A year in the life: 2014 retrospective

...sort of. I was going to do Gillian's 5 things roundup, but then I decided to steal Oonaballoona's collage idea and grey out the makes that didn't work out so well. And then I thought: since this blog isn't just about the stuff I make, usually, why not do an entire year in review? I've done some fun stuff this year, and I haven't gotten around to blogging it all yet, but this would be a good way of remembering where I went and what I did.

So that's what you're getting, with some reflections along the way, minus the pancakes. You can see all my makes at Crazy Stuff I Do; most of the event posts are In Progress^TM.

The biggest thing to celebrate is a year a successful cohabitation with the DC! I'm still not sure what I did to deserve him, and I'm very excited to announce that Lucy has stopped hissing at him. Plus? He brings me tea and does the dishes. Often. And unasked. He's all-around awesome and I'm a lucky lady.

Ahem. On with the remembrances. Do you need me to tell you it's probably going to be a long post?

Pancake of the Month Bonus #2: Coconut

Apologies for spamming you with blog posts, but I've been on a bit of pancake rampage. A panckage, if you will. I guess I'm trying to catch up on lost flapjack time.


I love coconut. I've had a recipe for coconut waffles for years (but no waffle maker with which to make them), and I don't know why it's taken me so long to look around for a pancake version. This recipe from She Wears Many Hats was dangled in front of me on Pinterest, so I queued it up for this week.

The result?

Summer wrap-up. Yes, you read that right.

No, I haven't adopted southern hemisphere timing. You may have noticed I never did a review of my extraordinarily ambitious summer sewing plans. Hem.

Abstract: I had 16 18 16 projects planned, along with umpteen UFOs PIPs UFOs^* to finish, as well as a few pieces of jewellery I wanted to make. Long story short: I finished none of the UFOs or made any jewellery. I did finish 9 sewing projects, on deadline for the most part, with an additional 2 that have fallen into PIP territory, so that's not too bad. Here's the rundown:

1. Various Belcarra blouses. Done. All four deadlines met, too.
   
   I'm super pleased with most of my Belcarras, although I still have to redo the neckline of the horizontal one and put ribbons in them so I can tell back from front. I wore them for One Pattern, One Week. I'm fairly certain there will be more of these in my future.
   

Pancake of the Month bonus #1: Apple Cider

So, I'm off this week and have plenty of time to finish writing up on old blog posts, tidying up the apartment, catching up on vlogs, finishing some UFOs (if I say it, it will be true, right?), reading, marking, and making pancakes. As you may have noticed, I haven't been keeping up with my PotM posts, mostly because I haven't made pancakes this fall. I really got wiped out with that bug. BUT I will be making up for it this week. And it turns out there's going to be a bit of a theme: packages made with beverages.

Blame Pinterest, again. You may recall I've been trying to find an apple pancake recipe, but have not met with much success. When the words "apple cider pancake" showed up on my screen, I thought "Perhaps this will be the solution to my apple pancake problems."

There are a few recipes for apple cider pancakes out there. I used this one from Sincerely, Kinsey (mostly because I really like the name of her blog). I was a bit concerned about the 1 tbsp of cinnamon, because I was using wassail (which I make every year from this recipe by A Year of Slow Cooking) which is made with cinnamon sticks -- this could be a very cinnamon-heavy flapjack. Also, I knew that 3.5 tsp of baking powder was going to make for a very thick batter. Which means that flapjack is not a term that could apply.^*

The result?

Pancake of the Month: Eggnog (with eggnog syrup)

Oh dear. I've joined Pinterest.

I've been avoiding it because I know what a potential time-suck it is and I am very afraid of never coming up for air, but I finally caved because I wanted a place to store lesson ideas and education articles and other math stuff and bookmarking wasn't cutting it. I'm aem2 if you want to creep my physics simulations boards.


