gloriastitches

For several months I kept getting disconnects on my laptop.  Sometimes hours would go by and I stayed connected; sometimes I would get disconnected several times in an hour.  It got to be quite annoying.  Was it my laptop, my browser, my ISP (DSL), my modem/router? The laptop was ruled out since I was able to stay connected when on a wired connection with a different ISP (cable). The browser was ruled out because somehow it was updated to IE11. The ATT Boards, where several others were complaining, suggested checking the phone line filters.  I made certain they were functional, clean, and the little metal part was intact. Others suggested to re-set the modem which helped a bit. It was down to my ISP or the modem/router which is now 4 years old.  The thought of waiting for a replacement and being without the internet is not a pleasant one. Then I read somewhere to get a replacement for the surge protector.  It was worth a try, especially sin...

You know "knit" but "tink"?  Spell tink backwards.  Knit.  Tink is used to mean "to un-knit", or, to undo the knitting. Most sweaters are made by knitting the back, the front, the sleeves, then sewing them together.  This is a top-down raglan, meaning all the parts are knit at the same time, then separated at the underarm.  Thus, the neckline needs to be started with the desired size.  I was fairly pleased that I had to tink the neckline area only twice. Things were going along swimmingly; i.e., no errors, until the contrast stitches on the body of the sweater.  I didn't want to make a sweater that was plain (stockinette stitch).  When I saw the sweater in the mag with garter stitch at the neckline and in the body, I knew that was what I wanted to do. The beginning of the sweater (the neckline) of my sweater is worked flat, meaning a row is worked, then turned, then a row is worked, and turned, and so on.  The stockinette stitch is ...

The  Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting by Sarah Veblen came out early this year. My shelves are filled with design, fitting, and sewing books, but this book is on my "Best Ones" list.   It so reminds me of a college level sewing textbook from the early 50s I have, where there are photos of exactly how to fit---and on the person.                                                              She covers bodices, including princess seams; sleeves of various types; skirts; and slacks.  The slacks fitting is limited.  Maybe she was limited to x number of pages and was left with only a handful for the slacks fitting.  I suppose it is possible that ...

            It surprised me a little that some didn't know what a (toilet) tissue topper is.  Why?  Well, I'm usually one of the last to know about something, so I figure that, because I know, then surely the rest of the world knows about it.  LOL.  Not true, apparently.  (regarding my being one of the last as well as anyone else knowing.)   I've seen many in my life and there are many shown in crafts magazines.  This topper is a combination of several sources, including me.   I like the idea of an extra roll being handy, but not blatantly, so the guests won't wonder where a fresh roll is, should they need it.   This one is crocheted, but I have seen some knitted or even done in needlepoint.             You need to use a washable yarn such as acrylic or cotton, and a hook size of your choice, but I wouldn't suggest a huge one as it will make...

This is a temporary post and will probably be taken down in a few days.  These pics are to help a person with her machine, and as I don't have a place online to store photos, I'm putting them here.  Maybe some day...... The first 3 show the tension bar in the up position.  The next two show the foot and ankle with the needle bar up and down. The final 4 are with the tension bar down.  Click on pics to make larger.              

Several years ago my SiL got the idea for us to make a quilt for my MiL.  It took us two years before it was completed.   She would do the actual piecing and quilt; I would do the crossstitching of angels.  She handstitched a heart around each angel.             Each thought the other had the harder portion.  LOL. My MiL had been a quilter for decades; my SiL was quite new at it.  I thought she did a great job!   My MiL was quite emotional when she saw what her present was.     The quilt was now in a box in the garage of my FiL's house protecting some serving platters.  A few weeks ago a connection to a hose to the clothes washer split and caused a minor flood in the garage.  I was certain that the box had been out of danger but decided to check it.  It was dry, but upon checking the quilt I noticed that it must have gotten some water damage as the colors had run. ...

Earlier this month at Pattern Review there was a discussion about spammers at Blogger.  I had commented that I had received a few but almost all of them wind up in the Spam folder. Well, the spammers might have heard me because they got aggressive and sent more spam to me!  I knew comments could be moderated but I really didn't want to do that.  The Pattern Reviewers mentioned that there were various settings which could be utililized. It wasn't that I was getting dozens of spam comments--and all but one landed in Blogspot's spam folder--but they were annoying me when I opened the related e-mail and saw those comments.  I set comment moderation for posts older than a certain number of days which was only about two posts for me.  I haven't had any since.  (Guess they got tired  of waiting for me to read them in the moderation folder.) So, what makes these spammers stupid?  Well, they picked posts which were over a year old!  Really?...

Have you ever read instructions for knitting or crocheting a garment piece and discover that  not all the necessasry information is there?  That can be really annoying. Here is what I think should be included: --needle or hook size --number of skeins (if  one is a partial skein, it should state that) --put up of skein which is the number of yards per grams or ounces (see note at bottom) --category of yarn (such as DK or fingering, etc) --gauge (and if stitch patterns are included then there should be a gauge for those also) --every few rows or rounds a stitch count should be included --if the first row is a Right Side row or a Wrong Side --clear photo of the finished product --close up of any details --sizing should be in finished dimensions, not S-M-L as that has so many meanings --how the garment was designed to fit such as very loose, two inches negative ease, etc Note: several years ago the U.S. went from 4 oz skeins to 3 1/2 oz. skeins....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/world-bacon-shortage-unavoidable-223157784.html Oh, no.  Can this be true?  A shortage of bacon next year? The price of bacon has doubled since 2006.  What will be the price next year? I don't eat as much of it as I used to (because I don't eat breakfast like I used to), so often the last few slices go bad.  Hmmm--must not allow that to happen now. Some won't be bothered by this as they don't eat bacon.  I do.  Do you? Update:  the British article was to scare a few farmers there, but they managed to panic Americans big time.  Thus, there will be plenty of bacon. :)

It was not a serious question, but some said yes to seeing my baby shoes. This is my first pair of soft sole shoes.             This is my first pair of hard sole shoes.   My first few teeth and first two haircut clippings have been stored in this box!  Only my dad would think of storing things in a corn pads box.  LOL   Think will pass on viewing the teeth, instead looking at some hair from my first two haircuts.   A few years ago I pulled out the corn pads box and told my hubby that I had never looked in that box.  It was going to be a moment-of-truth time because I had always told people that I was a blond as a little girl.  Would the contents prove me a liar?   I slowly unfolded the papers and viewed the hair.   Oh, good I wasn't a liar all these years.   In high school I had every shade of brown known to man on my head.  After that it was pretty mu...

