Project 333: Winter 2017

My winter rotation is pretty lean, but I'm actually okay with that.  I always wish all my rotations were as lean as my winter, but it never ends up working out that way.  

Folk Birds canvas dress (with undershirt), Daisy Chain canvas dress (with underdress), olive knit dress, Menagerie dress

I'm quite eager to wear my winter dresses again!

Flannel Dress #1/#2

I should say that I remade Flannel #1 earlier this fall; the original dress wasn't matched on the plaid At.All and it bugged me.  I also wanted patch pockets instead of a kanga, and the whole thing was too big.  So I remade it smaller, matched all the plaid and made bias patch pockets.  I'll try to photograph it soon.  I also swapped the pockets on #2 for patch pockets as I thought they looked nicer than the kanga pocket.  I have some additional Buffalo check flannel I'm going to make up into a dress in a few weeks' time.  I have my Cross Hatch dress in my closet right now as a place holder for it.

Cream wool cardigan, cashmere cardigan, Fair Isle cardigan, green wool cardigan/jacket

I have a few sweaters in progress that I'm hoping to finish soon and add in this rotation.  I also have a wool cardigan I bought on ebay that hasn't arrived yet.  It will probably take the place of the green cardigan/jacket as I don't love the way it looks on me.

black undershirt, blue cowl neck sweater, waffle knit henley x2, green henley, blue cotton pullover 

The henleys are mostly to wear as undershirts under the dresses with a scarf or cowl.

Orange wool skirt, Geo flannel skirt

The flannel skirt is a place holder, as it is too big on me now, and I'm going to remake it as an Everyday skirt (I have more of the same fabric).  The orange skirt is fresh off the sewing machine, from some vintage wool and poly lining that I got from an etsy seller for $10 (!!) a few years ago.  It was a squeak to get it out of the length, and I'm not sure whether I like how it looks on me, so we'll see how it works.  I'm also going to make a wool crepe skirt out of some spruce colored crepe I've had for a long time.

Gray wool pullover, black wool cardigan, Clouds in My Coffee cardigan

The Clouds in my Coffee cardigan is a place holder for a cardigan I'm still knitting in the same colorway.  The CimC sweater was always too big on me and I've never cared for the way it looked on me, but it is a nice sweater to sleep in, so I'll probably keep it for that.

So a few things to make yet, and a bit of knitting, but I think I'll be warm enough. :)

Project 333: Fall 2017 Wrap

I know it is a little bit early for a wrap post, but as in my summer, the rest of my week is kind of shot, so today was the day to make the clothing swap.  (The weather is also consistently colder the last week and I'm feeling like my clothes aren't warm enough!)

Forgive me for not having a cool collage this time--the software I used to use for it now wants to charge me an arm to use it, so you'll have to put up with a row of photos instead.  

Chambray skirt, Marigold linen skirt, denim pencil skirt, chambray shirt (not pictured: burgundy skinny jeans)

I didn't change a lot about my rotation (which is a good thing, on the whole).  I did feel like I had two micro-rotations, as our fall weather varies from 100+ degrees to below freezing, and my clothes have to accommodate that shift.  

Coral double gauze dress, Liberty #1 lawn dress, Blue Forest double gauze dress, Eggplant Birch dress

The double gauze and lawn dresses were primarily for the heat that lasted until mid-October.  I didn't actually wear my Birch dress as much as I thought I would.  I did wear it to a wedding in September, but ended up not wearing it to the wedding in October.  My main problem is that I didn't have the right layers for this dress.  Next year I will make sure to include a black wool cardigan in this rotation, as it would have made the Birch dress more useful once the weather cooled (I did pull it out at the very end of my rotation to wear it once).

Chambray dress, Rennie dress, blue linen dress, garnet knit dress

The chambray dress wasn't as useful as I envisioned, but I did wear it quite a bit, mostly in the warmer half of the rotation.  It was a little thin once the weather cooled significantly.  The Rennie dress was the surprise hit of this rotation--I wore it constantly.  The blue linen dress is worn out and fits me badly now.  I tried to fix it earlier in the fall but it didn't help much.  I also have never liked how the shoulders fit on that dress (I cut the back neckline too low).  Plus it is just sad looking after so much heavy wear this past year.  So it goes.  The knit dress was my "nice" dress for this rotation.  I wore it to Washington DC for my husband's Senate confirmation hearing in October and it was just the thing.

Cross hatch dress, black tank dress, Bluebird dress

I wore my Cross Hatch dress quite a lot too.  The Bluebird dress got a lot of wear as well.  The black tank dress was great with light layers in the early part of the fall, but didn't work at all once it got cold. 