Anyway, as I was perusing recipes (it has to do with fluid dynamics, honest) I stumbled, as one does, upon several holiday pancake recipes, including this one from High Heels and Grills for not only eggnoggy pancakes, but syrup too. I should say that while I like the taste of eggnog, I can't drink more than a shot at a time because it's just too... something. Thick-tasting, I guess? However, in the spirit of the season, I naturally had to test these recipes out. For Science.


Result?

Tea makes it go

One of the gifts I gave the DC^* for Christmas was a low-temperature Stirling engine kit that, much like us, runs off a cup of tea. I helped him put it together yesterday, and I have to say it's quite a bit niftier than the full model would be. All we need now is a case to keep it dust-free when not in use.

Truth in advertising: it did take much less than an hour to put together, and it works a treat. I like how they've set it up so you use the foam packing case to help assemble it. Also, you need a mug. Which you can then fill with tea to make the engine run.


Those mugs were also a gift. There's a bicycle on the front. The DC wanted to keep the engine going longer, but the problem is that it was my tea and I wanted to drink it. We need to think on this a bit more...

^*And me, but mostly the DC.

Still alive

The observant among you will have noticed that school and illness and various other things have kept me from blogging. But I have been doing some stuff that I will blog and post in a timey-wimey fashion once I'm on break in two weeks. In the meantime, I'll just leave you with this little momento of what I did last Thursday...

Challenged: Sew For a Change #6-9

My unintentional internet break also meant that I haven't been updating my Sew For a Change posts. I have been participating, though. July's challenge was cleaning, and I passed with flying colours. I forgot to check August's challenge until it was nearly over, but then I found out it was recycling, and that I already do everything on this list -- especially now that we've found out that the Sally Ann will recycle fabric scraps (anything too small to be used by Arts Junktion, anyway). So yay, me.

September's challenge on detoxifying your home was a bust. Partially due to time, but also because I'm not convinced putting all my plastics into landfills is the best solution, particularly since they're only a problem when heated. So no extra 10 points for me this month. However, I'm up 20.

Er... that's before I count all the fabric I bought in August. And shoes. Did I mention I bought a (couple of) pair(s) of shoes? American Duchess is selling her 23 Skidoos for $30 off and I might just have indulged^*. I also went a little crazy with fabric: linen to finish the Dîner en Blanc Gabriola; white cotton knit for t-shirts; some sort of blue lacy stuff to make a spring cardigan (just in time for fall); two types of black and white striped knit for breton tees. So, um, yeah. Up 20 but down 28.

This month, we are challenged to eliminate so-called toxic products related to hygiene. I think this is another month where I won't meet all eleven rules. I already do a few of them, two don't apply, and three won't be a hardship. But because I don't want to bring anything new into the apartment until I actually use up my other products -- and I tried using only vegetable oil instead of moisturizer, but it was... unpleasant -- the ones about toothpaste, shampoo, and skin care will be very difficult. Plus, I need products that have at least SPF 15 in them. And as for eliminating aluminum in my antiperspirant, there are no accepted studies that show any link between it and disease. So while I will follow the rules I can, I have a feeling that I won't be earning those extra 10 points this month. At least I won't be spending any points, either, while I finish up my UFOs^**. Right?

Right.

^*Have I mentioned that this is one of my new favourite shoe stores? I do not need more shoes, I do not need more shoes, I do not...

^*Can I call them UFOs if I actually wear them before they're finished? I think I'll take a page out of Oona's book and call them PIPs... although in my case that stands for Perps in Progress because I do feel like I'm committing a bit of a crime every time I wear something that's not quite finished yet.

I believe... I like this cardi

Posted timey-wimey fashion for no good reason except I got busy, then sick, and pretty much stayed that way until winter break.


After last year's unsuccessful attempt to win free tickets to the (sold-out) Book of Mormon, I was really happy when they announced it would be returning this fall. I stalked the website until they let me buy tickets the months ago. Then it was hurry up and wait until we finally got to see it on Wednesday. We were up in the gods, but the Princess of Wales has pretty good seats no matter where you are. The show is amazing and hilarious and crude and sweet. I can't stop singing the opening number.

