs
Walking home from the BART station I had a million to things to say. Now, not much more than an hour latter, my mind is a blank. Where does it all go? These brilliant witty things we come up with when there is no paper, no keyboard, to record them? Inspiration can be a cruel thing at times.
At any rate, brilliant knitting progress continues. I am stuck on the train this week, as the shuttle to work isn't running (stupid ski trip...). It's not so bad, for all that it takes me two hours to get to work, and another two to get home. At least it gives me time to knit and read and sort of unwind myself after a long day. And time to think about things. Lots of time to think.
Very little in the way of work got accomplished today, but I did have a rather amusing conversation with a couple of people who stayed, one of whom is more or less my boss. The other guy, L., works with a bunch of the hardware engineers. Somehow we got on the subject of geeks and dating, and he said that if I was looking for someone to just let him know what I wanted in the way of a boy and he would see what he could find. We decided we needed a boyfriend design doc. Rather odd, but possibly not the worst thing I've ever considered. If I can't get any actual work done tomorrow, I might have to start on this, just for kicks.
The odd thing is, I think I'm ok with things as they are. Yes, I'm lonely sometimes, but it's really not so bad. I have most of what I need, I'm making plans for my life, and I'm ready to leave much of my old life behind so I can move forward again. I need to be saying my good-byes right now, not tying myself down and forming attachments I will only have to abandon.
At any rate, brilliant knitting progress continues. I am stuck on the train this week, as the shuttle to work isn't running (stupid ski trip...). It's not so bad, for all that it takes me two hours to get to work, and another two to get home. At least it gives me time to knit and read and sort of unwind myself after a long day. And time to think about things. Lots of time to think.
Very little in the way of work got accomplished today, but I did have a rather amusing conversation with a couple of people who stayed, one of whom is more or less my boss. The other guy, L., works with a bunch of the hardware engineers. Somehow we got on the subject of geeks and dating, and he said that if I was looking for someone to just let him know what I wanted in the way of a boy and he would see what he could find. We decided we needed a boyfriend design doc. Rather odd, but possibly not the worst thing I've ever considered. If I can't get any actual work done tomorrow, I might have to start on this, just for kicks.
The odd thing is, I think I'm ok with things as they are. Yes, I'm lonely sometimes, but it's really not so bad. I have most of what I need, I'm making plans for my life, and I'm ready to leave much of my old life behind so I can move forward again. I need to be saying my good-byes right now, not tying myself down and forming attachments I will only have to abandon.
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
blink
This is kind of scary. Geeks are so dreamy. And I think I've gone out with this phone message guy. Scary. It's a scary world out there for single girls.
Anyhow, I'm almost done with my latest hat (which I started yesterday, good for me!). It should be done after the ride home tonight. What I'm going to do after that is anyones guess. I sort of want to knit some more the gnome hats from EZ's Knitting Around. It's a super easy pattern to follow, and makes a very cute if somewhat silly hat. I just need to figure out how to resize it and change the gauge. That should be easy enough, it's only the mitered shaping that tends to throw me off.
Work has been strange this week. All of the FTE's (or "Real Boys" in temp/contractors parlance) are off on some fabulous ski trip tomorrow and Friday, leaving me and 15 other people stuck here all by ourselves to test and get things done. Actually, it'll be nice. Not having lots of people running around and distracting me will free me up to get some of the documentation I've fallen hopelessly behind on done. Still, it's highly demoralizing to have to sit here and listen to everyone carry on about the skiing, snowboarding, inner tubing, and snow-covered fun. Oh well.
Anyhow, I'm almost done with my latest hat (which I started yesterday, good for me!). It should be done after the ride home tonight. What I'm going to do after that is anyones guess. I sort of want to knit some more the gnome hats from EZ's Knitting Around. It's a super easy pattern to follow, and makes a very cute if somewhat silly hat. I just need to figure out how to resize it and change the gauge. That should be easy enough, it's only the mitered shaping that tends to throw me off.
