Glamour Shots

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After my half-awake post yesterday about bad light, the sun came out in the afternoon and I got some “glamour” shots of the tile in situ.

The thing about fancy home magazine photography is that they 1) use actual photographers and 2) stage everything within an inch of its life (“there can be no sign of living in this house!!“). But I think these photos show how the tile is doing what I wanted it to do: distract from the cabinetry and blend with the granite (accent) and bounce around the light (subway).

I’m also really pleased how backsplash plus the cabinet we added finally “finishes” the end of the kitchen as it moves into the dining area:

As a reminder, this is where we started, untouched since 2011:

And this is where we’re at with (relatively) minimal effort!

“Relatively” is doing a lot of work up there, lol, but for not doing anything too major, the kitchen really feels new.

Kitchen Weekend

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I spent Friday afternoon and the first half of Saturday grouting and sealing and cleaning up, and now that project is put to bed. It rained here all weekend so the light was terrible (plus the light in the kitchen in general isn’t great) so I’m not sure when I’ll get better shots, but hooray for a little remodeling.

We socialized (!) on Sunday (no hike because of the rain/snow) and I pretty much spent the rest of the weekend panic-prepping all the projects I need to get done for December that I pushed because I was doing the kitchen.

Friday Links

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1. Me when I realize it’s December 1 and I have 2-3 weeks to sew the gifts I’d planned out in the past and then put off for kitchen stuff and work:

 

2. This is from 2021 so I’m sure the newest iteration of GPT would be a little less absurd, but please enjoy these deeply ominous “Christmas entities” it spit out after being fed tales of the Krampus, Rudolph, and the Yule Cat:

 

3. It’s not Christmas music so Lights Out won’t get you, plus it’s pretty mesmerizing: Please enjoy a live performance of Ravi Shankar and Ali Akbar Khan.

Wednesday Poem

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I found this on The Baffler, in a 2022 feature Poems From Palestine. It’s worth a click to see the art that accompanies the poems and to read them all. This one, though–by Zakaria Mohammed, translated by Lena Tuffaha–stood out. Again, this wasn’t written recently, but “the lying ceremony of peace” sure seems current.

PS, you can use the 5 Calls app/site to call your representatives to ask for a permanent cease fire in Gaza.

IV.

He was crying, so I took his hand to steady him and to wipe away his tears.

I told him as sorrow choked me: I promise you that justice

will prevail in the end, and that peace will come soon.

I was lying to him, of course. I know that justice won’t prevail

and peace won’t come soon, but I had to stop his tears.

I had this false notion that says, if we can, by some sleight of hand, stop

the river of tears, everything would proceed in a reasonable manner.

Then, things would be accepted as they are. Cruelty and justice would graze

together in the field, god would be satan’s brother, and the victim would be

his killer’s beloved.

But there is no way to stop the tears. They constantly pour out like a flood

and ruin the lying ceremony of peace.

And for this, for tears’ bitter obstinance, let the eye be consecrated as the truest saint

on the face of the earth.

It is not poetry’s job to wipe away tears.

Poetry should dig a trench where they can overflow and drown the universe.

                                     —from A Date for the Crow

Tuesday Project Roundup: Sweater Blazer

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On Thanksgiving I put off prepping for tile and got in a chunk of sewing time, enough to mostly finish a jacket I’d cut out a week earlier. This is the Pona Jacket from Helen’s Closet and, because it’s a pretty basic unlined jacket, I got it done over the weekend:

It’s hard to get modeled shots when you don’t leave the house, but this is slouchy and cozy and 100% like wearing an afghan.

That fabric is the real star–a poly/acrylic sweater knit I found at L’Oiseau Fabrics (now sold out). It’s low stretch so it did fine in a pattern meant for wovens; I skipped all interfacing because 1) that fabric wasn’t going to fuse and 2) I wanted it to be slouchy.

It was nice warm armor against a crazy Monday after a long weekend and it got lots of comments on Zoom. Success!

Mostly Tile

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Two out of the four days of the long weekend were tile days–it took a lot longer than I thought it would, but it’s looking really good–snd it’s staying on the wall, even better! (I had my doubts about that accent tile.)

I’m so pleased with myself that I remembered most of the tips Dad taught me when we did the bathroom together–this was my first big project without him physically there helping/doing most of it. He was definitely consulted beforehand and I have a feeling he was waiting by the phone Friday in case of trouble, but Doc and I got it done on our own. I even ran the tile saw and remembered how to make cutouts for outlets! (Still have a lot of practice before I can cut curves like Dad, though.)

I might have been pleased with my retained knowledge and how everything looks, but Toby was VERY UPSET we were doing something out of the routine:

But we got it all put back together and had a normal Sunday with a hike, so Prince Toby could relax.

I have to grout this week but the hardest part is over! Now to move on to Xmas decorating and gift sewing and birthday cake making.

Thanksgiving Vibes

By in gram time

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and Friday is Tile Day, so I’ll be back Monday. This is me, prepped to start the tile project:

 

I thought this would be me but this week kind of blew up:

 

This is wonderful. “Uh oh, that’s an inside thought!”

 

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Tuesday Project Roundup: More Fleece

By in sewing, Tuesday Project Roundup

I love it when an indie pattern company releases a dupe of a fast fashion piece–we all save money and also garments get made by people who want to, who are earning more than $6/day.

Petite Stitchery wasn’t on my radar but they came up on Instagram and I saw their Mikal Jacket was pretty much an exact copy of the Free People Hit the Slopes Jacket (the one change was pocket flaps instead of zippers).

I’d impulse bought some neon sherpa fleece at Joann and it all came together:

This was a pretty easy sew, even with making my own bias binding out of supplex to match the trim (it looks like Free People uses foldover elastic, but I didn’t have enough). The collar construction is clever–everything is bound so you can just sandwich the seam allowance at the neck and boom, a nice finish:

The pattern didn’t give finished measurements so I made a large based on body measurements, but it’s definitely an oversized fit. If I make it again, I’ll size down, but it works for layering/being cozy.

And I definitely could make this again–look at all the solid sherpa colors at Joann right now!

Here We Go

By in home improvement

Kitchen Week is upon us and it started Saturday with my dad coming up to hang an extra cabinet. The existing cabinets here stopped a foot shy of the counter; that gap was going to look even weirder once we added a backsplash.

At first I wanted my dad to teach me how to build a shelf/cabinet, but he did the research and offered an unfinished, pre-built option. It came with a door, so he had the idea to put the door on the side, and blammo! A place for cookbooks, which freed up a cubby in the credenza, which let me move things around on the counter, which made a lot more space. (If you give a mouse a cookie…)

Dad also primed and painted the unfinished cabinet (we went with paint because there was no way we were going to match the finish). I remember him offering to paint, but he says I asked him to. 😆 Either way, I got a pretty good deal: a hundred dollar cabinet and minimal effort on my part. (And, to be fair, definitely less  effort on my dad’s part than if he taught me to build one from scratch.)

The plan is for Doc and me to tile on our own on Friday. I’ve been relentlessly tracking the accent tile and it might arrive in time for that; if not, we’ll finish up on the next weekend.

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