I have not posted lately, so figured I would write something today.

HEALTH
My blood sugar is coming down (yeah!) and is now 125-167 range (good from being close to 300 a couple months ago). Still keep “falling” once or twice a month, need to figure out “why”. Lower back is still giving me excruciating pain, but doctor wants to run more tests. Lower right back muscles will “spasm” at odd times during the day & evening, so I do make “ooh, aah” noises off and on. My back pain has caused me to change my normal, daily routines; I can no longer lean over my embroidery projects (using a floor stand does not help).

My doctor wants me to start walking, in short intervals, for starters, but with my stumbling, and sometimes falling, I am leery about walking alone. I still try to walk a lot in the house, being careful when using the steps. I cannot even stand for a period of time (think ironing seams or making a simple breakfast/lunch). Yes, at events I do walk “a lot”, but I am getting good at hiding my pain, plus, I do try to sit more (and “try” is the operative word here) than normal at times.

Hubby & I are trying to get as many medical issues taken care of in these next 18 months as possible. We do not, at this time, know what our medical insurance coverage will be after he retires next year. He is finishing up his heart tests, dental visits, and trying to get his insulin/blood sugar results stabilized. I am working on my blood sugar levels (lowering them to between 70 – 100), lowering my weight, have another colonoscopy this month scheduled, another sleep study (possibly a new CPAP), and possibly a gastro by-pass surgery.

PROJECTS
As I stated above, I am having problems with my back and this is causing my MAJOR problems finishing my embroidery projects. Whereas I would normally get a project completed in three weeks, it is now taking my much longer to complete. And this makes me feel inadequate, and incompetent, in my endeavors. But, I am determined and I find that I am pushing myself to complete a few projects. I can only push my pain threshold just so far before I must stop.

I have even tried to “change” my projects to something that does not require a lot of “bending over” to work on. I am trying my hand at sewing clothing. First and foremost, I am an embroideress, not a seamstress, nor a tailor; but I hate to sit around the house with nothing to do.

In the past two months I have made a German kampfrau & chemise (still working on the blackwork trim for collar), and a cotehardie with kirtle (last few things to finish on cote – adding sleeves, hemming and making a cord for front lacing). With my shoulder and back pain, and pectoral muscle spasms, I needed something that will be easy to get in and out of myself, hence the lacings in front of cote. Plus, if something happens to hubby (God forbid) I will need to dress myself (he is SOOOO helpful & does not complain). The cote was, originally, to be a slip on dress, but I forgot to add the extra increase material to make it a tad larger, again, hence the front lacings.



SCA
A little over a year ago we had to sell our 16’ round pavilion due to medical problems. My back pain prevented me from doing much lifting or hauling during set-up & tear-downs. Hubbies heart problem acted up at our last camping event and it took him over six hours just to tear down the pavilion. It was a mutual decision that we should sell it.

Well, after all this time, of NOT being able to camp at events (no sleeping place), and not being able to see friends, I was getting myself in a frazzle (I do this a lot lately). Now, soon, we will be able to start camping again!! We are buying a Viking wedge tent from Green Gryphon Tents. One cross beam and two poles, approximately 15 minutes for set-up and tear down; we shall see…. LOL.

MOVING
Our moving deadline is getting closer; is was, originally, planned for Nov. 29th of 2013 (earliest he can retire), but due to his pay date (and we need to plan on $$ to pay movers), we had to change it to Dec. 3rd, 2013.

Our motor home is paid in full (located at son’s place in Colorado) and we are now paying for two barn style sheds (also at son’s place). One shed will be for storing furniture (cannot put in motor home), storage boxes and all the tools. Second shed will be for my crafting supplies and sewing equipment. Eventually it will be my Craft Room. Leon (my son) is going to build me a front porch so I can sit outside on nice days. He is also adding electrical wiring, insulation and drywall, so it will be ready by the time we arrive.

Packing items here is still a chore. I still have not made a dent in anything; mainly due to my trying to “organize” what goes into what box/tote. But, as usual, I feel that there will be boxes with mis-matched items packed together at last minute.

Hubby is a procrastinator in many aspects; whereas I want to get as much done now as we can. He wants to “wait” until July, 2013, to start helping me pack ANYTHING! I am not happy with the last minute packing, especially since I want to “organize” the contents. Oh well, it has been commented to me, countless times, to relax and not stress out over little things.

