Call It What You Want...

Cording the stays is a rather repetitive process (I hope that sewing all those channels prepared you for this), so settle in with a good DVD or Netflix or audiobook or something that will keep your hands free. You already gathered your supplies, but just in case:


You're ready to continue?
Your back is already corded, as are your waist channels. It doesn't matter where you start.
For channels like your center channels along the busk, do it just as you did for the backs. However, because of the busk facing, it may be impossible to get all that length on the loop turner. The solution is to poke a hole with your awl through two of the four layers at about the midpoint. Cut your cording the full length (doubled, of course). Insert your loop turner through the hole at the midpoint and slide it through so the hook end comes out the bottom. Grasp the cording and pull it through to the midpoint, so the loop end of the cording now comes out the hole you made at the middle. Now remove the loop from your turner, and insert your turner at the TOP end of the channel. Slide it through the channel to that midpoint hole you made before (you might need to use your awl to open it again) and poke the hook end out that hole. Hook the loop end back over the hook again, making sure the hook closes on the cording, and pull it back into the channel and up to the top. Now you should have the whole channel corded. It doesn't matter if a little peeks out at that midpoint spot.

For the side cording, do as before on the waist: Poke a hole with the awl.


Insert loop turner in channel...



... until the end pokes out the other end. Hook the cording into the hook ...



... and pull it through, leaving a little tail at one end, and a little loop at the other.



For channels that don't have an "open" end, just use the awl to poke holes at both ends. The beauty of using an awl is that it doesn't actually tear the fabric, but just spreads the weave so that you can put the cording through. After you've finished, the holes "close up" and hold the cording in place. Unless your channels are absolutely gigantic, the cording is there to stay. Don't believe me? Give one of those loose ends a gentle tug. You have to pull pretty hard to pull them out.



(The top ends of these diagonals can be a challenge with the gore pieces in there. Just be aware of where they are. Sometimes I slide the loop turner into place and then make the hole to "pop" it out.)



Under bust channels, more of the same....

On the lower abdomen channels, you have two curved channels on each side. Just insert your loop turner and pretend it's straight. It works.



What are you watching or listening to while you cord this? I have corded at soccer and baseball practices, too, as well as in the car, but if you do it in a moving vehicle, please put the protective cap on the awl any time it's not being used, and put it back in your bag every time you finish poking a hole.

When all the cording is finished, your stays suddenly look amazing. The texture is really something to take in...



Congratulations! This is beautiful! Great job!

Next post: binding, shoulder straps, grommets and finishing.

This will be a short one... but gives you a sneak preview into cording the stays.

Before you attach the backs to the fronts, you need to insert the cording to the WAIST channels. To do so, assemble your cording supplies: cording (I use 16-ply cotton office twine!), the loop turner pictured in post #2, an awl, and your scissors.




First, lay your cording the length of the waist channel from the edge of the busk casing to the side. Double the cording so you have a loop at one end and two raw ends at the other when cut. Each channel will, in effect, have TWO strands of cording in it, with a loop at one end.



Using your awl, poke a hole in the LINING side of the front, just beyond the busk casing and the cording channel beside it. Make the hole you poke large enough to insert the end of your loop turner. If you can get that part in, you can pull the cording through.



Then, insert the loop turner into the channel.



Push it all the way through the channel until the entire curved end extends out the edge. Put the looped end of the cording through the curved end, and allow the little "hook" to flip up, clasping the cord inside.



Pull the loop turner and cording through the channel, gently tugging it free through the awl-hole you punched earlier.



Leave the loops -- they won't pull back out of the channels.
Cord all four waist channels -- two on each side of the busk. Now you're ready to attach the backs to the front.

To attach the backs to the front, I wander a bit afield from the original instructions. In this case, I'm not working toward an exact reproduction of the original but instead ease of construction.

Place the back piece and the front piece together, LINING ("wrong") SIDES TOGETHER. (Remember, the slits for the back boning are on the inside -- "wrong" -- side of the back pieces!) Fold back the front "outside" piece and pin it out of the way for later. You will be sewing THREE layers together. (If your cording channels come too close to the edges, just trim them back so you can fold that front piece out of the way.)



Sew this seam with a 1/2" seam allowance. Please try to keep that top layer out of the way!