Work has been strange this week. All of the FTE's (or "Real Boys" in temp/contractors parlance) are off on some fabulous ski trip tomorrow and Friday, leaving me and 15 other people stuck here all by ourselves to test and get things done. Actually, it'll be nice. Not having lots of people running around and distracting me will free me up to get some of the documentation I've fallen hopelessly behind on done. Still, it's highly demoralizing to have to sit here and listen to everyone carry on about the skiing, snowboarding, inner tubing, and snow-covered fun. Oh well.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Lots of knitting progress and a doggie too!
I'm doing ever so well with my small-project commute knitting! So far, I've finished a pair of socks, a pair of mittens, and 3 hats. Two of the hats are even gifts. Yay! This morning I started another hat (pattern courtesy of knitty) which will ultimately be a gift, possibly for my brother, as I'm making it out of yarn left over from a sweater I made him a year or two ago. Of course, he hardly needs another hat. I keep trying to knit hats for his finance, and they end up being way too big so he gets them. He's building up a large collection of over-sized women's hats. My problem with the women's hats seems to be that my own head is rather large (no comments from the peanut gallery please) so I miss-judge the size for normal-to-pinhead sized hats. Oh well. He doesn't mind wearing the experiments and it's not like it take long to knit a hat.
Once this hat is done, I'm going to revisit the Hope sweater. The sleeves annoy me. They are too long and floppy and drive me nuts, so I think I'll just pick out the cuffs and a few inches of sleeve and re-do the ribbing. No big deal. The neck is also annoying but might be somewhat harder to fix. I'll have to look at it a bit closer and see if there is anything I can do to pull it in more. Again, this is what I get for following the directions. Never in my life have the sleeves on a sweater been to too big, but there it is.
My current employer allows people to bring their dogs in to work. Not being allergic to dogs, and actually rather liking them, I find this wonderful. I'm able to get my doggie-lust worked out during the day, and don't actually feel quite so compelled to go to SPCA and bring home a dog. But it can be very distracting. Who can work when Bambi is waiting to play with them?
Once this hat is done, I'm going to revisit the Hope sweater. The sleeves annoy me. They are too long and floppy and drive me nuts, so I think I'll just pick out the cuffs and a few inches of sleeve and re-do the ribbing. No big deal. The neck is also annoying but might be somewhat harder to fix. I'll have to look at it a bit closer and see if there is anything I can do to pull it in more. Again, this is what I get for following the directions. Never in my life have the sleeves on a sweater been to too big, but there it is.
My current employer allows people to bring their dogs in to work. Not being allergic to dogs, and actually rather liking them, I find this wonderful. I'm able to get my doggie-lust worked out during the day, and don't actually feel quite so compelled to go to SPCA and bring home a dog. But it can be very distracting. Who can work when Bambi is waiting to play with them?
Monday, January 17, 2005
Comfortably Numb
I feel strangely detached today. All of the wondering about getting hired for real at work, stupid boys, and everything else seems very trivial at the moment. I suppose in some ways this is a good thing. It gives me the focus and clarity to get things done that really matter. Even if that is just getting through another week.
The weekend was actually very productive, both in a sleeping sense and in an actually getting things done sense. Yay me! I completely finished one of the 3 latest Rainbow dresses, got the major one done except for some finish work around the waist (I need to do another fitting before I can complete this), and did laundry. Yay! Dress three will get started tonight, I hope, and should at least go quickly. Then I can get going on an OES dress I need to get done for February, which will leave me free to work on my mourning dress (assuming of course I manage to get fabric for it) and fixing the Madame X dress.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I should just not date anyone at all until I figure out what I'm doing with my life. For some reason, men who express too much interest in me are rather off-putting, and there's not much point in pursuing anyone else when a) I will be leaving the area in all likelihood in a matter of months and b) I'm still broken from the latest "entanglement" (for lack of a better word). I feel like a horrible mercenary wretch going out with anyone at all at the moment. A feeling which is not helped in the least by the actual necessity driving me to sew right at the moment. Goes back to those awful Victorian novels, and this strange notion that the work is highly servile, under-appreciated, demeaning, and generally shameful in some unexplainable way. All except for the under-appreciated part is mostly my own problem, but that doesn't make the sense of whoring myself out any less real. I've never been able to successfully explain this to anyone either, which is highly frustrating.
