December 20, 2008

6:45 p.m.

Snow and Fabric

This morning Dar and I decided I shouldn't drive to his play, a couple of hours away. It snowed loads last night, was snowing today, and 19 degrees. I was sorry to miss it, as it's the last weekend, but I did feel the press of time on all the projects I still need to complete before Christmas.

So instead I made this:

This is a gift for Wes, to thank him for being such an angel when I had to go to the hospital. As I was planning it I realized I have many angels, and at the very least I ought to make one for Dar. He's been my primary angel for ten years.

It's not bad for a first try. The muslin I got is too heavy; it's very hard to turn the arms and legs inside out. But I got 3 yards (it was very inexpensive!) so... maybe I'll have to make fatter poppets. Anyway I dragged out all my fabric remnants from the closet and set up the ironing board and the sewing machine in the kitchen. Her wings have batting in them, and are attached to the back of the pinafore, which ties on either side under her arms. The eyes are knotted pieces of hemp cord. I did everything SOTP (seat of the pants) and T&E (trial and error), meaning I pretty much did everything twice. The ends of the arms and legs are stuffed with flax seed for extra weight, and the rest is just stuffing fluff. Appendages are articulated at hips and shoulders, meaning there's a seam so they'll bend. She can sit pretty effectively if propped up. I just love her wild hair.

Now I have to figure out a way to make it quicker. This took too long to make multiple ones, and I do want to make more.

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I did broom the snow off my car before more came down today. There was about 8" of snow on it, and a bumpy layer of ice underneath that. I didn't bother scraping off the ice. It was covering all the vent holes under the windshield as well as the windows. I wasn't planning on going anywhere so I thought, enough to get the snow off and shovel it somewhere. Our little back parking lot looks quite different now, with mounds of snow piled up against the perimeter fence.

By the time I finished, my fingers were hurting inside my gloves.

If I can finish Marc's scarf tonight, then I'll have most of one scarf and one whole doll left to make. Maybe I can do that in a couple of days.

Tomorrow is Frost's "darkest evening of the year." Then it starts to get lighter. The light, returning. Just imagine it.