Superheroes!

Yesterday was the annual Music for Munchkins concert given by the high school orchestra. The theme this year was Superheroes.

I made this costume for the orchestra teacher. She was WonderWand Woman, and loved it! Not pictured are the gold vambraces I made. I also made a purple tunic and hat for The Green Goblin. The concert was wonderful, with evil villans (Green Goblin, Metroid, Mr. Freeze, and Syndrome) fighting with heroes (Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Elastigirl, Violet, and the orchestra's very own superhero: Stringman). Beautiful music was played, suspense, and action made for a great afternoon!

Calvin got to try out the instrument petting zoo. He wants to play the viola.

The boys did the crafts (masks, capes, face painting). Connor wanted to do them all, but didn't want to wear any of them. He insisted that Caleb wear whatever he created, and then was just distraught that Caleb wouldn't fly with the cape on. :)

Mittens

I finished Calvin's mittens. They were a fast project for me; I finished them in 10 days. Just in time too, since it was -4 with a wind chill of -23 when we got up yesterday (consider that it was 48 when we got up on Monday. Quite a temperature change!). My Ravelry project page for these is here.

He was thrilled when he saw I had finished them, and I tried to get a photo of his happiness, and this is what I got. :( My camera seems to have died! I think I'm going to have to get a new one -- I've tried all sorts of things, and cannot get anything but black photos. The viewfinder doesn't work, I can't get any photos no matter what setting I put it on, and the video won't work either. I can't complain too much, since I've taken 10,000+ pictures with it, so it certainly got used. Anyone have any recommendations for a camera? This was a Kodak EasyShare DX4330 (with a whopping 3.1 megapixels!), so I already have a 256mb card that I'd like to be able to continue to use.

Some Knitting

Some recent, and some not so recent. Remember my purple sweater? Remember when I ran out of yarn?! My friend Esther found some more for me, and I finished it last spring. Finally I got Calvin to take some photos! Here's one:
I also started a pair of mittens for Calvin on the 19th. I'm farther than this picture now, all that is needed is the thumb on the 2nd mitten, and weaving in the ends:
Connor had picked out the color, and once these are done, I'll start a pair for him (red).

Whomi!

I won a Whomi! Earlier this month, The Lazy Organizer had a giveaway for three Whomi calendars, and I won! It came yesterday, and it's so cool. This one is a Hidden Agenda. Isn't it pretty?

The inside is great. My calendar will be on the top, and I'll have each of the boys on the bottom. This is perfect timing, as my PDA had a run-in with a door frame. It still works, but not very well, and it's really really hard to enter information (if I touch the stylus on a Monday, I usually get bumped over to Wednesday or Thursday. Can you say annoying!). I especially like the forward planning section in the back of the calendar, 2 years out, which will come in handy when planning dentist and eye doctor appointments 6 months out.

I'm going to have to switch purses, though. I don't think it's going to fit in my current one....

Costume Details

I took a bunch of detail shots of Caleb's Pharaoh costume yesterday. I've put them in my 2008 Sewing Flickr set, with notes. The costume was a big hit at school, and survived the festival pretty well. I need to repair the headdress, as the seams in the lamé failed pretty easily.

The best part of this whole project was seeing Caleb's face when I showed him the final costume. He was pretty impressed, and kept talking about how good I was to be able to do it without him around (for fitting and babysitting). :)

Walk Like An Egyptian

(thanks to Rowena for the title. ~G~)

Today, as part of the social studies cirriculum, Caleb has an Opet Festival at school. All the students dress up like ancient egyptians, and do ancient egyptian stuff in each of their classes. I had a blast making his costume.

We took our inspiration from this King Tut costume. The tunic is made from rectangles with a shoulder slope. I had about 3" of the sleeve trim leftover when I was finished. The rest of the pieces are quilted lamé. Like most costumes, trim and accessories are everything! I found everything at Joann Fabrics on Tuesday. I started the costume Wednesday afternoon, and finished it yesterday. We copied a $200+ costume for $44.09 and about 8 hours of work. :) We made the hook thing and flail (sorry, I don't know the correct terms) from strips of plaster wrap that we rolled up and spray painted gold.

The eyeliner looks cool, though ultimately Caleb asked to have it washed off. I made the headpiece by making a quilted headband and then stitching alternate strips of the blue and gold lamé (2" finished width) into a 30x22 rectangle. This was then stitched onto the headband. It turned out really cool.

You can click on either picture to see it full size. I can take detail shots of the collar, belt, vambraces, and headpiece after he gets back home.

