February Fury

They are running out of names for the storms! (This one is pretty lame.) I think I liked Snowpocolypse best. I am running out of energy to fight the snow. I am also running out of room for piling said snow. The piles are not just higher than my head, but higher than my 6'3"+ husband! The pile on the table on the deck is prodigeous, and I am not moving it, it will have to melt! It already lost some from the "warmth" we had on Monday and Tuesday, as shown by the icikles above the table. Those may have to be brought down, they are giant and sharp. Shudder. The cats finally ventured out to the deck when we had a sufficient amount of shovelling done. They needed to get their dead herb munchies and look for birdies. We were worried about the weight of the snow, it was really quite heavy, and there was quite alot of it, so we shovelled. And shovelled. It was also well compacted. Trench Meister was much better at getting the compacted stuff into handle-able chunks. I am afraid I am just a wimp. Sigh.

Well, well, nothing to do but go downstairs and knit! And drink cocoa and tea. And eat gummibaren! I believe I will watch Born of Hope tonight!

SNOW and a few thoughts

There is SNOW! Real snow, thick snow, 12" of it! So pretty. The roads are not pretty. If you don't have to go out, better you not go. If only it would stay until Christmas.... but we are supposed to have highs in the 40's next week.

I am well on my way to finishing the "muslin" for my coat from Lord of the Rings. It is in pretty greyblue floral velvet, very silky, and has a gorgeous drape. I got a fur collar on one of my thrifting trips, it is really dry and fragile, but I am working with it. Only the hem left to do, and a little handwork around the collar. It has definitely been a learning process. I haven't ever worked with fur before, and not much with velvet, but that will help with the coat. The fabric for that is a fabulous mohair clipped pile wool coat-weight, heavy and rich.

I am almost through with Christmas too. I still have a bit of work to do on a couple presents, and a bit on decorations too. Here is the first go at the shepherds for my creche, the town is under construction, and the stable nearly empty. Mary and Joseph are travelling, and the Kings not yet seen. More as they appear. I encourage all of you who blog to put up photos of your decorations (especially my favorite, creches) and if you facebook and it is appropriate, to join Calling all Christians... see how many we are!

First Snow!

Our first snow of the season... I wasn't sure we would have snow, the forecast changed every time I turned on the telly. I woke to the sound of rain, and a sinus headache, and the temp at about 40 degrees. The temp fell slowly, and the snow started after a couple of hours. Nothing stuck at first, but as the ground cooled it began to dust the ground and cars. It is so pretty! If the rain/snow line had stayed stationary, we would have several inches, but it would snow for awhile, and then rain for awhile, then snow and so on. The result is a slushy thin snowcoat, but I loved watching it anyway.

So while I was enjoying the flakes, I also enjoyed sewing. Though I would love to say I got to sew on my LOTR project, my son's Christmas easily
took precedence. I hope what I made him fits... he's been gone 2 years, and is fit and muscled. Anyway, I enjoyed making it. Another shopping trip and we will send the packet off to Okinawa. It is a very long trip, halfway around the world. I miss him.

I did try to sort through all the gorgeous fabrics I have been fondling for my Arwen and Eowyn dresses... I also got a soft cotton dress cut out to try as the underlayer of the Requiem Dress. I dyed the knit fabric along with the silks last time, and it turned a gorgeous blue color.

And, I took pictures of some stuffies I made, which will be for sale soon! Seems things are marching along...

Currently Obsessed

While I try to remain sane in most of my life, there are just times when one must give in and allow a period of total immersion in some project or experience. This is one of those times. Now, that doesn't mean I won't go to work and strive to succeed, and it doesn't mean I stop making Christmas gifts for my friends. But this weekend I will be dyeing silk, drafting patterns and draping a (model) body. After all the gifts are done, I will do the actual sewing of my dream dress and it's coat. The inspiration? This gorgeous set designed for the third Lord of the Rings movie. I actually won't duplicate these, but will alter them to suit me better. The dress will drop from my shoulders rather than be a princess-seamed coathardie type dress. The coat will be somewhat shorter and the sleeves less voluminous to be more wearable... Eowyn only had to wear it while asleep on a chaise. I found a fabulous teal mohair coatweight fabric, a deeper color to suit my coloring. I found a really lovely silk matelasse. It is currently white, but will become a soft aqua, and I have a screaming chartreuse satin that I will tone down before using it for the lining of the coat. Oh, and a lovely pale fur to adorn the neck. Now, if I only had the face and body of Eowyn! This is all in prep for the next LOTR garment I want to make. But more on that later! In the meantime, more stuffies and other fun things to ready an Etsy store.