THINGS SCHEDULED
May 29h hubby dentist
May 31st my sleep study (over night)
June 2nd Golden Rivers Rapier Championship
June 15th – 17th A&S (hopefully)
June 22nd – 24th June Crown (camping in new tent)
July 14th Cynagua Investiture
July 15th my birthday (plans unknown as yet)

I spent this past weekend in Caid at the IKINS (Inter Kingdom Intensive Needlework Symposium) event. My Pelican, Catherine of Wessex, drove down for the event as well; this was her first time at an IKINS event. Thursday night we hit a torrential down pour going over the Grapevine; we could hardly see the road at times. But, she drove straight through and we made the hotel around midnight.

Friday, after stopping off at Hedgehog Handworks (and finally getting to meet Joady), we made the tour of LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Arts) and got to go “behind the scenes” and view some items in private. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me, as I have never gotten to view artifacts like this before (last time I was at a museum was when I was 14 years old). One of the pieces, that intrigued me was a man’s shirt (circa 1600) done in completely in blackwork. The shirt was completely embroidered in black (flat silk) using a Buttonhole stitch (no other stitches were used). And the linen was WAY thinner than I expected. To me, and I may be wrong here, it reminded me of kinky-weight linen. I enjoyed every minute looking at all the items.

Back at the hotel; we were having a mild dinner when more of our West group arrived. It seems that when they drove over the Grapevine it was snowing. Apparently the Grapevine was closed for a while, after they made it across, of course.

Saturday, . I taught a class on klosterstitch (a 14th century, German technique) and it went over well (I hope). My class included peers, from three different Kingdoms, and they commented that they were glad to learn an “early period” technique that no one else has taught. (Kudos for me?? I wonder….LOL)

I was able to attend a few other classes as well; I learned to make pants with feet (reminded me of those footed kiddie pj’s), sewn stockings (good for men & women) and I learned a few (new to me) seam treatments.

On Sunday, I even learned bobbin lace (something that I have wanted to learn). Now I know the “50 plus” bobbin patterns are not all that scary; as you are only working with FOUR bobbins at a time (which I never knew before). Thanks to the instructors, Cynthia de Wickersham and Kassandra of Dragon’s Laire, I came home with a couple books on bobbin lace making, more bobbins, a padded disk, pins, some larger “holding pins” (?), a lovely pin with an acorn top (from Cynthia) and a lovely pin cushion just for my bobbin lace (from Kassandra).

After the class we decided to head home. This time we had good weather, but the drivers were something else. We even encountered three Honda Civics that were drag racing on the freeway (think of The Fast and Furious. Thank goodness no one got into an accident during their escapade. We got into Freemont (were Catherine lives) around 9pm and after sawing our Thank You’s and Goodbye’s Josephus & I headed to Sacramento. We arrived home around midnight and into bed. I was not worried about unpacking my things until I had some sleep and got up later that morning. All in all, I had a very enjoyable weekend and am glad that I was able to attend IKINS (thanks to Catherine) and, also, came home with new ideas and hobbies.

These past few weeks I have been having to alter my embroidery plans, yet again. My back pain has been acting up to the point that it hurts, constantly, from my "leaning forward" to work on my embroidery frame. From sitting for hours, now has turned to only being able to sit for 30-45 minutes before pain gets too bad. Sitting on the couch, or in a hard back chair (at table or sewing machine) does not matter, back still hurts. Doctor still cannot do anything about bulging disks (seems they need to wait until it actually becomes ruptured). Pillow, and heating pad, only give temporary relief, but not long enough.

Even though I am trying to complete my Bayeux piece by Crown (in two weeks), it looks like I will only get about 90% finished (sorry Your Grace). I really hate being late on any of my project due dates! So I am learning to change my plans (unwillingly), to accommodate the back pain. I embroider on panel (leaning forward over frame), embroider on a shire badge (leaning back on couch with hoop), and hand sewing on a German skirt (also sitting on couch). All this is spiratic during the day. Really think I need to learn to embroider while laying flat on my back....LOL

Well, if not much, I have ( am still) learning som ething new at all times. Never, NEVER do large projects back-to-back-to-back (in a short time span). I did complete two large projects and am working on the third; same stitches as with the first project. By "large" I mean 20"X20" each piece. With being constanly tired, nausious daily and on the verge of getting sick, yet again, I am pushing forward with this project and am not going to let things sway me.

I am still trying to keep up with house work, and am planning on making a German kampfrau (with accessories). Hopefully, this will be completed by 12th Night (2013) if not before. This will be my last 12th Night here, so I would like to have something new to wear. Plus, the German will keep me warm at colder, Colorado events.

Whin, whin, whin, stress, stress, stress, and sever depression is NOT helping at present. Why does it seem like I am the only one who "mends" garb? Why can't I just toss them out and make new garb, like everyone else??