Press this seam TOWARD the FRONT, then pin the top layer (which had been pinned out of the way) over the seam, folding the raw edge under, to create a finished edge. Topstitch as near to the edge as possible without going over. Repeat for the other back piece.

Now your fronts and backs are attached and you're ready to CORD this thing.

I like to cord the back panels first. All the cording in the back is the same length, so cutting it is easy. The challenge with the back pieces is often that the length of the panel is longer than your loop turner. Really pack it on tightly and you should be able to get the turner all the way through.



Pull the cording through each channel. Get something interesting on TV or Netflix because this is going to take a while and not a lot of brain power. (May I suggest Cranford? No, wait. Too many tears.)



Once the cording is in, the panel will look wrinkly. That's okay. Leave the ends loopy and loose -- you'll trim them when you're all done.

The next post will cord the front, apply binding, make the shoulder straps, and finish. It will be GREAT!

When we last left, we had assembled the front lining of the stays by inserting gores, then sewn the front to the front lining. Unfortunately, it seems only one post was visible to all of you, so please see post #2, in case you missed it. In this post, we will put together the back pieces and attach them to the front.

The back pieces are two large rectangles, cut on the fold. You have two facings that you cut along with those for the front busk channel; these are for the back stay channel (to strengthen the area so the boning doesn't rub through). Place the facing inside the unfolded back piece and baste it in, top and bottom.

Please note that in this example, a completed set of stays (above) shows the placement of the facing. We have unfolded the back piece (fold near the center of photo indicates the folded edge, which is where the grommets will go later). The facing may go all the way to the edge, giving the grommets more fabric to grip. The width shown is the absolute minimum needed.

Once the facings are basted, there's nothing else to add to the back pieces. It's now time to start sewing in the channels for the cording.

The first line is sewn a channel-width from the folded edge. I use the settings demonstrated in the previous post, with my sewing machine needle in the flush right position and the stitch width set at the maximum setting. I then line up my fabric with the edge lined up with the presser foot for a 3/16" channel.



Sew in two channels for the lacing edge of your stays. Then skip over about 1/2" for the grommet strip. This is where you'll place the grommets. (We'll talk about them in the "finishing" section.) Remember if you're leaving your needle in the flush-right position to line up the last stitching line a little further over than the 4/8" line on your plate.


(leaving the needle in flush-right seemed to work for me this time as my machine is in need of servicing.)

You now need three more channels for cording that go between your grommets and your boning. Continue as you were.
(By the way, these are all detailed in the original instructions.)

You are likely to be using 1/2" boning, so your channel will need to measure 5/8" to make sure you can slide the boning in successfully. Be very attentive to this width for the entire length of the back. You don't want to have to re-do it. (Though it's not the end of the world. Done it more than once.)



When you've finished this channel, test it with the boning you plan to use, just to be sure.

Now finish sewing three more sets of channels at the back. Repeat with the other back piece.



Your two back pieces will be mirror images. Oops, they're the same? That's okay. Flip one over. Problem solved.

Next, mark the slit for the boning. Remember, this is the SECOND wide channel away from the fold. Use a pencil or marking pen to mark across the channel, about an inch up from the bottom. This leaves room for trimming, binding, and so the boning doesn't regularly slip out.



The best way to cut this slit is with a seam ripper -- a sharp one. Insert it at one edge of the channel and slit across. I usually cut through the back and the facing (two layers). Make sure you don't cut through ALL the layers -- this is the INSIDE side of your back piece. P.S. When you're marking this slit, make sure you have a right back and a left back piece!



(Using scissors is hard to get started and hard to stop. The seam ripper really is your friend. Just punch it back through at the opposite edge of the slit and you won't overcut.)



Sew around the edge of this slit with a buttonhole stitch to finish it. Make sure that if you cut through the lining and the facing, that you sew them together into the buttonhole.



To insert the boning, put it in the hole, slide it up, and make sure the bottom end fits in as well.



I love the strength and flexibility of the spiral steel boning. I buy mine from corsetmaking.com and have been very happy with the service I have received.



Sometimes that last end is a little hard to wiggle into place. Make sure it fits in!



The boning will fit into the channel. Once the binding is on, it won't slip out the bottom, top, OR hole. (Now take the boning out and put it away until you're finished.)

Your back pieces are finished, and we'll attach the backs to the front.