The weekend was actually very productive, both in a sleeping sense and in an actually getting things done sense. Yay me! I completely finished one of the 3 latest Rainbow dresses, got the major one done except for some finish work around the waist (I need to do another fitting before I can complete this), and did laundry. Yay! Dress three will get started tonight, I hope, and should at least go quickly. Then I can get going on an OES dress I need to get done for February, which will leave me free to work on my mourning dress (assuming of course I manage to get fabric for it) and fixing the Madame X dress.
I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I should just not date anyone at all until I figure out what I'm doing with my life. For some reason, men who express too much interest in me are rather off-putting, and there's not much point in pursuing anyone else when a) I will be leaving the area in all likelihood in a matter of months and b) I'm still broken from the latest "entanglement" (for lack of a better word). I feel like a horrible mercenary wretch going out with anyone at all at the moment. A feeling which is not helped in the least by the actual necessity driving me to sew right at the moment. Goes back to those awful Victorian novels, and this strange notion that the work is highly servile, under-appreciated, demeaning, and generally shameful in some unexplainable way. All except for the under-appreciated part is mostly my own problem, but that doesn't make the sense of whoring myself out any less real. I've never been able to successfully explain this to anyone either, which is highly frustrating.
Friday, January 14, 2005
Dress lust
I am overcome by my desire for this dress. So is Miss. Wilfer, although Mrs. G might be willing to fight her for it (how sad is it that my Dickens characters are demanding cloths of me this early in the year?).
Karen Augusta always has such amazing things on her site, but really this one takes the cake. Check out the Ladies Costume section for some other fantastic examples of period clothing. All original, of course, and some of the nicest examples of clothing from the period that I've come across.
Hopefully things at work will be a little less crazy today and I can get to the gym for a bit. I feel all fat and hippo-like. Of course, I haven't gotten to the gym at all this week, so that's to be expected. I'm looking forward to a nice weekend. I'll mostly be sewing but if it stays dry I'm going to try to go for some nice long walks
Last night I got home to a large envelope from one of the law schools I applied to. In my head, I know it's too soon for anything like a decision letter from anyone, but I still had to stare at the envelope as it lay on the counter, poking it gingerly every few minutes, like some of unexploded bomb, until I got up the nerve to open the thing. It was a financial aid application package. Not terribly exciting, but one set of applications that I had forgotten I needed to do. Now as soon as I get all of my W2's from last year I can do my taxes and fill out my FAFSA and be done with that and get back to waiting.
Karen Augusta always has such amazing things on her site, but really this one takes the cake. Check out the Ladies Costume section for some other fantastic examples of period clothing. All original, of course, and some of the nicest examples of clothing from the period that I've come across.
Hopefully things at work will be a little less crazy today and I can get to the gym for a bit. I feel all fat and hippo-like. Of course, I haven't gotten to the gym at all this week, so that's to be expected. I'm looking forward to a nice weekend. I'll mostly be sewing but if it stays dry I'm going to try to go for some nice long walks
Last night I got home to a large envelope from one of the law schools I applied to. In my head, I know it's too soon for anything like a decision letter from anyone, but I still had to stare at the envelope as it lay on the counter, poking it gingerly every few minutes, like some of unexploded bomb, until I got up the nerve to open the thing. It was a financial aid application package. Not terribly exciting, but one set of applications that I had forgotten I needed to do. Now as soon as I get all of my W2's from last year I can do my taxes and fill out my FAFSA and be done with that and get back to waiting.
