Short update

Not much going on around these parts. I have no knitting news to speak of except that I ordered yarn for the Silken Scabbard. Little Knits just got in the Silky Malabrigo and they had a solid in a lovely wheat gold color. I had originally considered getting some KnitPicks Andean Silk in Raisin which is a deep deep purple. My concern was that a color that dark wouldn't show the lovely cables on that sweater so I was delighted to see the Malabrigo.

I've been working on my brocade jacket. To my sewing friends--I have one piece of advice. If you ever have the opportunity to use Pellon fusible interfacing from JoAnns--Don't! I have used Pellon for more years than I care to count, but this stuff was simply the worst! I followed all the directions for fusing to a tee. Check this out:

Notice all the puckers? I placed the damp press cloth over the interfacing/fabric and held the medium heated iron on for the number of seconds indicated. For a split second, the interfacing looked smooth but as it cooled, it started puckering. Every piece that I interfaced did this. Since my fashion fabric is heavy enough the puckers don't show on the right side. However when I went to add my pocket facing to the interfaced piece, I found that the interfaced piece had shrunk by 1/2 inch due to the puckering. I was able to compensate by making sure that I measured my seam allowances using the uninterfaced piece. Does that make sense? I will say that you get what you pay for. I think I will make a trip to G Street Fabrics and just stock up on all different weights and types of interfacing to keep on hand so I can avoid this type of situation in the future.

One thing I did treat myself to at JoAnns' was this:

Two pairs of small scissors! I have several pairs of 4 inch embroidery scissors but they don't have the muscle that these little sewing scissors have. I wanted some small scissors that I could use to cut buttonholes and clip seams. Scissors that would cut multiple layers of fabric all the way to the tips. Embroidery scissors, while very sharp, do not do that. They cut thread and that's about it! The 5 inch craft scissors are very similar, but they are capable of cutting much heavier materials and I thought they would be good for coating and leather.

Other news--look what was waiting at my house last Tuesday:

Courtesy of the Howard County government! I assume these were given to all homes in the county as the brochure said that the bin belongs to the address. I find this rather humorous given the current state of the economy. Next year we will probably be denying cost of living increases to all our public employees and experiencing numerous reductions in public services, but we got new recycle bins! I was more than content to put my paper recycling in brown paper grocery bags and my other recycling in clear recycling bags, but obviously the powers that be thought that wasn't good enough. I realize that these bins were probably bought and paid for a couple of years ago when the budget was in better health, but it sends a rather ridiculous message, don't you think?

Today was my first Monday at school and it felt every bit like a Monday--complete with a long, boring, irrelevant meeting at the end of the day. I had hoped to work more on my jacket when I got home, but I wanted to watch my main man Obama on Keith Olberman's Countdown. Also, I've been rather fascinated with the whole Sarah Palin thing though I must admit that she scares the bejeezus out of me. I have one question for all you good folks--something that I've been thinking about after watching all the commentary on the conventions--If questioning Sarah Palin's experience makes one a sexist, does questioning Barack Obama's experience make one a racist?

And with that, I will offer my Bushism of the day:
"I'm going to try to see if I can remember as much to make it sound like I'm smart on the subject." --George W. Bush, answering a question about a possible flu pandemic, Cleveland, July 10, 2007

Kitty cam: Samantha strikes a pose!