Snow Day

It's been snowing on and off for several days now but we only have about 4"/10cm accumulation. The temperatures have gotten just a little too warm (as usual) and there are raindrops included in with the snowflakes. So typical for Vancouver! Oh well. We've learned to enjoy it for the fleeting time it's here before it gets all squishy and slushy and messy. For now it looks pretty and festive. I know those who live in colder climes are chuckling at me right now. You go right ahead. You're just envious of our balmy climate whilst trying not to freeze your nose off at -37C with the windchill factor. Hah. It's just one reason we are a very expensive city to live in (27th in the WORLD, people)! Too bad nobody here knows how to drive in this weather. I'm staying home.

So. I finished a project! Yay! This small zippered pouch:

I was practicing my boro stitching again with more of my copious collection of fabric scraps: mostly linen and a few bits of woven fabrics from the sadly long-defunct West Coast Woolen Mills (local textile lovers will remember them). The lining is a piece of cotton muslin that I painted years ago in one of our Spectrum get-togethers. The zipper is vintage and has been in the stash forever. Unseen layers are old sheeting, fusible web and nonwoven interfacing. Nice to use up some bits and bobs taking up space in the studio.

I'm pretty pleased with the boro stitching. It wasn't as easy as it could have been though because of the fusible web I used (Heat'n'Bond Lite). It's a little plasticky and hard to stitch through with a large hand needle. I used my thimble a lot! I'm definitely not so happy with the final construction. It's more wobbly and less professional than I would like. The many layers made the corners very bulky so they wouldn't turn out square. It's usable as is though so I'm not too grumpy about it. Obviously even more practice is needed.

I have an outfit photo for you from a couple of days ago. I'm currently wearing nearly the same thing except with a different sweater (Flaming Intersect) and different brown pants so you can probably imagine it! It's too dark for a good photo today.

• Asymmetrical Ribbon Cardi, MM
  
• Brown tunic with crossover front and hi-lo hem, MM (brushed cotton knit)
  
• Same leggings as last time, SB
  
• Socks, MM (pre-Ravelry)
  
• Purple slippers, MM
  
• Undies (bra and panties), MM
  

I kind of like how the asymmetries of the sweater and the tunic repeat each other. I think the outfit looks better with boot-cut pants instead of leggings though. The balance is more pleasing.

Moving right along. I'm on the home stretch on the Red Earth cardi. A few rows to go on the second sleeve and then I will use up the remaining yarn on the bottom hem to make this sweater as long as possible before I run out. I have reserved a wee ball though to use to crochet up the button bands to hopefully snug up their waviness and make them lie more evenly. It will be very nice to get this beast off the needles. It has been rather reluctant to be done!