Get used to disappointment

I love Cary Elwes (Except in “Twister” because his Southern accent was lousy and he was a bad guy). It’s ok; Mr. Gren knows. I especially love him when he’s being all suave and dashing. I mean, how could I not? His name is Welsh, he’s got those eyes, and that smirk, and that voice and… {sigh}. What was I talking about? Oh, right. And of course, “The Princess Bride” is the most quotable of all his films. Today I direct your attention to the famous sword fight scene with Inigo Montoya. Do I need to set it up for you? Really, shame on you. Go watch it. I always loved the dialogue when Inigo asks, “Who are you?” and Westley replies, “No one of consequence.” Inigo insists, “I must know!” only to be met with the flippant, “Get used to disappointment.” Inigo ponders this for a second and then gives an amiable shrug.

Cling! Clang!

I’ve come to the recent conclusion that I, too, must get used to disappointment. Not in dueling (because I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t even last long enough to be disappointed), but in crafting. I know you’re probably all sick of hearing about my power outage, but it really did something to me. A couple of days before we lost power, I noticed that I don’t have a stocking hat. I have a beret that I wear through the winter (which is October through about April here), but it doesn’t cover my ears. And some days that is a real necessity. So I began knitting myself a stocking hat with a leftover skein of Homespun yarn. The power went out and I huddled up next to the window with my knitting board and kept stitching. I didn’t finish it until after the power came back on several days later. I sure could have used it as we sat freezing in our 45 degree cabin. I also wouldn’t have been able to see.

It might be a bit big

The cuff is supposed to start about where the pink is, but if you look closely, you can tell that that’s where my nose is. I don’t see through my nose.

Cuffed all the way to the top of my head and it still threatens to fall over my eyes

It calls to mind the first stocking hat I knitted on my knitting board about a year ago this time. It’s not any better.

Warm? Yes. Wearable? No.

So technically, I possess two stocking hats, but apparently I knit for Goliath. Or Andre the Giant.

I put the hat away and tried a different knitting project — a scarf similar to the pine tree scarf I made a couple months ago. This time I wanted to make a heart scarf.

Looks nice, feels scratchy

This wasn’t my first choice of yarn. Turns out my instincts were correct: it just doesn’t feel nice at all. And nobody wants to wear a scratchy scarf, no matter how cute. So I pulled it off the needles and stuffed into my yarn bin and put away the knitting board. Time to try something else.

I began sewing an Easter bonnet for Granota. I know it’s early, but I thought, if it turns out nice, I can make a few more for my etsy store. It turned out… passable. She loves it, so I won’t tell her all the things that are wrong with it. Of course, I can’t make something for one girl and not make the identical item for the other girl. I started sewing Rana’s bonnet and called over Granota for a fitting since Rana was at school. It didn’t fit her. I tried it on Konik and it didn’t fit him, either. How do I use the same pattern and end up with such drastically different results? I had enough seam allowance that I was able to let it out enough to eventually fit Konik’s head. I wish I had pictures of his face when I would try it on him. Even at 2 years old, he knows that is a girl hat and he wanted no part of it. It was pretty funny. In the end, I turned out a sweet little bonnet that I can’t use for my children.

Modeled so nicely by my tailor's ham, which didn't put up a fuss

Come on, now, something has got to work out one of these times. Next project was to crochet little cuffs to sew on the bottom of Rana’s pants. Remember all those clothes I made her at the beginning of the school year? Yeah, she’s outgrown them. Her pants are too short and we have no money, so I thought I could use what I already have. I measured around the hem of her pants, then got out my crochet stitch book, chose a stitch and started crocheting up a nice little decorative cuff. I used crochet thread and a size B hook. I was pleased with how it turned out and got right to work on the second one.

There might be a size discrepancy here.

Same number of stitches and yet… So I started a third one. Three different times. Tightened my tension and it would still turn out too big. I can’t even begin to explain what is happening here. I thought I would have all this great stuff to show you after the little scare with my computer (which has been behaving itself of late, so we’ll see…) and I can’t properly finish anything. I’ve gone through the stages of confusion and frustration, so now I’m left with disappointment. But y’know, it’s so much easier to take when I imagine Cary Elwes telling me to get used to it. Anything for you, Cary.

I filled a page!

In my Etsy store, that is. It’s been a long time coming, it seems. I really need to pick up the pace. But I am pretty proud of what I’ve got in there so far. This week I added five sets of cloth napkins and three aprons.

I’m a sucker for fruit prints. A few years ago, I decided that our family needed to do away with paper napkins and all the mess and waste they create. I found fabric with oranges and with grapes and fell in love with them. I decorate my kitchen in blue and yellow, so I obviously wasn’t following any kind of color theme in choosing them. But I think the vibrant colors of the fruits can go with any decor. They’re fun! My family has been using those same oranges and grapes napkins (with the semi-recent addition of blueberries) ever since and the colors are still as bright as ever, even going through hot water washes. I’ve never had a problem with the dyes bleeding, either, although I wouldn’t recommend washing them with your whites!

I love the style of this apron with the reverse sailor collar. This pattern was kind of strange to put together at first, but it all makes sense now. The collar snaps in the back and then it ties at the waist, too.You can’t help but feel a little sassy wearing it.

I’ve made this heart apron before for a craft swap on craftster a few years back. It was fun to do again and I know I did a better job on it this time around. That’s the fun thing about sewing the same pattern more than once: you can see how your skills have improved!

This one I love! Apron with built-in potholders?! Genius! The pattern said to sew the diagonal part of the potholder down all the way. But I could tell right away that doing so would result in many dropped dishes; there was no way to use the potholder portion without it slipping. So instead, I sewed the bottom half of the diagonal line, leaving an opening to insert your hands. Now they work kind of like oven mitts. Another thing that I will change the next time I do this is to bind all of the edges of the apron and potholders in bias tape instead of trying to sew them wrong sides together and fold it back out. Once you have three layers of batting and four layers of fabric, you’ve got a lot of thickness to deal with. I ended up topstitching around the outer corners of the potholders to help hold them down where they wanted to turn back inside-out. Thanks to my friend, Rebekah, for all the great photos!

If you, personally, don’t need aprons or napkins or assorted baby things that I have in my store, maybe you know someone who does. Pass it on, if you do!

I’ve just completed a prototype Easter bonnet for Granota and learned a lot in the process. It’s not as perfect as I’d like it to be, but I plan on correcting those small mistakes when I make Rana’s next. Hopefully after that one, I’ll have it figured out and can move on to the ones I want to put up in my shop. I’ll post about them next week.