Resolutions

Ok, now that I've reviewed my past year, it's time to look forward to the next. :) Like Belinda, some of my sewing goals stay the same from year to year until I actually accomplish them. This year my goals are:

- Sew some nice clothes for my boys. Specifically, I want do to nice dress shirts (Caleb has a choir concert on the 29th, so I have a deadline), and I've always liked the look of Cordarounds.
- Increase my output of clothes for me. More dresses.
- Do window treatments for the downstairs (living room, dining room, kitchen).
- Finish the unfinished quilts.


On the non-sewing front:

- Get back down to about 125-130 pounds.
- More consistency with meal planning.

I have one more goal that will get its own post later.

Sewing Year In Review

It's a new year, and I get to reset my stats! First, a look back on 2007:

Yardage In: 67.875
Yardage Out: 45.125
Items Made: 47
Money Spent: $866.33

Not bad! Not bad at all. In comparison to 2006, I cut my yardage input more than in half, as well as cutting my spending in half. I also increased my output quite a bit (helped a lot by the costume sewing I did). My yardage consumption was reduced by a lot (75% or so?), however, I only did one quilt this year, and those really eat up yardage.

One goal I've had floating in my head for the past few years was to be self-supportive with my hobby, and I did that this year. Working for the shakespeare company and getting the suzuki institute job allowed me to 'support' my hobby on my own. :)

OK -- if you click HERE, you can see all the things I created in 2007 (it's a KodakGallery album, and I set it so that you do not have to sign in. The option is there, but not necessary). Apparently, it was the year of superhero capes and cowls (there's an extra one I made that I neglected to photograph).

Polar Bears!

I'll do a sewing year in review later, but first, Calvin and I started 2008 off right, with a dip in Lake Michigan! (Caleb chickened out)

For about 10 years, I jumped in Lake Michigan every New Year's Day, down at Bradford Beach, in a swimsuit and everything. I stopped after I turned 30. Anyway, yesterday was a spur of the moment type thing. Some of Caleb's friends waded in last year, at the beach across the street. This year they knocked on our door and asked if we wanted to come. So we did! It was really easy compared to going downtown. Just put on a coat, grab a towel, walk across the street and down to the beach, and wade in!

Yes it was still cold, and quite windy, but still fun.

Review of Goals

2007 is almost over, time to move on to 2008! Let's review my goals from last year and see how I did.

~ Put Ms. Belinda on a crash diet. (she's my body double, in case you don't know) I weighed 142 pounds when I made her, and I've managed to maintain my weight at 125-130 for 18 months now. She can go on her diet now. :) -- I failed at this, and to boot, I've gained 16 pounds, averaging 140 now. :(

~ Sew some nice clothes for my boys, at least 1 dress shirt/pants for each one. It's hard finding nice church clothes that aren't made like crap! -- again, failure!

~ Sew at least 1 garment per month for myself, and keep it. -- Not quite. I made 7 items for myself, kept 6. However, the 6 I kept get worn a lot.

~ Do at least 1 charity project. -- I made preemie sleepers, made/donated an I-Spy quilt for a church raffle, and made 3 bags for a village raffle.


~ Get the window treatments done for the downstairs (living room, dining room, kitchen). -- HA! I'm pathetic, no progress at all.

~ Stay on top of gift sewing. -- did OK on this, could be better.

~ Keep my sewing room somewhat clean, i.e. stop letting everyone use it as a dumping ground (including myself). This might involve some re-organization. -- not so great. Sometimes I do ok, sometimes (most of the time) not. Got rid of a big desk, so I have more room now.

Man, I sucked, big time! Let's see if I can do better this next year. I've been thinking of ways to help implement goals and stay on track. I'll post my new goals and year-end wrap up later.

Happy Christmas!

We had a nice Christmas --
We've had lots of family time.

We've played games.

Calvin and I went to see The Nutcracker (per his request).

We ate lots of good food.

We visited with family.

Secret Project

Christmas is only 5 days away! ACK!!! Connor is over the moon about Thomas the Tank Engine. I've been trying to make a quilt for him:
This is as far as I am. Everthing is cut, and sitting there. I have to work on it in secret, and that's been pretty hard to do. It shouldn't take long to do, it's getting the time to do it! (I can't even let him see me working on this post, as he'll get obsessed with the photo) I may have to do some late night sewing, and I don't like to sew at night.

Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

Beth came over today, and we had a Christmas cookie baking marathon. Caleb is off on a Boy Scout campout, so it was just Calvin and Connor as our helpers. We made 5 different kinds, for a total of about 300 cookies.

