The initial beading is done. I'm referring to the forehead band of the headpiece.
The first strand was easy. I did a pattern, after starting and ending with two pinch beads, of three pearls - small, large,small - three pinch beads, three pearls, and on, until the right length was reached. I want it to extend to just past my ears. Both ends were finished off with the thread protector looped on a jump ring that's a closed double spiral. Picture a key ring where you split it and feed the key around the circle until it's no longer between two pieces of the ring. They make jump rings like that. It's safer than the cut ones which bend apart and back with two needlenose pliers, might not close perfectly and some day might gap, and bye-bye strand of whatever you were wearing. When you connect to this kind of jump ring while in the process of threading everything through and before crimping, your connection is stable and safe.
The first strand was the center strand, and meant to run straight through the center of the other two, which were to wind around it. They needed to be longer, so I cut my soft-flex about 12" longer to give plenty of working room. Yes, it meant some was wasted, but it also meant I could start with all strands secured in place around the same jump ring.
I spent about an hour, subtracting extra time for interruptions, duplicating the first strand's bead pattern, then tried winding both strands around the first. There was just no way they didn't squirm out of the pattern and start winding at irregular intervals around whatever. So, five minutes to unbead, meaning now the beads were all mixed up and I had to look for the right next bead rather than just dip into the cup each kind was in.
The only cure for the winding around all over the place was to make loops with "x"s, by stringing both strings at the same time and at intervals putting both pieces of soft flex through the same bead. The same color pattern wouldn't work, so after again starting with two pinch beads, I did four pearls, 5 pinch beads, four pearls, and on. The pearls were small, large, large, small, and the central of the five pinch beads was the one double-strung. I now had loops, and the straight center string could weave back and forward through each loop. I thought I could make the loops extra long and have wide loops, but what I got instead was droopy loops hanging off a straight top string.
Ick!
After removing about 5" of looped beads, the lengths matched once the straight string was woven through. I knew it was too late to think straight about the final finish, so let it sit overnight. This morning I figured out that if I taped each loop with masking tape down on the kitchen table so nothing twisted, I could keep it all straight for the finishing linking through the jump ring. The looped strands ends needed to be on opposites sides of the center strand, with the back end of the ring clear for the elastic to go through. As long as I did it right, and thereafter kept the elastic straight, the bead pattern would also be straight. A bit of a touch here and there in the mirror to even out the loops just before heading down the aisle will be all it then needs.
Of course I still need to add the ruffles and a side centerpiece, but not today. Today I remove more stuff from the bedroom Steve is moving into. The good news is it looks very rich as it is. I'm not adding roses onto the beads. They'd just mess it up. The rest of the beads are in a ziploc awaiting further use.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
A Spool of Tulle
A spool of tulle, freshwater pearls, fabric roses, feathers, glitter, pinch beads....
I've been shopping. Wedding stuff. This is just the stuff for making the headpiece. Add a tiny wicker basket, spray paint, some ribbon, and some more of the above, and it's stuff for the flower girl's basket as well.
Just because it was there and I've been in the mood for wedding shopping, add a garter, a ring-bearer's pillow, napkins, plates, cups and plastic silverware, all in the wedding colors as well. Or close anyway. Items for the table settings will be in white instead of ivory, and red and pink instead of fuschia, colors easier to get for a Valentine's Day wedding than fuschia. At any rate, that much is done. Now I get to get "crafty".
The wicker basket was originally shades of brown and held a Christmas centerpiece. It's now ivory and stinky. So are the tips of my shoes, areas around my fingernails, spots on the backs of my fingers, and large collections of spots on the driveway and in assorted leaves. I was in a hurry for the first paint spraying and didn't go for the rubber gloves although I did remember to remove my glasses first. (Bad experience years ago on another windy day.) The paint remover does a half-assed job. Good thing I started early, eh? Gives the stuff time to wear off.
The basket will get lined with ivory tulle which will extend out over the lip of the basket and down on the right side a bit, held in place with glue, and with stitches which will also hold the fuschia ribbon in place along with fabric roses in fuschia and ivory. The ribbon is 3/8" with two outer bands in satin and a center band in tulle, or a good imitation. There'll be a bow at each handle. If I think it's justified I'll add glitter.
