The blouse is off my (way too many) lists

After a few weeks of running around - well, I never really stop running around, but we had a guest researcher at work whom I entertained a lot in the past few weeks, so it meant a lot of going out, restaurants, diners, concerts, festivals, eating too much, going to bed late, drinking alcohol every night and not sleeping enough - so, after all that running around, and with the researcher gone back home on Tuesday morning, I had a little time to myself to do things. 

Things like weaving for Emöke:

and sewing for me: 

Pre-ironded, pre-washed FINISHED blouse!

(Don't worry, nothing weird grew on my chin over night, it't just that our mirror, being from the 60s, is stained.)

I can't, can't believe I finished my blouse! It's so wonderful to put it on, and that it fits! I'm so not used to it! 

So this morning, I was very happy to cross that off my several lists. 

Yeah, I have several lists. Almost like a list of lists. 

1. First, I have  my little notebook. It seems to be a very mysterious thing for people around me, who keep asking me what I write in it. I started to carry a notebook on me over 10 years ago, when I spent my summer in Europe a few years in a row. It was so convenient to have it to note the train schedule, coordinates of people we met, things we saw or heard about as people kept suggesting what to visit, recipes and even things to remember do when I get home. I still always has one on me, and over the years, I developed strict criteria of what a perfect notebook should be like: plastic cover, so it lasts for a long time in the bottom of my bags, spiral binding, so it's easy to tear out pages when needed, and the right size so it doesn't take too much room, but you still can write enough on it. In that note book, I have, on the first page, the schedule of buses between 3R and Montreal; at the end of it, I have a list of random things I would like to do eventually (having it at the end of the notebook means I can add items indefinitely). And in the notebook, I have several lists: what I have to do this week, things I would like to do to the house (room by room), knitting patterns, grocery lists, etc. 

Over the years, several people have questioned me about this notebook. They like to open it, and look at my lists as if it was a secret code, or as if they expected to find out I'm a famous poet writing under a pseudonym or something, and they are usually disappointed by my weekly menus, shopping lists, website addresses and ideas for next year's garden. The blouse was in both "to be done eventually" and "to be tackled this week" (for a few weeks in a row) lists. 

2. Second, I have a craft notebook. Once in a while, I receive notebooks as presents from people who want to make sure they really understood my somewhat obsessive standards, and be part of that mysterious thing I do.This is actually one of those, and, as it didn't fit any of the above-mentioned criteria, I just could not use it as my next lists notebook. But it was cute, with a matriochka on the cover, and I still wanted to use it...so I transformed it into a "craft database", with lists of what I would like to knit, sew, weave and crochet (whenever I learn) in priority (because, with Pinterest, it's easy to get carried away, n'est-ce pas?). I also added a list of fabric I have, so I know what I can do with what I have. I was hoping it would stop me from buying more fabric. 

Except that it doesn't work so far, because I just spend my last weekend buying a ton of material. 

Hello, partial result of my last shopping spree! 

Anyway, fabric shopping is another issue I'll discuss later in another therapy session post. 

So, basically, I crossed off that blouse from 3 lists. 

I have a problem. I know.

(don't talk to me about apps, I tried a few, I need to be able to physically cross off items, otherwise, I get nervous).

If at least, being over-organised on paper meant I was organised in real life. But not. Or at least, it takes me a looong time to find the perfect settings that will lead me to actually do something concrete. 

Like, for example, my "studio" (part of the basement that I took over). 

Every time I go downstairs, I see this, take a deep breath, roll my eyes, and go watch tv. Sometimes, I try to move a few things around, but that never last for long, and never give much result. I just din't know where to put all my stuff. Until last week, when I did this: 

Weaving was so much easier after I got organised! 

And then, 2 days ago, I did this: 

I think that explains how I was able to finally finish my blouse. I really need to spend less time on paper, and more time getting things organised. 

Anyway, further house organisation will have to wait a bit, this weekend I'm going away to a family reunion, and I'm helping organize the last km of a race between Toronto and 3R (I'm very good at organizing things for others...) 

Have a great weekend! 

Last post, part 2

I just realized last night that over half of my last post did not appear when I pressed published...I never intended to write only about how I felt about my new age...there is way more to say about everything else I'm trying to make these days!

The last words of the last post were: I started...so although I lost my text, let's try to get back to what I was saying...

I started sewing a new dress with my friend from the farmers and the bus. This is the pattern, and this is the fabric, bought in Paris:

It's a bit thick and stiff, so I'm a bit worried about the final result, but I think it's cuuuute!
Of course, we had to modify the pattern quite a bit to fit me. Thank god for my friend who does have a strong spatial intelligence, because I would never have been able to do it by myself, although we used a technique found in this book, which I find much easier than what I did in my sewing class with my blouse.

I'm also been knitting a little bit on my Graylina:

In other news:
- I'm very proud and happy to say that my man has finished his Master's classes. There is an essay left, but no more weekends in Québec City, nor group papers to write for him! Hurrah!
- The baby I knitted booties for a few weeks ago is here! We visited her and her parents last weekend, and she is sooo cute and tiny and perfect...
- This weekend, my man and I are going to the festival where we met 9 years ago. I am not volunteering this year, but he is, although not full time. I  was not going to go, in case he was called and I had to spend the weekend by myself, until I heard that one of my good friends from Toronto, who I never get to see, is also going as a musician. Add that to the fact that I know a lot of the other volunteers, and ha, just like that, I booked a nice hotel room (how classy! we always slept in very small bunk beds with a lot of people in a gym as volunteers!), and we are going there as tourists to party with our friends! Moreover, some other friends wanted to go to the same city on Saturday morning to go shopping for fabric. How perfect is this going to be? ah, being 40 and being able to do that is nice, after all! :-)
There were maybe other news in the post that didn't get posted, but I can't remember what they were.
Have a great weekend!

40

A lot and yet not much has happened since the last time I wrote.

The most memorable event is that I turned 40 last weekend. I was very lucky, and my birthday was celebrated several times. First with my colleagues, who managed to integrate a special celebration into a party I organised for our research group. What was the funniest is that I actually got paid to organize my own surprise party during my work hours...

I also got to party a bit with my Hungarian friends in Montreal at a concert with live musicians from Budapest, and with my family.

Birthday brunch with the family

I have to say that I'm not really enjoying being that age. A part of me is very happy to finally being comfortable and have a great quality of life. But another big part of me doesn't like being so comfortable, and misses the very fun life I had in my 20s, when I travelled with my big backpack all the time, and was always busy organizing things right and left. I don't think I have the energy to get back to that kind of life (especially the part where I had to check my bank account every day to make sure I had enough money to pay for my rent and all those plane tickets!) but I don't think I do quiet well. I was asked to make a wish before I blew my candles, and I could not think of anything that I really wish. That might be my problem.

Anyway, that's it about this age. Back to more fun things, such as:

Sewing :

My blouse is almost ready. I have a few buttons to add, and one last hem, and I can wear it. I discovered that although I love hand sewing, I hate sewing buttons. They never end where they are supposed to. Anyway, after all that work, it is not a few buttons that will get in my way...

I started