Where's the head model when you need one?

Check it out! I recently gained a new obsession - knitting - and it's already improving my life. I just finished my FIRST hat! Before attempting this, I made a scarf using entirely seed stitch (sorry, I'm too lazy to get out of this chair to take a photo of it. And, it's only on the other side of my room.). Anyway, onto the hat. My dear sister re-taught me to knit over Thanksgiving and I fell for it hard. Though this was my first hat, I wanted to actually wear it and I was already bored with basic stockinette. I loved Grumperina's Odessa hat. As you can see, my "interpretation" is somewhat different, specifically all the ribbings near the top are smooshed together and I eliminated the beads.

But, in any case, I'll still wear this lovely hat.





And, as soon as I finish weaving in the ends, I'll show off my next project: Fetching mittens. I already want to make so many beautiful things, like the Hourglass Sweater (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) to a lightweight vintage-looking cardigan (I can't find a pattern and may need to design one of my own).

By the way, can anyone guess what's modeling my hat? Don't laugh, but I couldn't take a picture of it on my own head, so I used my rolled up air pad that I always take camping. Aparently I have a head the size of an air pad. Gives new meaning to air headed. :)

January Photograph Techniques

So, since it's January, I feel it's finally time to show a few pictures from this past Thanksgiving. Lest you think I'm dredging up shots from two whole months ago 'cause I have done absolutely nothing since then, think not! Just refer to yesterday's post about being a bad blogger and not taking pictures.

Anyhoo... I was spending five whole minutes NOT watching my man Jack by browsing my iPhoto library when I found these. There we were. My whole family (including two new sisters-in-law and a future sister-in-law) watching my Dad take his new-to-him sailboat out for it's inaugural outing. And unlike my normal self, I had my Canon ready to snap up all manor of picturesque scenery (Ha! Did you just notice that incredibly clever pun?!).

(IMHO, the pictures look much lovelier blown up. Click on them to see for yourself).

Christmas Repast

I have been a bad blogger. I made several gifts this Christmas and either forgot to pics of them or took the only pic of them with a cell phone camera. Quelle horrer!

To start appeasing my dear readers who deserve lots of pretties to look at, I bring you the following (and more pics in future posts).

1. Since no one related to me ventured to my home this season, here's the first obligatory shot of my Xmas decorations. Yeah, the walls really are a textured yellow. Not my choice and I'm not allowed to repaint.


2. A gift for my mom. It turned out a bit narrower than I was hoping for. But, that's what I get for not measuring before cutting. I really need to get away from treating purses like scrap quilts. Purses really do look better if you measure and draw the pattern beforehand.


3. Finally, gifts for my staff. I work in a pretty small library (8 full time staff) and I wanted to make everyone something this year in addition to the usual giftcard. These are little felt ornaments in the shape of our college initials. Cute, no?

Procrastinating

In a concerted effort to at post at least once this month as well as to postpone the inevitable (typing grad school papers), I bring you this...

I typically don't like completing all those memes floating around the Internet. I never feel that my answers are creative enough to match the ones I read. Well, I saw one over at Pixiegenne that looked fun and spontaneous enough to actually complete. It's my life as a movie soundtrack ... using my own music collection. For this to work, I placed my iPod on suffle and answered the following questions using whatever song came up next. To tell the truth, I wanted to cheat a couple times, but resisted and just let the iPod genius dictate my life's soundtrack. I also was hoping that my more eclectic music would make more of a presence, but - again - you can't fight the iPod. So, here is my past and future, set to music.

opening credits:
“Caberet Hoover” by Ben Charest (The Triplets of Belleville soundtrack)

waking up:
“Sentimental Journey” by Doris Day

first day at school:
“That don’t impress me much” by Shania Twain

falling in love:
“Sleigh Ride” *Isn’t Christmas such a romantic time?

Breaking up:
“All I Need (I Did Not Catch Her Name)” by Caedmon’s Call

prom:
“Mah Na Mah Na” by The Muppets

life’s okay:
“He’s Funny That Way” by Etta James

mental breakdown:
“In the Jailhouse Now” by The Soggy Bottom Boys

driving:
“Who’ll Stop the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival *What’s up with this? I live in SUNNY California!

flashback:
“Psalm 32” by Steve Bell

getting back together:
“Three to Get Ready” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet

wedding:
“On the Street Where You Live” by Bobby Darin *Seeing as how I'm not married, I don't know what to make of this selection.

birth of child:
“The Half of It, Dearie Blues” by Ella Fitzgerald *It’s strange, but this song kinda fits

final battle:
“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” by The Kingston Trio

death scene:
“One” by Three Dog Night *Oh My Gosh! This would be sooooo sad!

funeral song:
“What is This Thing Called Love?” by Cole Porter

end credits:
“Remaking” by Justin Christian

Anyone else interested in playing?

