Ready To Start Sewing and Knitting New Projects

Yesterday was one wet day with a high of 8C. This morning it is cloudy and 6C. Today is supposed to be a mix of everything but snow with a high of 10C. 

Lifestyle

On Wednesday I had osteopathy and it was a great session. I had one good crack about 2 minutes in and most of the work was done on my SI joint. After my session I headed into Bedford to do some shopping. 

Yesterday I didn't want to do anything due to the weather. I was also doing research as daughter is having problems with mediation. She was informed that he has stalled. She was going to counter her proposal. I said no and she finally listened to the person she hired who also said no. So it sits until he submits a counter proposal. 

I did go to New Minas to pay the bill for the car's repairs. It was pricy but the car is working well and I am having good gas mileage once again. This car will probably be my last vehicle which makes the expense more bearable. 

I sat once I got home as I had no energy thanks to the weather. It was depressing outside and I even had lights on in the house. I did reflect on the month and realized it has been a funny month weather wise. It was cool, then warm, then cool and we have had quite a bit of rain. There was frost 3 days in a row in late May. The month is ending cooler than normal temperatures. 

Sewing

I have not sewn for 2 days. I am hoping it will be bright enough to sew today. 

I did go to the quilt shop with the quilt I had made in March. I chose a navy flannel for the back and a flower design for the quilting in a lovely shade of blue. 

I picked up the teal fabrics for daughter's quilt and am getting excited to start it. 

I was asked to take part in a tote contest at the quilt shop. It is to have a Maritime theme to it. I am not an east coast girl so lighthouses, lobsters, etc. are not what I want to sew. I looked around the shop and found this fabric. 

The stripe I can see cutting apart and do a quilt as you go with it. The dark I can see as piping and trim. 

The mottled fabric I can see as lining or something interesting on the bag. The blue may or may not be used. I am now in the designing stage of making this bag. 

I have also been in love with the Peter Rabbit fabric in the store but I found rabbit fabric I love more. 

And the tossed carrots are equally as cute.

I found this pattern which I will use for my tote for the contest and for the bunny fabric. 

Here is the mini tote made up in the rabbit fabric. 

As the tote for the contest doesn't have to handed in until July 31, I will make the tote out of fabric in the stash first to get a feel for the pattern. Then I will make the tote using my ideas that I am thinking about. The bonus is -- how to make the tote is on Youtube. 

Knitting

I knit to the end of the yarn and am about 10 rows short. 

I am going to unravel it and may put all the scrap bits of yarn into a jar to display in the sewing room. If I don't do that, I will get rid of them as I will never knit them into something. 

I did buy yarn to make myself a knitted blanket. I am going to cast it on and knit on it every other night with a small project on alternate nights. I chose a denim ombre yarn that I have wanted for years. More on it when I cast on the stitches. 

Thoughts

    I did a lot more thinking about May than the weather. I realized that not having my car had affected me more than I wanted it to. It was mentally draining me not being able to get out when I wanted to. Even having the rental car was not filling that void. I let my thoughts circle around and around and finally realized that I need to get out more often and do things that make me happy. 

    I was looking at how long my lawn is due to the wet weather. I looked at the bare spots and the lawn seed has sprouted and the new grass is a good inch high. Success in that department. The lawn was sprayed on Tuesday and the dandelions are dying like crazy. I have to spray some weeds next week when we have a couple of sunny days. In the meantime I hope my lawn gets mowed soon as it is almost a jungle out there. 

Today

I am home today so will do a bunch of cleaning this morning. I am hoping to make soup also. This afternoon I want to start sewing on the linen items I have ready to cut out. Tonight I will cast on the stitches for the blanket. I am feeling ready to start new projects. 

Until the next time...............................................

Starting A New Project

 Yesterday was sunny and warm with a high of 22C. This morning it is cloudy, rainy, and 9C. Today is supposed to have lots of showers with a high of 14C.

