This is taking FOREVER!

This is still the first side of the collar!  I've still got another one to do, plus the belt and sewing the whole thing together!    Gah!

Let's distract ourselves with some pretty nails:

This is Zoya Cho, from the spring 2012 True collection.  It's a very pretty French vanilla with just  a hint of shimmer.  Not quite enough shimmer - so I added CND Jade Sparkle.

When I put this on last night I really had trouble with the application.  It went on streaky and patchy.  I wasn't sure the second coat evened it out, but this morning everything looked OK, so maybe it was the light.

I added the Jade Sparkle this morning, as I've found that I can get away with adding other polishes and quick-dry topcoats to Zoya on the second day without getting shrinkage.  I was surprised that it doesn't flash as green against this color as it does against darker colors - it's flashing more yellow.  Still pretty though!

A little bit of knitting.

A very little bit.  I've had so much on my plate lately, I haven't had a whole lot of time to knit.  It's kind of bumming me out!

I did actually manage to get about half way up to the armhole shaping on Winnie while I was in San Diego:

I've got 17 stripes out of the 34 I need.

I like the transition from rib to stockinette:

I have no idea what I'll wear this with, but I really like it!

I'm so close to being done with Karanfil.  I have all the major pieces done, but now I'm at the point of knitting the separate front bands and collars.  It's one of those patterns that tells you to knit until it fits when slightly stretched, sewing into place as you go along.  Not really my favorite thing to do.

I want to finish this one up quickly, because it is starting to be the perfect weather to wear it!  I've knit both the front bands up to this point, and am just getting ready to start the collar shaping on the first one.

I'll need to block the bands too.

Then I'll have to knit the belt.  The pattern adds beads to the cuffs and belt, but they really don't show, so I left them off.  I also wanted this one to be machine-washable.  I expect to be wearing it a lot!

Warning: Vacation Photos!

I told myself I wasn't going to do this, but in the end I just couldn't resist!  And it's a grey, blustery day here in Chicago, so some pictures of beautiful southern California are a nice pick-me-up!

This is the second year we've taken a short vacation in San Diego.  Last year we went because we wanted to use up some frequent flyer miles before they expired. We didn't really have a firm idea of where we wanted to go but we knew that it must be warm and sunny, and that we should be able to get there with a nonstop flight.  That narrowed our choices down to Tucson and San Diego.  Being a Pisces, I chose the ocean!  Needless to say, we loved it, so we returned this year!

Hubby has a talent for discovering great hotels, and once our plane tickets were squared away, he found a great deal at Tower 23 on the north side of San Diego. We were really pleased that we got the same room we had last year:  a "Surf Pad" on the third floor, with a balcony overlooking the ocean.

Looking north from the balcony.  Tuesday was the only cloudy day.

Sunset, viewed from the balcony.

Tower 23 as seen from the beach.

We arrived late on Sunday night, so our first outing was on Monday.  It was so warm and sunny, I actually felt a little hot!  Luckily, I was wearing my new red Continental blouse!  We decided to drive into the mountains, about an hour northeast of San Diego, to Temecula's wine country.  We chose a winery for lunch, and were really pleased with our choice:  Wilson Creek Winery.  We had a fantastic meal and an Almond Champagne that we liked so much we had 6 bottles sent home!

Wilson Creek has beautiful gardens in addition to the vineyards.

First outing for the new blouse!

There was also a little creek, with a picnic area next to it.

On Tuesday we had planned to drive to Irvine to visit some old friends, so we left early enough in the morning that we could spend a few hours at Torrey Pines State Preserve.  I had wanted to visit last year but ran out of time, so I'm really glad we made it this year.  The vegetation is so amazing - quite interesting for a Midwestern girl!  I love the mix of pines, scrub, palm trees and cactus, all set among sandstone cliffs overlooking the ocean.

It reminded me a lot of Cappadocia in Turkey.

Everything is sort of windswept.

I think this was called tree poppy.

I still get surprised by seeing cactus just growing out of the ground!

On Wednesday we did a little exploring on Coronado Island and Point Loma, after a fantastic lunch at Craft and Commerce.  Coronado was a little more tourist-oriented than I like, but it was interesting because the beach was quite different from where we were staying, just ten miles north.  The sand at the edge of the water was glistening with gold - it really looked like someone had dumped a load of gold glitter and mixed it with the sand!  Do any of you Californians know anything about this?  I've never seen anything like it.

I really liked Point Loma, and was surprised that it was so hilly.  We went to the old lighthouse, which is neat because the rooms are set up as they were in the late 1800s.  The original Fresnel lens is also on display - just beautiful.

Whales go by the point, but we didn't see any.

The old lighthouse.

My art shot of the old lighthouse.

The new lighthouse, way down the hill.

The Fresnel lens.

We only had about half a day on Thursday before we had to return our rental car, so we walked along the beach for a few hours, soaking in the last of the salty air and sunshine before returning to the soot and noise of the city.  Then we spent an hour or two wandering around Old Town San Diego, which has been turned into a historical village.  I'd been there before (years ago) but it was still fun to look at it again. Unfortunately, none of my pictures are especially interesting!

