Sunday, April 5, 2015

What Am I Up To?

Not sure if you know this, but I really don't like Easter. IMO, it's the worst of all the holidays. As a child, I had to go to church on all three days (Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday). The meal never appealed to me. There was always tons of cleaning up that somehow was delegated to me. And it inevitably fell in the week of my mother and sister's birthdays (and now my kid's). So there was already tons of hoopla happening and none of it was about me. Not to mention that the weather on Easter, in TO, always sucks. To wit: today, there's snow on the ground.

(Lest I hear about this on the flip side, I will disclose that my parents always got us excellent, little Easter-morning gifties and left a rhyming poem from the Easter Bunny to give us hints about where they were hidden. But, sorry, nothing could make up for the endless church-going.)

So I don't celebrate. Of course, it would be utter hypocrisy for me to celebrate, what with my not being a practicing religious person. But I don't even get into it culturally. Really, I prefer Passover as a holiday. It seems more lively, though it could benefit from a nice spiral ham :-).

Lest you think I never eat an Easter dinner, most years my best friend Hilary invites my family to her house, along with her family. Sadly, her aunt recently died (one of the long-standing wonderful participants), and this year, naturally, the celebration is being held very close.

The upshot is that I don't have a damn thing planned for this long weekend - unless you count my kid's 15th birthday dinner (which happened on Thursday), dinner with friends (that was Friday) and a big-ass chicken tonight (cuz Scott feels it's sad not to eat a roast of some sort when other people are doing the same).

As a result, I've been doing all the Kristin-things:
  • I'm getting there with my skin care "brand". I've done a lot of work to improve my labels and, while there are many glitches still to correct, I'm on the right track.
  • Made skin-care: Lotion A, Deodorant A (this time it worked!), Serum A (I go through this stuff). (I can't keep my potions in stock because everyone I know wants them. Makes me feel very popular, in truth.)
  • Bought more freakin' ponte from FabricLand. While this isn't like me, earlier in the week, I decided to buy the additional amounts I required (to bolster amounts of left-over fabric, after making every possible muslin for McCall's 6844) without bringing swatches to the store. I've given all of the muslins away (they were VERY popular with friends) but I didn't want to waste the 1/2 metre remaining, of all the fabrics, when I could just buy another metre and have enough to make them all again (or something else, for novelty). How hard could it be, I mused, to remember which bolts I'd already purchased from? Well, apparently harder than you'd think. It's amazing how I messed up, given that there were only 4 blue fabrics to choose from. So I had to go back and buy more in the actual colours I have remnants of, and more in the colours I'd erroneously bought on Monday. Let's just say my plan backfired but I sure do have a lot of blue ponte in the stash right now.
  • I finally implemented the alterations to the next version of McCall's 6844. One should always do this immediately after making the last muslin. I started the process but lost interest (having sewed all day prior to realizing that muslin 4 was also a bust). Yesterday I spent quite some time remembering what I wanted to do and implementing the changes. Lord, I do hope muslin 5 is the well-fitted final or I do think I'm done with this.
  • I'm currently sewing McCall's 6844 muslin 5. Hope to have this done today...
  • I'm also knitting sock 1 of Kristin's Simple Sock Recipe. Note: This has been in the works for a while but I can't knit for more than 10 minutes at a time without taking a break, so who knows when we'll see the finished pair. How cruel to realize that I cannot live without handknit lounge socks at a time when knitting binges cause pain.
So that's my weekend. But what about you? Do you celebrate Easter (or some sort of holiday on this long weekend)? Are you working on your special fun crafts? What's up with you? Let's talk!

16 comments:

  1. Saying hi because it's been a while :-)

    I'm not an Easter-celebrator either (you know, not being Christian and all). And although we are in fact having lovely weather today, the hubs has to work, so I'm gifting myself a sewing day :-) And later, maybe some reading on the couch with a nice, cold cocktail next to me.

    Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

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    1. Hello! I've been thinking of you! I'm so jealous that you've got good weather. So. jealous. Enjoy that cocktail :-)

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  2. Happy sewing! I'm going to an Easter gathering in TO with family... but can't say I've ever been to church on Easter, or that I associate Easter with certain foods! (There will be ham today, but yuck, I don't eat that.)

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    1. Fascinating. It's all about the church, for me. And gotta say, I had 18 years to decide how much I'm not into church.

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  3. That sounds like a pretty amazing weekend. I am jealous! Mine is spent recovering from sewing frustrating bridesmaids dresses, and getting ready for a trip to Mexico. So I guess it's not all bad!

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    1. It could be worse! :-) And getting ready for Mexico sounds like an awesome way to spend the weekend.

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  4. As a recovering Catholic, I can commiserate about the long church sessions. I was thinking this morning about how the holiday has changed for me. We haven't dyed eggs for a couple of years, since my son went vegan, and this is the first year in forever that I haven't done Easter baskets. Neither of my sons are big on sugar these days, so I just got them chocolate bunnies. I made coconut bacon for breakfast this morning. Life has certainly changed.

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    1. OK, coconut bacon I have NEVER heard of - and I like to think I'm up on all of the crazy vegan options. Off to do some research...

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  5. Oh to be able to be a recovering Catholic. :-( I skip church most Sundays, but my IL's are hardcore, so giving it up completely isn't likely to be in my future. Especially since my son goes to a Catholic school. Which, is an AMAZING school, despite the Catholic-ness.

    Oddly, I was raised Catholic...in the "go to church 2x/year" kind of way, but I just can't get into going every Sunday. I believe that God is everywhere and he knows everything. I don't mind Easter though, it means that Lent is finally over, which since I'm married into a hardcore family, I find myself being forced into participating. So I try to use it for a positive--this year I counted my calories and learned a bit more about my diet while losing a few pounds.

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    1. How did I forget Lent - egad, yet another reason to hate this holiday :-)

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  6. Passover cannot possibly be better than easter! Sitting for 3 hours reading the "hagada" and then not eating bread for a week?

    Passover evening can only be compensated for with a long day of sewing... ( 4 pairs of go to knit pants view b, a hemlock sweater, and a Watson bra muslin).

    I'm happy I'm not the only one who has alternative (sewing related) holiday preferences. I haven't found a non- insultive way to explain that to my family though...

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    1. OK, you're making it sound a bit tedious. But it's novel! And my friends who celebrate always make it seem so cheerful and drama-free.

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  7. I cannot believe you had snow over the weekend. I shan't rub it in that we are shirt-sleeves at the moment. Although we do celebrate Easter, this year was very low key and relaxed and much the better for not having much going on. We ate take-out curry, for goodness sake. It was bliss!

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    1. I know. To say it sucks totally undercuts how bad it really is. At this time of year, I feel I live in the Arctic circle, while everyone in the more temperate climes (UK, for example) has real spring.

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    2. And I LOVE take out curry. Very smart!

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  8. Eugh...that weather would do me in completely. Although here its so temperamental. Today is cloudy and raining where we live in the north and mid-20s and sunny in London where hubby works. Crazy!

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