Lifestyle

I had an interesting morning. I fell down a rabbit hole on fabric dyes wondering what the Acadians used pre deportation. I had a lot of questions and I read a lot of information using AI. If it had a questionable reference, I read and discarded if I found no other information like it. Acadians probably used a lot of natural dyes for their home spun linen and wool fabrics though chemical dyes were also used. Registers show that Acadians used red shrouds for their red fabric, unraveling the fabric and weaving it with other colours for stripes. Black and indigo were chemical dyes brought in on ships. Natural dyes were from locally grown plants or from the wild were either already known or introduced by the Indigenous people. One plant that was mentioned in my search was woad which makes cloth blue. I did my research and it didn't grow in Nova Scotia though it does grow in other provinces. It is an invasive and noxious weed which I have seen a few times when traveling in parts of BC. 

I did finish reading about buckles. A mix of both utilitarian and fancy were found at all sites indicating the wealth of some people in the area. People may have had fancy buckles on items they wore to church or other social functions and plain buckles for everyday clothing. Most everyday foot wear could have been moccasins and wooden shoes which had not buckles. There was a lot of influence from France, Britain, and the US on items like buckles. 

I did fold laundry and I did load the car with items that I took to the community hall for a yard sale this Saturday. Daugher-in-law loaded her car without me knowing as I had the tv on keeping me company while cutting out patterns and fabric. 

Sewing

I cut out patterns I printed. I did cut out the short gown pattern and a chemise patterns and then cut out the chemise, apron, and scarf from linen. 

I did dig out some lace for the chemise sleeve. I do know that some Acadian women had lace and that they did make lace using bodkins. I probably will put it away as it was not common on chemises but on outer clothing. 

The skirt and coat patterns are cut out and I will look at fabric tomorrow when I take my quilt top in to be long arm quilted. 

Knitting

I knit on the doll's sweater and am going to be playing yarn chicken with it. 

I am thinking that I may take all the small balls of leftover sock yarn and put them into a jar for decoration in the sewing room. I have a feeling I am 5+ grams short on most of the sock yarn leftovers to make this top. 

Thoughts

    I was out to pull weeds yesterday at noon but had to stop. The company who does yard care was there spraying for weeds. I have to mix my own weed control to finish up the side of the house. I will probably do it on Sunday as the weather is going to be nice this weekend. 

    I am enjoying have the car. I was out to put gas into it and to the community hall. The new batteries are doing their job as my gas consumption has gone down. Today will be a true test as I am going to Sackville and Bedford today. 

Today

I am out for osteopathy this morning and then on to Bedford to do a bit of shopping at Walmart. I will get home in the afternoon. I will not be sewing today but hope to knit tonight. 

Until the next time.............................................................

I Have My Car

Yesterday was a very wet day with a high of 13C. This morning it is sunny and 13C. Today is supposed to be a mix of sun and clouds with a high of 20C. 

Lifestyle

I was out the door by 8:45 am to pick up my car. When I got there it was ready but the paper work was not done. I did get to leave with my car and will go back on Thursday to pay the bill.  

Once I had the car I did a bit of shopping and headed home quickly. The car ran well and the hybrid batteries charged up perfectly. I was happy to have my car back again. Once home my friend came for a visit and we laughed and had a great time. 

After lunch, I prepped for the 2:30 pm online meeting. I had to download Webex which is a neat platform. I reviewed the website we use for the community hall and was ready to join at 2:15. The meeting lasted an hour and I did learn a lot though I only need to know one function. It was new and I was keen to learn more. After the meeting I did peruse the site so I have what I need to know in long term memory. 

I was out for a meeting at the community hall last night. It was a bit of a nasty drive as it had been and was still raining hard. The meeting lasted a good hour with lots of discussions on most topics. 

Sewing

I didn't sew yesterday as I need to buy a doll's pattern and think about which fabrics I will use to make the short gown. 

I did do some more reading on the doctorate thesis. This time it was about buckles and a bit about footwear. I also read a bit more about why the Acadians arrived at Fort Louisburg. 

The Acadians at Port Royal were given the choice to move to Louisburg when Port Royal was taken by the English. Some did move buy many didn't as Louisburg was just being built. It was only when the Acadians were deported that they went to Louisburg as it was still French owned. 