The headpiece steals a lot of ideas from the pictures my friend Joan sent me of her wedding headpiece, which she also made herself. There will be a forehead band of beads in three interwoven strands, in some pattern of freshwater pearls and pinch beads. I'll explain the pinch beads, figuring that since last night was the first I ever heard of them, this may also be your first time. (Hey, I can't always be the last to know everything, right?) They are glass, 4mm in size, smoothly rounded with a cross section like a triangle with a hole in it. The name comes from looking like they were pinched while being made. In color these vary from mostly clear to bits of fuschia, with the surface being irridescent. The latter helps them blend in with the pearls. The coloring is subtle, which is perfect.
I started looking for colored pearls, but nothing was the right tone and they were too big. I toyed with the idea of crystals, but while the colors were OK, the thought of their corners digging into my head all night put me off. After searching on my own unsuccessfully, I finally popped in at Jeff's last night, better known as the Taylor's Falls bead store, Non-Necessities. They've always been good at directing me to what I want, even when I'm not sure what that is. It's a few doors north of the light on 95, should you want to pop in yourself. You can usually find a curbside parking spot in front.
Back to the headpiece, I haven't decided whether to give the front more of a garland look by adding some of those fuschia roses or not. They're only about a half inch across. I'll see later, looking at it both ways. It'll be held in place, relatively parallel to the floor around my head, by elastic, upon which two layers of that same ivory tulle are gathered into ruffles, It's 10" wide tulle, and the layers will be offset just a bit and gathered from the middle so it will look like four ruffles, shortest on top with each layer a tad longer, varying between 4 and 6 inches. The edging will have glitter added, some combination of iridescent clear/white and light and dark fuschia. I have glitter, glue, and glitter glue. I'll experiment on some of the extra (10 yards total) tulle to see what works. I bought it all while I was shopping so I don't have to run out and risk not finding what I want if the first attempt doesn't look right. Where the middle of the tulle is attached to the elastic I'll be adding fuschia roses. Some of the color will show through.
It needs something of a side centerpiece, just one side. Poofy. For that I have feathers, a few larger fabric flowers, and whatever is leftover in beads to work with, possibly strung on wire this time. Not sure what that's going to look like, but we'll figure something out. So far all those centerpiece things are mostly ivory, so maybe the fuschia glitter will make another appearance. Or an appearance from fuschia roses. I bought lots. Whatever is left will get added to the trim on the ivory vest, tying it more into the color scheme.
And I still have to start the silk tunic.
Hmmm, good thing I'm starting now, eh?
I've been shopping. Wedding stuff. This is just the stuff for making the headpiece. Add a tiny wicker basket, spray paint, some ribbon, and some more of the above, and it's stuff for the flower girl's basket as well.
Just because it was there and I've been in the mood for wedding shopping, add a garter, a ring-bearer's pillow, napkins, plates, cups and plastic silverware, all in the wedding colors as well. Or close anyway. Items for the table settings will be in white instead of ivory, and red and pink instead of fuschia, colors easier to get for a Valentine's Day wedding than fuschia. At any rate, that much is done. Now I get to get "crafty".
The wicker basket was originally shades of brown and held a Christmas centerpiece. It's now ivory and stinky. So are the tips of my shoes, areas around my fingernails, spots on the backs of my fingers, and large collections of spots on the driveway and in assorted leaves. I was in a hurry for the first paint spraying and didn't go for the rubber gloves although I did remember to remove my glasses first. (Bad experience years ago on another windy day.) The paint remover does a half-assed job. Good thing I started early, eh? Gives the stuff time to wear off.
The basket will get lined with ivory tulle which will extend out over the lip of the basket and down on the right side a bit, held in place with glue, and with stitches which will also hold the fuschia ribbon in place along with fabric roses in fuschia and ivory. The ribbon is 3/8" with two outer bands in satin and a center band in tulle, or a good imitation. There'll be a bow at each handle. If I think it's justified I'll add glitter.
The headpiece steals a lot of ideas from the pictures my friend Joan sent me of her wedding headpiece, which she also made herself. There will be a forehead band of beads in three interwoven strands, in some pattern of freshwater pearls and pinch beads. I'll explain the pinch beads, figuring that since last night was the first I ever heard of them, this may also be your first time. (Hey, I can't always be the last to know everything, right?) They are glass, 4mm in size, smoothly rounded with a cross section like a triangle with a hole in it. The name comes from looking like they were pinched while being made. In color these vary from mostly clear to bits of fuschia, with the surface being irridescent. The latter helps them blend in with the pearls. The coloring is subtle, which is perfect.
