Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Wedding and Mayberry

 Saturday was the wedding! We were cutting it close, but not too bad, until we discovered there was a walk (not a short one) between the parking and the ceremony. It was a graveled path (glad I didn't wear my heels), which is not a quiet walk, so we stopped short a distance away. We were waved on by a member of the wedding party. We circled around to the seating and were lucky enough to have partial shade. 

And I was glad to have my hand fan, which coincidentally matched the one they were handing out to attendees. 

It was lovely. They both looked so wonderful. They had a very large wedding party but the bridesmaids were not all matchy-matchy. They wore the same color (pomegranate, which was the wedding theme because they apparently shared one during their 1st date), but in dresses, jumpsuits, sleeveless, spaghetti straps, etc.

After the ceremony, we went to the pavilion for the reception. Still outdoors, but under a roof and with ceiling fans. Waitstaff circulated with hors d'oeuvres; cucumber slices with dill cream cheese and also dollops of bacon jam and pimento on pork rind. They helped stave off starvation until the wedding party arrived (from the picture taking) and food was served, buffet style. 

The music was great and it was lovely meeting some of the couple's friends. There was dancing and laughter and conversation. Guests wore everything from cargo shorts or jeans to full 3-piece suits. There was also a photo kiosk with a table of silly hats and props. Users had the option of printing 2 copies, 1 for themselves and 1 for the wedding photo album. 

I knew my dress was short, but I didn't realize how short until I sat down. I had to adjust every time I stood up to make it reach my knees. At least I looked good. Although I had to hang it up to dry before I tossed it in with the dirty clothes.

We knew we were going to be up late and it's a 2+ hour drive home so we had a hotel room. And since we were 'in the area' we went to Mt. Airy and visited Mayberry Square.

Alas, it wasn't quite noon, on Sunday. Very little was open, including the bathrooms in the park. We did some window shopping but it was ridiculously hot and humid. We made it to the Antique Mall's (lots of individual vendor booths under 1 roof) opening hour (AC!), looked around a little and went to grab lunch to eat in the park. We went back to the antique mall but the $12 jar of buttons was gone, oh well, I missed it. I did get a large jar of sewing notions (mostly thread, but some buttons, scissors, etc) and a hatpin! It's a very plain hatpin, but within my budget. I saw one piece of tatting, on a tea towel (I think). Nice enough but didn't blow my skirt up. I was flipping through 1 of the collections vintage hankies and picked up a nice linen one. Last, but not least, we stopped and got a charcuterie board. We headed home after that but I'd like to go back and see the stuff we missed.

Tuesday was dental fun. More dental fun on Thursday. It's very discouraging. I'm doing a pretty good job on dental care but my teeth are still getting worse. I'd like them to at least stay at this level of ugh. 

I tatted IOLI's tatted note, the one for the 2024 convention. But in crappy thread with crappy results. I'll try it again in better thread.

I finished my sample of method 5 from Rosemarie Peel's Tatting with Beads and the 1st project from Mastering Tatting by Lindsay Rogers (not pictured). Today, I finished (maybe) the Chinese coin based on Jane Eborall's magnet bookmark pattern. On the drive to the wedding, I finished the 2nd row of the hankie Sue Hanson sent me. I made a mistake on 2 sides, miscounted the stitch count. Now I need to decide if I'm going to do a 3rd round. It's all chain so it's not hard. I used two different variegated greens to tat hondu (Japanese turtle pattern) but I can't find it.

Chinese coin held in circle of tatting, coin shows flower

Chinese coin, 50, held in circle of tatting

Multicolor tatted butterfly

Book cover: Tatted Butterflies by Adelheid Dangela, with picture of tatted butterfly



Handkerchief with 2 rows of chain tatting

Bracelet made with metal beads & tatted iridescent braiding cord






Sunday, June 25, 2023

Missed last week

 Had no idea what to write. 

Went to see my parents this past weekend. I finished the bookmark I made for dad, just in time. On Wednesday, I went to Michael's after work, to find ribbon for it (and some beading wire). Just as I was in the middle of ringing up, the storm took out the store's power. Blackout. Everyone out.




I went back Thursday and found some iridescent braiding cord. I was looking for something like Kreinik braid but they didn't have it. They did have braiding cord in the kids' crafts section.



Saturday, June 10, 2023

Gaming and shopping

 I finally tried on my 'go to wedding' dress, that I haven't worn in about 10 years. No real surprise, it doesn't fit. I have a wedding to attend at the end of the month so I need to go shopping. I'm frugal (cough, cheap) regarding clothes (and I have an intense dislike of fast fashion) so it's off to the thrift shops. 

My 1st foray was unsuccessful. It's a late afternoon, outdoor wedding so I want a sleeveless dress, and I have a bolero style sweater to wear over it. Naturally, white is completely unacceptable. No matter how pretty that white eyelet is. And yellow makes me look like I have jaundice. Guess what the 2 most popular summery dress colors are.

I did find a really cute gingham dress, but that's a bit too casual for this wedding. I have been to 2 weddings it would have been just fine, so it all depends. I think I found another one. I took a picture and showed it to a couple people and thought it was nice. It's a pretty floral sundress. 

Spaghetti strap floral dress on a hanger

It's a bit shorter than I had in mind, but I'm short too so it's about knee length on me instead of being a mini-dress. No hemming necessary! And 2/3 of the dresses I saw were either minis or maxis, so I was glad to find something I felt comfortable wearing. And the other third had that very fashionable 'looks like a 2-piece from the back' design.

Our Pathfinder game was this past weekend. Everyone made it (except the one person who I suspect has dropped out, alas). Our characters are now 4th level! Yay! 

We also have our 5e game on Thursday. We got the maguffin last session, but not in the right way. Now we need to correct that (story below).

Button with frill of attached tatting and two beaded length of tatting


5e story: The maguffin is a magic item that has to be stolen to work for the new owner, it can't be given or sold. We were commissioned to get it, in exchange for something we need. The 1 family member who really doesn't believe this is a good idea got it but she didn't sign the contract with the person who commissioned us. So she can only give it to them. Except, if she does that, it no longer works. The only way it would work, is if someone who did sign the contract (aka other family members with her), steal it from her. As agents of said person, it will be properly stolen.