The study of buckles was interesting. Buckles were found at most sites. They were of different styles and sizes indicating they were worn on both male and female shoes. This led to reading about shoes worn by Acadians. Many Acadians wore shoes when living in Louisburg due to the cobblestone roads. This was post deportation. Pre deportation indicates that many Acadians had shoes due to the findings of buckles and they were probably worn on special occasions and Sundays. It is felt they wore moccasins and wooden shoes everyday for working their land and in their homes. It was a blend between European and Indigenous ways of life which the Acadians did all the time to be either one or the other.

Knitting

I cast on to make a short sleeved sweater for one of the Gotz dolls. I don't know if I have enough yarn as I am using up yarn left over from the last pair of socks I made. 

Thoughts

    It really rained yesterday with times it coming down in torrents. Add the wind and the roads had water being blown across it or down it in streams. My lawn is going to grow like crazy as it has been fertilized. With the weather calling for showers I hope the person who mows my lawns will be able to cut it on a nice day. 

    I am hoping to plant my flowers soon as they need to be put into pots. It won't be this week as we could have frost on Friday night. This is the crazy time of the year as we could have frosts and then again we may not have them. 

Today

I am going to do some housework this morning and then go for a drive this afternoon as I need to fill up my car. I also need to check that everything is working well. I want to finalize the fabric choices for the next doll's project and buy the pattern. Tonight I will knit on the doll's sweater. 

Until the next time.................................................................

Bicycle Skirt Is Finally Finished

 Yesterday was mainly sunny with a high of 20C. This morning it is cloudy and 10C. Today is supposed to be rainy with a high of 14C. 

Lifestyle

I made a list yesterday morning and got to work. My first job was to do the minutes of the meeting from Friday. They are done and a printed copy in the secretary's binder. 

Next I did the balance sheet and it was done in record time. No mistakes, no issues, and it balanced out quickly. I put it away and put my medical receipts in their folder. 

I put on a load of laundry and it is ready to fold today. Garbage and recycling was taken out. I was done everything plus a couple of other things before 11 am. 

At noon I went to the grocery store with daughter-in-law. We got what we needed and then headed to the bakery on the main street of town. It is a small but lovely bakery where all the products were fresh from the oven. We got hamburger buns for dinner. I got the car for the afternoon so I could drive myself to family's house for dinner. 

Dinner was pulled pork with coleslaw and potato chips. It was delicious. I came home with 8 small bags of pulled pork. Each bag will give me a dinner and lunch. 

Sewing

I finished the bicycle skirt yesterday and I am glad it is done. It has fought with me every step of the way. Some issues came from the instructions and some were my fault. When I looked at the button holes I had put them in the wrong place. I have 4 buttons on the skirt which is okay. After putting on the waistband, I sewed the buttons and snaps on the skirt. 

The flap is closed so it is to look like a skirt. 

The flap is open so the lady can ride a bicycle. 

I can see a lady wearing this for hiking as when the flap is open, she can walk much easier on rough terrain and up rocky paths. 

I will not be making this pattern again. It is a one and done pattern. 

I do like both combinations for the short dress but am thinking about another combination of fabrics. I am thinking about a blue skirt with a white chemise, dark corset, white fichu and hat. It will be very boring as it could represent more of what the women wore every day when working in their homes and on the land. I will see if this comes to fruition. 

Knitting

I did not knit last night. I have to find a pattern I want to make. 

Thoughts

    I did some more research on the locations mentioned in the thesis. The third site I looked for is near Port Royal. This site is near the ocean and was one of the first places that traded with ships from mainly from New England which was illegal. They would have depended on these ships for goods when they first settled in the area and started to build their community and later on when they traded their goods for cloth, tools, etc. A second community in the area (Belleisle) show that Acadians in this area did not lack for items and lived a prosperous life when 2 houses were excavated by a team from a NS university. 

