Auntie's Hideaway

Oh, boy, was yesterday a long day!!
( Lots of photos to follow, for soccer and Halloween, so clicky to see, and beware, oh users of Dial-Up! )

Okay, one of the things I like to do is browse crafting sites, because I'm always looking for good ideas. Currently, the Impertinent Daughter has outgrown her bed, and while the Husbandly One and I debate whether to get her a single bed or a double, we also debate what kind.

So, I saw a creative idea for a headboard and clicked it, thought, "Wow, that looks cool, but somewhat labor intensive... and how did they get the books to look so real?"

Then I read the directions, and... was horrified. Because the first thing it said you need was "a large assortment of book covers, carefully cut from the pages using an Xacto knife or something similar..." though it did go on to say they could be found at thrift or used book stores.

She's... defacing books... to make a headboard... because... she loves books????

o_O

Okay, call me crazy, but the thought of pretty much destroying a perfectly good book (even one I hated) just to get at the cover... sorry, I can't do it. I just... can't do it. Maybe my mom was too insistent on my keeping my books "nice" but ... jays, that just squicks me something awful!!

Now, maybe making book covers that look real... I could do that, or maybe (and that's a just barely maybe) I could do it if the rest of the book was pretty much moldy, moth-eaten, and unreadable, but then... the cover would be crap, too, right?

I dunno, but it seems to me that, well, doing something like that rates right up there with people buying "books by the yard" to decorate shelves in their homes to make it look like they're big readers... and they never touch the books, except to dust them, maybe. When this particular crafter says she "loves books," maybe she means it in the "they're so pretty to look at" way.

I love books, too, in the "I love to curl up somewhere cozy and read for hours" way. I'm happy as a cricket in bookstores and libraries. In fact, if you're ever with me, and expect me to be sociable, don't ever let me near a bookstore, because you will lose me for hours and hours, and I might not come up for air until closing time. The books I have on my shelves aren't for decoration. They are there because they are friends. Books that I've read over and over, and over again. I grew up living in Oz, and on Pern, and in the Alps with Heidi, on Treasure Island, and under the ocean with Captain Nemo, and on Mars, and in Middle-earth, with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, and the Three Investigators, as well as the March sisters. I rode on the Back of the North Wind, and I've been East of the Sun and West of the Moon, I've hung out with both the Little Prince and the Little Lame Prince, gone on adventures with Robin Hood and the Black Arrow... well... you get the picture.

I can't even look at those "turn a book into a treasure box" tutorials. That's just... wrong. Totally wrong!

Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe I'm overly sensitive. I look at books, and I see a potential doorway to something wonderful. Apparently, some people look at books and see... decor.

Excuse me, I'm going to go curl up with some Tolkien and visit Middle-earth for a while. And not use the cover as a ... decoration!!

Saying "Wilkie Twycross" out loud makes it sound like one is lisping.

The Impossible Son and I are reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and when I got to reading the name of the Apparition Instructor out loud, Mr. Manzie snickered.

It was almost as fun as reading On Golden Pond out loud and trying to say "Ethel Thayer." Makes it sound like your front teeth are missing. Or too big, I can't decide.

In other news, I am learning to knit, and it's driving me nuts, though I am slowly getting the hang of it. Mostly, I was having trouble getting used to holding the yarn with my right hand instead of my left, as one does in crochet (and yes, I did try the Continental method, but... nope, didn't work), and also, trying to figure out how to adjust the tension in the yarn. I think I have it... kind of.

My mother is excited about this, and has insisted that once I figure it out, I teach her how to knit, too. I have to admire my mother, wanting to learn to knit at the age of 82. She is all kinds of brave, you know? She's also decided to get back into sewing, because she's tired of wearing slacks and jeans that don't fit. I don't blame her.

This makes me a little nervous, because her eyesight isn't what it used to be, yet at the same time, I do understand. She used to make all our clothes, and I never truly appreciated that until she started working full time, and didn't have time to sew any more. Store bought clothes just don't fit you the way clothes that are sewn specifically for you do. One of Mom's neighbors was a seamstress, and she taught Mom how to tailor clothing in exchange for fresh eggs (my parents kept chickens until Houston zoned them out of the city limits), so all our clothes were well made and fitted exactly to us. I kind of miss that, myself.

Speaking of which, I discovered last week that there is a fabric store in my town! It was a complete surprise. The only "fabric store" we had previously was WalMart, and I absolutely hated buying fabric there, because it was all... crappy. Sometimes, I would find really nice fabric at WalMart, but it was always by accident! However... the WalMart here has closed their fabric department, and barely has a craft department. It's more like a ... craft aisle. Major suckage.

What that meant was if I wanted fabric or yarn, I had to either go to Austin, San Marcos, or San Antonio. More suckage.

Well, when we were doing all the hair cutting last week, I had noticed that a store we liked had moved from their tiny little building to a new and larger building, so I said, "let's go in!" And found that they had a fabric shop in the back corner!! YAY!!!

I have a feeling I will be a very frequent visitor!!! *can see her fabric stash growing beyond reasonable limits*

AND... I have a neighbor who is a seamstress... wonder if I can do a barter exchange with her for tailoring lessons... *feels an odd synchronicity with her mother*

Hee!!

Well, so much for getting to bed early last night.