In the previous post, we sewed the gores and facing onto the lining portion of the stays. Now we attach the front piece, which will be the "outside" of the stays.

Slash your hip and bust gore lines if you haven't already, and cut the armhole as marked. If you are not using pinking shears, staystitch along the edges before cutting.

Starting with your second busk facing, line it up with the one you've already stitched in place at the busk opening (which should have been at the bottom of the lining).

Lay your front piece on top of your lining piece, creating a "sandwich" with all the gores and facings inside. Once again, line up the center front of the front piece with the center of the busk facing. Consider (again) basting down the center line, or at least pin down the center line, burying the tips of the pins under the layers so as not to draw blood.

Stitch along the busk casing lines you drew in. This is on the lining side of your stay, and will be the only stitches you do "face down". This will hold your facings in place and keep your stays properly aligned to start. Then turn your stays over and stitch a second set of lines outside these lines to form the channels for the cording that will go on either side of your busk. I will detail how to set your sewing machine below, but you will want your second line to be about 3/16 inch from the first line. (1/8 is not enough; 1/4 is too much. If you're not sure if it's large enough, pull your loop turner through the channel. If it is too tight, take out the stitches and try again. If the loop turner wiggles freely, it's too loose.)

Starting again with the hip gores, fold under the raw edges of the slashes, aligning the pressed edge as near to the lining stitching as possible. The sewing lines where you sewed the gores to the lining may occasionally show, which is not a big deal, as there should be enough seam allowance to prevent raw edges from peeking out. Press these edges and pin them.



Top stitch along the edges as before, being sure not to "fall off" onto the gore. As you may be able to see at the right edge of the above photo, the gores are "sandwiched' between the layers.

Again, you may pin these one at a time, or pin two, three or four at once.



This is one of the ways I generally hurt myself. It's easy to catch a finger or hand on one of those pins, especially when pivoting around a point.

Repeat this process with the bust gores.

NOTE: At this point, you may notice that the points of your gores are not as perfectly sealed as you would like. You might have had a little bit that was pressed under come out in the sewing, or there might be some loose strings. Don't worry about it. The next step will enclose those tricky spots, which were troublesome on the originals as well.



Simply zigzag around the points of each gore. If they aren't a little ragged now, they likely will become ragged after a few wearings, so just do it now and get it over with. (On originals, you'll see a sort of buttonhole stitch around the point to protect the edge.)
Do this just on the front. All this stitching will hold your lining pieces in place anyway, and your points, no matter how exact you are, aren't likely to line up perfectly, so you would have some funny shapes showing through on the front.

When you have all these edges done, you've completed the front piece of your stays. (The back pieces will come soon.)

Now to begin the lines for the cording. The thought of cording can be scary, but it's really quite simple, once you've figured out how to set your machine. You will sew lines for the cording, and then later draw the cording through these channels using a loop turner.

The pattern instructions direct you how to mark your lines. I only mark the first line of a series, and then let my sewing machine help me space them properly. Draw the lines on the front of your stays -- you want the best alignment to be the part you can see when you put them on.



To sew the lines, sew directly on the first (marked) line. I begin at the waist, and sew from one edge to the other, backstitching and lifting my needle over the busk area and the lines for the cording that goes along the busk casing.

To sew the next line, I use my sewing machine settings to help me.


I have set my needle so it is aligned to the right. Then I set the WIDTH so it is at its widest point (closest to the right-side of the space in the presser foot). This has been a trial-and-error process for me to determine where to set things but this is the one that works!

Next, I align my needle and presser foot so that the previous stitching line is at the RIGHT edge of my presser foot, in fact, just under the edge of my presser foot. I'll make this photo very large so you can see it.



Test your channels again to make sure they are the size you like. The loop turner should pull through without too much trouble, but with some resistance.

Loop turner. This is worth buying, and you're not likely to have it forever because you will wear it out on your stays.



This is the sort of loop turner you want. You can buy it at JoAnn stores (or probably any other fabric store). It has a round "handle" at one end (for pulling), and the other end has a hook and a latch. They will work together to hold your cording when you pull it through the channels.

Sew in all the lines as directed in the instructions. The cording here provides the proper support for the stays and aids in the smoothing that makes these so very nice to wear. This takes a while but is worth the effort to keep the lines as straight and even as possible.

