the streamer frock grosgrain giveaway

Further inspiration for Summer party dresses...

The Streamer Frock Grosgrain Giveaway

{i have a sewing machine!}

The day has come! No longer am I stuck sewing everything by hand because I am now the proud owner of a Finesse sewing machine.

It is an oldie but a goodie, and a super-steal at that! A friend from work tipped me off that they saw a sewing machine making its way into the pile of things for a church flea market thing going on the next day. It was going for $30, but they just slashed everything to half off right before dear Joshua went to look at it for me...so we got it for $15! Steal.

Granted, it was it a little broken. The thread spool holder is long gone. And being that I am a sewing machine rookie, the lack of a manual meant alot of messing around trying to figure out how things work on here.

In my tradition of needing to name all electronics of importance to me (laptop= Dag Hammarskjold, cell phone = Gypsy, the briefly owned iPod= Ish Kabbible), I am naming this little beauty Catalina.

It is amazing to be able to sew things at the speed I can now. I'm working on my third project since getting it. Now if only I could find time to take and post some pictures. I think I have almost 10 projects now that need posting.

Soon.

{best chocolate chip cookies}

This is the cookie that made me a believer in milk dunking. Never before did I think it was worth it.

These cookies never fail me. The requests I've gotten to bake these again after people try them just flood in each time. The first of many proofs that the Smitten Kitchen blog is the best go-to any time I need a recipe. Check out this cookie recipe and see for yourself.





I like them best as the large scoop version (1/4 c. each).


And they come out just right every time. The only challenge is getting a glass of milk big enough to dip the cookie in.

{plans for a vintage bathing suite}

My goodness, but I have many project that I have finished and yet to photograph....and yet I'm still eagerly planning more.

I need a new bathing suite, and yet again the magical combination of pickiness and stinginess is driving me toward trying to design and sew something new. I think I would like a nice retro-inspired one-piece. I just started rehearsals today for Godspell and am anticipating another great Emerging Artist show full of many a cast beach party.

Here are some of my favorite images for inspiration.






I love how intricate the details are on many of these; along the lines of what you would see on a nicely crafted dress.

{ready for a new season}

I've felt terribly overwhelmed as of late.

• In addition to the normal work load associated with my apprenticeship, I volunteered to Assistant Stage Manage for the company's production of Refuge of Lies, not because I wanted to so much as because I wanted the show to succeed, and could see it would not thrive without a steady ASM to handle the insane (quick and numerous) costume quick changes.
• In order to make the ASMing thing work, it also required that I be the Box Office worker every night right until the doors shut, at which point I run backstage to begin my ASM duties.
  
• I signed on to act in the directorial debut of one of my fellow apprents.
• Things are kicking into gear for The Last Five Years preparations, including auditions/interviews for musicians and musical directors.
• I did two extra (post casting) call-back auditions for Godspell to determine roles and songs.
• I'm MOVING AGAIN this Friday! With a months notice we found out that we couldn't renew our lease due to our landlords selling our apartment. But it is to a nicer/cheaper/closer place, so I'm looking forward to it (being done).

In light of all of the craziness going on, I've been counting down the days until the end of this month; of this season. Come next month, I will be in a new home, done with the current show and starting rehearsals for Godspell. It ocured to me that, after a couple times of my Beloved asking for us to do a cleanse of some sort together, that this might be a good time to do it. A nice way to start off this new season, I think. I just came out of a conversation today with a friend about what kind of stewards we are to the planet, and it made me also reconsider the kind of steward I am to my body. I've gone through a stressful period and miraculously not gotten sick, despite being around many sick people, and even having one of them cough right in my face many times. I want to stay healthy and prepare myself for the shows that I'll be doing this summer.

I know cleanses can sound scary, and they sure do to me, too. But I found one that was nicely laid out with what seems to be a pretty healthy diet, as opposed to one of those crazy things where you only drink...raw eggs...or something creepy like that. I know it isn't exactly a fast, but I want to treat it in the spirit of that; a time to dedicate and reflect. A new season. A new focus. And to thank God for the good that He brings in these changes.

wise words from Beckett

One of my wonderful teachers at University would often use a certain phrase in our theatre classes and rehearsals: "Permission to fail." This is a wonderful thing, but one that I struggle with so often. Giving myself permission to screw up and not get it right the first time isn't something I feel inclined to grant myself. But by denying myself permission to fail, I almost doom myself to failure. Without the willingness to fail, there is no freedom to take risks...and that is something necessary as an actor, and quite possibly as a human being.

I've been approaching Godspell, which is soon to go into rehearsal, by withholding permission to fail. It is a guarantee, as part of my apprenticeship at PT, to have a role in this show, but I felt almost dirty knowing that I was pre-cast in it, and the director of the show had never even seem my work. So I went into auditions for it with everyone 'reassuring' me that I was already cast and shouldn't worry...but that was just what worried me. I felt as though there was no room for me to do anything less than my best or I would forever feel like 'well, but she had to cast me.' The problem with that is that nothing is ever good enough. Even though I did what I felt like were good auditions, I continually felt that I hadn't earned my way into the cast.

I am still struggling with this, but determined to shake it before it truly impedes my work on this show. I can't rely on someone else to validate me in my place in the cast. I am here to do my best work, but for that I need to be free to play, experiment, explore, dare...and fail.

my first commissioned piece

I was very excited when my friend commissioned me to make a cowl for her, since, with the exception of a few doggy scarves, this would be the first thing I've gotten paid to make. She sent me the links to a couple picks from someone on Etsy that she liked and I took to adding in her other requests and coming up with something along those lines.

I think I must have felt the pressure from it being a commission while making it, because I started it three times before I finished it. I was making up my own pattern as I went, so there was a degree of discovery time inherent in that. First I cast on too few stitches, then frogged that back to nothing and cast on too many stitches. I knit the whole darn thing this time before reaching the end of my yarn and seeing that this just wasn't what she wanted. So I went back to square one again, and after spending 6 days on it already I started again and finished the whole thing in 24 hours. I had set that Sunday evening as the deadline to give it to her since I often only see this friend at church once a week. But I made my deadline and she was very happy with the end product.

So for the pattern, it ended up being simple enough.

Super-bulky yarn or chunky yarn held double.
CO 74
Proceed in hurdle rib stitch (1st row: knit all, 2nd row: k1p1)
Bind off when piece is 7" long