The story of the shirt ...

Shirt for Rich, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

Okay, now for something a little more lighthearted. I am trying my very best in 2008 to do homemade gifts, so along comes Valentine's day as it does at the same time every year. But time got away from it and it was 2/14 and I did not have anything for DH. What to do, what to do .... clothing? Okay. I found some very soft red knit in my stash, off to a good start. I didn't want a plain ole red shirt though ... booorrrinnng. Okay, I'll embroider it. But wait, embroidery on a men's shirt is not all that common honestly and I don't want something looking feminine at the end. With that in mind, of course, I skipped embroidering a big red heart on the front. ;)

I finally found that neat bicycle you can see in the photo, and downloaded it (for free from one of the sites!). Off to a great start, right? I cut out the shirt and somehow missed cutting out the neckband. On finishing up and being happy to basically use up every last inch of my red fabric (hey, no scraps to find a use for later, right?) I discovered this. Okay, I thought to myself, I'll just use some other red from stash fabric. With a stash of literally hundreds of yards of fabric, there has to be a decently matching red ribknit. You guessed it though - nothing! I set that problem aside for later and sewed the basic shirt for shoulder seams, inserted the sleeves flat and left the sides open. On to the embroidery.

Despite very careful checking several times on hooping, I stitched out that bicycle and discovered it was off center - BADLY off center, i.e., not enough that it could be construed to be supposed to be on the left or right chest, and not close enough to the center to not be obvious. Okay, set that problem aside and go back to the neckline issue.

I made the bicycle green so finally decided to do a green neckband. And luck was finally with me and I found a decent match both in color and weight of the fabric needed. Woohoo!

Back to the embroidery problem though. I finally decide to put a stick figure person with the bicycle, and I start hunting for one. I don't have one already so I need to search. I find one at Ann the Gran that will work. Back in business here on the shirt, of course it is now mid afternoon ....

I try to download it. Oh no, her site was revamped and I CANNOT get it to download. I have never had problems with downloading from her site before. I check the forums there, and I'm not the only one having problems. I search through what seems like a hundred other sites and don't find anything that works quite as well. I break for chores and tasks for a couple hours, consider throwing the shirt in the trash and come back. I try Firefix rather than IE and finally get it downloaded. Back in business .... and it's 4:30 p.m.

I stitch the thing out, and it is not the greatest, slight puckering (after congratulating myself prematurely on the great job with the bicycle with no puckering). And then I discover somehow the underneath fabric worked its way underneath the hoop and got stitched in the design. So now part of the bicycle is sewn to the design. I tear out a few hairs and then think rationally again. It is only the far part of his front foot sewn to it --- so I rip out those stitches carefully and am left with a design minus part of his foot. I tack the rest of the design back down so it doesn't all come out and move on.

I press it and look at it - not horrible and hey he can wear it for PJs if nothing else. At least the fabric is still soft and comfy. And it's the thought that counts, right?

Moral of the story: Note to self - start before 2/14 for next year's gift.

PS - At least the shirt fit beautifully when he tried it on. :)

A bad day

For those of you who do not know, Zach has been diagnosed as likely bipolar disorder rather than ADHD. He has been started on some antipsychotic meds to hopefully help calm his anger and rages and another medication classification that hopefully will lower his impulsivity and hyperactivity. The medication ideally will make it possible for him to work effectively with his therapist, something that is not particularly possible at this time due to his out of control state.

With that background, today is a bad day. Zach really has been doing quite well, with more even and stable mood. He has been redirectable and so forth. Today he had an explosion though. Right now he is in his room (having been carried there by me for hitting and screaming at his brother) for a time out to calm down. He has been screaming for a good 20 minutes at the top of his lungs, throwing things and just enraged. There is no possible way to get him into the hands on knees/deep breathing position we use, in conjunction with the advice of his therapist, for him to self calm. He was hysterical though so that obviously did not work. I moved him to his room for the safety of the rest of the family and he needs to stay there until calm. Blogging is my own self-calming method in a lot of ways. I am having such a hard time with this honestly. He continues to be more a "problem to deal with" than the joy a child should be. True, all children has their moments of causing their parents a lot of grief, but unfortunately that is his normal state and I am very frustrated. At this point, we basically cannot leave the house much with just me with the kids in case he explodes while we are out. My first issue has to be safety and I cannot provide him 1-1 safety measures and take care of Lily and Noah too if we are out. Zach has dashed across parking lots and streets before when enraged and hysterical, and I cannot take that risk.

His behavior also makes it extremely difficult to form and maintain any type of friendships for Noah or me. Honestly, what other parent would want to have to be around this type of child. He is my son, and I love him. Other parents don't have that love bond and choose usually not to want to be around us, leading to our essential isolation. I feel the sorriest for Noah. He in no way gets to enjoy the library toddler storytimes during the day, park outings and play dates his brother got. I wish I could provide those things, but circumstances do not allow it at this time.