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Overloaded
I feel rather like a juggler with a few too many balls up in the air. Things keep getting dropped and slipping past me this week. Given how busy and strange it's been at work and the whole emotional roller coaster re:mudslides it's not really all the surprising that my multi-tasking fu would be less than full strength. Add in a new commute schedule and looming sewing deadlines and it's no wonder I feel like crawling under my desk and hiding. Mostly, I want a nap. Getting up at 5:45 am bites. It's all dark and cold out, my bed is so nice and soft and warm, and the cat looks so pathetic when I leave, it's hard to get up the motivation to get going in the morning.
I called my parents last night and was able to talk to my mom for awhile and find out what was going on with my brother. I guess he was digging people out of a small slide that had closed part of the highway when the big slide came down, and ended up helping dig people out. He and his finance left some pretty scary messages on my parent's voice mail. The more Mom talked, the more freaked out I got. And of course, as usual, the person I most wanted to turn to was the last person I could (or should) call.
Anyhow, I finished my commute socks last night. I'm very pleased with how they came out and how easy it was to finish them! I'm actually looking forward to starting the next pair of socks. this morning I started a little skull cap thing, done in Lambs Pride with some gold rail-road yarn held along side. It ends up looking like the hat has sequins or beads all over it. A nice effect, and it should make a good gift if I don't end up keeping it for myself. I'll finish that either tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on traffic, which means I need to find yet another project tonight. Mittens sound like a really good idea. My hands get so cold when I'm walking to BART, gloves just don't cut it for some reason. A nice thick pair of mittens should be just the thing. And won't take more than a few commutes!
I called my parents last night and was able to talk to my mom for awhile and find out what was going on with my brother. I guess he was digging people out of a small slide that had closed part of the highway when the big slide came down, and ended up helping dig people out. He and his finance left some pretty scary messages on my parent's voice mail. The more Mom talked, the more freaked out I got. And of course, as usual, the person I most wanted to turn to was the last person I could (or should) call.
Anyhow, I finished my commute socks last night. I'm very pleased with how they came out and how easy it was to finish them! I'm actually looking forward to starting the next pair of socks. this morning I started a little skull cap thing, done in Lambs Pride with some gold rail-road yarn held along side. It ends up looking like the hat has sequins or beads all over it. A nice effect, and it should make a good gift if I don't end up keeping it for myself. I'll finish that either tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on traffic, which means I need to find yet another project tonight. Mittens sound like a really good idea. My hands get so cold when I'm walking to BART, gloves just don't cut it for some reason. A nice thick pair of mittens should be just the thing. And won't take more than a few commutes!
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Nap time?
I am very much looking forward to January being over. Or at least the next couple of weeks of it. The last few days have been quite the emotional roller-coaster, and right now I'm drained. Between general work insanity, the whole mudslide thing, cash flow issues, and Housemate Search 2005, I think it's time for a break.
With any luck at all, I will get out of here when I am supposed to, and will make it home with time left in the day to get some sewing done. I got nothing done at all last night due to some much needed video game playing and wine drinking with a friend. Overall, it was a good thing, but today I'm tired (a gaming hangover as one of the engineers called it) and feeling beat up and horribly behind. Whether I get caught up or not depends entirely on when/if I get a build for one or both of the projects I am working on. At this rate, I won't get either one until 3:30 or 4, which doesn't bode well for my 6:00 shuttle plan. Oh well. We'll see what happens. Worse things have happened than working a few hours of overtime.
I'm almost done with my commute socks. If the evening ride home is as slow as the ride this morning, I should finish the second sock tonight, and be left with 2 more balls of the yarn I used. I think I'm going to strand it with something fun and make a scarf or something for the gift stash. A really brainless project for the bus sounds like a good idea. I think though I have at least partially overcome my aversion to sock knitting. The 2-circular method wasn't working out for me at all, so I've been doing something like the magic loop technique, which works out well and doesn't leave me with extra needles flopping all over the place or DPNs falling out or poking people in the ribs. Plus it's fast and I can work with longer circular needles, which feel much better in my hands than the little short things. Finally! I can tolerate knitting not just one, but two socks! That match even! Yay! And I love wearing hand-knit socks, so this is a Very Good Thing.
