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The War Of the Ironing Board

By in Toby No Comments

Sunday morning I got up early and started to sew. Despite having two cat beds and a blanket on the floor, Toby only wanted to be up on the ironing board. Thus began the great Sunday Morning Ironing Board Battle.

Here he is after the initial attack, deploying his reserves of cute so I don’t notice that he’s 1.) getting cat hair all over my project and 2.) stopped all progress. 

Here he is about 30 minutes later, having unwillingly ceded the project fabric to a kitty blanket rescued from the floor. He’s not happy; I still can’t iron. A low point of the battle.

And here’s the happy ending: In a sneak attack, I slid him and the kitty blanket to the other end of the ironing board, giving him my ironing hams to use as a “pillow.” After the initial shock and awe, he decided that was acceptable and proceeded to roll around and get more cat hair everywhere. I was able to iron on the other end and we all lived to fight another day.

Friday Links

By in Friday Unrelated Information No Comments

1. This is scholarly and perfect and I love it and want to do a version for the elusive “lady bro”: Jeah! We Mapped Out The 4 Basic Aspects Of Being A ‘Bro’.  (Whispers: “Jeah, bro.”)

2. From The Paris Reveiw, Six Books We Could and Should All Write:

Every single thing I’m about to describe, you wouldn’t need any talent to produce it. You wouldn’t need any talent, and you wouldn’t need any understanding. All you’d have to do is stick with it. A little mimicry would help, but that’s really it. That’s why this list is good. Door’s wide open; everyone is invited. And you know what? You’d be producing something of value. At the very least, you yourself would value it. These are your models. Your versions will not be as good as these books. But they will be good just the same.

3. From Kottke again, Mr. Rogers would re-shoot parts of his show as needed to make sure they were still current.

Reading About Money

By in money No Comments

I still need to blog about how transformative Your Money Or Your Life has been; I’ve paid off credit cards and am about to start seriously saving for a chunk to invest per “The Book’s” instructions. So this longer piece on the “20 psychological biases of money” (I think found via Kottke? I’ve been clicking around a lot lately) fit right in with what I’ve been thinking about.  Some quotes:

There are over 2,000 books picking apart how Warren Buffett built his fortune. But none are called “This Guy Has Been Investing Consistently for Three-Quarters of a Century.” But we know that’s the key to the majority of his success; it’s just hard to wrap your head around that math because it’s not intuitive. There are books on economic cycles, trading strategies, and sector bets. But the most powerful and important book should be called “Shut Up And Wait.” It’s just one page with a long-term chart of economic growth.

and

Wealth, in fact, is what you don’t see. It’s the cars not purchased. The diamonds not bought. The renovations postponed, the clothes forgone and the first-class upgrade declined. It’s assets in the bank that haven’t yet been converted into the stuff you see.

[…] When most people say they want to be a millionaire, what they really mean is “I want to spend a million dollars,” which is literally the opposite of being a millionaire. This is especially true for young people.

A key use of wealth is using it to control your time and providing you with options. Financial assets on a balance sheet offer that. But they come at the direct expense of showing people how much wealth you have with material stuff.

Wednesday Words

By in quotes No Comments

Kottke.org has been posting about Mr. Rogers a lot lately and pointed me to this video, where he tells people about his mother making his sweaters. This quote really stood out to me:

It’s a lot of work. But that’s one of the ways that she has of saying that she loves somebody. 

 

Never forget that crafting can be someone’s love language.

Tuesday Project Planning: Summer of Basics 2

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup No Comments

I credit Karen Templer’s first “Summer of Basics” makealong last year to really give me that final push into making most of my clothes (and buying a serger). So I have to join in again this year and make three “basic” things my closet is lacking–even if I already have my 2018 Make Nine list going.

This year’s three pieces are meant to fill in some holes: hiking pants, comfy-but-not-pajama pants for working at home, and a chambray-ish shirt to replace a too-small one from J. Crew (l-r).

I’ll use the Hudson pattern and some stretch nylon and ribbing for the hiking pants (because look at these for $80–they’re pretty much exactly the same!); the Arenite pattern and some brown linen for the casual pants; and the trusty Archer pattern for the shirt (which I cut out last year and then abandoned…to make pants for the first summer of basics).

I actually want to get these all done by mid-August, when we have some travel planned, so I’ll probably put the Make Nine projects on hold and focus on these.

Sewing and lists: some of my favorite things!

Wednesday Poem

By in poems

Just some pretty words for today.

 

On Foot I Wandered Through the Solar Systems

On foot
I wandered through the solar systems,
Before I found the first thread of my red dress.
Already I have a sense of myself.
Somewhere in space my heart hangs,
emitting sparks, shaking the air,
to other immeasurable hearts.

Edith Södergran
trans. Malena Mörling and Jonas Ellerström

 

Tuesday Project Roundup: Somewhat Speedy Socks

By in knitting, Tuesday Project Roundup

It only took me six months to finish the neutral pair of socks for myself, compared with a year for the pair before that. Such speed! Now, of course, it is far too hot to wear socks but they’ll be ready for me in the fall.

I was also able speed through the stripy sock below mine (thanks, chunky sock yarn). It’s another Sock For Doc’s Pop–it was his birthday this past weekend so I was able to get one sock done but he’ll have to wait a bit for the other one. (He hopefully said, “Father’s Day?” when I told him and I was all, “I’m probably not THAT fast, my good sir.”)

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