    My second search was to find out when the Acadians arrived in Louisburg which is located on Cape Breton Island. They arrived there during the deportation time as it was still owned by the French. The finds of more elaborate items shows that the Acadians mingled with the French at the fort and had more access to materials brought in from France. 

    I have not been to the display of clothing at the museum in Moncton New Brunswick. I may do a trip there later on. Though there are no clothing artifacts from pre 1750, the display shows that many Acadian women wore very fashionable clothing after that. I am sure that the clothing worn by women every day was very practical for working in their homes and on their land, they probably had some lovely fashionable clothing to wear on Sunday or to visit other homes to celebrate special occasions. 

Today

I am out to get my car in an hour. I need to get a few things while in New Minas. Once home, I need to fold laundry and do a few other small chores. I have an online training early this afternoon. We are taking the stuff left over from the yard sale to the hall and have a meeting there tonight. I don't think I will get much sewing or knitting done tonight. 

Until the next time........................................................

Working On Projects

 Yesterday was sunny with a high of 16C. This morning it is clear and 2C (frost). Today is supposed to be sunny with a high of 20C. 

Lifestyle

I made a batch of cookies and put them into the freezer so I will have them for the next time we make sandwiches. I had the kitchen cleaned up and surfaces wiped down. I did not see any ants yesterday so am hoping they are gone. 

I did read more on the doctorate thesis and then did some searching. One of the sites is Fort Louisburg, a historic site on Cape Breton Island. One of the other sites is Beaubassin which I had to look up after 3 days of reading. It is near Amherst which is located near the New Brunswick/Nova Scotia border. The Acadians at this site were prosperous building boats for sale. It is located on the Chignecto Bay which is an arm off the Minas Basin. I now understand when they say it was a trading post and on trading routes. 

I decided to cook hamburgers on my little bbq last night. When I took off the cover there was a wasp building a nest on the handle. I swiped the nest off and killed the wasp which was probably the queen. I will have to watch that the wasps don't build a nest there again. I enjoyed my dinner and didn't see any wasps around when I cleaned up. 

Sewing

I spent the afternoon sewing on the bicycle skirt. The first job was to make the buttonholes of which I had to pick out the 5th one when I hemmed the legs. Legs were hemmed and the crotch sewn. I made the pleats in the back which were enjoyable to make. About 2 hours after starting I tried it on the doll. 

This picture shows the skirt with the flap closed. 

The flap is opened so a bicycle could be ridden. 

The pleats in the back. I longer pleat is sewn first and then a shorter one. I really liked the look of this when it was completed. 

I have to make the 5th buttonhole, sew on the waistband and add the buttons. 

I have looked and almost decided on the fabric for the Short gown. Is it historically correct? I do not know as we don't know if the Acadians wore muted or bright colours. They may have worn bright colours in one location and muted in another. 

The white is linen and would have been used for the hat and the apron. The stripe would have been included for the skirt. The print will probably be for the top with one print being used for the turn back on the sleeves. A contrast could have been used or it could be my imagination allowing me to use it. 

This is my second choice for the outfit. I have natural linen in the closet I could use. 

I would use white linen for the hat though the women did wear printed cotton hats everyday and white for Sunday. 

Knitting

I finished the vest last night and sewed it together. I now need to pin and steam it and add the closure. 

I had 49 grams of yarn and got it done with a tiny bit of yarn left over. 

Thoughts

    I was out to look at the rosebush and it is growing well. I did pull weeds in that area and have a few left to pull around the shed. Then that area will be done. I have a few weeds to pull around the house and then it will be the hedge. I plan on putting my weeding stuff on the deck so I can grab it and do a bit when I have time. 

    We have rain starting tonight. We do need it to keep the water table high. It is also going to be cool with only 2 days this week having highs of 20C. With 3 nights of frost, I hope the apple blossoms aren't affected. When we went to New Minas on Friday, the trees were starting to bloom. 

Today

I have to do the balance sheet and type of the minutes of the last financial committee meeting. If time I will pop out and finish weeding around the shed. This afternoon I want to try to finish the bicycle skirt. I am going to family's for dinner and hope to start a new knitting project tonight. 