In law school application world, I just got confirmation that one of the schools has all of my LDAS materials. This means I should start hearing from schools in about a month. It's a bit strange to actually be able to see the end of this whole process. It's been a full year since I decided to do this thing. At times, it seemed like it would drag on forever, that school would never actually happen, and now the reality of actually attending a law school, any law school, is starting to settle in. Am I ready to be a student again?
With any luck at all, I will get out of here when I am supposed to, and will make it home with time left in the day to get some sewing done. I got nothing done at all last night due to some much needed video game playing and wine drinking with a friend. Overall, it was a good thing, but today I'm tired (a gaming hangover as one of the engineers called it) and feeling beat up and horribly behind. Whether I get caught up or not depends entirely on when/if I get a build for one or both of the projects I am working on. At this rate, I won't get either one until 3:30 or 4, which doesn't bode well for my 6:00 shuttle plan. Oh well. We'll see what happens. Worse things have happened than working a few hours of overtime.
I'm almost done with my commute socks. If the evening ride home is as slow as the ride this morning, I should finish the second sock tonight, and be left with 2 more balls of the yarn I used. I think I'm going to strand it with something fun and make a scarf or something for the gift stash. A really brainless project for the bus sounds like a good idea. I think though I have at least partially overcome my aversion to sock knitting. The 2-circular method wasn't working out for me at all, so I've been doing something like the magic loop technique, which works out well and doesn't leave me with extra needles flopping all over the place or DPNs falling out or poking people in the ribs. Plus it's fast and I can work with longer circular needles, which feel much better in my hands than the little short things. Finally! I can tolerate knitting not just one, but two socks! That match even! Yay! And I love wearing hand-knit socks, so this is a Very Good Thing.
In law school application world, I just got confirmation that one of the schools has all of my LDAS materials. This means I should start hearing from schools in about a month. It's a bit strange to actually be able to see the end of this whole process. It's been a full year since I decided to do this thing. At times, it seemed like it would drag on forever, that school would never actually happen, and now the reality of actually attending a law school, any law school, is starting to settle in. Am I ready to be a student again?
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
You can see my brothers house to the far right of this picture. It's on the street where the shorter finger of mud is headed. What fun.
In happier news, I have found a housemate! Hurray! She's going to move in around the 1st. It's terribly exciting, and a huge relief.
In happier news, I have found a housemate! Hurray! She's going to move in around the 1st. It's terribly exciting, and a huge relief.
Storms and sunshine
Yesterday was one of those days that reminded me that however bad things seem, it could always be a lot worse. All of my whining about over-flowing sinks, flooded bathrooms, 47 flavors of technical difficulties, house mate problems, and continued poverty, seems so pointless in the wake of a huge mudslide that has engulfed my little brothers town. My dad called me yesterday evening, before I had seen the news, to let me know that my brother and his finance were ok, shaken badly but out of harms way. I got hold of my brother last night after I got home, and he's understandably freaked out. He said he was taking pictures of a small slide when the big slide came down, he saw the whole thing happen, God only knows how much he saw, he wasn't ready to talk about it.
It's really only sunk in this morning, how close I came to loosing to my brother. Watching the news reports this morning in fairly unbearable, but for some reason I can't tear myself away from it. I want more information, as much as I can't stand to see it. Listening to the rain batter my windows this morning, I couldn't help but wonder when the next hillside would come down, how many people might be in the way, and praying that they would get away in time. A lot of people in La Conchita didn't. It is but for the grace of God I would be one of those wondering if my loved ones were among them.