I just continue to pray that some medication, therapy or just time and prayers will help Zach. We continue to struggle to do what is best for him (homeschooling, therapy, medications, scheduling, etc), but it is exhausting and I pray for strength to continue it day by day.

I won!

A few posts ago I told you about all the contests going on at the Bloggy Carnival. Well, I won something, and something wonderful too! From Tara I won three Bum Genius all-in-one diapers! I have really been wanting to try these so this is really, really exciting. Yes, cloth diapers are exciting in this household with 2 in diapers. The good news is they are a really really creative design on the pocket diaper to make it one size. The bad news is that they do not fit Noah. He is really big for his size though and pushing the upper limits of the recommended weights (8 to 35) pounds, as he is 32 pounds essentially. The good news is that they fit Lily quite nicely at the smallest snap position. I have to say though she is at least 12 pounds at 3 pounds, and these would not have fit her at all at 8 pounds. They would have been huge on her even at the smallest snap position, but then the same is true of our usual Motherease one-size too. That is what you get with a "one size" I think - one size fits most but not ALL! In any case, for any cloth diapering mommies out there, I highly recommend these. The fleece inner is nice and keeps skin dry, and the microfiber insert is very absorbant, which equals few to no leaks, always a good thing huh?

In any case, again, my thanks to Tara for giving these away, and to all the bloggers who participated in the Bloggy Carnival. I have since subscribed to several new blogs and am reading away. :)

Ottobre apron

Ottobre apron, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

I have been quiet on my blog, but I have been sewing. I am participating in a swap at SewingMamas (www.sewingmamas.com) so have been completing my items to send in. One of the items I made was the cross-back apron from Ottobre 4/04. It came out pretty well I think. I like the old-fashioned lines for a girl, and the big pockets are cute, and a way to use up contrasting scraps of fabric. The pink has been in my stash a long long time, from freecycle I think with a bunch of other fabric. It had just enough for this apron with a tiny bit left so I was happy to basically use it up. :)

Bloggy Giveaway Carnival - Have you heard of it?

Someone on one of my yahoo groups is participating and sent a link. Literally hundreds of bloggers are offering giveaways this week. You sign up for each individual giveaway by leaving a comment on the individual blog. So, for all you people who love to win stuff, check out Rocks in my Dryer http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/reviews/

But, even better, as you are clicking through the participants, stop to read a few posts on these bloggers. I have found some excellent new blogs to read, and a lot of talented sewing ladies as I signed up to sign bags, aprons and baby gear. :)

Okay, one of my favorites I saw this morning makes incredibly gorgeous burp cloths and sells on Etsy, so take a look at Its Whimsy http://itswhimsy.blogspot.com/2008/01/in-conjunction-with-rocks-in-my-dryer.html

Book review: Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine

I first heard of Not Buying It on the Simple Living Discussion Forums I believe. The opinion there was not all that positive honestly. Despite that, given there just are not that many books about not buying things (heh, perhaps because the target audience would not purchase the book?!), I decided I did want to read it. However, I picked it up from the library. My next best source, paperbackswap.com, had a waiting list of over 100 people for this book. In any case, I finally did find a copy.

First off, this is not your typical "how to" guide to not buying it or saving money (ala The Tightwad Gazette or similar), nor is it a "how to" philosophy or primer on simple living. It is one woman's year without buying (meaning without buying what she considers "unnecessary," so obviously purchased food and so forth), and her thoughts along the way. The chapters are the months of the year as she progresses along, both in her year and her thoughts, starting off very much in a consumer mindset and ending the year not only weathlier in monetary means but in life satisfaction as well. Along the way, I have to admit the book got tedious in places, and I skimmed some pages. Levine though touches briefly on many, many hot philosophical debates (green living, radical simplicity, regular simple living/downsizing, involuntary simplicity and consumer culture post 9-11 as a political statement just to name a few). Any of those could serve as a jump point for those interested in doing further reading. This book, again, is not a primer though and remains one person's memoir of her year "without shopping."

Overall, I enjoyed reading a well-articulated, if somewhat long-winded at times, account. Levine brought forward many interesting points of view. However, this is not a book I will seek out for my personal permanent library to read again (remember, my copy is a library book). So, my recommendation honestly is pick up a copy used or at the library. A side note here is the author herself did see the irony in an author writing a book about not buying. She has a good sense of humor. LOL.

Ottobre 1/2003 #27

Ottobre 1/2003 #27, originally uploaded by michaeldog_1999.

Sewing this weekend was another raglan Ottobre top for Noah, sleeves from the "red dress" knit (see below!) and front and back from a nice thick white interlock. I used a firetruck and fire hydrant applique I have had in my stash for many years. This is Ottobre 1/2003 design #27, size 98 cm.