Moving right along...

This is currently my life...

When Spiderman packs your bike. #broughtthewrongbungeecords #butImadeitwork #diagonalsforthewin #bikeTO #movingallthebooks #obeyNewtons1stlawandputthecordsfromfronttoback

A post shared by Andrea M (@aem2_) on Jul 2, 2017 at 8:03am PDT

Pledgin' & plannin': Me-Made May '17

I, aem2 of PhysicsGirl on the Loose and @aem2_ on IG, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '17. I endeavour to wear 2 me-made/refashioned items each day for the duration of May 2017, repeating an item no more than once per week and without planning. I also pledge to sew at least one new item and finish one of my UFOs.

This is nearly the same pledge as last year, except that I am finally admitting my limitations and know that if I couldn't finish my sewing plans and UFOs last year when I had nothing but free time, there's no way I will finish all my UFOs and planned things to sew when I've barely had time to breathe this year. So, I'm only planning to sew one new thing and finish one UFO. I will also be taking pictures around the city using Fat Mum Slim's Photo-a-day prompts. There's no Flickr group this year, so I'll be doing my usually weekly round up here and possibly daily on IG.

I haven't sewn anything since last July, so this will be a bit of a challenge. I have many planned things to sew, too. Some of them are even cut out. Sadly, many of them are the same as last year's plans, which pretty much proves my point. I'm presenting them from most-likely to be finished to least-likely. I'm limiting my plans to things where I already have the fabric ready to go and where I can wear it in the next few months (so all that grey wool flannel will have to wait).

I cut out two Swoon cardigans last December: one in teal merino and another eked out of a grey sweater knit acquired from Andie. I'm actually hoping to sew both of these this month, but I'm leaving my options open. I don't know why I didn't include these in my #2017MakeNine -- had I managed to sew them in the first few days of January, I would have at least been able to check something off.

Moot point, anyway.

White Mathilde blouse. I cut this out a few weeks ago and I could easily sew this in increments, so this might be The One.

A McCall's 8789 sheath in tan check that I cut out 3 years ago.

I have one pair of viable jeans, my yet-to-blogged-but-when-I-do-it-will-be-back-dated Jalie pair. I need more pairs desperately and have the denim ready to go. The pattern needs to be modified at the waist. I'd love to be able to at least have these cut out before the end of the month.

Tiramisu in blue/green abstract knit that I bought in Montreal two summers ago. Realistically, this is probably a June project.

I have a pair of RTW black capris in swishy but sweaty polyester that I've been wanting to copy in a breathable linen. I bought the linen at Mood last June, so now all I have to do is make a pattern from the original. No biggie, right?

As for UFOs, they are legion, but I'd like to at least finish my glen laid Thurlow trousers. The waistband needs to be partially unpicked and the darts deepened.

I am also going to attempt one back-dated post per week; the jeans might finally get their day in the limelight.

Fingers crossed.

2016: Still waters running deep

Things have been a little... quiet... on the blog lately. As predicted, school has been kicking my butt time-wise, but I did do some things this past year. I'm going to make a concerted effort in the new year to follow my original goal of blogging on average once a week. Many posts are currently sitting in the drafts folder, but they will see the light of day. Maybe even this year.^*

On with the yearly wrap-up. It was a year. The consensus is that it sucked globally, but personally, it was pretty good. I had 8 months of vacation, followed by 4 months of making up for it in spades. The DC and I celebrated our first anniversary as married adorables and my cat Lucy celebrated her 17th birthday by finally realizing that she has massive arthritis in her hips and so therefore shouldn't be leaping from the sewing table to the ironing board and that she could, in fact, pee on this.

It's official: we are the cutest

Try not to throw up.

Our wedding, photographed by the fabulous Rabbat Photography (and which I'm gonna blog about at some point) been featured on The Wedding Co. website. Go check it out!

Catching up, planning, and pledging

I find it ironic that with all my free time this year I haven't really updated my blog in forever. Case in point: I actually finished the Errandonnée in the allotted time, but it's waiting to be blogged. I have many posts in draft but it seems I'd rather spend my leave year being a hermit and reading or crocheting while marathoning forensics documentaries than blogging about it. Which is weird, because I like blogging. Not about forensic documentaries. Although I do have a drinking game.

Heartwrenching: Errandonnées #10-12

Yesterday was the last day of the Errandonnée, and I still needed to complete two more errands and ride a bunch more kilometres. And so I did.