Until the next time...............................................................

Oh No! Another Tow Truck

 Yesterday was cooler with lots of sunshine. The high got to 15C. This morning it is sunny with frost and at 5 am it was 1C. It is now 2C. Today is supposed to be sunny and 16C. 

Lifestyle

Yesterday morning I spent a lot of time cleaning the kitchen. There were still a couple of ants and it was bugging me. I really scrubbed everything down good with a cleaner in hopes it would help. 

I phoned about my car and they said it would be ready by 5 pm. Daughter-in-law and I decided we would head up to New Minas at about 2:30 pm as she had things to get for the hall. Our first stop was the liquor store and we filled the back of her car as there are two bars in the next 2 weeks. Next we went to Walmart to get pop and water which we sell at the bar. We were doing great. Two more stops and we were done the to-do list.

When we went out to the car, we got in and it wouldn't start. Not uncommon as it needs a part replaced. Daughter-in-law gave it a boost. It started and then turned off and a turtle showed up on the dash. She tried again. No luck in it starting. We drained her littler booster so she got help from someone else. In the meantime, she had called Kia to let me know what had happened and they were sending down a person to look at the car and give us a ride to the shop. I had called for a tow truck using CAA. The fun was now to start. 

The person who came down got the car running so we decided he could drive it to the shop. I went with him and daughter-in-law drove the other car. I talked to the tow truck driver and said I would either call him with a location update or CAA to cancel. We drove through New Minas rush hour doing 19 km/hour. We turned off to go up a quiet street and a  2 minute drive from the shop, the car stopped. Got it going and we went 25 ft. Stopped again. We did that twice more and 1 minute from the shop it stopped for good. I got out to walk down the road as the person backed it down to a driveway. Daughter-in-law became traffic control. A car stopped and 2 men got out to help. They were mechanics from the shop. They pushed it off the road for us. I called the tow truck with our location. He arrived 5 minutes later. We drove behind the tow truck to the shop. 

At the shop, daughter-n-law got a car for the weekend. My car was not done. It needed another road test and an oil change. I was to get a car for the weekend but didn't take it. I didn't need it. I get my car at 9 am Monday. We loaded up the loaner car and finished our to do list. It was interesting as daughter-in-law has not driven a gas car for about a year or more. We got home, unloaded the car at the hall, stocked the bar fridge, and then went to get dinner (A&W to the rescue). I got home with my dinner at 7 pm. I was tired from the adrenaline rush we had. So was daughter-in-law. 

Sewing

I didn't sew yesterday. I did read more of the thesis on Acadian clothing. It is really interesting. The Acadians were prosperous people who lived in nice homes, were as self sufficient as they could be and probably had both work clothes and nice clothes. From what has been discovered, they had access to fine cloth like silk, Dutch linen, and cotton. They did hand work using silk and linen threads. Though there is no clothing to be found due to the wet acidic soil, there is plenty of written documentation of what was brought to Nova Scotia from other countries. 

The Acadians did weave cloth from the linen they grew, the wool they spun, and cloth they bought and took apart to weave again. Through looking at clothing the Acadians wore in Louisiana post deportation they discovered that Acadians wove stripes and they did a two colour barber shop stripe in their weaving. 

I am still reading the thesis and still doing some online research. The thesis has given me information to google. 

Knitting

I didn't knit last night. I was too tired to think about knitting. 

Thoughts

    We had frost again last night and they are predicting we will have frost again tonight. My plants are all inside. I am going to fill a pot with dirt and plant cucumber seeds in it. It is time to start them.

    The Kia dealership/shop now has 4 EV-6 cars in their yard needing repairs. They have a specialist coming June 1 to see what is wrong with them. They have so many loaner cars out at the moment that I decided not to have a loaner car for the weekend. Family will take me where I need to go. I am hoping not to have to get anything. 

    The tow truck driver we had for the car was amazing. He was waiting for my call to pick up the car at the location we stopped at. He was polite, kind, and very helpful. We did thank him profusely for all the extra things he did. 

