It's baaaack: Errandonnée 2017

It is that time of year again. To see the month of March out, the chasing mailboxes biking challenge I usually manage to finish (if not to finish blogging): the Errandonnée.

There are rules, because rules make it more fun. I will probably be mainly Instagramming this one (did I mention of course I haven't mentioned because I haven't blogged in forever, so now I will say that I finally got a smartphone and an Instagram account. Not in that order.) Perhaps coincidentally, this year's Errandonnée begins on Jour du Macaron. Because that works out nicely.

As a pre-Errandonnée errand in the category of "You carried WHAT on your bike", I had to take Lucy to the vet because she's ... not well. I promise that the carrier was level when we were actually moving, and the tilt is only from getting the phone out of the purse after we got home.

I was framed. Framed, I tell ya! #sickkitty #youcarriedwhatonyourbike?

A post shared by Andrea M (@aem2_) on Mar 16, 2017 at 12:23pm PDT

It's Pi Day, Pi Day, gotta get down on Pi Day

Things have been very, very quiet on the blog. I have many posts in draft which may or may not get published in the near future, but for now it's Pi Day. Several people linked me to this article in the Guardian (hint: the first one is a trick question), which led me on to this article about why we use π. I thought it was Euler, because it's always Euler, and he did popularize it, but turns out the first recorded use was in William Jones's 1706 Summary of Mathematical Achievements.

And now you know.

And, of course, Vi Hart's annual anti-pi rant. Which is a bit more subversive this time.

Making nine... plus a little bit more

Happy perihelion, everyone! To celebrate, I'm jumping on board the #2017makenine bandwagon, because I like planning. Whether I will have time to finish them is another question.

Oh yeah, I'm on Instagram as @aem2_. Yes, I finally joined the 21st century.

A post shared by Andrea M (@aem2_) on Jan 1, 2017 at 3:10pm PST

These are all things I've been planning for a while, and I even have fabric for most of them. Tops: Sewaholic Renfrew in black merino, Tilly and the Buttons Mathilde in white, Muse Jenna in chocolate brown merino. Bottoms: Jalie jeans; Simplicity trumpet skirt in grey flannel wool; Sewaholic Thurlows in likewise. Outers: Sewaholic Cyprus cape and Robson trench, and ClosetCase Files Clare coat.

If I get nothing else made this year, I really, really need a new pair of jeans. I have to take in the waist and let out the butt on the pattern, which is why I've been putting it off.

Naturally, my plans extend beyond these nine. Especially since I've got two Swoon cardigans cut and ready to be sewn, although I'm hoping to sew those before I go back to work on Monday, which is sort of why I'm not counting them in my nine. I have so many plans, but other than the outerwear and white t-shirts, I'm trying to limit myself to the ones where I have the fabric/yarn already, since I'm running out of fabric storage space.

Swoon cardigans in teal merino and grey sweater knit

Cake Tiramisu in blue/green abstract knit

even more jeans... I've got enough denim for four pairs

socks: I need to make the second of Aged P's Sidney's sideways socks plus a pair for me, Magic Bean Stalk-ings

Asymmetric cardigan in white acrylic from Aged P

UFOs to finish:

Sewaholic Thurlow in tan glen plaid

My granddad pants need to have the zipper replaced

McCall's 8789 sheath in tan check

NL6000 sassy librarian dress in navy suiting & white linen

Sewaholic Alma

Plus many things where I need to resew a seam and add buttons. Ugh.

I'm not going to plan these out, even though that's usually how I guarantee that they will get done, because I don't want to either rush the make or feel guilty if I don't get it done in time. The only thing I really need to finish is Aged P's second sock in time for her birthday.

Here's hoping.

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.

New year

My second leave year is up and I'm back at school. I only learned my schedule last week, and I have 4 (out of 6) preps this year; 1 of them is new, 2 of them are the pre-AP versions of courses I've taught before so they might as well be new, and while I've taught the fourth once before, we're making a few changes to how it's taught. So, yeah. Going to be a frantically busy year.^*

But you know how the kids seem to be getting younger every year?

Huh.

I've been doing some stuff that I will post timey-wimely (much like this post) to make it look like I've been keeping up with this blog thing at the same time as solidly crocheting and theatre-going and dining-in-white, among other things. But school is going to kick my butt for a while, so... yeah. Stay tuned. But don't hold your breath.

^*Especially since this year is the year I stay on top of my marking. No, really.

Stop laughing.

What a smashing, absolutely dashing spectacle

Another weekend, another opportunity to dress up — and inadvertently complete a Vintage Pledge make. I mean, it being a Vintage Pledge make was inadvertent; I only realized that the hat applied on my way home. Yay, planning. Handy, since it's #VPJuly and all. Scroll down if you're only here for the food clothes, because here be horses.

All I know about horse racing comes from Dick Francis mysteries and The Sting but I've always wanted to go to the racetrack, so I was happy to join in when a bunch of pals decided to go to the 157th running of the Queen's Plate at Woodbine on Sunday.


I lucked out by getting this handsome lad to go with me. First stop: the Hats and Horseshoes Party where all the food and beverages were tasty but seriously overpriced. Also? There was croquet. Just like the Gatsby Party, right?

Why math is important: A 20s dress

I've pledged to make 2-3 things for my vintage pledge. One is this 20s dress gleaned from Loran's World's Art of the 20s dress challenge.

Update: Loran got it from The Midvale Cottage Post (specifically this post, but check out all the amazing 1920s stuff at that first link); I thought I had the original source can't believe I didn't click through. The pattern is from Ruth Wyeth Spears.


It's not a terribly useful dress, but it's oh so pretty. Chiffon. Floaty. I kept thinking this dress was familiar from somewhere...