The boys fought over using the mixer, but settled down after we threatened to kick them out of the kitchen. We might have threatened other things as well.

Connor was a pretty good helper.

The boys had fun with the sprinkles. Can you guess which trees Connor decorated?

It was really really hard to resist playing in the powdered sugar, and finally, he just gave in. It does look like snow, after all.

My half of the cookies. We made gingersnaps (11th recipe), spritz (trees, dogs, and wreaths), mexican wedding cakes, double chocolate kiss cookies (2nd recipe), and chocolate chip (yeah, all these neat holiday cookies, and David wants plain chocolate chip cookies).

Think these will last until Epiphany? Yeah, I don't either.

Orchestra Concert

Wow, a post every day this week!

I need to show some love to Caleb now, and last night he had his orchestra concert. He's been playing great, and is first chair for the cellos! Considering that he started playing a little over a year ago, he's done very well. I recorded 3 of the 5 songs they played. First, Sword Dance:



Sailor's Song (my favorite):


They closed with Bow-town Blues. I have heard and watched him practice constantly, but he purposely did not let me see the cellos twirl their instruments. He wanted it to be a surprise:


Regarding school/student productions, the Yarn Harlot wrote a lovely piece about them yesterday. Do go and read it. Right now I need to get in the shower and get over to Calvin's winter concert this morning. Hopefully I won't have the bootlicking kid today.

By the way -- I just LOVED his teacher's jacket, as did my friend Beth. We were considering if we could roll her for it. :) It looked dynamite with her hair.

The Last Meet

Last night, Calvin had his last gymnastics meet of the year. He did well, winning 4 medals. Check it out - he is his normal silly self during gymnastics sometimes!

Ok, on to what the grandparents and friends really want: the videos! You know the drill:

His floor routine, earning a score of 9.35, and second place:


Next, his beam routine, earning a score of 9.5, and first place (and a sloppy dismount, IMO):


Third, his bar routine, earning a score of 8.8. He had some trouble, but you can sure get an idea of how strong he is:


Lastly, his vault, placing first with a score of 9.85:


He won the gold All Around medal with a total score of 37.50. Four medals! He had a good time, though I am glad the meets are over for this year. They make a long long day for him (he needs to be there at 5:30 for stretching and warm-ups [which means eating supper at 4:30], march-in starts at 6:25, and the meet usually ends around 8:15). Of course, it's exciting, so bedtime doesn't really happen when it should, and it's a struggle getting up the next morning.



His total medal count this season: 16, plus one trophy!
We'll find out on Monday if he moves up to the next level.

Job Finished

I finished that job for the Suzuki Academy. Over the course of 3-4 weeks, I went to two practices to do fittings/mark hems, hemmed 8 black palazzo pant jumpsuits, removed sleeves from 3 of them, altered 3 burgundy boy's vests, hemmed 10 burgundy dresses, hemmed the sleeves on 1 dress, and made one new uniform from scratch (I had a uniform to copy, and traced it off and made it a size larger).

Phew! Actually, I really enjoyed this job. Normally I don't like doing alterations, but this was really nice. I could just go in my sewing room and do 1 hem, or do 6, depending on the time I had. The academy was very happy with my work, and would like me to do it again next year. Yay!

Now I really need to get going on some Christmas sewing....

Snow Day

(big fluffy snowflakes across the street)

No school today! We found out when Caleb started out to school and a friend told him it was cancelled. That's usually what happens, as it never occurs to us to check (it's not much snow! I think there is a bad ice storm coming later). Anyway, the kids are outside playing in it now, and they'll eat the lunches I had already packed at the kitchen table. :) (hot potato soup! yum!)

Baby Socks

I finished these baby socks for a friend (had started them here in september). The baby shower was on Saturday, and baby is due mid-January. I used a leftover yarn that I can't remember the name of, but I'm pretty sure it's cotton. These will be perfect for spring/summer. It's probably hard to tell, but the foot is about 4.5" long.

If you have a Ravelry account, you can see my project page here. Otherwise, the details are that I used the On Your Toes sock pattern by Ann Budd, from the Summer 2007 IK magazine. Unknown yarn, size 1 bamboo needles, 40st count for foot and calf. Very fast socks, and I'm happy with the pattern, except for the sewn bind off at the top. Any other sock-knitters have a better method?

