This is from Beverly who lives on Port St. Lucie, Florida. Among other facts, I learned that she has been at her job for 28 years. Like me, she enjoys crafting and sewing and reading.
Requium: skirt, belt and hat
With tidying comes discarding and it is time for these favorites to go.
I got this skirt from my roommate in Somerville, who got it from her cousin Diana. I wore it a lot over the years and often received compliments. Originally, the hem was very uneven, so much so that when I took it to the tailor to even out she had to get out the official hem marking device and mark her way around. Its still a fun skirt for Contra Dancing, but it’s tighter in the waist than it used to be, so it’s time to find a new owner to love it.
Another stalwart from the Massachusetts days is this fabulous Deerstalker which I bought in a thrift shop in Somerville. I could tie it quite tightly and keep my head warm for the cold walks I took every morning at 5:30am to get to work at Whole Foods. I feel great affection for this hat, but have not worn it, even once since I moved to Portland. There just isn’t a Deerstalker’s amount of cold in my part of Oregon. 
I suspect I purchased this belt at Newberry Comics, a local chain I didn’t like because it tried too hard to be an Alt Record Store, when actually every location looked exactly the same. I did love this belt though. Who wouldn’t like to wear flames on their belt?
Closet renovation.
I forgot to take a “before” the before picture, but it’s time to change up my closet. For years I’ve been looking at the space above the shelf in my closet and thinking that it is wasted. Plus, I’ve been reading the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, and she says you should throw away all your old letters and journals. Marie Kondo and I disagree heartily about this, so I need a place to properly store such things. A place that is not a Rubbermaid Container that sits on the bottom of my closet, overflowing and taking up space. Today, we utilize!
Here’s me flat on the floor so I can take the before picture.
Above the door to the closet too! That space can be used.
One trip to Ikea, 30 minutes of precarious balancing and drilling et voila! Three shelves are now installed, bring the closet shelf total to four.
Then it was time for the purge, KonMarie style. I put all of my clothing on the bed (she says the floor, but I ignored) and checked each item to see if I loved it.
Shoes too.
It turned out I did not love very many things in my closet and so bags were filled for Goodwill.
Here’s the stack of things I’m coming for soon.
And here’s the partially finished project. I now have room for 30 magazine files, and my sewing machines are tucked away above the door. The meager amount of clothing I have left has been carefully hung in the closet, or folded and put away. And Tim Riggins has been restored to his place in the closet.
And look! The side of my bed is no longer taken up by a dresser, a laundry hamper, a yellow chair serving as a secondary nightstand. Now there’s a bed (awaiting clean sheets) and a nightstand. It feels much more spacious, and now I don’t have to sidle out of bed every day.
Even better? I realized that the awesome bottle brush lamp that sits on the top of my desk can easily sit on the dresser and now I have light in the closet!
Three sentence movie reviews: Ex Machina
All hail this movie about AI and women and perhaps being a little shortsighted in the creation process. All three main actors (and also the fourth one no one mentions) bring their best to this tense drama, with Oscar Isaac once again pointing out that he’s got this whole acting thing down. Highly discussable, this was a great date movie, and one of the best films I’ve seen this year.
Cost: $8.00
Where watched: Hollywood Theatre with Matt.
poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2015/ex_machina.html
Postcard from Germany
This is from Manuela, who lives in the Black Forest region of Germany. Her favorite quote is, “A smile has no accent.” I really like both the quote and the postcard.
Requiem: pocket dictionary
One birthday, maybe I was 25 or so, I took a hunk of my birthday money and bought many magazines, then stayed in bed reading them. I also picked up two pocket dictionaries, because I am a bad speller and they were handy to have around. One hung out on my desk and one I carried in my bag for quite some time.
Of course, now I can just look up anything on my phone. But it’s fun to look at the pages, isn’t it?
Project Rejuvinate Cat Tree
The cats have done a good job sharpening their claws on this cat tree. It’s time to spiff it up.
First I remove the old, by pulling out the staples.
Then it’s time for the sisal rope. I nailed it in at the bottom and attached the first row with the glue gun.
Sadly, 50 feet only covers half the post. So I pounded in another nail when I got to the end of my rope and will have to finish this project another day.
Just call me the bag lady.
Work bag is in the back of the lineup, full of book and lunch and phone and camera. Folding bag in the front with old sheet and sewing box. Fancy bag on the right, holding all my pattern class stuff. President Obama is in town and I’m not confident that I can get home after work and then to my Pattern Manipulation Class. So I’m skipping the trip home and just heading over to the pattern class. But that means I have to carry a lot of stuff.
Daisies on the way home.
Walking home from restorative yoga, there was just enough light to give these flowers an urban glow.
Hunger Games Sweater Completed
Here I am modeling the Hunger Games Sweater.
It took knitting it to nearly the end, trying it on, realizing it was too small, then ripping out and starting over, but I have completed this project! I can now stop obsessing about the Hunger Games Sweater, seen on Katniss at the beginning of the second movie. This is not exactly the same thing, but it’s in the style of .
You can see the back view too:
The thing about the Hunger Games Sweater? It’s great for shooting a bow and arrow as I demonstrate here.
The problem is, I don’t shoot bow and arrows at all. I most walk around and, because I’m short, reach up for things, as demonstrated here.
Sadly, what happens when I do that? The sweater rides up over a certain protrusion and I have to pull it down. So I don’t know how long this Hunger Games Sweater will be in my wardrobe.
Here’s the yarn I used. I had 30% off that price listed. I spent $39.37 on yarn and $9.99 on the pattern. The pattern called for too much yarn. I still had a skein and a half left, even with making the pattern bigger than the biggest size.
It’s properly called District 12 Cowl. Copyright by Kristina Morrissey. The pattern was pretty easy for me to follow (I consider myself an early-intermediate knitter) and knit up quite quickly, which is why I didn’t mind ripping everything out and starting all over again. With a 42″ bust I found the largest size in the pattern was still too small for me, so larger women will have to make the pattern bigger, but I did that with few problems.
Media consumed while knitting:
Treme, Season 2
Downton Abbey Season 5
Austenland
What’s Up Doc?
The Art of Getting By
Agent Carter Season 1
Something Wild
Winter’s Tale
Fast Five
12 Years a Slave