It's really only sunk in this morning, how close I came to loosing to my brother. Watching the news reports this morning in fairly unbearable, but for some reason I can't tear myself away from it. I want more information, as much as I can't stand to see it. Listening to the rain batter my windows this morning, I couldn't help but wonder when the next hillside would come down, how many people might be in the way, and praying that they would get away in time. A lot of people in La Conchita didn't. It is but for the grace of God I would be one of those wondering if my loved ones were among them.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Shades of blue
I not feeling fit for public consumption today. The weekend was very productive, but ever so depressing in a few ways which turned out to be rather critical. Being all broke sucks. Especially when people don't take you seriously when you say "Gee, I'd love to do/attend that event but I'm broke and can't." At least it's all temporary, and will get better, it just doesn't make the weekends any easier to get through. Especially when everyone I know if off having a grand time at a ball and I'm stuck alone at home, freezing my butt off, and wishing that just once some facsimile of Prince Charming or my Fairy Godmother would swoop in and whisk me off to the ball. But instead, I fell asleep watching Buffy. Oh well.
All that aside, I did manage to get a decent amount of work done on the latest batch of Rainbow dresses, and the OES meeting on Friday went pretty well. Rainbow dresses scare me. I've been working with this organization for several years now, and I still do not understand the scary cotton print formals or the bizarre and freakish hairpieces. Oh well. One of the dresses I'm doing is a thing of absolute horror I am trying to not think about. Anaheim Angels logo fabric and toxic waste orange. 'Nuff said. The other one is actually rather pretty. It's also orange, but a nice burnt orange color, with gold contrasting fabric. Sounds awfully at first, but we're doing a modified version of the Simplicity Shakespeare in Love dress, and it actually looks quite nice. I've just got to cut out the over skirt tonight, flat line it, and toss it on a waistband this week.
I've heard some good things about this Simplicity pattern, and so far I've actually really liked it. The bodice went together very nicely, and fit the girl well right off. It seems to have an integral corset thing built in, which will give her enough of the right shape to get the idea across but isn't so dramatic that it will look strange to a modern eye. They even have you cartridge pleat! Yay! The bumroll is worn underneath the farthingale and mounted to a yoke support, which seems a little odd, but in thinking about it actually makes quite a bit of sense to me. Supporting the hoops with the bumroll would make some of the heavier dresses easier to manage. If I ever get around to doing my own Elizabethan gown again, I'm going to give their bumroll and farthingale pattern a shot.
In knitting news, I finished sock one this morning. I'll be able to start sock two on the bus ride home tonight. Yay! At the rate I'm going, I should have it done by the end of the week. Of course, it turns out I have twice as much of the yarn as I need, so I'll probably do a second pair and stick them in my gift stash. I have so much yarn for small projects right now (hats, mittens, gloves, scarves, that sort of thing) that I've decided to use my commute time working on gift projects. That way I use up the yarn stash, and have lots of nice things to give away if I need a gift and will be halfway done with my holiday shopping/knitting before the summer! Yay!
I did make a bit of progress on the housemate front, but more on that latter. I don't want to jinx anything.
All that aside, I did manage to get a decent amount of work done on the latest batch of Rainbow dresses, and the OES meeting on Friday went pretty well. Rainbow dresses scare me. I've been working with this organization for several years now, and I still do not understand the scary cotton print formals or the bizarre and freakish hairpieces. Oh well. One of the dresses I'm doing is a thing of absolute horror I am trying to not think about. Anaheim Angels logo fabric and toxic waste orange. 'Nuff said. The other one is actually rather pretty. It's also orange, but a nice burnt orange color, with gold contrasting fabric. Sounds awfully at first, but we're doing a modified version of the Simplicity Shakespeare in Love dress, and it actually looks quite nice. I've just got to cut out the over skirt tonight, flat line it, and toss it on a waistband this week.
I've heard some good things about this Simplicity pattern, and so far I've actually really liked it. The bodice went together very nicely, and fit the girl well right off. It seems to have an integral corset thing built in, which will give her enough of the right shape to get the idea across but isn't so dramatic that it will look strange to a modern eye. They even have you cartridge pleat! Yay! The bumroll is worn underneath the farthingale and mounted to a yoke support, which seems a little odd, but in thinking about it actually makes quite a bit of sense to me. Supporting the hoops with the bumroll would make some of the heavier dresses easier to manage. If I ever get around to doing my own Elizabethan gown again, I'm going to give their bumroll and farthingale pattern a shot.
