Bowling and Sewing

Yeah I know the 2 don't really go together but that's how I occupied myself last night. Lest you think I am really multi-talented, I must confess that I didn't do them both at the same time.

I met up with Lily and her young friend Paulie (9) last night at the AMF Bowling Alley in Mishawaka. They have $1 Tuesdays. Almost everything is $1; bowling, hot dogs, pop, beer. Shoe rental is $3.75, but everything else is pretty cheap. I wasn't really enthused about going at first. I was having an "I hate the world and everyone in it day" (Aka PMS) and didn't really feel like going. But I hadn't seen Lily in a while and we had to cancel the last couple of bowling nights because she was sick. I did have a good time once I got there. I am a terrible bowler, but that's OK since so are Lily and Paulie. We played 3 games, I won one. The only downside to the night was that I ate too much junk food. I had some onion rings, a hot dog and 2 hot wings. And boy does it show on my face today that I ate too much deep fried food last night; Zits galore. I did find out that you can bring in your own snacks and they don't say anything. So next time, I will bring my own stuff.

Then I went home and sewed on a bag that I had started the night before. Last May, when I was in Georgia I bought a pattern for a mesh bag called Screen Play, designed by Nancy Ota. It is a tote bag made using window/pet screen. I had only seen the pet screen in black, but when I was at Sweet Home Quilt Co. in Conyers, GA they had some in HOT PINK. I loved it and just had to have it. Of course then the stuff sat around for almost a year before I did anything with it. Does that happen to other people too? So I dug out the pattern and the screen on Monday night. Then it took me an hour to find the right combination of fabrics to sew on my Hot Pink Screen. I made few changes: mine is a little taller than the pattern called for and I used belt webbing for the handle instead of mesh. I thought it would feel softer. Here it is:

And another picture with a picture of the pattern front included, so you can see what it looked like.

Here is a close up of the inside seams. This is the first time, that I have had any success with the 'pre-made' bias tape. It was used to cover up the raw edges of the seams.

The funny thing is that when I bought this pattern last year, my Mom and I thought it would be fun to make some for our Georgia/San Antonia family. I wanted to try the pattern out first, but when we found the perfect fabric in Kentucky on our way home we decide we had to have it. I went ahead and bought a whole role of the black pet screen at Lowe's to go along with our Mexican Loteria (bingo) fabric. Now that I have tried out the pattern, we have to start cutting out the fabric and screen to make 10 more totes I think. It won't be as hard as you think though, because they will all be identical. Can you say "assembly line" sewing?

Color me Cheap!

Well maybe not cheap, but at least very frugal.

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping at Goodwill. It was their 50% sale. I wanted to go because my jeans are looking a little too baggy and I just refuse to pay $20-$30 for new jeans. I just can't make myself do it. (I'd rather spend the money on fabric or yarn) The few times that I have purchased brand new jeans, it always from the clearance rack and hopefully with an extra 15% or 20% off coupon like they have at Kohls or the Avenue.

I found 3 pairs of jeans, 1 pair of capri's, 1 shirt, 1 scrub pants, a black leather coat, a new shower curtain and 2 new green curtains for the sewing room. The jeans/capri were only $3.50 each, the shirt and the scrubs were $3 each, the coat was $25, the shower curtain was $4.50 and the curtains were $2.50 each. All in all, I think I got some great deals.

Mom found the leather coat for herself, but it was too small. But since I liked it I got it instead. However she made me promise that if she loses 30lbs by Thanksgiving, that I will let her buy it back. I think I can handle that. I meant to let her take my "The Cardio-Free Diet" book home, but by the time we got back to my house we were so tired we just unpacked and she headed home.

Long Needed Haircut

I have been needing a haircut for so long now. I finally broke down and made the appointment on Tuesday thinking I probably couldn't get in until next week or later. Luckily they had an opening last night. YEAH!!

There is this movie from the 90's named Switch. In the movie the sleazy guy actor is killed by his 3 girlfriends, but is given a second chance and re-incarnated as a women (actress Ellen Barkin). Anyway, there is this seen were Ellen Barkin grips the hair on her head and says "I can't think with all this hair." That's exactly how I was feeling. Not that my hair was super long to begin with. It was about chin length and sort of cut in a bob style. My hair is really baby fine and the longer it gets the more limp and lifeless it starts looking.

So here are the photos of my new hair cut. Well not "new" as I have had this style before. But let me tell you, I was so ready to get sheared!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone out there has a nice Easter. SW Michigan got between 4 inches of snow where I live and 12 inches of snow where my Mom/Dad lives. We live 30 minutes apart. Go figure!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the day and have lots of yummy food.

Weather Woes

Rain Rain Go Away
Come Back Another Day.

If there are more lines to that little rhyme, I have no idea. I just want it to be true. We had a great sunshine filled weekend, but now the dark skies are back. It has made into a grump today.

UGG!

Old Friends - Again

Last month I was talking about looking up old friends that I hadn't talked to in a couple of years. I had heard back from Lisa, but not Beth. I have been worried about her. The last time I spoke to her, about 2 years ago, she was going through a rough time.

Well, I finally heard back from her. Actually, she replied back 2 weeks ago, but the stupid junk filter at work ate her message. Today, just for the heck of it, I thought I would look through it. Normally it just has ED adds for Cialis or Viagra and "Make your Girlfriend so happy with bigger...." adds. I get so tired of those. Anyway, as I'm scrolling through the adds, I came across her email.

I was so glad to hear from her. While somethings have gotten better, others are still rocky. One of the things she was telling me about is that her boyfriend is about 10 years younger than she is. She sound a little worried about it. I told her "who cares what his age is if he treats her and her kids right and that they care for each other." Enjoy the relationship you have.

Problems aside, I was really glad to hear from her. I got her phone number and will be calling her this weekend.

Beth if you read this, I have missed you and the kids.

Sock Progress

I got the cuff on Sock #1 of my Crosshatch Lace Socks done. Instead of starting the heel, I decided to set that aside on a pair of bamboo needles and start the cuff for Sock #2. Once I have the cuff done for that one, I will add #1 back onto the magic loop needles and see how successful I am at finishing them both at the same time.


Also, I got a copy of the Cul-de-Sac vest pattern from the fall 2003 Knitters Magazine that I have queued on my Ravelry page (moonlightserenad). I started working on the gage swatch at lunch, but I will have to frog it, because I didn't have the right size of needles with me. But I wanted to knit something, so I just when ahead an 'pretend' knitted. Just so those of my friends who aren't on Ravelry can see it, here is a picture of the one made by Michelle (alwayscastingon).