As you can see, we kept ourselves busy the whole time, so not a whole lot of knitting got done!  I managed about 20 rows on Winnie.  I'm planning on a knitting update tomorrow.

Conquering a mountain . . .

. . . of laundry!  You know how that goes, when you've been away for a week!

I wanted to thank everyone for the comments left while I was away.  While the washer and dryer are running, I'm slowly going through the last week of comments here and catching up on everyone else's blogs too.

And a couple other thoughts about comments.  First off, Karen suggested that I turn off word verification, and I do agree that it's a nuisance, although it generally doesn't stop me from leaving comments on other blogs.  But not knowing a whole lot about these matters, I'm a little worried about getting too much spam.  Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

The second thought about comments:  this is just a silly little confession, but it's been bugging me!  As you may know, I was an elementary school teacher for many years.  And if you've ever dealt with elementary-school-aged children, you know that they have a well-developed sense of justice:  everything has to be FAIR.  So, I always feel like if I reply to one comment, I have to reply to ALL the comments!  Isn't that silly?!  And sometimes I can't think of anything to say, or the comment doesn't really warrant a reply - but I feel bad nonetheless if I "skip" someone!  So I just want you all to know that I read all the comments, and love getting them.  But I'm going to try to let myself off the hook a little in terms of replying.  I generally do like to reply when I've got something to say, but I also feel like replying when I really don't have anything to say is a little . . . dorky.

New posts after I've caught up a little!

An Anniversary Story

I can hardly believe it, but today is the one year anniversary of when I started this blog!  That went quickly!  Since I'm still away on my mini-vacation, I thought I'd share the silly story of how I started it in the first place.  It was kind of accidental!

This is where I am at the moment!

Waaaaayy many years ago, when blogs were first coming into existence, I thought they were pretty stupid. To be fair, at that time it was mostly people spouting off about one political situation or another.  Not my cup of tea at all.  But then Crafty People started blogs dealing with Creative Matters - blogs with pictures! - and that was a whole different cup of tea!  Who wouldn't want to read blogs about knitting and crocheting and sewing and home decoration and baking and nail polish?  I can't think of anyone, really.

So read them I did.  And I would frequently send links for cool things I'd found to my BFF, who (poor girl) didn't have as much time as I did for reading blogs (since she had a Real Job).

One day we were talking and she asked me how hard it would be to start a blog of our own.  "Not too hard, I think,"  I replied.  And I jumped on the interwebs and tried it out just to see.  And sure enough, it was easy, even for a Luddite!  I created a little blog so she could see how it's done.  And then it just sat there, unused and unloved.

My first header.

Up to and a little beyond that time, although I was reading a good many blogs, I was really only lurking. I never left any comments, partly because of my innate shyness, and partly because I wasn't really sure how to do it.  But gradually I discovered that I had Things To Say, and started to leave a comment or two.

But that produced an embarrassing situation.  My comments were linked to the "blog" I had created!  It bothered me that if anyone wanted to follow my signature and see my blog, they would find a blog with nothing there.  So I tried to delete it. But I couldn't figure out how to do it properly - it just kept coming back!

This went on for a couple months, until finally I thought, "OK - geez! I'll just write the darn blog!"

And that, as they say, is that!

A header made using Picnik.

Thank you so much to all of you who take the time to read (and in some cases, comment) on the silly things I write.  While I write mostly because I enjoy the process of writing, it means a lot to me that some folks care to read my meanderings.

I feel so fortunate to have met so many wonderful people through this blog and also those I follow.  I probably don't say it often enough, but I truly appreciate your friendship.

Hope you are all having a fantastic week!  Thanks again for a fun year!

Take that, Jasmine!

Remember this top?

After I failed so miserably at this make, I hung it in my laundry closet until I could figure out what to do with it.  But every time I opened the door, I felt like it was taunting me.  So . . . here's what it looks like now:

Over the weekend, when I was too tired to knit or sew, I spent an hour or so unpicking the sleeves, facings and collar.  I had determined that if I take out about 2.5 inches from the center front, the fit is OK.

Now it's waiting for me to get back from California, at which time I'm thinking of turning it into a camisole . . .

The Bandwagon

Like a lot of other sewing enthusiasts (sorry, I just can't bring myself to use the word "sewist" - I know there's been some debate about this lately!) I signed up for Gertie's Starlet Suit Jacket course on Craftsy a couple weeks ago.  I've never done any tailoring, but I'd like to learn, so I figured this might give me a good introduction. I don't really see myself making the jacket shown in the course though - it's not quite my style.

This is what I have in mind:

Ah - boxy '60s jacket with matching sheath dress!  That's more like it!  Here are some close-ups:

There's a self fabric belt too!

Need to get some gloves.
And a wash and set.

So carefree!

This pattern is Burda Style 7253.  I've never used a Burda pattern (other than the ones in the magazine).  I haven't really taken a look at it yet, but it will be interesting to see if the directions are any less sketchy than the ones in the magazines.

When I bought it a few weeks ago, I also bought this one:

Burda Style 7255

It's labeled as a blouse, but I think the top left one looks more like a jacket:

Here are the blouse and the line drawings:

I think that deep inverted pleat in the back is really interesting!

Have any of you ever used a Burda Style pattern?  What's the verdict?