Sights Make For Sore Eyes

Working in the East Village always makes for some interesting people watching; sometimes there is more “people” than I care to watch. Take for example this morning.

I stroll in the doors of my office building and hit the elevator button. I then walk to the security desk, exchange pleasantries with the guards and get my newspaper, as is my routine. By the time I get back to the elevator quad, the up arrow and chime indicate that my elevator has arrived. It is so great when the timing works like this. I take a sip of my coffee and think what a great day this is going to be. And then the elevator doors open.

Off steps a (assumingly) homeless man (which is not an uncommon sight down here) dressed as a Swiss Mountaineer (ala Heidi’s grandfather), complete with cane and feathered hat (I'm not too sure about the leiderhosen - it all happened too fast). He was a tall gentleman which put the opening in his pants that much closer to eye level. As he pushed past me laughing manically and pointing to the jumblies and junk hanging out of the opening, I realized maybe it wasn’t going to be such an awesome day.

A Welding We Will Go

This weekend, Aaron's Uncle Tim indulged Aaron and my interest in welding. We met early at Perry's for an all-day-weld-a-thon-sustaining breakfast and then headed to his shop to get busy. We learned Torch Cutting, Plasma Cutting, MIG Welding, and TIG Welding.

At long last- My First Duro!

I bought tons of patterns and fabric two summers ago with a grand vision of making myself a whole new summer wardrobe. I made A dress. A beautifully- constructed, perfectly aligned black and white buffalo check masterpiece that I wore with a big black floppy hat to the Del Mar Races. It would still be a favorite of mine if it was about two sizes smaller. Ah well, I'm sure I'll get around to reworking it.. I guess in retrospect it is good that I didn't make all those dresses that summer.

So, maybe this is the summer of sewing. I gave a couple pairs of shorts, sure, but nothing is so nice on a sweltering day in east county as a flowy sundress!

My first of the season is a modified Duro Olawu inspired Simplicity pattern. I made the size fourteen, since I have ample curves and took in the top to more of a size ten. It turned out pretty cute and will be lovely for trips to the market. The next time I make this pattern I will make the following additional mods:
1- add back zipper
2- make tie startbon one side and tie on front side. The back tie is a little too Midwest churchy for my taste.
3- bring in the front sash. It currently gapes and could be more flattering.

7/3 Lucy Geesey

What is it about summer that awakens my inner seamstress? I have been collecting free sewing patterns for the last couple of years and have amassed quite a collection. Most recently, I have been interested in softies. Here is my first batch of the summer. These are the Lucy Goosey pattern from ________. I used scrap fabric from other projects and customized them for the recipient: Cupcake, Jacob, Aiden and, me (yes me, I need to make some things for myself too!). These were a lot of fun to make and, had my machine not crapped out, would have gone a lot faster. Next stop, Pointy Kitty for Khalila (and me – what?).

6/25 Gratuitous Art Project

There is a secondhand store in San Diego that my friend, Nancy and I enjoy frequenting. The shop restores and sells discarded and vintage furniture and notions. There is a lot of crap, but also treasure. One day, when I was “just along for the ride”, I happened upon a cute little wooden ark – and it had animals! Now the color was a heinous collection of 80’s country blue and pink, but the wood was in good condition and I’m not afraid of a little paint. So I bought it for $3 and made it my own. I am much happier with the new color scheme! It was a fun project and, though I am not about to go into the profession, I think I can hold my own brush.

6/12 Pull-through Scarf (aka just a little hit of Alpaca)

GeoTagged, [N32.70719, E117.15764]



Scarf knitting is so boring, but it helps when you are working with a lovely yarn like Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande. My coworker is restoring a North Park cottage and, even in spring, that place is chilly. Under normal circumstances, is someone asks me to knit them a scarf, I tell them where they can stick it, but in Nancy’s case, she REALLY did need a little extra warmth. Granted it won’t help for a few months…………

5/25 Brenda’s Bonny Baby’s Bunny Blanket Buddy

My poor coworker; this thing looks possessed. I really should have learned by now that, with embroidery, less is more. At least I didn’t add fangs, ahem, buck teeth. Oh well, it is soft.

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