In knitting news, I finished sock one this morning. I'll be able to start sock two on the bus ride home tonight. Yay! At the rate I'm going, I should have it done by the end of the week. Of course, it turns out I have twice as much of the yarn as I need, so I'll probably do a second pair and stick them in my gift stash. I have so much yarn for small projects right now (hats, mittens, gloves, scarves, that sort of thing) that I've decided to use my commute time working on gift projects. That way I use up the yarn stash, and have lots of nice things to give away if I need a gift and will be halfway done with my holiday shopping/knitting before the summer! Yay!
I did make a bit of progress on the housemate front, but more on that latter. I don't want to jinx anything.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Moi moi moi!
This pleases me to no end.
You are Miss Piggy.
You are talented and the center of attention. At least you'd like to think you are. You're really just a pig.
FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:
"Moi", "Moi" and "Moi!"
LAST BOOK READ:
"Women Who Run With Frogs And The Frogs Who Better Wise Up Quick"
FAVORITE MOVIE:
"To Have and Have More"
DRESS SIZE:
If it's expensive, it fits.
BEST FEATURES:
Eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, cheeks, hair, ears, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, legs, knees, ankles, feet, toes and so on and so forth.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Singing, Dancing, Directing, Producing, Writing, Starring, and Being Famous.
What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
You are Miss Piggy.
You are talented and the center of attention. At least you'd like to think you are. You're really just a pig.
FAVORITE EXPRESSIONS:
"Moi", "Moi" and "Moi!"
LAST BOOK READ:
"Women Who Run With Frogs And The Frogs Who Better Wise Up Quick"
FAVORITE MOVIE:
"To Have and Have More"
DRESS SIZE:
If it's expensive, it fits.
BEST FEATURES:
Eyes, eyebrows, eyelashes, nose, cheeks, hair, ears, neck, shoulders, arms, elbows, hands, fingers, legs, knees, ankles, feet, toes and so on and so forth.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Singing, Dancing, Directing, Producing, Writing, Starring, and Being Famous.
What Muppet are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
I refuse to panic
So. My house-mate hunt is not getting resolved anything like fast enough, and now I am stuck paying almost twice as much rent for the month as I usually pay. This sucks. I was so looking forward to a January that was not beset by poverty and cash flow problems. I have a couple of possible people though, so hopefully something will work out soon and I can get this all settled before the month ends.
What I really want is for my employer to actually hire me so I can find a cute little place in Mountain View, close to work. I have no idea what the chances of that actually happening are though. What with law school stuff and the scary hiring process here I have no idea what my chances of making it through the real interviews are. After my last experience with a contract-to-hire job (which last 3 years, on 3 month contracts) I have very little faith in these things. It turns out my director had no idea about any of this though, and when I mentioned something about it yesterday he got all worried looking and said he would look into it and see what the plan is. So that's something.
In fiber related news, I turned the heel on my first commute sock this morning! I'm doing a simple ribbed lace pattern on the sock to keep things interesting and it's just flying along. Pretty much the whole foot got done yesterday, and I was able to do the last few rows of the foot, a short-row heel, and start on the leg part this morning. I'll have cozy new socks sometime next week at this rate! Tomorrow I have to really buckle down and start getting some sewing done. Tonight I'm having dinner after work with a bunch of friends, so I won't get anything done (aside from maybe some sock knitting) today. If I can at least get a bodice muslin done tomorrow I'll be in pretty good shape.
What I really want is for my employer to actually hire me so I can find a cute little place in Mountain View, close to work. I have no idea what the chances of that actually happening are though. What with law school stuff and the scary hiring process here I have no idea what my chances of making it through the real interviews are. After my last experience with a contract-to-hire job (which last 3 years, on 3 month contracts) I have very little faith in these things. It turns out my director had no idea about any of this though, and when I mentioned something about it yesterday he got all worried looking and said he would look into it and see what the plan is. So that's something.