Coming soon: making the back of the stays, sewing the backs to the fronts, shoulder straps, binding and grommets. That sounds like a lot but is really just sailing home.

The season has begun, and I am sewing like a madwoman. We have some 8-10 women in Prairietown alone who need stays (the 1836 version of a corset) and I'm the gal to do it.
I have been at this for a few years now, and I've developed a few shortcuts and techniques to make stay-making less fussy and as easy as possible. These tips are for the Past Patterns Corded Stay by Saundra Ros Altman, which is a wonderful set of stays to wear in 1836 Prairietown. Some of the original instructions are a little tricky to understand or are perfect for the exact reproduction, but there are quite a few shortcuts that can make it easier, if not an exact replica of the original.
Begin with the pattern. If you work at Conner Prairie, get it from Historic Clothing. Past Patterns provides us with the necessary patterns for our clothing construction. Determine the size by measuring yourself or having someone measure you. The key measurements are the bust (fullest part), waist, hip, and back length. Another measurement I take is from the mid-shoulder blade to the front edge of the armpit. This will help you make your shoulder strap the correct length. Do NOT fudge these measurements!! -- though it is definitely okay to pull them snug. People with more "padding" have a "squish factor" that needs to be taken into account.

Cut out your pattern pieces according to size. If you have a very full bust, you can adjust the pattern by cutting your bust gore pieces longer and cutting the slashes for the gores a bit deeper. This gives more room for the bust so it's not all perched on top. In addition, cut four strips: two approx. 3 to 3-1/2 inches wide and two 1-1/2 to 2 inches wide, the length of the body. These are facings for the actual boning channels, and are not in the pattern.


The narrow facings go in the back piece, about a half-inch in from the folded edge.
In this photo, we have opened out one back piece (the creased fold is the center back) and placed it atop a finished set of stays to see where the facing goes. Baste it in place. Do the same with the other back piece. 

It is tempting to start in, cutting and shaping, but there are a few steps you should take to ensure success later in this project.
First, if you have them, use pinking shears to cut out all the pieces of your stays. You'll end up covered in little teeny tiny pieces of unraveled fabric, but the coutil we use for the stays unravels very easily.
If you do not use pinking shears, your next step is to zig-zag stitch around all your edges with your sewing machine. This takes time but is well worth the effort in your pieces staying whole as you work with them.
I generally double-up the gores (almost always the bust gores; sometimes the hip gores). If you're zigzagging the edges, go ahead and put together the two gores that will go together -- this will save you time later.


Also, transfer all marks from the pattern onto your fabric pieces. Seam allowances don't really need drawn on (if you can remember them) but put on the cutting lines for the bust and hip gores, the arm hole, the center busk, and the busk hole.
I use the special disappearing fabric marker for all my markings. This washes out with plain water when you're finished and doesn't get on other things -- tables, clothing, etc. -- though the edges of some of my straight-edges are suspiciously blue.
It is perfectly okay to make the markings on one half of each front piece and then cut through both layers, but be sure to mark the front and the lining separately (because cutting through all four layers is hard).
You will begin working on the lining piece. Set aside the actual front for later.

Go ahead and cut the slashes for the bust and hip gores and the arm hole. If you're using pinking shears, you can just cut them. If you're using straight scissors, the pattern instructions have you stay-stitch along each slash before cutting it; this is a really good idea. Once again, the unraveling will cause heartache.


As you can see, I have cut the slashes for both the hips and bust at the same time. If you are hesitant, by all means, just do one set at a time.
I recommend starting with the hip gores.
This is where the provided directions become a bit confusing, but I offer a shortcut that will make you much happier.
(Is your iron on full heat and full steam? If not, go turn it on and make sure it's full. This will help a lot.)
Lay your lining piece on your ironing board. (My photos have me ironing left-handed, so you may need to face your piece the opposite direction. Or not. I'm very confused.) Open the first slash slightly.

Begin to gently turn the cut edges under approximately a quarter inch (no measuring necessary, just make sure the edges are turned completely under for the entire length of the slash). Press this edge under, so you have a folded edge on top.
Repeat for the other side of the slash so both edges are folded under and pressed. The steam from your iron will help a lot -- coutil is very stout and needs some persuasion.
Your finished pressed gore slash will have no cut edges showing as they are now pressed under.