I already posted about my flannel chemise escapade, so no since repeating myself. I made a red apron dress, but gained so much weight that I had to "add" spacers (I did not have enough red linen to remake it). I felt it looked "tacky", but no one noticed the new, undecorated seams. Now, after this last washing, I noticed the two of the (undecorated) seams are coming UNraveled!! So now I need to repair it, yet again. This time I plan to just sew the seams down (just need to make it last, at least, two more years).

Then I noticed that my sage green underdress (10 yrs old -- that I sometimes wear alone, when feeling campy) had started to wear thin by the one elbow seam. I was able to find some scraps of the same linen, so I made two patches (one for each sleeve area), to make it look like "they were meant to look like that". Plus, to complicate things more, I decided to "alter" the dress, once again. When I first made it, it had a slight train in the back, and the front hem dragged on the ground. After starting my "tripping & falling" stages, I cut the hem shorter and removed the train. But, since this was mostly an "add-on" piece (which I added chevron stitching to cover the add-on seam), the decorative stitching was not even around the hem line (going from meeting the hem in back, to six inches above the hem in front). I ended up cutting off whole add-on section, trimming to make it even, and then adding a whole new piece of dark green linen (about 9" wide). It was looking better, but not quite, it looked "unbalanced". SOOOOOOOO I added the dark green at the cuffs and made a small yoke; now it looks totally better than before. I am frantically working to finish the hand sewing of the yoke so that it will be ready for an event on Saturday.

Ran into a few problems..................
1) I am NOT a garb maker; I love to embroider.
2) The plain, dark green trim looks nekked to me. I need to add some embroidered trim/motifs to it. (Always thinking of new things to do.)
3) I have to complete two more major projects within the next month, and all this sewing/mending of garb is taking away from my scheduled embroidery time!!

My depression is getting severe, am still having a lingering illness (felling sluggish/lisless, loss of appetite, napping 2-3 times a day, and blood sugar is still high). This is all adding to my feeling worthless, non-energetic, and non-productive in anything that I am trying to attempt. I know that this "all will pass", but it does not help me now. No wonder no one wants to be around me.

It is my opinion (observation) that we all make errors when staring out on something new (but no one wants to admit it); we learn (improve) as we grow in our techniques. I, myself, am not perfect and do not think “anyone” is (some are just more proficient in what they do). But, this is not about “other people”, it is about ME. I learned, at a young age, to sew my own clothes; but was not told to “wash material” before cutting out patterns. But, at that time, I out grew my clothes (or they got worn out all too fast from living in the country). Then I started buying my clothes; cheaper and less time consuming.

When I joined the SCA (12 plus years ago), I started sewing garb. I did not know anyone, at that time, so could not ask for help. My first pieces were made of cotton material, from commercial patterns (I know, all wrong). But they worked for me at that time. I have since evolved and now sew garb using 100% linen and 100% wool. If finances permit, I would like to work with silks and brocades, but that will be later.

Even though I hate to “throw” clothing away, I did give my first pieces to new comers that could have something to wear at events. Mainly due to my gaining weight and my garb not fitting me anymore (plus I am now using proper materials). I did keep one of my first pieces, a burgundy chemise, made from flannel (GASP, yes flannel). This was warm in the cool, California evening at events (plus, I now wear it around the house). This chemise, eventually, acquired a “hole” in the front between my busts. I did not want to toss it out, as it was still useful to me; so I thought of a way to “fix” it. I embroidered a leaf to cover the hole. One leaf did not look “correct”, so I ended up adding a curving vine in three areas; 1) across the neck line from shoulder seam to shoulder seam, 2) down the center front, and 3) around the hem line. I added leaves inside each curve; I liked the way it was looking. The embroidery added to my “night dress” (Yes, it was flannel, but it was warm and I could even wear it at home) and saved it; or so I thought……

Now this is where “not knowing” something can ruin an outfit. Firstly, I use Appleton wool for the embroidery; secondly, I washed it and dried it in the drier. I never thought about the wool yarn S-H-R-I-N-K-I-N-G!! Now, after 12 plus years, the vines have shrunk inwards and the leaves now look like little green domes!! And the center front hem now has a drastic, upwards “peak” where the center vine has shrunk. I have tried to cut the center vine (without cutting the flannel) to remove it, but it is not easy cutting felted wool in a, now tight, line. I was planning to leave the puckered neckline and hem line (as the hem looks like a soft ruffle). Hence, my “neat idea” has now turned into a complete, and utter, disaster!! Thank goodness I now just wear this at home!!! I am embarrassed for anyone to see it now (although I have shown it to students to show them what embroidered wool items can look like if washed incorrectly).