Today

I am going to bake a batch of cookies for the freezer. I think we have to make sandwiches soon so I want to be prepared. I would like to finish the bicycle skirt this afternoon and knit tonight. I may be going out to family's for pulled pork for dinner. 

Until the next time................................................................

Small Projects Finished

 Yesterday was cooler and sunny with gusts of wind. The high got to 15C. This morning it is sunny, frosty, and 2C. Today is supposed to be sunny with winds. The high is to get to 16C. We are under another frost warning for tonight. 

Lifestyle

I started the day out laundering the sheets and then moved to cleaning the bathroom. I got out my dusting cloth and dusted the bathtub. It had a good layer of toilet paper fluff on it. I crawled around the top of the tub and in the tub. After that session, I finished cleaning the bathroom and mopped the floor. It felt good to have the bathroom spotless. 

I did play with a curtain panel I bought at Fabricville. It is a fabric that I really liked. I hung it up on the back door to see if I liked it there. No I didn't go I will get some film for the door to block the sun coming in. I have it hung in the bathroom and am not sure if I like it in there. I think the length is making me dislike it. It hangs down into the tub. 

I have done nothing to decorate this room as it will not talk to me. I am hoping that once I get the window sorted out, I can move forward to get some decorating done. 

Sewing

I headed down to finish sewing the snaps onto the rest of the doll clothes. They are on even if I did have to get down on the floor and find snaps that decided to escape on me. 

My next job is to make the buttonholes in the bicycle skirt and get it finished. 

This month, Sewing With Cinnamon is about colour. I love colour though I struggle combining prints. I usually buy from a line of fabrics someone else has designed. The homework this month is to make a 5 colour palette using an off white as one of the colours. I want to do a historical outfit and I know that dyes were limited in the 1700's. When I read about the Acadian's and their clothing I continue to learn more. 

    In Nova Scotia, most of what we know about their clothing comes from what others wrote as the Great Deportation left huge holes in what was known about the clothes they wore. Research is filling in some of those holes which is great.

    We do know that fabric was mainly woven at home using flax and wool but most household could not produce enough wool to be self sufficient. I am still reading a doctorate thesis on this that is about Acadians in Nova Scotia. 

    When the flax was made into linen cloth, it was bleached white for good clothing. It was a lengthy process that took a long time. 

    Most fabric goods came from England though there was a healthy but illegal trade from the US. Most often they traded furs and feathers for goods off the ships. There was a lot of trade between Louisburg and Minas (our areas) that I just read about in the thesis. 

    The clothing they wore was more simple due to time constraints for sewing and the amount of yardage that could be made in the home. Children wore hand me downs and worn clothing would be made into bed covers or picked apart and woven into cloth once again. 

When this pattern was shared, I decided it was more like what a working Acadian woman wore in the 1700's. 

Now to find the fabrics for the outfit. I am still reading the thesis and will know more about the cloth used to make this outfit as I get further into the thesis (over 600 pages of reading). 

Knitting

I had a good evening of knitting. I am almost finished the vest. I think I have about 12 rows left to go. I also may run out of yarn. 

If I win by having enough yarn, I will have this finished by Saturday night. Then I will have to decide what to knit next. 

Thoughts

    The wind blew yesterday and the air was full of dandelion fluff. It looked like huge snowflakes falling lazily from the sky. I don't think I have ever seen this before. It lasted for hours. 

    My IBS has flared up and I have been ignoring the signs. Yesterday I had to stop worrying about a lot of things as the flare up is from stress. I have to simplify my diet also as I have been eating more processed foods lately. It is a vicious cycle for me. 

    I slept well last night and didn't wake up until 5:30 am. I was exhausted as I had two poor nights of sleep due to the heat. I am hoping I will have a few good night's sleep as it does leave me feeling tired during the day. 

Today

I have to phone to see when the car will be ready. I want to clean the kitchen this morning and will go with daughter-in-law to shop this afternoon with hopes of picking up my car by the end of the day. I hope to knit tonight. 

Until the next time........................................................................