Do this with all four of your hip slashes.
To put the hip gore into place, put the triangular hip gore piece under the slash. Pin one edge onto the gore -- if you've marked the seam allowances, you can put the folded edge right on those seam allowances. If not, place the first pressed edge about half an inch from the edge of the gore, and then "open out" the slash into a triangular shape approximating the shape of the gore.


Pin through the lining piece and gore, with the gore placed under the lining. If the person who is wearing the stays has wider hips, make the triangle larger, with more of the gore exposed. If she is narrower in the hips, you can "close" the gap a little.
Pin through all layers except the ironing board cover.


The finished pinned gore looks like this.
Wait. Folding under the edge? I'm not sure I can do that. I'm not that precise.
That's okay. Just flip it over and press the edges where you can see them.


This is what the back side looks like before you put the gores on. See the lack of unraveling? Pinking shears, folks.


This is the back, with the gores pinned in. (Still pin it in from the front.)
And here it is, ready for sewing.


You will sew on this, the "right" side of the fabric (which, incidentally, will end up being the "inside" of the stays -- the side closest to your body. The gores will end up sandwiched between the front and the lining).



Begin at one edge of the gore. With your needle centered for this stitch (you can set it to one side, if you wish), you will want to sew as near to the pressed edge without going over the edge of the gore. Sew up one side of the gore to the point, then, with the needle lowered and presser foot lifted, pivot the fabric so you can sew back down the other side of the triangle. This topstitching would not be the period-appropriate way to sew stays (no sewing machines, remember), but makes quick work of sewing in the gores.



When you have all four hip gores in place, it's time to repeat the process with the bust gores. Once again, if the wearer has a more ample bust, you will want to open out the gores a little wider; one with a smaller bust will want narrower openings.



With the bust gores, you can hold open the slash for ironing.



Press all four bust gore slashes open.



Place two bust gores together (if you zigzagged them, they already are) and treat them as one when pinning them into the opening.



It is okay if this doesn't lay completely flat, but you do want all your edges to be smooth and without puckers.

You can pin all your gores at once before stitching them in, or do two at a time, or even one at a time. The fewer pins in place in your working project, the fewer opportunities to gash yourself on them as you sew. Or so I hear.

Once the gores are sewn in, you are going to mark your center front and align one of the wider facing strips at the center front. Pin it so its center is aligned with the lining piece center, on the "wrong" side of the lining piece (the side which will be "inside" the sandwich). You may choose to baste down the center through both layers -- I usually use a needle and thread and hand-baste very long stitches, usually with colored thread so I don't forget it's there.

Mark on the front of the lining, the lines that will go on either side of the busk. This may be done by centering the busk vertically on that center basting stitch, then making lines on either side of the busk piece, remembering not to make them too close to the edge, or you'll have trouble sliding the wood into the casing when it's finished. (1/8 inch ease should be enough.)

Then, using the pattern placement or 1 1/2 inches as your guide, draw in the busk opening. This can be cut open and then hand-sewn (buttonhole stitch), but I use my machine zigzag stitch. I set it to the buttonhole stitch settings (about 4 on width and .75 on length) and align the needle with the edge of my line, not yet cut.


(The second set of lines were too wide for the busk. I later wiped them off.)
Zigzag along this line, pivoting at the end (just over the edge of the busk line) to turn, the back toward the starting point.
When you have completed this very large buttonhole, you can slit along the line, being careful not to cut through any stitches. I use my seam-ripper to make the neatest slice.

With this, you have finished the lining piece of your stays. The next post will see the front piece attached.

Now. I am really not that much of a football fan... But Tim really likes it and it's a nice diversion. And I have found that the best way to not become totally exasperated with all the football action is to join a Fantasy Football League and "play" along.

Mom, the way it works is thus: everyone in the league has a team. On draft day, each person takes turn picking players in the National Football League (NFL) for their team. They do not belong to the same NFL teams, in fact, having variety in your team is good because if you focus on choosing teammates from a team that does poorly during the season, your fantasy team will also do poorly.

You choose players in many different positions on the offensive team. Your defense is one NFL team's defense. You choose players based on past performance, expected performance, and many other factors. In my case, it's all about appearance. I don't want thugs or people with bad reputations on my team. Tim does massive research using various on-line sites, magazines, etc., to determine who he will choose. I look at thumbnails -- that's right. The pictures that show what my team members look like. Since I was working yesterday, I had to rely on Tim to draft my team. So, without further ado, I present...

