March Progress

Well, that was a month.

It started out fine. Things were happening, projects were worked on, life was hectic but (mostly) manageable.

And then the Fire Nation attacked I found moths in my workroom. (I probably would have sworn less about the Fire Nation attacking.) With the amount of fibre, fleece and fabric in there, not to mention my entire wardrobe of both everyday and re-enactment clothing, it was all hands on deck to banish them. I’m still not done. So if this month or the next is a little light on progress, that’s why.

• Words written: 3,065
• Weaving time (goal 650 min): 734.5 minutes
• Note: 150 minutes per week becomes 650 minutes per month, when spread over a year
• WIPs finished: 2

Goal progress

1. Writing

This can essentially be summed up with "lolnope". I published on this blog, but that was it. Sometimes that's just the way it goes.

3. Weaving and WIPs

3.1 Weave for at least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) per week

I hit this goal every week except for the last week of March, where I only managed 88 minutes. Given the monthly total was still more than what I was aiming for, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I've been focusing on getting Easter knitting out of the way since Easter is getting uncomfortably close. Sometimes you just have to work to the deadline and do your best.

3.1 Work through “The Key to Weaving”

This has stalled while I cut and tie enough heddles to fill my loom shafts. I technically have enough heddles already on there to thread the warp I wound last month, but to do that, I have to take the shafts off the pulleys and move the heddles closer to the centre of the loom.

If I have to fiddle with heddles on the shafts like that, I'd rather add all the heddles I could (hopefully) possibly need at the same time, and then never have to go through that fuckery again. My goal is 1,000 extra heddles (250 per shaft), with maybe an extra 50 on each of the first two to accommodate unbalanced weaves.

So far I've made the heddle jig, cut all the strings, and tied the first hundred or so heddles. Only 900 left...

3.2 Finish at least 12 pre-2023 WIPs (1 per month) from Area 52

I'm already ahead of this goal, which is delightful. Unfortunately, I'm rapidly running out of things that can be completed inside a month. So it's a good thing I'm ahead.

I did finished another pre-2023 WIP in March - an apron for the younger child. Details below, since it’s so simple it doesn’t really need its own post.

3.3 Make some clothes for me, not just for the kids (at least 2 items)

I cut out pieces for a léine, which technically counts as clothes for me. But I'd really rather meet this goal with clothes I can wear everyday, not medieval re-enactment kit. (I suppose I *could* wear a léine in everyday life, if I really wanted. I bet the sleeves and lack of pockets would annoy me mightily though.)

WIPs

Apron for the younger child

This was supposed to be an Easter gift. Alas, the child in question had other plans, and so I’m now feverishly knitting a pair of socks for them. At least they have something to wear when they help make pizza or bake muffins now.

The apron is made from the leg of an adult pair of jeans that’s cut open along one seam. I overlocked all around, then sewed bias tape on the front, pressed it flat, and wrapped it around to the back. I then spent a million years whipstitching the tape in place on the back, because apparently I can’t help myself. Bias tape loops to thread the straps through (the ones I decided to weave, because see above) at the neck and waist corners were sewn on, and the thing was done. (If you did it all by machine, you could easily complete the thing in an hour or two.)

The straps aren’t sewn down - they run through the loops at neck and sides, so it can be easily adjusted to the size of the wearer. This is valuable when said wearer keeps adding a couple inches in height every year. It does, however, make it harder to hang on a hook. I might add a hanging loop to fix that.

Detail of the bias tape edging, and bias tape loops for the straps.

Flannel tunic pyjamas for the elder child

The elder child really likes this style of tunic for pyjamas. Easter is traditionally new-warm-pyjamas time in our house. I need more practice in turning out decent tunics for re-enactment events. There was a logical conclusion here.

This thing happens to fit me, so the child will fit it for quite some time to come.

I have more photos and a few things to say about its construction, so this one will get its own post (sooner or later).

YouTube…?

Nothing posted this month, alas. I did a decent amount of filming, but my poor computer just cries when I try to edit things on it. And while the iPad can do a lot of things well, I have yet to find a video editing app for it that doesn’t make me cry. Fingers crossed I can sort something out in the near future.

With luck, I’ll have positive progress to report at the end of April. Even just getting rid of the damn moths would be nice. Though there is the Easter socks. And the Easter jumper. And the léine. And the heddles…