Sew-a-long: Purse in a Weekend

I've been wanting to make this type of purse for a while and got the right amount of encouragement when Celine over at Vol d’oies suggested a sew-a-long to make that purse! And, to even make it in one weekend! Well, a girl doesn't need much more encouragement than that.

I invited my good pal Nancy to hang out at the house Saturday night for some girly conversations while we both worked on projects: her on sorting paperwork, me on the following purse. I still have to sew a button onto the front and finish the bottom of the lining, but I couldn't wait to take a picture.



A bit closer...



This purse was so fun and easy to make. It took only about 4 hours to make and was made entirely from my stash. The hardest part was picking and cutting the fabric. Not that cutting fabric is challenging, but I just liked my fabric sooo much I almost couldn't cut it. That white fabric with the red squigles is actually from a vintage pillowcase. The red is hand stiched embroidery. Parts of the pillowcase are badly stained so I salvaged the good parts for this bag. Almost all the rest of the patches are leftovers from previous projects or fabric given to me by good friends.



On a slightly related note, if you remember, the purse mentioned in my previous post (the one with the embroidered pig), I gave to a good friend a couple of weeks ago. Since that friend has actually been using the purse, others have seen it. Well, today after church, a gal came up to me and said that she'd like to commission a purse! I've never been so flattered as a sewer before. Sure, I've gotten compliments on my sewn items before, but this was so unexpected. First, I didn't have to fish for the compliment. And second, it was by someone who doesn't even know me that well, and thus, doesn't "have" to compliment my creations. I wish I had more time to make items for everyone just so I can get more compliments like this!

WIPs Done!

Hey Sis! (Does anyone else read this blog? I'd love to meet'cha in the comment section).

A couple WIPs are finished and I wanted to share the pics with ya.



Don't ya just love that pig? I was making the bag and knew it needed that something extra. It was then that I saw my banana-leaf bag from Rwanda hanging from a wooden pig-shaped hook. Next thing I knew, I was hand embroidering a pig on that modern bag. It's almost too cute to give away. Almost.



Categories: crafts_sewing

Family Pics

It's been too long since I've posted, but I still don't have time this morning for a *real* post, so I'll try to placate my many many visitors with one of my fav family snapshots. That's me, my brother and twin sister from probably 1980 or so. Enjoy!



Categories: my_family

Work in Progress (WIP)

Of all the many projects I have going on right now, I thought I'd share the prettiest.



It's a purse I just started working one. However, it's going to sit on the ironing board for a while until I can finish the more urgent and important projects looming: dissertation group meeting tomorrow with chapter one due; need to organize lessons for three classes I'm teaching tomorrow; need to organize what I'm presenting at an important meeting with all the Deans tomorow. So, no more fun sewing projects for the next few days at least.

Categories: crafts_sewing

Labor Day Weekend

We didn't do that much over this very relaxing weekend, but I did manage it capture most of it on my camera. So, enjoy this short slideshow of Dad realizing his lifelong dream. View slideshow

Categories: my_family

Movie night

Olive: Grandpa, am I pretty?
Grandpa: You are the most beautiful girl in the world.
Olive: You're just saying that.
Grandpa: No! I'm madly in love with you and it's not because of your brains or your personality.

Just saw Little Miss Sunshine last night and for someone who always likes quirky independent films, this one was fantabulous! Of course, the language could have been cleaned up, but all the characters were unique, dysfunctional and yet funny. Special message to my sis... If you haven't seen this, you'll love it!

Also, sis, remind me to tell you about the rest of the night. Off-blog conversation piece.

Categories: my_family

Pillow and the Orient Express

I needed a little pillow for my office chair and had so much cute fabric upstairs, so as a part of my resolve to Use-What-You-Have, I made this little pillow after getting home late last night.

Speaking of last night, every year the president of my university hosts a Faculty Dinner. The past couple of years have had themes and we all are encouraged to dress according to the theme. Well, this year's theme was the 1930's and 1940's Orient Express. Everyone was so gorgeous! Some people dressed like gangsters (even with fake tommy guns), others wore vintage stoles and pill box hats. But, my favorites were the two Kinesiology profs who both dressed up as boxers. They had white dress shirts, suspenders, newsboy caps, and vintage boxing gloves. They were sooo cute! And, on top of the cuteness of the outfits, the dining room was decked out with old luggage and other decorations straight out of the Orient Express. I even sat on pillows at a short table with a few others that mimicked a table from Turkey. I tell ya, we had a blast!

Categories: crafts_sewing

I did it!!!

I finally committed. I bit the bullet. I took the plunge. [enter your saying here].

I have a real - live and kicking - website!

http://www.bookwormadventures.com

Thanks to my Dad for giving me space on the official McLaughlin website, but I wanted to experiment with databases and other potentially website-crippling technologies that I really needed my own space. So, (for those non-family members reading this. Are there any? Hello, anyone?), if you want the family details, go to http://www.mclaughlin.web.st/mclaughlins/Welcome.html.