I have since learned that projects embroidered, using wool threads, regardless of name brand, CANNOT be washed after completion. Just wish I would have known this when I first started. And teachers of embroidery classes never comment on washing instructions for the students.

NOTE: When I spin my own wool, yes, I do wash them after making skeins; this helps “shrink & set” the wool skeins. I never thought if it is “proper” to pre-wash store-bought wool skeins.

SO, this is to those of you who embroider with wool on linen, or wool on wool --- how do you wash your projects/garb when needed? Would wool embroidery be safe to “dry clean”?

Every time I think I am getting my “to do list” dwindled down, I find more things to add to it; go figure. True, some are carried over from the previous year, but these are usually mine and have no drastic due-dates. And when I “discuss” my list with others, they take it “upon themselves” to feel that “I have too much on my (proverbial) plate”. I, and O-N-L-Y I, know what I can, and cannot do/complete. I love to “keep busy”; I do not like to be idle. If I get bored with one technique, I have other things to “fill in” my time. I keep a list of projects, then move the ones with due dates to the top. I know what needs to come first; thus I prioritize them. If you are, actually, reading this, please do not think that I am whining, complaining, or “have too much on my plate”; I am just making a mental note to myself. I will still find more projects to add to my list as I go. And I am still finding time to pack in between my sewing/embroidery projects. Did I mention that I like to keep busy? LOL.

I keep telling myself that I can “work on projects” until July 2013; which at that time I would like to concentrate on packing for our move in November 2013. But, in all reality, I know that I will work on projects until the day we actually do move.

My “quickie” list (in no particular order):
1) finish red dog (sample #2 for IKINS)
2) finish drawing kit motifs (due April)
3) MEG shire arms (Meredies Royal tablecloth)
4) Kingdom heraldic badges (for new upcoming tabards)
5) My Bayeux pillow (March)
6) Start sample bobbin lace piece
7) Finish sewing disk (for bobbin lace)
8) Sew coifs/jorvics (May)
9) Finish illumination on scrolls
10) Print handouts for IKINS
11) Cast Cynuagan awards
12) Finish yolk yoke for my tunic
13) Start designing/sewing my German’s

Carried over from last year;
1) finish Sable Swan Guild favor
2) finish maolica feast gear (want these done before move)
3) Intarsia tapestry (from photos Vienna Museum)
4) Re-write beaded veil class handout
5) Finish blackwork coif

There are more projects not on my lists, as they are minor and personal items. Not to mention I still need to order more supplies (books, Jap gold, pearls, beads, silk/wool threads etc.).

I can post photos of this project here, as recipient is not on LJ (and he does not want to see the piece until he receives it). It is for Pádraig Donn MacMathúna (known as Paddy), so please do not tell him if you know him.

This project has taken me a little over a year to complete, not because it was "complicated or intricate", but due to fact that it got put on hold for other major projects with due dates (Kingdom, Principality & Guild items); plus my monthly bouts with illness. He was not concerned about the time for completion (not to mention I get a complete Celtic meal, cooked on site, for all my endeavours -- yummmmm).

This pillow was made to his specification: durable (hense the canvas), washable (DMC floss), a zipper in the back (for washing), and no froo-froo frills (no cording, tassles, beading or gold work). Plus, he wants to sit on it, at events, while in armour. I did buy the pillow insert at JoAnn's (20" X 20"). This way, the pillow can be washed also.

The bear is done in split stitch and the celtic knotwork is in chain stitch, outlined in stem stitch.

Boy is LJ screwing up, BIG TIME!! A few weeks back I get an email stating that my "account has been inactive" and that they (LJ) was going to delete my account if I did not start posting. So, I posted a couple of days.

Today, I get an email saying that they "deleted my account due to inactivity. I am a PAID member and am paid up until AUGUST 12, 2012!!! How can they delete me if I am paid up??

Needless to say, I sent them back a nasty email. We shall now wait & see.

FROM LJ..
"Dear sorchafhionn,

LiveJournal has started deleting inactive empty accounts. Pursuant to our housekeeping policy, your LiveJournal account sorchafhionn was deleted on February 7 2012 and will be purged in 30 days."

Hmmmm. Even thought I posted twice earlier this month, twice last month, and at least, once or twice in previous months, I guess it is not enough for LJ. As they sent me a notice that "if I do not post soon, my account will be deleted in 15 days". Do they not understand that I have embroidery projects due soon and need to spend my time doing that? I do try to post once in a while, but not every day. Guess I will need to spend a few minutes every other day to post something to stay active (and I PAY for my account!!)