This post was inspired by JillyBe.  She is quite creative and there is nothing ordinary about her sewing.  Her entries Here  and Here . She talked about making her friend's wedding dress in the 80s and was shocked when she realized that she had put in all that work with great fabric only to discover that she hadn't finished the seams.  Then about two years later Jilly made the christening dress for this couple's baby.  She was shocked when she realized that she had put in all that work with great fabric only to discover that she hadn't finished the seams. All of this reminded me that I had some baby dresses made by my mother and wondered if she had finished the seams.  I thought I might have my christening dress, but don't, but do have the christening blanket and pillow cover. These photos break an important rule of posting photos of garments:  have items clean and pressed.  These dresses do need ironing but I am a bit hesitant to iron t...

Did you know that you can find others with similar interests as you on Blogger?  Did you know that you can find others who live in your area?  I didn't.  I found this info on a totally unrelated site, not on Blogspot. Go to your Profile and click on one of your interests.  Let's say it's Photography; then those who have Photography in their interests will show up.  This also works for the geographical area that you listed. You have probably realized that this is another of my "filler" entries.  I do this when I haven't blogged in awhile and have nothing ready to write about.  It's to let everyone know that I am still breathing.  LOL.

Shocking I know---I am sewing. Shocking I know---I was actually thinking of writing a tutorial but for what subject?  Most sewers would already have knowledge of what I would write about.  Because of the stupid mistakes and problems I had with this caftan, (my fault--and this is what happens when one doesn't sew for awhile),  I will not be writing a full tutorial. A replacement caftan for hubby was way overdue.  I won't even show what the old one looked like.  I made this from one I had made from the original one, purchased many years ago.  Sorry, DH, for the delay, but at least you have a new one now. Hubby is average size, build, and weight so this pattern will work for most bodies.  If the person is large or small, adjust the width of the pieces (the hem bands will need to be wider by the same amount).  For short or the very tall, adjust length, as well as for the side band pieces.  The finished circumference,...

In my previous blog I tested the typing; I should have tested putting in pics!  I'm having a terrible time, especially getting them where I want them on the blog.  It says multiple pics can be put in but doesn't tell how to arrange them the way they are wanted.  One pic disappeared from the blog.  Guess it will be awhile before my sewing blog entry will be up. :(

Before I write my sewing entry, I thought I would try the new Blogger to find out how it works.  As with anything new it probably will take awhile to work out the bugs. One thing I forgot when I wrote the above was to ask if there is any word verification on my blog when trying to comment.   It seems that there were problems with that, and even those who had "no verification" checked, as I do,  still had it included with this new format.  The letters are difficult to read so some pass on commenting. 

Technology doesn't always make things easier. The Sony camera is approximately from 2000 purchased by my mother-in-law. It was one of the first digital cameras out. Yes, it takes floppies (which always causes a laugh when I mention that; in fact, some think I'm joking.) When she purchased a newer one she gave this one to us. We didn't use it for a few years as we were quite happy with our one-step-down-from-a-pro-model Minolta. The Sony is so easy to use: it is pretty much aim and press the shutter button. It isn't difficult getting the pics on our p.c. as we have a tower with a floppy drive, on of the last ones built with one. The pics aren't always the clearest but it could be because we are using old discs. It does get a little time consuming when trying to send a pic from my laptop because I have to get it on the p.c., then send it to myself in an e-mail, the save it to my laptop computer. A few months ago we bought the Canon Power Shot ELPH 100 HS. The pictures...

This is a simple fun stitch pattern designed by dfr http://sewingmissadventure.blogspot.com/2012/01/variegated-washcloth-pattern-and.html who is not a professional designer. She's done some very nice items. Dfr made this as a washcloth. Since I wanted a dishcloth I chained 2 more and did more rows as I get fewer rows per inch. Since I noticed that half way through the directions, I wasn't halfway in the size, I added two more rows of the hdc rows in the center. I used an H hook and Peaches & Creme in Shaded Pastels. The finished size is 9 1/2" x 10" including one border round. Give it a try. I would have posted this earlier this week, but I was having trouble with the new digital camera--well, not with the camera, but the operation of.

My first top-down pullover raglan, a crew neck. (Does anybody wear these any more?) In my previous post I gave a brief description of how a top-down raglan is developed. The picture above shows the beginning from the point of view of the knitter. The picture above shows the beginning of the sweater as if you were looking at a sweater. The yarn was a gift and I had plenty of it--good thing--because two of the three colors didn't match each other even though they are "no dye lot" yarns! Yeah, right. Because of this I had to separate the colors because the two non matching skeins would be quite obvious. I will definitely make more of top down raglans. Besides being fun to do, there are a lot of new techniques to learn. Why top downs over the traditional bottom up and seamed sweaters: --they are seamless --will know if are running short of yarn and can adjust --can try it on to check for fit as you go along --they are fun! The basis of this brown sweater is The Complete Boo...