Purple wool-cotton cardigan, Yellow Brick Road cardigan, L'Enveloppe #2

I wished I had another warm sweater or two, and ended up taking my gray pullover out of my winter bin in November because I was so cold all the time.  I'll probably put it in the rotation next fall as well.  I'm also not thrilled with how the Yellow Brick Road cardigan fits me.  It is okay as a pullover, but it really flaps in the front when worn open (as I usually do) and I'm constantly adjusting the fit on the shoulders.  I also wish it was shorter.

Purple elbow sleeve tshirt, navy 3/4 sleeve cardigan, yellow 3/4 sleeve cardigan, orange 3/4 sleeve cardigan

These were my light layers for the early part of the rotation.  The cardigans were especially useful.

striped boatneck shirt, green long sleeve tshirt, burgundy long sleeve tshirt, orange henley, brown 3/4 sleeve tshirt, navy battenburg 3/4 sleeve shirt, purple henley, navy blue long sleeve tshirt, blue marl cotton pullover (not pictured: black 3/4 sleeve tshirt, gray wool pullover)

I wore most of these shirts as undershirts, but sometimes as just a regular layer with a skirt too.  The burgundy shirt was probably the most-worn shirt as it went with several dresses.  My marigold linen skirt got HEAVY wear this fall.  It was easily my favorite thing this rotation.

I'm pretty happy with how this rotation turned out, and liked that it was stable throughout the fall.  I didn't really make very much and I didn't feel the need to add much.  I was a bit sick of the dresses by the end, though.  I'm glad to have my winter rotation now!  Winter rotation tomorrow!!

Menagerie Dress

Graham Greene wrote that happiness is to much harder to write than misery.

"The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity." (Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, pg 36). 

I write this to say that this year has been tough.  I think anyone reading this blog will know that something has been up for a while (or more accurately, down).  I think perhaps I'm on the other side of it at long last.  Happiness is perhaps not the right word for it, but it feels as though I'm through the storm that enveloped me this year.

The past week has brought some insights, and with those insights, a sense of equilibrium and (dare I say) positivity.  I am, for the moment, at peace with myself.  I also had a great idea for an organizing principle for the novel, which in turn sparked a whole line of thinking about the book, so that has been positive as well.

What to say about this dress?  Not much.  I made it very similarly to my Cross-Hatch dress, except I left off the waist ties.  I like the ties on the  Cross Hatch, but they are limiting in terms of layers.  (I've worn that dress a TON this fall).  I wanted this dress primarily for my winter rotation, and I know I'll be wearing this with cardigans and scarves, and wanted my layering options to be maximal.  I started with sleeves that were slightly below the elbow, as with the Cross Hatch, but ended up shortening them to elbow length (same with Cross Hatch).  If I do this sleeve treatment again, I'll probably just start with an elbow length.  

This fabric was one I waffled about a lot after I received it.  I had preordered it in late spring, for delivery in August, so by the time it arrived, I had forgotten about it.  I wasn't really in love with it, to be frank.  It is the latest collection from Rifle and Co.'s collaboration with Cotton + Steel.  I actually put it in my bin to save for the girls for next summer, but about two weeks ago I decided it might make a nice addition to my winter.  I made the big ol' patch pockets I've done on my last few dresses.  I seem to get in a rut with pocket styles.  So we'll see.  I actually like it better than I thought I would.  

I cut out some vintage wool I got from an etsy seller several years ago to make an Everyday skirt with a lining; we'll see how that turns out.  I have one other skirt to make for my rotation, and possibly a Christmas-related item or two.  The next couple of weeks are so crazy busy I might just use my spare time for sewing instead of trying to get writing done, but we'll see how things shake out.  For now, I have a stack of sticky notes with ideas and dialogue on them for when things settle down again.

Talking Tuesday: Joseph Campbell

This novel has taken me down some interesting rabbit holes.  I've learned more about the craft of acting than I ever thought possible (one of the protagonists is a professional actor).  The latest was a little jump into Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey.  I should hasten to add that I did not read the book entirely, but read some passages as well as critical analysis to get a feel for the argument.  Campbell is probably the father of modern literary critical theory, and from my brief reading yesterday, his ideas about story structure and the role of the hero in a story have completely taken over how we understand what we read.  Even if you've never read Campbell, I'm sure you would recognize the ideas.  This passage in particular stood out to me as interesting:

"The ego is as you think of yourself.  You in relation to all the commitments of your life, as you understand them.  The self is the whole range of possibilities that you've never even thought of.  And you're stuck with your past when you're stuck with the ego.  Because is all you know about yourself is what you found out about yourself, well, that already happened.  The self is a whole field of potentialities to come through."

