Coming soon: jabot madness

I failed to get pix, but I saw my friends Wolfgang and Michele during their 6 hour layover in Newark. Never has an airport been so much fun! Plus they brought me chocolate and 3 cow buttons, and we discussed wedding photography. I also saw the chiropractor again (knee pain: 0/1, back pain, 2/3), went grocery shopping and took yet another nap (really, I'm becoming the queen of naps) and chatted with not one but two neighbors. Whee!

As Antoinette would say, ready to get your jabot on??

The basic tank bit is sewn up (it took an hour and a half to reach this point. Next time I will not do armhole facings. Double knit is so dreamy, armhole facings are really not necessary--fold over and sew down will be my quick method.)


I've drawn the lines on:

It was difficult to stop myself here, but I think sewing the jabot on, and hemming, is a project best left til morning.

I reduced the size of the carriers on my bathrobe. So the bathrobe is officially done. And this is officially the weirdest angle I've ever taken a picture of on myself:



Sewing to do list:

• fix the brown ruffle shirt
• finish the gray jabot shirt
• make the other ruffle/jabot shirt--in pink!
• hem gray pants again

Yeah, I probably won't get all that done this weekend. But I definitely can't wait to finish the jabot in the morning!!

Bon weekend and bon sewing, everyone! And how's your three day weekend???

Part Trois: that black shirt, deer damage and other stuff

Oh deer!

Remember my lovely hibiscus, photographed a few weeks ago?


This is what it looked like this morning, after being eaten by a deer:


Deer don't like the smell of soap, so I have some on stakes (mom discovered that trick) but the stake was down on the job:


More deer damage (to my two other hibiscus plants, impatients and carnations) can be seen in my Random 2009 album.

I finally finished the black shirt tonight. I think it lost some of its charm by cutting it shorter, but there's slightly less pooling.









I wound up using single fold bias tape for the hem and sleeves. With the hem, I was on the home stretch--and then realized I sewed the bias tape to the wrong side!! That is why I have a "new sewing after work" rule, because of dumb mistakes like that. I had taken a 2 hour nap, though, so I thought it would be ok...

I wore my new Simplicity shirt today but I hate how the ruffle keeps flopping down--some serious tacking will occur this weekend.


I ferreted out some white "rope" at Joann's (on my third attempt) for my bathrobe ties. I moved the carriers to the right position, but now I think they are huge since I'm using such small rope. I'll probably reduce the carrier size this weekend.





I tried to make my own braided knit ties but it looks kinda horrible so I think I'll stick with the purchased rope. But how do folks braid ties so neatly? Also, do you actually sew 3 tubes, turn them inside out, and then braid, in order to eliminate ugly raw edges?




Good night!

Acupuncture part deux; rare NJ rainbow!

I'm still feeling pretty good. Had another meeting today on a different unsupportive chair; back was not screaming. Things are definitely looking up. Pain was like a 1/2. Knee pain has returned a little. Of course, this morning I did not help it by accidentally whacking my right knee on the corner of the bathroom vanity countertop. I mean, I actually saw the vanity countertop LIFT UP--that is how much force my knee apparently has in upward motion (or how poorly the vanity is held together--you choose). My "boo boo" (as my acupucturist called it) has turned blue/red, is raised and is the size of a quarter. And it sort of hurts. Of course I used my ice packs.

Had my second acu session. Note to self: don't move my leg once acupuncturist has inserted all needles!!! I wanted to show her where the tick bite was--after she inserted the needles--oh, that was painful! She said the muscle grips on to the needle when the leg is moved. I got the message. It was a dumb move (heh) on my part.

Anyway, I think she had about 10-15 needles per side inserted in my feet, calves, knees, hips, arms and one in each ear. This time she played music accompanied by bells ringing instead of birds chirping. It was great. I could feel various muscles fluttering or twitching, which she said is the energy moving through my body. This time I had a warm spot on my forearm, away from any needle. I was able to do my deep yoga breathing without any pain. She then rubbed the lotion on my legs afterwards. I paid up for both visits and made another appt for next Wednesday. I told her that I like her approach and how I didn't have to fill out forms and how she treated me like a human. She said her approach is to be treated as she would like to be treated. She said she started treatments 8 years ago and for her first 5 patients she had them fill out forms, then she abandoned that. She said she gets a clearer picture of what is going on when she asks questions and listens.

I wanted to go walking in Princeton afterward but it started raining! It seems to rain for at least part opf every day, but I don't mind. So I went for a walk around my neighborhood when it started to clear.

A rare NJ rainbow:


As the sun sets on another day:


Best cloud pic for today:


Blurry stream photo:


I have been doing the stretch Len told me to do. I like it a lot because I'm not crawling around on the floor like for the therapist stretches. It involves a staircase, so I can do them here or at work. Turns out a lot of people use the staircase at work...

Oh, and my dad bought a book called "Hacking Your Roomba". Sounds like fun for programmer types!!

Good night!!!