Otherwise, check out my new site for online photo albums and the occassional video. The blog is staying put for the time being.

You notice how late it is?!? I'm going to bed!

Categories: new_house

Corners of my home - Bathroom

It's a few hours early, but I doubt I'll be awake enough in the morning tomorrow to post this. For this week's "Corners of my home" I thought I'd highlight an area of the house people rarely highlight: the bathroom. Specifically, how the sweet yellow walls contrast with the bathrobe and old needlework that my sis gave me.




BTW, I'm pretty sure a cricket or two have gotten in through that cute old fashioned window. Just to add a bit of reality to the shots.

Categories: new_house

Monday Memories

I've been threatening my new sisters-in-law that their husbands once wore a dress. Well, here's the proof. I think my favorite aspect are the thumbs-up by Marshall. Hope ya'll enjoy. Now, go tease the boys.

Categories: my_family

Look, girls! Is it not a fine prospect?

Since I now live at Netherfield Hall, I thought I'd start a regular series showing corners of my new house. For now, be prepared to see lots of boxes but his first shot is for my mom. This room is called the Great Room and is the first room you enter from the front entrance. There's a fireplace on the right and two (of the four) bedrooms are through that door on the left. My master bedroom is down the hall on the right. Sometime later, I'll post pictures of the upstairs and kitchen.

Categories: new_house

Wedding Gift

I decided recently that I like to sew quick projects that I can finish in a couple or few days. But, since I have no need for so many purses and bags, that I ought to give them away. And, since many of my friends are gettin' hitched this summer, what better way to have fun sewing and give a unique gift. So, the following for a friend's wedding. She was in my group of 7 who went to Paris this past January so, I figured that her purse should be somewhat chic and dressy, just in case she and her new hubby jet across the pond to the City of Lights. Enjoy Melinda!

New Home!

For those who haven't visited or seen pictures yet, here's my new home! Most of my stuff are still in boxes and my furniture (expect the bed) is still in the entryroom waiting for strong houseguests to help me move it. The house is a 1920 English Tudor on a quiet residential street close to my campus. It has two fireplaces, 4 bedrooms, hardwood floors, pool, new landscaping, and even a big screen HD TV!

My favorite things so far about the house is being able to walk barefoot on wooden floors and not hearing noisy neighbors stomping or blaring loud music.

 

School life

I keep thinking whenever I sit down to write a posting, that I'll share how my dissertation is going. But, then I get to the computer and my dissertation sounds so absolutely boring compared to all my sewing projects. So, before I get sidetracked, here's how the dissertation is progressing.

My study is going to look at the steps that a library director takes to transform their small liberal arts college library into a doctoral research library. I plan on interviewing and surveying a dozen (hopefully I'll find that many) library directors that took their small library and transformed it into a large library that would be able to support doctoral research. I'll then ask them what steps they followed and what were the major obstacles or challenges they faced during that time. When I finish, I hope to be able to present a list of best practices for other library directors to follow.

So, that's what I intend to do. My process to writting this thing is this: My dissertation will have 5 chapters and they are not written sequentially. Chapters 1 and 3 I expect to have finished by the middle to end of August. Chapter 1 is the introduction to the entire study. It basically expands the paragraph above into 10-20 pages. Chapter 3 is my methodology: exactly how I intend to conduct my research - interviews, size of the population, etc. After I have those two chapters nearly complete, I meet with my dissertation chair and two other dissertation committee members that he picks. We all then discuss my study. During this time I get to start writting chapter 2, the Literature Review. Due to the nature of the Lit Review, it will not be finished until right up til I turn in the dissertation. I'm supposed to continuously gather and analyze all of the literature that discusses my topic to make sure that I am THE expert on that subject. Chapters 4 and 5 are written after I gather and analyze my data (those surveys and interviews). Chapter 4 is the Data Analysis chapter. It contains no fancy words, only repeating what the data revealed. The final chapter is the Conclusion. In that, I talk about "what it all means." I get to make suppositions, list the best practices, and use fancy conclusion-sounding language. And then, of course, is the bibliography. Knowing me, it'll be pretty long.

For anyone still reading, that's the entire dissertation process. I'll save the description of the Oral Defense for a later day, when you've forgotten the pain of reading the previous paragraph. Now, back to posting about fun sewing or photography projects.

New Banner

So I finally finished the final banner for this little blog (see above). When I started this wee adventure, I had envisioned a banner showing a girl reading with her imagination just going in the background. Through the manipulation of a bunch of clip art drawings and some of my own doodles, I finally got it. I promise not to change this for a looong while.

Sewing project

I was in Ikea the other day and found this cute red fabric that I figured would make a great bag. Good thing that the friend I plan to give this to doesn't read this site.