In fiber related news, I turned the heel on my first commute sock this morning! I'm doing a simple ribbed lace pattern on the sock to keep things interesting and it's just flying along. Pretty much the whole foot got done yesterday, and I was able to do the last few rows of the foot, a short-row heel, and start on the leg part this morning. I'll have cozy new socks sometime next week at this rate! Tomorrow I have to really buckle down and start getting some sewing done. Tonight I'm having dinner after work with a bunch of friends, so I won't get anything done (aside from maybe some sock knitting) today. If I can at least get a bodice muslin done tomorrow I'll be in pretty good shape.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Happy New Year!
Ok, I should have done the Happy New Year post days ago, but I've been reveling in four-day weekend post holiday laziness. It was lovely.
For all of my wine cave related date drama, the whole thing ended up not coming off after all, even though the boy decided he would go with me, so we went to a waltz party instead and had a lovely time. It was so nice to get out and finally dance! With lots of people even! I got to wear my trampy Bebe outfit finally, we danced the night away, I made some new friends, and had a general grand time.
The best part about the whole weekend was not ending up naked in a swimming pool, and not having a raving toxic hangover the next day. New Years day was actually quite nice too. I made a lovely breakfast, we went to the mall, I bought size 6 pink velvet pants (a major triumph), and spent most of the afternoon watching movies and knitting and relaxing.
I was very ready to get back to work yesterday, scary as that may sound. It's nice to be back after so many long weekends and holidays. People seem to be getting back into the swing of things pretty quickly, so it's going to be a busy week but should be productive. Novel.
Except for picking up one of the two spools of hoop wire I need for my cage crinoline, I made no progress at all on anything sewing related this weekend. Oh well. Resting was worth it, and will get me further in the long run anyway. I did get quite a bit of knitting done though. It turns out that the hat I made for my brothers finance for Christmas was too big, so I knitted her a smaller one, then knitting another hat just for the hell of it, made some considerable progress on the lace stole for Nicki, and started a pair of socks which will be my commute project. I even got some spinning done, and almost have a bobbin full of a merino/silk/angora blend I've had in my fiber stash for ages but was too afraid to spin. It's really lovely stuff, super soft and silky, and almost luminous. I have 12 ounces all together, which should be enough to do something fairly impressive with. At this point, I have no idea what I'll do with it when it's finished, but it will be beautiful.
For all of my wine cave related date drama, the whole thing ended up not coming off after all, even though the boy decided he would go with me, so we went to a waltz party instead and had a lovely time. It was so nice to get out and finally dance! With lots of people even! I got to wear my trampy Bebe outfit finally, we danced the night away, I made some new friends, and had a general grand time.
The best part about the whole weekend was not ending up naked in a swimming pool, and not having a raving toxic hangover the next day. New Years day was actually quite nice too. I made a lovely breakfast, we went to the mall, I bought size 6 pink velvet pants (a major triumph), and spent most of the afternoon watching movies and knitting and relaxing.
I was very ready to get back to work yesterday, scary as that may sound. It's nice to be back after so many long weekends and holidays. People seem to be getting back into the swing of things pretty quickly, so it's going to be a busy week but should be productive. Novel.
Except for picking up one of the two spools of hoop wire I need for my cage crinoline, I made no progress at all on anything sewing related this weekend. Oh well. Resting was worth it, and will get me further in the long run anyway. I did get quite a bit of knitting done though. It turns out that the hat I made for my brothers finance for Christmas was too big, so I knitted her a smaller one, then knitting another hat just for the hell of it, made some considerable progress on the lace stole for Nicki, and started a pair of socks which will be my commute project. I even got some spinning done, and almost have a bobbin full of a merino/silk/angora blend I've had in my fiber stash for ages but was too afraid to spin. It's really lovely stuff, super soft and silky, and almost luminous. I have 12 ounces all together, which should be enough to do something fairly impressive with. At this point, I have no idea what I'll do with it when it's finished, but it will be beautiful.
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