The recent rise in temperature has led us to believe we won't need our space heater again, so I strapped it to my Opus to take it to our storage locker. It's an odd shape, with an asymmetric bulge at the back, so I had to balance it at an angle and it was a bit awkward biking with the top right beside the seat. I was worried that the horrible state of road on Ossington would bounce it right off, but that net bungee held it solidly.

I'm sure this will come back to bite us in a month.

Urban weekending: Errandonnées #5-9

This past weekend was very urbany. It included shopping, a quasi-event, and brunch.

Errandonnée month means it's time to get my library card renewed. These days I've mostly been downloading ebooks, which is excellent for borrowing library books for the completely lazy because if you forget to pick them up or return them they just return themselves, no fine accruing. Alas, you still have to renew your card in person, so yesterday I set off up the road. It was one of those days were you feel that Spring is definitely about to happen; 17°C, sunny, and nary a curb snowbank in sight.

Gracefully Saved: Errandonée #1

The Errandonée started on Friday, but I didn't get started until today. I celebrated by dragging the DC out of bed so we could catch an early table for brunch at Saving Grace. He was thrilled, so say the least.

Errandonnée 2016: The triple double letter score is back!

It's ba-ack! The Errandonnée, one of my favourite times of year, sponsored by MG of Chasing Mailboxes DC.

I'm a much more successful errandoneure than coffeeneure, although this year the work category will be a bit trickier to complete.

Basic rules: Starting March 4, do 12 errands in 9 different categories in 12 days, going at least 3.34 km (2 miles) per errand, for a total of 50.1 km (30 miles). This year, you can even run as well as biking should that be your thing.

I've been a total hermit this year, so this will give me the impetus to get off my tush and do stuff. And maybe even catch up on all the blogging. Bring it.

Lucky number thirteen, and there's an end: Errandonnées #12 - 13

I was not planning to be finished the Errandonnée yesterday. Today was warm, and I thought I would go out and wash my bike, which it desperately needs, and go to the library, but the lure of the jammies was too great and I actually sewed some stuff and ran some internal errands. So here are my final entries.

Careful the things you say: Errandonnées #9 - 11

Pi Day is also the first day of this year's March Break. My usual modus operandi for the holiday is to laze around at the beginning, then rush around like a madwoman near the end trying to get stuff done. I thought I'd try a different strategy this time.

It sort of worked. I totally lazed this morning, then, realizing I would have to get a move on if I wanted to get some errands in before going to see a movie. Now, normally, I would have probably let the errands go in favour of not getting dressed, but... Errandonnée!

The Errandonnée: good for my social life and for Getting Stuff Done.

Not only Stuff, but Stuff That I've Been Meaning To Do For A Good Long While. Like take about $50 in rolled nickels and dimes to the bank (partially exchanged for $25 in loonies).

Turns out $50 in tiny coins is a lot heavier than twice $25 in loonies.

Warmer... warmer... oops! colder... warmer...: Errandonnées #5 - 8

This week, it was all one errand per day; in the past I would did individual daily posts, but I'm going to lump them all together.

This post is a bit picture-heavy. You're welcome.

Monday on the way home from school, I realized I had just enough time to go renew my library card. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was actually too warm to wear my earwarmers. Delightful!

In which PhysicsGirls acquires too many shoes: Errandonnées #2-4

Saturday... was warm. Well, warm-er. As in, close to freezing. It was very exciting. I've been going around saying "+1!"



What do I do when it is almost-but-not-quite +1? Errandonnée on my bike without a face mask. And buy shoes, apparently. It was glorious.

I am officially tired of winter: Errandonnée #1

Another year, another Errandonnée from MG at chasing mailboxes. 12 errands, 12 days. Starting today. As usual, I'm going to try to hit all the categories. Kind of looking forward to "You carried WHAT on your bike?" You've got until the 16th to fit them all in, should you wish to play along at home.

Even though there's only one errand here, this post is a bit long. However, it has it all: biking, ranting, craftiness, and science. Yay errandonnée!

It's been solidly in the negative teens to twenties for months. Yesterday, we had a brief lift up into merely freezing, only for it to plunge back down just in time to start off this year's errandonnée with yet another bitterly cold ride to work.

I bring you tidings of great joy

The DC gave me a very special birthday gift today. He asked Lucy if he could be part of her forever home.



She said yes.

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?

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.

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.