To be suitably clad for the evening, I finally got around to sewing up the cropped bronze knit Swoon Patterns scarf-neck cardigan. The DC was concerned, because I only started sewing it the night before. Oh he of little faith. Seeing that this was the second time I've made this pattern and sewn with this fabric, I did not anticipate any problems and plowed on with hours to spare.

Having some Coffeeneuring with my UFOs

I wound up taking a bit of an unplanned break from the internet over the summer which has lasted until nowish, and I've gotten a wee bit behind in my blogging (and blog-reading, in case you've been missing my scintillating comments). However, it's officially autumn now^* which means, for me, anyway, a bit of a new start. Of course, the beginning of school means I don't actually have time to catch up on my blog, but I'm going to make a concerted effort. Really. Expect several timey-wimey posts in the future. Or past.

Anyway, I've been Tweed Riding and Dining in White and OWOPing, and I'm still Sewing for a Change and making pancakes, and I will post that stuff this week, but I want to tell you about some new challenges that are coming up (or currently happening).

MG at Chasing Mailboxes has issued the fourth annual Coffeeneuring Challenge: 7 weeks, 7 different coffee shops. I didn't finish last year because I got derailed by sickness, but I'm determined to succeed this year.

As in previous years, I'm going to visit new-to-me cafes in different parts of the city.

I've been spectacularly bad about participating in sewing challenges these past few months. And by spectacularly bad I mean sometimes I finished items but didn't take pictures in time, but mostly I just didn't get things sewn. But All Style and All Substance's Anti-UFO Challenge is something I need to take part in. Three words: Wall of Shame.



I have a few items that are cut and ready to be sewn, but I'm not going to start any of those until I have finished all the bits and bobs currently waiting for me. Most of them are things needing buttons and so forth, but significantly this means I will finish poor Steg and the Spring Steppes sweater that has been a year and a half in the making.

No, really. Look at the determined look on my face.

^*Technically, summer doesn't officially end until this evening, but I'm calling it anyway.

It's time to Tweed!

The third annual-except-for-last-year-where-we-kept-the-Tweed-alive-with-the-Tweed-Rally is this Saturday! Be tweedy and join us!

Post by Tweed Ride Toronto.

One week, one pattern: Sewaholic Belcarra

A sewing challenge that does not involve sewing? Perfect for September, that month where if I'm still awake at 10 pm, it's probably because I'm still up doing lesson plans or marking. Yes, this is the year I stay on top of my marking, for reals. I'd also like it to be the year I stay on top of my sewing and crocheting plans, but I'm not holding my breath.

The point is this One Week, One Pattern challenge merely requires me to wear variants of the same pattern every day for one week. Since I now have multiple Sewaholic Belcarras, that is the obvious -- well, only -- choice.

I decided that instead of selfies, I would take magazine-style outfit photos. Which meant I could put off taking the pictures. Which means that I did, so my recall of some outfit details might be a little fuzzy. Hem. Onward!

Note: what this really means is that I'm posting this timey-wimey fashion because it took me a few weeks to take the last four photos.

Day 1: horizontally-striped Belcarra. During the day, I just wore it with yet-to-be-blogged Thurlow shorts, but in the evening I glammed it up a little to meet Catja and Vicki for drinks. Except I went to the wrong pub, so nobody got to see it. Next time.

Waves of history

Timey-wimey Tiramsisu.


The DC and I went to the ROM today. I'm supposed to be wearing a totally different dress, but that hasn't happened. Yet. Instead, I'm wearing a dress I made in June.