~Joseph Campbell, The Hero's Journey. New York: New World Library, 2014.

I think what he is saying is that there is always something new to discover, some new horizon to pass through as you go through life.  That it all becomes part of your history, a sliver of who you are.  There's no such thing as stuck; there is merely finding a new path forward.  There is a lot in Campbell that I don't agree with, but I think I can go along with this one. 

L'Enveloppe #2

So I made another L'Enveloppe.  I wore the one I made last year quite a bit in the fall (although not much in the spring; I put it away and forgot about it!) and decided I wanted to make one that was a rich burgundy color.  I bought the yarn almost a year ago and then it sat all winter, spring, and summer.  I did manage to wind the balls in February sometime, but that was it.

I finished a bunch of things in early September and realized that if I didn't get started on this, I wouldn't finish it in time for wearing this fall, so I decided to get cracking!  Because the yarn was the same as the first one, I didn't swatch it, and just plunged in.  It is a pretty quick project, all things considered, given the chunky yarn and the fact that it is worked nearly in one piece.

I still had some troubles with the evil sleeve (the sleevil--ha!) but it was definitely better this time than last.  I also made my neckline opening narrower as my first one was far too wide.  I still need to stitch it up a few stitches to cinch it in.  It's one of those little pesky things that I forget to do until I wear it and remember it needs doing.  

I'm really happy with this one--it goes with so many things in my closet right now, and I'm really digging this color.  It is a very rich burgundy with some darker variations in the yarn to keep it interesting.  (It is the Swish Garnet Heather in the superwash bulky weight, for reference).  I have some lighter weight swish in the same colorway for some little accessories and I'm eager to get to them now.  

As a random aside, I've been wearing the dress a lot this fall.  I wore it quite a bit last year too, but I almost took it out of my closet this year; I'm glad I didn't.  It worked well in the hot weather in mid-September, it works with layers and an undershirt (I have several that coordinate with this dress).  I tend to get compliments on it whenever I wear it, so that's a plus.

I feel good in it, which is the important thing.  There are difficult things in my life right now, so it is nice to have some things I feel good in.

I did snug up the elastic in the back a couple of weeks ago, and it fits even better now!

I've been working on a smoky blue sweater that I started this summer and am making good progress.  I had hoped to have it finished for this fall, but it will work equally well in my winter and spring rotations, so it is fine.  It feels good to be moving through projects right now.  I'm actually not sewing very much at all; the drive just isn't there, but on the whole, it isn't a bad thing.  I have fabric in my bin for future projects, and particularly for the girls for next summer, but not that much for me, really.  

I have one dress to make for winter (or more precisely, remake, as it is a dress I made last year and loved, but has some problems), a remake of my geo flannel skirt (the original version is too big, and I'm planning to make a Everyday skirt version instead) and another knitting project (a darker blue sweater) but that's it.  My spring is similarly lean.  Remake a skirt, maybe another rayon dress.  I have some knit fabric I was thinking I'd make up for this winter or spring, but I can't find a knit dress pattern I like, so I think it will have to wait for another time.

STATurday: Bring it

It's been quite a while since I did one of these posts.  It's not because I haven't stopped trying to lose weight, but more because I stopped tracking my weight and measurements so often.  In truth, I've not really measured myself in over a year, and I try to only weigh myself twice a week or so.

So.  Stats.  I'm currently 2-3 pounds from my first goal.  I've got 15 pounds to go to my moonshot goal.  For those who've not been around for this long journey, I made a concerted effort to lose weight and get healthy in the summer of 2015.  I counted calories, started working out regularly, all that stuff.  I lost quite a bit of weight initially, in part because of all the drama with my throat and attendant swallowing issues, but things plateaued in the winter of 2015-16 as my swallowing issues got worse and my nutrition profile tanked.  

I lost no weight in 2016, and just fought with the same 8-10 pounds all year.  By the end of the Pascha season this year, I decided that I needed to get things in hand and get off the see-saw of weight loss/gain.  My throat issues had more or less stabilized by June, and the doctor had finally decided what dose of medication worked best to control my worst symptoms.  So after 2 years of endoscopies and dilations every 12 weeks or so, I had my last one in June and have figured out what I can and can't eat in terms of actually being able to swallow it down.  The answer: no bread, no meat that hasn't been ground, no apples with skin, nothing that forms a bolus on the way down.  But everything else is okay (excepting my food allergy list and the low-fiber requirements of my GI issues, which are extensive).