CAKE AND ICE CREAM (the name has no meaning. it's just a name)

A few of these fellows seem to have squeaked through on some sort of ability or team loyalty, and it was some hard work to find a completely un-appalling picture of the lad with the knit cap nearest the bottom, but my draft picker seems to think it's a good team.

Your comments are welcome but only if they are encouraging toward my team's chances of success!

Guys, can you both sit still and smile?


Okay. How about looking at the camera?


No. At me.


Mark? Put your shirt down.


That's so nice. Now can you look at me?


Um. Please note that the peanut gallery in the background is laughing at my efforts.


Wow.


No, I didn't want a picture of a dog.


Or another dog.


Seriously, guys!

Hmm, maybe there's strength in numbers?


Let's get more involved here.


Perhaps if we get the awful faces out of the way...
(Please note Grandpa, standing in the back, sneaking out to make a video of me trying to photograph the precious children.)


Um, okay, as long as it leads to a cute picture in a minute...


Not yet. Except for Andrew. Boy, he's cute. And cooperative.


Getting better. Maybe this is why the parents usually have to be in the picture.


I think I'll take what I've got and call it good.

Maybe we should have tried this before dessert.

I finished my second pair of socks today. They have been "in the works" for quite a while, but I've had trouble finishing them as I've been reworking my knitting technique (the small needles made practicing a little tricky). Anyhow, new technique perfected, I finished this pair of bad boys today.
On a related subject, I'm pretty sure there's enough yarn in the ball for a third sock. What do you think? Should I make a backup sock?
:)

We got stuck doing "craft projects" the other day when we were "snowed in". I LOVE craft projects. Or, um... not.
Here are a couple pictures of the boys and glue.







And then just when I'm about to get the cutest picture EVER...

We've made it halfway through the Thanksgiving holiday weekend with little drama... It's been a good time. I thought I would include a few Thanksgiving tales to get you through a few days. As if everyone is yearning for another post from me. Ha ha. (Well, maybe just mom.)




For our first exhibit, I present Pilgrim and Native American (complete with Dutch klompfen), preparing for a truly memorable Thanksgiving feast (a few days early).


Here is Mr. "Yes, You May Take My Picture" before Thanksgiving Eve service at church. Mark was not in the mood to join his brother for a handsome boys photo, so you just get one.

That angelic face brings us into other joys of Thanksgiving...




We had Thanksgiving Dinner at home (as you can tell by our fancy china and glassware)... I made turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, cranberries, mashed potatoes and gravy from scratch, and had help with the stuffing (Stove Top), rolls (packaged) and pumpkin pie (refrigerated crust, pie made from scratch with help from boys).

The true Thanksgiving miracle was that, while they might not have eaten mightily, neither boy complained about the food put before him, and Mark actually ate some of everything on his plate. Amazing.

Today the boys went with Tim to some stores (they were not up and shopping at 4 a.m. -- more like 10). At Home Depot, they met up with Santa Claus, sat on his lap, and told him what they wanted. Mark, of course, reported back that he told him he wanted a Lego Crane (Grandma can feel pleased in what he will be getting).
Adam told Santa what he wanted. Santa glanced at Daddy and said, "What did he say he wanted?"
Mark stepped in for the save: "He said he wants a Statue of Liberty."

Yes. Adam is still quite adamant. Other Christmas wishes may have changed, but one thing has remained the same: Adam wants a Statue of Liberty for Christmas.

I don't know why.

One very nice thing about Tim being home is that I get to do other projects. Here is what I have worked on the past couple of days:


A close inspection will reveal that the print here is train cars of all kinds. The fabric was given to me -- given. That's right, given -- by a Conner P mom whose boys have outgrown their train obsessions, leaving her with too much train fabric left. I was sewing clothing for one of her boys, and she told me she had this stuff and would I like it? The front, you see. The back is the train fabric. The batting is cotton/bamboo, and it's put together with spray-on quilting adhesive to hold it together (and safety pins) until I can quilt it.

This is for Adam's big boy bed -- when it arrives. He is still in his toddler bed for now, but when the time comes, he will have a bedspread and (if all goes well) a valance for his window as well. Thanks, Mrs. S., for the fabric!!! :)

Okay, that's all for now. More later. Good night!