I mentioned I had planned to take part in the Sewaholic Belcarra sewalong; similarly, the Monthly Stitch had an indie pattern month sewalong which I was officially going to join because of prizes. The official part never took place, but I did do three of the challenges, mostly. My Gatsby dress was my quasi-Franken-Indie outfit, and I made up some New-To-Me Measure Twice Cut Once Mary knickers (although there's a fit issue that I'd like to sort out before I blog them). This Cake Tiramisu, made with the last of the mystery fabric I got from Fabricmart, would have fit either the New-To-Me or Dresses categories.

Sheerly Oonatastic: killer (in more than one sense) clothing

If meeting people online is great (and it is), meeting online people offline is even better. Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow proposed that we have another Toronto meetup at the Bata Shoe Museum, where one of the exhibitions is "Fashion Victims", followed by a swap at Ewe Knit on Markham St.

An event! A sewist event! Which requires an outfit! Of Oona-like proportions! To recap: the fabulour Oonaballoona is having a birthday, as one does, and we are celebrating with Oonapalooza, as one does. The idea is to make something Oona-esque. Gillian and I sewing-dared each other to have our makes done for the meetup, and so we did. The outfit details are further along in the post. First? Meetup!

Love's Labour... found

Another timey-wimey post

Assist me some extemporal god of rime, for I am sure I shall turn sonneter.
Devise, wit; write, pen; for I am for whole volumes in folio.
-- Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost

Last year, one of the Fringe shows I kept not getting to see was Much Ado About Nothing. I was disappointed, so when the same group put on Love's Labour's Lost at the Victory Cafe, I made sure to get tickets in advance. Good thing, too, since every show sold out.

You with the stars in your Anna top

I really like the By Hand London Anna, specifically its bodice, so when the DC gave me a bunch of white linen, I automatically thought Dîner en Blanc maxi. Except... I really do not need another white dress. They're not hugely practical.

Still. I couldn't get that thought of a white linen Anna out of my head. Then I thought... separates. Maybe I could make the dress into a top and skirt? The idea grew on me as the months went on. I eventually decided to make the skirt a Sewaholic Gabriola, but the top was going to be Anna all the way. And here she is, just in time to meet the DC for mexican food before Ari's Planetarium talk Friday night.

The major construction changes are lengthening the bodice, flaring it out at the bottom, and moving the zipper to the side seam. I also turned the back darts into fisheye darts so it would fit around the hips.



I put in an invisible zipper, upside down, although it's not especially invisible right now. The hem doesn't look even, but I swear that it is.



I probably should have done a neck binding thing instead of the facings, since the linen is sheer enough to be seen through, but I don't know how much it bothers me. I do need to adjust the front pleats, as usual - one of these days I will fix that on the pattern - and make the invisible zipper... more invisible, but I'm really pleased with how this turned out.

Ari's talk was about likely locations for habitable planets in the universe. He's a very good speaker, but you don't have to take my word for it. All hail YouTube!

Belcaree, Belcarra!*

*I do not know why "The Happy Wanderer" always gets into my head when I think of this name. It just does.

You're welcome.

I bought the Sewaholic Belcarra pattern when she released it (on sale) as a pdf. It's probably the best deal I've had in a non-free pattern, since I have now made four of them, with a fifth in the offing.

I made the first one at the beginning of June, hoping to post it as part of the Sewaholic Belcarra sewalong. I did finish it on deadline, but didn't have time to take any photos then. We got these outside the mural at Dundas and Brock after the Provincial vote. This is view A, size 4, lengthening the waist by an inch (and then forgetting to subtract length from the hem, which meant I had a lot to cut off when I hemmed it).

Better late: MMM14 summary and another summer sewing challenge

Well, here it is, July, and thanks to Too Much Marking and General Laziness I'm just now getting around to reflecting on my Me-Made May and making future plans. This post is stupid long, so if you're not interested number-crunching but want to see what I'm going to sew this summer, skip a bit.

Previously, on PGOTLMMM14: (The answers to the Where in Toronto is PhysicsGirl game are in the mouse-overs.)





I realized that I forgot to add my geeky stats for the last two weeks, so here is the final tally.

In which PhysicsGirl would like to thank the academy...

Holy cow. I won an award! Twice!

The lovely Nancy from Sewing in Surf City just (ahem, okay, about two months ago) nominated me for a Liebster award. This is an award that is given by bloggers to bloggers. The rules vary a little, depending on who gives you the award, but basically you thank the blogger, linking back to their blog, post the award button on your blog, answer their questions, and pass the award on. I've seen it awarded in various places, and I've always been somewhat hopeful yet terrified that someone would nominate me. Hopeful because it means that someone reads this blog and thinks I'm moderately amusing; terrified because it means that somebody reads this blog. And also because of the obligation to pass on the award. Anyway, I started writing up this post in June, then Things overtook me and I dallied so long that Andie from Sew Pretty in Pink also nominated me for the award. Which is great! Except not, because I was going to nominate her! And now I've got even more questions to answer.

Catching up: Sew for a Change #4 & 5

The end of May and beginning through middle of June were really busy, so I didn't take the time to catch up on my Sew for Change challenge then, but I've been doing quite well.

May was the laundry challenge, and I made it by... basically not doing laundry. Look, I have a lot of small clothes, as Dickens would say, and when I went to do a load, it was going to rain, so I kind of took to washing my undies in the sink and hanging them up. Do dryer for me. Purchase-wise, I was hoping to go the whole month without buying anything, but I wound up buying a nifty straw hat in Kensington Market (along with two thrifted belts) on a very sunny Pedestrian Sunday.

June was food month, and again I passed with flying colours. I already don't eat a lot of beef and mostly vegetarian anyway. Going completely vegetarian for a whole week proved slightly more difficult than I thought only because the week I chose was a week I kept forgetting to bring my lunch to school, and while I will say the veggie burger at Hero Burgers is really tasty, the selection of frozen vegetarian dinners in the convenience store is practically non-existent. However, we muddled through. Clothing-wise? I finally bought nothing! Woo!

So 20 more points for me, minus 3 for the hat. Which is good, because I'm probably going to spend all those points this month. I have sewing plans and need more fabric.

July's challenge is cleaning, and it's going to be no problem for me since I already use only microfibre clothes, baking soda, and vinegar in my cleaning. I have aluminum shakers filled with baking soda next to each of my sinks and a spray-bottle filled with a vinegar-water solution, so I'm good to go. (Alexandra mentioned How Clean is Your House? which I used to watch religiously because it made me feel so. much. better about the state of my apartment, and the guck you can scrub away using nothing more than baking soda and some elbow grease is fairly miraculous.) So let's run down the challenge list: microfibre clothes? check. dish cloths? check. NaHCO₃ and acetic acid? check. Wiping windows with newspaper? Ch... wait... I'm supposed to dust and wash my windows?

Oh, nuts.

That familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer

And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.

To get you in the proper frame of mind, go read Hark! A Vagrant's series of Great Gatsbys. Go ahead. I'll wait.

All set?

What better way to spend the first full day of summer than to dress up in 20s garb and go to the Gatsby garden party at Spadina House. I didn't manage to take a lot of pictures because my battery was dying and also because I gave the DC control over the camera and he's just not as snap-happy as I am.

Free! Free like the wind!

*Posted timey-wimey after marks were in because as of this date I was up to my armpits in marking and didn't have time to finish the blogpost.

I was a student for a very long time, and developed habits of economy that I've never really lost, even now that I've been earning a good income for a while^*. It should be no surprise to anyone who knows me when I make the following declaration:

I love free stuff.

This has been established. I have mentioned before that I love free sewing and crochet patterns since if I screw it up, I'm only on the hook for the fabric and notions, most of which I can reuse. When I saw the Fat Mum Slim photo prompt for May 22 was 'Free,' I thought I should match it to not only the location but to the outfit as well. Everything me-made I wore was made from patterns freely available on the internet.

Top to bottom: Chunky fluorite/aquamarine chandelier earrings, SwoonPatterns scarf-neck cardigan, my blueberry Colette Sorbetto hack, Lekala jeans skirt with spiral gores. I was hoping to add MakeBra's hipsters and a Burdastyle obi to the mix, but I ran out of time.

Not with a whimper: MMM14 week 5

So here we are: the final week of MMM14. The prompts again provide not much of a hint for the Where in Toronto is PhysicsGirl guessing game, so better hints are in the mouse-overs. The answer to the first one is actually given. Answers to previous weeks' locations are in the mouseovers at the bottom. I'll give the answers to this week's locations next week.

In which PhysicsGirl's hair is very frizzy: MMM14 week 4

There was much humidity this week, resulting in massive amounts of frizz. And the wearing of things I made went on. One thing I've really noticed is that I need more separates. As usual, the prompts provide some hint for the Where in Toronto is PhysicsGirl guessing game, and better hints are in the mouse-overs. Answers to previous weeks' locations are in the mouseovers at the bottom.

May 19

Alone

Pancake of the Month: Zucchini bread

Happy May 2-4, even though we still have nearly a week to go until the 24th. There's nothing lovelier on a holiday than having a nice lazy breakfast. This, naturally, calls for pancakes.

There seems to have been a lot of sugar in these parts lately, so I've been feeling I should get back to whole-grain goodness and make some slightly healthier pancakes. Fortunately, Smitten Kitchen came to my rescue (again) with a link to this recipe. Also, it's given me the opportunity to finally learn how to spell zucchini.

You only get a picture of a partial stack today because I forgot that not only does the DC have to work on a holiday, but he was going in early this morning and so had to dine and dash. No lazy brekkie for him.

The result?

To a good home: quiet, housebroken, doesn't play fetch

Last year at Christmas, unlike the previous one, I did not impose a "make all the presents" rule -- after all, there are only so many hats and scarves a person needs. I did intend to make one or two things, including one very special make...

I crocheted my mother a dog.

Or rather, I started to crochet my mother a dog.

Aged P came home from Florida last year with a book called "How to Knit Your Own Dog," with the intention of having me make her a westie; we had a westie named Geordie when I was growing up.

You won't BELIEVE what happens next: MMM14 week 3

It was much cooler and very rainy this week. The prompts this week are a bit hit and miss: a few are somewhat helpful for the Where in Toronto is PhysicsGirl guessing game, others not so much. As always, I am more verbose in the mouse-over hints. Answers to last week's locations are in the mouse-overs at the bottom.

Fabulous flares facilitate freewheeling

I ride my bike pretty much everywhere, and I don't feel that my attire should be limited by my method of transportation. Wear what you wear regularly, and don't think about it too much.

And yet. Skirts.

Suitably clad

Posted in a seriously timey-wimey fashion, because even though I wrote this in May, it took me forever to get pictures of the shorts. This is a ridiculously long post, but there is a handy tip for fixing zippers at the end.

It's spring, finally! The cherry blossoms outside Robarts Library have taken their sweet time about blooming, the temperature is finally going into the double digits on a regular basis, and... do you see where this is going?

At long last, I have finished and am blogging the Sewaholic Thurlow trousers and shorts. I made the shorts last May and had the trousers mostly done last June, but there were some fitting issues that made me hang them up on the bookcase of shame until I finally sorted them out for this year's Me-Made May.

Spring is finally here: MMM14 week 2

I have been cautiously optimistic about spring actually arriving this week -- the temperatures stayed pretty much above 10 C, climbing into the early 20s by the end of the week. The Where in Toronto is PhysicsGirl guessing game continues. The prompts this week may be a bit more challenging, clue-wise, so I'll be a bit more verbose in the mouse-overs hints. Answers to last week's locations are in the mouse-over at the bottom.