I started following a ketogenic/primal-ish diet approach at the end of May and that has been very good for me.  I no longer feel like I'm on a high-speed train to Diabetesville and I feel better overall.  My hunger cues are different and I don't struggle with hypoglycemia nearly as often (almost never, in fact).  I lost another 10 pounds or so this summer, so I'm down a total of 35 pounds since I started this journey.  I am actually having a hard time putting my body together with my head in the mirror.  Not only do I weigh less than any time in the past decade, the shape of my body is different.  It is a stranger to me.  

What I do know is that I've graded down my dress sloper in several places, and I'm making a size medium in my Everyday Skirt.  I've not made a pencil skirt lately, but I suspect I'd need to grade that one down again too, as almost all my old pencil skirts are too big at the moment.  I'm also buying smaller in ready-to-wear.  I bought the above denim pencil skirt from Land's End this summer in a size 12, but ended up buying another in a 10 in September after I realized how big on me it was.  The 10 is a good fit.  (Considering my crazy waist-to-hip ratio, I was shocked that it fit at all).  I should add that this skirt has a lot of lycra in it, so your mileage may vary.

A new Target Express opened near us last week, and I went in to check it out (and pick up a jacket I'd ordered) and noticed some "high rise" pants on one of the racks.  I liked the dark burgundy color and thought rise might actually be high.  I haven't really worn pants for almost a decade, except occasionally during pregnancy or for working out.  I made a couple of pairs that I never really liked the fit of (and my husband hated) and I tried a pair of ready-to-wear jeans that just never fit right.  I also just prefer dresses and skirts for daily wear.

But lately, I've been wanting to try some new things, branch out a bit.  Maybe (gasp!) wear a pair of pants once in a while.  But ready-to-wear pants are usually a disaster for me.  I have an extremely long rise, a short inseam, and a non-standard hip to waist ratio (14" rise, 27" inseam, 10" hip/waist ratio) and pants are particularly difficult for me to find.  I also have a fair bit of junk in my trunk.  For reference, most "high rise" pants have a 9-10" inseam, 32" inseam is standard, and 6-8" hip/waist ratio is standard.  Most pants slopers assume the wearer has a relatively flat bottom.

All that said, these pants are pretty good!  I bought a size 12. I could use another inch of height in the middle of the back waist band, but at least it doesn't gape in the back, so there's that.  I probably wouldn't wear anything tucked in with these.  I should add that these hit me right at the bottom of my belly button, so they aren't really high rise on me (more just above mid-rise) but almost everything is contained, and this is pretty good for me.  The inseam is great, but might be too short on taller gals.  I'm 5'5" but have an extremely short inseam and these hit me right at the ankle without bunching much.  

Otherwise, the fit is good, and I'm reasonably comfortable in them.  I'd even go so far as to say I feel kind of powerful in them.  (Do you ever have clothing that makes you feel powerful?  Maybe it's just me).

Talking Tuesday: On Repeat

This is not my usual sort of Talking Tuesday post, so please forgive me for a light-weight post.  I'm deep into transcription on my book (I've been writing most of the text long-hand and then transcribing into a word processing program over the past few months) and I almost have too much to say about things.  

I've been reading some apologetics books in the past two weeks (Francis Spufford's Unapologetic and David Skeel's True Paradox, plus some C.S. Lewis) and have more on my stack.  I've had a lot to think about.  I watched a thought-provoking French film by Michael Haneke last week and have been thinking about it on and off since.  Maybe I'll write about that one another time.

As a random aside, I recently remembered The Proclaimers.  (I thought they were cool because they were the only non-American band I'd ever heard sing in their own accents.  I always imagined the conversation went something like: "Bollocks to that, lads.  We're Scottish, so we're singing like it.") I was updating my ipod and remembered how much I loved their Sunshine on the Leith album in high school.  My best friend at the time had made me a cassette copy and I listened to that album almost constantly that year.  It was fun to revisit those songs and put some into a new playlist.  I've also been listening to Ed Sheeren a lot lately; his songs are so full of truth and rawness.  Oh, and a bit of Florence+The Machine.  Her music hits me in the gut (in a good way).

I know I keep banging on about Only Lovers Left Alive, but I think the mark of a truly great film is that you can't get it out of your head.  This film has been like that for me.  My favorite scene in the movie is underscored with this great soul song by Denise LaSalle, that I've had on repeat, so I will leave you with that.

Now back to transcription!