Here is what "Indigo Forest" became...

I decided to try a new crochet pattern, and it only took a couple of hours! WHEEEE! Grandma Skelly must be so proud. :)

It is getting used right now. And it's pretty.

Did I mention that it's pretty? And soft. And wool.

For those of you who are waiting (dying), when the finished item is received, i will post pictures, because this crocheted up SOOO nicely.

The boys got to spend Thanksgiving with their best friends -- two of their cousins! Of course they got Grandma, Grandpa, and two aunts and uncles in the bargain as well, but it's nice to watch the four little boys play together.

Jonathan (center) has always been a really sweet kid, but since he turned 4, he's apparently (according to his mom) decided that following rules and stuff works better than not. In this picture, he is patiently and sweetly "reading" to Adam and Andrew. I think this was the book with the snakes in it. He was reading to them that "THIS snake is very poisonous. You should NOT try to kill it. Leave it ALONE." Too cute.

Andrew is an ace at smiling at the camera. He has such a pleasant little face -- and it goes along with his personality. He's always pretty even-tempered (except when he's hungry!) -- I could stand for my corresponding-age boy to take a little from the Andrew book.

We went over to the church fellowship hall for a little large-motor fun on Friday afternoon. Jonathan and Andrew have a couple of Plasma Cars, which are fun to "drive" using the steering handle. Mark and Jonathan drove the things all over, while Andrew and Adam used other ride-on toys -- Adam favoring the Lightning McQueen ride-on. They had soooo much fun.

It also turns out that, when the situations seems to warrant it, Mark can actually pedal. It was a little hard to pedal as fast as he wanted on the slick floor, but no, we do NOT have to enroll him in a remedial tricycle class in kindergarten. WHEW.

A little boy in my house turned two today. Unfortunately, it was a spotty day for moods, and most of them were bad. But the end of the day certainly made up for it...

Adam had breakfast in the "It's my special day!" bowl that I painted at the pottery place here in town. I had to be very careful not to fill it very full. He was happy about it. And stuffed his cheeks full.

He got a card from Tim's aunt Margrethe and uncle Jim and was very excited to find what was inside: "DOWWAS!" (dollars)

He carried around the $2 bill all morning, saying "Dowwas! Dowwas!" Mark was vexed at this and pointed out that it was just ONE dollar; there weren't two of them!

Later, it was presents from grandparents, aunt and uncle and cousins, and yes, even mom and dad, though we certainly picked the wrong present to open with, as everything ground to a halt after he saw...

THIS.

Favorite babysitter Sam and her mom and dad came over -- both Steve and Tammy are the boys' friends in their own right: Tammy used to hold Mark and draw truck pictures for him at the ladies' Bible study at church when I went on Wednesday mornings, and Steve plays with the boys when they go to the men's Bible study with Dad on Saturdays -- to share birthday cake and ice cream. Adam was worried at first to see Sam and only wanted to cuddle with me or Tim (don't leave me!), but after he realized we really truly weren't leaving, he was fine.

All in all, it was a vehicle-focused birthday, with tractors, trains, trucks and construction equipment -- and a very big Clifford. Mr. Adam, now two, is in truck-lover heaven.

Now here's hoping for some decent sleep tonight.

This is borrowed from Heather in law's blog... enjoy...

The Big Read is an NEA program designed to encourage community reading initiatives. They've come up with this list of the top 100 books, using criteria they don't explain, and they estimate that the average adult has only read 6 of these. (See below) So, we are encouraged to:

1) Look at the list and bold those we have read.
2) Italicize those we intend to read.
3) Underline the books we LOVE
4) Reprint this list in our own blogs

I fear that my family -- and that reaches to include Heather-in-law, and just about everyone else who reads this blog -- has read many more than the "average" six. (I've read 37, I think, if I counted correctly.) How about you? You can comment here how many you've read, and which ones I should plan to read next...

Updated: A comment on friend Mary Beth's blog filled us in on the actual origin of this list:

"This list appears to have come from England, in 2007, as part of a survey they do for 'World Book Day' (I didn't know there was such a thing. I want the day off for it next year. It's March 5th in England next year, 4/23 everywhere else?) It was from a British survey of 'Top 100 Books You Can't Live Without.'

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare -- well, not complete ...
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo