gaysknits

finally....

something is finished!  this is something i will wear and love.  yay!  this vintage crochet bodice was given to me by a friend who buys and sells crap. he has crap coming out the wazoo believe me i have seen his crap and it is piled high to the ceiling.  lucky him huh? any way he gave me this and i said oooh i can make something out of it and i did just that!

most of what i am saying i have said already. but i'll be saying it again.  i chose to make this out of muslin. i looked and found nothing else that i liked better which was a good thing because muslin is cheap and matched the crochet piece perfectly.

 

his had to be bleached because it was so stained but it survived the bleach and looks perfect.  it is not perfect but you'll never notice. it is old and of course because it is old it has some parts that are unraveling just like myself.  much unraveling going on here.

anyway i do not crochet nor do i understand the concept so i repaired the unraveled parts wth a needle and thread and maybe you would notice but maybe not.  this is grandma meets alabama chanin and that's what i'll call it...grandma alabama.

my grandma did lots of things and crochet was not one of them but someones grandma crocheted this and because they did i decide to sew the top by hand which is something i love to do anyway.  no pattern was used i just cut the fabric on the biase and attached the bodice to the bottom then seamed the sides.

i wanted to combine some of the applique that i love so much from the alabama chanin website and using the muslin fabric i used for the  top i made some interesting appliques. i put a few tucks in the back to gve it some shape and to mimic the pattern in the crochet i added a diamond shape on the back.

the flower in the front also mimics the pattern in the diamonds of the crochet and to mimic the tucks in the back i added some pieces of fabric in the same position on the front.  i like it.

now on to some knitting. i have a new baby in the fam to knit something for and a fish hat will be perfect since this baby will be raised by the sea and on the water...we love the water in my family and this family is no exception. so a fish hat it is...on a much smaller gauge of course to fit a baby and mom is in need of some cheering up so a hat or something is in order for her as well.  can you stand it knitting is going to be happening!!!  later...love   g

i am by no means ready to call this...

done although i have made significant progress and certainly enough progress to warrant an update on the matter. i started this while on my vacation when was that again??? i attached to top to the body that week and left in in a wad of fabric until a few days ago.  i didn't have the time until then but i was also somewhat undecided about a few things and as it turned out all it took was some time and i was able to just finish it.

i never did make a definitive decision about how to finish it i just finished it. decisions are hard to come by these days for me anyway. the only decision i have made lately is to make no decision so there you have it. i am quite sure i am not finished with this yet i have a few finishing touches left to make. shape is one thing that may change as a result and some applique will be added.

i also like the idea of sewing on some ecru cotton yarn but i don't have any and i'm not sure a trip to the yarn store is gonna happen but it may be just the finishing touch i'm searching for.  i plan to work on this some more tonight and the next time you see it photographed it will either be done or it won't.  it will be another progress shot or it will be finished and modeled.  one or the other. this has been sewn completely by hand to honor and to do justice to the vintage crochet bodice and one thing i know for certain is hand sewing is something i find quite relaxing and entertaining.  machine sewing is for the birds...you couldn't pay me to like that! later...love   g

no huskies were harmed....

in the taking of this photo...not that i didn't consider it but no. none were harmed. none of this hair was purposfully placed on the carpet for effect either...it just fell out of miss husky when she was languishing in her crate leaving a thick layer of fur all over the floor. rather than vacuum it up i seized the opportunity to take an spc.  still on the seven deadly sins...sloth being one of them.

in my opinion nothing is more disgusting than a carpet full of dog hair except maybe a sweater full of dog hair but you won't ever see that on any sweater of mine because i go out of my way to keep all my stuff away from dogs and their mud, hair and slobber unless i happen to be trapped in a vehicle with them and can't escape and even then i never wear any black or dark colors and never wear a sweater.

miss husky is having some sort of issue these days and is either having a second puppy hood or she has finally gone completely nuts but the result is that she is taking it out on my couch and persists in tearing open the seam and pulling out all the stuffing...every single day. she does this religiously.  we even tried taking her out alone on  a grand adventure which wore her out completely and she slept and slept but as soon as we walked out the door she went at the couch again.  she has been spending some time in a crate when we are gone because of all this and although i vacuumed the floor on saturday by tuesday

 

it was covered in a thick layer of her hair all around the crate.  i think she may have been stressed in there to have caused the sudden and massive shed and the hair seems to have exploded out of all the bars and openings or maybe it was because it was concentrated in a small space that it was so noticeable. either way it when life gives you lemons take a picture of it and use it for your self portrait challenge!  i didn't have any better ideas!  see more sins here.  later...love   g

before i get ahead of myself...

let me report on the activities of last week end.  they were not for the faint of heart let me tell you.  my intention  was to put on my new flippers and float in the river on my back with my life vest on.

 

i suited up like i was jacques cousteau or something and proceeded into the water much like a graceless three year old would holding my nose and everything.

prior to this point in the afternoon the soninlaw had lauched his jet ski into the same water we were floating in and while we looked on he ran into all sorts of unforeseen mechanical problems and had to abandon the mission so we went on without him.

i must say i felt bad for him and but i also was hoping for him to give me a ride on the thing so i was a little dissappointed and the youngladygrandaughter was down in the dumps over the whole affair.

i had to do something to cheer her up and that some thing was tubing. first we had to  pump the tube up...this was it's maiden voyage. then we had to attach the tow rope dress up in our matching life vests and enter the tube.

the plan was that the guy would tote us along at a leisurely pace somewhat like the lazy river at sandcastle if you know what that's like but he quickly bored of that and let it rip sending us screaming with glee at 35 to 50  miles an hour behind the boat.  we laughed, we screamed, one of us peed our selves but i won't mention any names!  it was fun.

for three days after i was exhausted, i was in pain from my calves and thighs to the tip of my spine and then there was that old neck injury  which came back to haunt me. by friday my head and neck still ached and it was that day that a friend of mine gave me a knee board to try with the recomendation that i consider just watching the 16 year old use it but i probably won't take that advice. i'll have to try it myself you know i will.

some of us just don't know how to act our age.  thought i'd better post this soon...tomorrow we ride!  later...love   g

greed...

one of the seven deadly sins.  one would do in a pinch.  two could be justified one for regular use one for sun.

 

this is just greedy!  see more of the seven on spc flickr!  later...love g