Five Medals

Last night was Calvin's third gymnastics meet this season. For the first time, he won a medal in each event, for a total of five medals! (I'm not really sure how they decided how many medals to award in each event, but it has something to do with the # of gymnasts in each level). Here are the videos:

First, he started on the floor, and placed third, with a score of 8.85:


Next, the beam, with a score of 9.15 and second place:


Then bars, with a score of 8.95 and fourth place:


Lastly, the vault, with a score of 9.6 and first place:


(He always looks so darn serious during gymnastics!) Calvin also won the All Around medal, with a total score of 36.55. Some of these scores for the events were so close, only separated by .05 in some cases. It showed the kids how important each aspect of a routine is, such as pointed toes, keeping legs together and straight, and not touching your uniform or hair (did you know? that's a deduction during a routine!).

These gymnastics meet posts are starting to all look the same. :)

I've been working on some Jaywalker socks for my mom. I wanted to give them to her for Christmas. If you are a Ravelry member, you can see my project page here. Anyway, this is what happened on Saturday.
They were TOO SMALL! The zig/zag knitted pattern is just not very stretchy, and it was really hard to get the sock on my foot (mom and I wear the same size). I had gotten far enough to start the toe shaping, and had tried the sock on to be sure I had enough foot length. Once I found I could barely get them on, I asked my mom to try the sock on. She couldn't get it over her heel. I frogged them.

Instead, she won't get a surprise, but she'll get some toe-up ribbed socks:
Whether she'll get them in time for Christmas or her birthday (December 26) is another thing.

The Big Meet

Last night was the "big" gymnastics meet for Calvin. "Big" in the fact that it wasn't just an intra squad meet, but the only one against another team, from a nearby YMCA. It was fun, and you could tell the kids were a bit more nervous than usual.

Here are the vids. Level 3s started on the vault, and Calvin scored an incredible 9.8:


Next he was on the bar. He had a rough time on them last night. I think he scored an 8.something:


Then they moved to the beam. I was nervous for him and don't remember his score, but he got first!


Lastly, they finished on the floor. I believe he scored a 9.0, and got third place:


After tallying all the scores, he won the All-Around trophy for the 8 and under Level 3s! He had told me the night before that he was hoping for that because "you know what, Mama? You get to take the trophy HOME!".
It was hard for him to go to sleep last night. :)

Next meet: November 29

November Iris

The weather has definitely turned towards winter. I finally turned on the heat on Saturday, and it's supposed to freeze tonight. With all that, look at what I have blooming!
Isn't it pretty? I'm not sure if this is a double blooming iris (like my white one) or if it just bloomed this late because I moved it this summer. Either way, it sure is pretty.

Auction Bags

The education foundation here in our village holds a big ball every year, and does fundraising. This year they are having a "community art silent auction", and sent notes home from school asking people to make things for it. I offered to make either bags or a quilt, whichever they thought would do best, and bags were chosen. This week I made these two, and then I added the one I had in the state fair this year to make it a total of three. Hopefully they'll do well!

Why Ottobre Rocks

Every year, the gymnastics teams get a team leotard. Calvin, being a boy, doesn't have to buy one (yay! $35/40 I don't have to spend!). Last year, the team leotards were black/pink/purple, and I waited too long to find a purple shirt, so he wore black shorts and a white t-shirt. This year I started planning as soon as I saw the new leotard (black with a swath of green). I remembered I had quite a bit of leftover fabric from this top, and after bringing a swatch to practice, decided it matched good enough. It's actually a few shades off, but under the gym lights it looks pretty darn close, don't you think? The black cotton/lycra was also in my stash.

Next we had to decide the style. At first, Calvin was absolutely positive that he did NOT want a tank top. I asked for opinions on one of my email lists, and got some links to gymnastics uniforms. After 'selling' the idea of a tank top with side panels, Calvin decided that would be ok, and could I make it tight like an undershirt. I dug out my Ottobre magazines this past weekend, and decided #19 from the 2/2005 issue would be perfect for the top. I made it on Monday afternoon, and it took no time. I traced off the largest size (122), guessing that Calvin is probably a 128. To make the side panel, I laid the front and back patterns together at the side seam, traced off the underarm area and decided on a 3" wide panel. I don't know if you can tell, but I curved the seam a bit at the underarm. I then added 3/8" seam allowances at the new seamlines. I did not bind the neckline/armholes as recommended, and instead just turned them under 3/8" and used my twin needle to stitch them down. Calvin was thrilled with it when he tried it on, and has requested a few more. He likes that the top doesn't fall down into his face when he does a handstand.

How crazy is it that on October 30, Calvin can go outside barefoot for pictures?!? Anyway, we decided that he needed black shorts to match the top. He already has some, but I wanted some made from the same cotton/lycra. Again, Ottobre came to the rescue. Yesterday I browsed through my magazines again, and settled on #35 from the 2/2004 issue (listed as swim trunks). I did not want them as tight as originally designed, so I traced off a size 140, added 1" to the top for a wider casing, and added 3" to the leg length. These went together in NO time at all! Again, Calvin loves them and has requested more.

Hopefully next year the team leotard will be a color that is easy for me to match as well.

Gymnastics Champion!

Calvin had his first of four gymnastics meets tonight. He did great, winning 4 medals in the 8 and under category for Level 3 gymnastics. Here are videos of each of his routines (for the grandparents, you know! ~G~)

First, his floor routine, earning a score of 8.85, and first place:


Second, his beam routine, earning a score of 8.9 (darn it, if only he didn't fall off!):


Third, his vault, earning a score of 9.65, and first place:


Last, his bar routine, earning a score of 9.3, and first place:


He also placed first in the all-around, with a total score of 36.7.

Congratulations Calvin! You are a delight to watch compete, and it's great to see you having lots of fun.

(I made his uniform, and will post on that tomorrow)

Mariachi

Yesterday, Calvin was able to dress up in costume for school, and participate in a parade. He came home for lunch so that he could change afterwards (otherwise, he'd have to bring his costume to school and change in the bathroom. Coming home was easier). Sometime last week he went to a halloween store that has opened up in our neighborhood, with a friend. He came home with this sombrero. Once I saw it, I said it would be perfect for a mariachi costume, especially since we had most everything for it already. He loved the idea, and here he is, complete with 'Zorro' facial hair. :)

He's planning to dress up like this for trick-or-treat on Sunday afternoon, and again on actual Halloween, when we go to a friend's neighborhood that does night trick-or-treat. I tried teaching him some songs, but he keeps forgetting them.

Cross Country Runner

This year Caleb is at the middle school, and there are sports to go out for! He decided he wanted to try cross country, and turns out he really liked it.

The season ended yesterday. Each race is 3K, and Caleb consistently improved. I'm not sure what his final time was yesterday (he came in 20th), but he ran about a 15:40ish last week.

Mostly the weather was nice for all the meets, except for last week, when it rained and was freezing cold. Really cold and wet!

He had a great first year of CC!

I Got A Job

One that pays actual money. :) It's temporary, but it's a great fit for me, my family, and my time.
I'm altering uniforms for a local Suzuki String Academy. These are the advanced student uniforms, and I had 8 of them. All needed hems, one a minor zipper repair, and 4 needed sleeves removed. I got them on Sunday, and was able to return 6 of them yesterday. Last night I met half of the regular students, and thankfully only came home with 3 vests (boys) and 3 or 4 dresses (girls). I go back next week Thursday to meet the rest of the students and mark any uniforms that need adjusting.

This means I'm busy sewing -- but nothing you all would be interested in seeing. I'll throw up some knitting photos next week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Sewing for 2 Henry IV

The Milwaukee Shakespeare production of 2 Henry IV closed yesterday, and pictures are up on the site! This link will take you to the production photos page. Click on 2 Henry IV, and a pop up window will appear with photos. (by the way, I made the blue shirt Prince Hal is wearing in the thumbnail. I did the pants too [altered RTW], but I don't think you can see them). Other things I worked on:

First photo: I did the crest that is on Justice Shallow.
Fourth photo: I did the red skirt and the white petticoat that you can see a peek of on Doll Tearsheet (the skirt was actually done for 1 Henry IV, and this time around I added the petticoat).
Seventh photo: Unfortunately, you cannot see the lovely chiffon centerpiece I added to Lady Percy's dress. It looked nice, though. I also shortened both Lady Percy's and Lady Northumberland's dresses, and cuffed the sleeves on Lady North's dress.

Not pictured are the 5 full and 3 half aprons I made for the "in disguise" scene in Eastcheap.

Next up: Twelfth Night in January!

Centaur

(I know I haven't posted for a while, and I don't really anything to share now. Been busy, but mostly with mundane day-to-day stuff. Here's a post anyway.)

I took a quiz, and turns out, I'm really a Centaur:

You Are a Centaur

In general, you are a very cautious and reserved person. However, you are also warm hearted, and you enjoy helping others in practical ways. You are a great teacher, and you are really good at helping people get their lives in order. You are very intuitive, and you go with your gut. You make good decisions easily.

What Mythological Creature Are You?