The Impertinent Daughter informed me at 8 p.m. last night that the Death Eaters administrators at her school decided that students were no longer allowed to be in possession of... rubber bands. Yes, that's right, folks, the kids are no longer allowed to have those extremely dangerous implements, rubber bands in their pockets, on their binders, in their hair, etc. Because they can use these extremely hazardous items to... launch paper.

*closes eyes, sighs, muttering "Ay-yi-yi" under her breath*

Give me strength, I swear. I'm wondering how many girls who wear ponytails on a regular basis are freaking out this morning because they can't put their hair up?

The reason this impacts us is because of the boxes I chose for my kids' bentos. They are temporary, but for now, they are the right size and depth. Only problem is, they have a tendency to pop open when a kid does something like swing them around, bump them into other kids, or walls, or tables, etc., with the end result of food everywhere. So... I just salvaged the big rubber bands that came with our newspaper and wrapped them around each end of the box... and problem solved.

Until now.

I offered to take some extra wide elastic and sew the ends together for her to replace the rubber bands.

No, that won't work, they still count as "rubber bands."

I said, "Okay, how about I get some fabric and make tubes to cover the elastic, you know, whip the ends together and you can use those? If they fuss, you can say they're headbands and pop one on to prove it!"

"Mom... we can't have headbands, either."

Because... they can be used to... launch paper.

My goodness, I had no idea paper was so... DANGEROUS!!

I brainstormed for a bit, then said, "Okay, fine, I've got some fabric, I'll make a bag."

The Husbandly One said, "That will take too much effort, and you don't have enough time. Besides, your sewing machine is broken, right?"

Well, the bobbin case is... acting up. Driving me nuts, actually. I need to replace it, but you know, at that time of night, it wasn't going to happen. Well, I went to work on my sewing machine, fixed the problem with the thread tension, got the bobbin case to stay put, and dug out the fabric, a roll of parchment, and my sewing box, and got to work.

Yes, I had to make a pattern. And I was up until nearly 2 a.m. working on it, because the bobbin case kept popping out every time the bobbin got too light (too little thread on it), because the handles I was making for the bag didn't turn out right, and I had to figure out how to re-do them, because one of the cats dumped out the entire contents of my sewing box on the floor (I'm still not sure I retrieved it all) and because I had to hand-sew one side of the bag.

But I did it. And I'll have a photo of it later on this afternoon. I would have taken a photo this morning, but the Husbandly One did not inform me he was having to leave early until ten minutes before he was going to leave, and that left me with no time for picture taking at all.

I will say it is not beautiful, or the most attractive bag I've ever made... but it's functional, and when the Impertinent Daughter saw it this morning, rather than being horrified by it, as I was fearing, she was delighted and immediately started drawing on it. She's very proud of it and happy with it, and I am relieved and wish I could very much go back to bed for a few hours BUT...

Miss Priss has a UIL Choir performance this afternoon AND a soccer game immediately after, and it's an away game. And I still have errands to run.

Caffeine... I must ingest mass quantities of caffeine today.

Oh, and I have a battle wound from sewing last night. I sewed my finger. Ouchies!! Next time, I shall be sure to keep my fingers far, far away from the needle!!

*goes in search of caffeine*

lddurham... I'm gonna end up on Ravelry, aren't I? I mean, I'm already hitting weloveamigurumi, and I finally signed up on Lion Brand yarn's site so I could get at some of their patterns...

And oh, by the way... the blanket that I've been working on for Miss Priss?

It's done. I'm done, I'm done, glory halleeluyer, I'm done! Yes, when I wasn't curled up in a little ball of misery on the bed with my head buried in the pillows, I was sitting up, curled in a ball on the bed, crocheting to keep my over-active mind from driving me nuts, and therefore, I FINISHED THE BLANKET!!!

WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!!

*bows to cheers*

Yes, thank you, thank you, it was a difficult task, but I got it done, and she's very pleased with it, and can't wait for cold weather to come back so she can use it!

I'll post pictures later, promise! But I just had to tell y'all, because it's one thing that's gone right in an otherwise sucky weekend!!

*is dying, omg, omg, omg*

I found... omg, I found a pattern to crochet a Totoro, and even Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle HERE!!!!

*is dying of the cute*

I'm sorry, I know I hardly ever, EVER post about my crafting here, but I can't tell you how much my fingers are twitching and itching to crochet Totoro!!!!

And even as I stare at the amigurumi Calcifer, I am mentally calculating how I can do it better... isn't that sad?

If only there was enough time, I would try to do it as a Christmas surprise for Miss Priss and maybe another for Mr. Manzie, but... their holiday starts on Friday, and there is no way I could "hide in plain sight" while making it (which I have done for other projects in the past).

And the EWOK!!! And the DALEK!!! (and yes, I stared at that and thought how I could do that better, too!). I am already contemplating crocheting a Dalek as a joke for Uncle Scientist, who is a huge Dr. Who fan (see, I knew there was a reason I like him and don't kill him when he irritates me!).

Okay, enough crafter squeeing. We return to our regularly scheduled Auntie...

Still not getting comment notifications, apparently because LJ and my email provider don't play nice together. But, LJ is working on it, presumably talking nicely and perhaps offering cookies and a really cool bike and maybe things will be resolved soon.

So, if my replies to your comments seem more sporadic than usual, well, you know why!

In the meantime, I thought y'all might like a peek at one of my current projects. I've been working on it for some time, and I'm getting close to being finished (finally, huzzah!).
( It's a big picture, so beware!! )