I started looking for colored pearls, but nothing was the right tone and they were too big. I toyed with the idea of crystals, but while the colors were OK, the thought of their corners digging into my head all night put me off. After searching on my own unsuccessfully, I finally popped in at Jeff's last night, better known as the Taylor's Falls bead store, Non-Necessities. They've always been good at directing me to what I want, even when I'm not sure what that is. It's a few doors north of the light on 95, should you want to pop in yourself. You can usually find a curbside parking spot in front.
Back to the headpiece, I haven't decided whether to give the front more of a garland look by adding some of those fuschia roses or not. They're only about a half inch across. I'll see later, looking at it both ways. It'll be held in place, relatively parallel to the floor around my head, by elastic, upon which two layers of that same ivory tulle are gathered into ruffles, It's 10" wide tulle, and the layers will be offset just a bit and gathered from the middle so it will look like four ruffles, shortest on top with each layer a tad longer, varying between 4 and 6 inches. The edging will have glitter added, some combination of iridescent clear/white and light and dark fuschia. I have glitter, glue, and glitter glue. I'll experiment on some of the extra (10 yards total) tulle to see what works. I bought it all while I was shopping so I don't have to run out and risk not finding what I want if the first attempt doesn't look right. Where the middle of the tulle is attached to the elastic I'll be adding fuschia roses. Some of the color will show through.
It needs something of a side centerpiece, just one side. Poofy. For that I have feathers, a few larger fabric flowers, and whatever is leftover in beads to work with, possibly strung on wire this time. Not sure what that's going to look like, but we'll figure something out. So far all those centerpiece things are mostly ivory, so maybe the fuschia glitter will make another appearance. Or an appearance from fuschia roses. I bought lots. Whatever is left will get added to the trim on the ivory vest, tying it more into the color scheme.
And I still have to start the silk tunic.
Hmmm, good thing I'm starting now, eh?
Thursday, November 3, 2011
A Challenge
My friend Joan sent me another picture along with a challenge. She'd read my posting on the bats cartoon and wondered if I could paint a word picture of this one as well. I have to say, however, that while this picture may not require a thousand words, the picture is definitely better than them.
The text mimics a MasterCard ad:
This is the new Miss Kentucky.
The picture that will stay with her for the rest of her life:
Make-up and hair style ................... $500
New dress for the show ...................$700
Giant stuffed bear .........................$300
(Insert picture:
It shows our beauty queen on stage, spotlights in the background, holding a giant stuffed bear which is clad only in a purple t-shirt. Her top arm is behind the bear, out of sight, gripping it firmly, one presumes. The other one supports it from beneath, between its legs. The microphone also in her hand is, unfortunately, undeniably phallic as well as cordless. The camera angle is ... strategic. The mike appears to be part of the bear and a convenient handle to grip him with.)
Not knowing how to hold the bear with a microphone in her hand .....
Priceless!
The text mimics a MasterCard ad:
This is the new Miss Kentucky.
The picture that will stay with her for the rest of her life:
Make-up and hair style ................... $500
New dress for the show ...................$700
Giant stuffed bear .........................$300
(Insert picture:
It shows our beauty queen on stage, spotlights in the background, holding a giant stuffed bear which is clad only in a purple t-shirt. Her top arm is behind the bear, out of sight, gripping it firmly, one presumes. The other one supports it from beneath, between its legs. The microphone also in her hand is, unfortunately, undeniably phallic as well as cordless. The camera angle is ... strategic. The mike appears to be part of the bear and a convenient handle to grip him with.)
Not knowing how to hold the bear with a microphone in her hand .....
Priceless!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Passing Along the Joke
I received this as a picture email from my friend Joan. Don't know where she got it, but I have to assume it's being passed around on the internet. I do words better than pictures - takes me less time for one thing - so I'll summarize/paraphrase, with apologies if there are any copyrights being violated out there.
Two elderly, wrinkled bats are handing upside down on a branch, wings folded around their bodies. The first one asks, "Do you know what I hate most about growing old?"
"No, what?"
"Incontinence."
Two elderly, wrinkled bats are handing upside down on a branch, wings folded around their bodies. The first one asks, "Do you know what I hate most about growing old?"
"No, what?"
"Incontinence."
Monday, October 31, 2011
A Moment of Clarity
They're fewer and farther between these days, those moments of clarity my dad has. His progress has been steadily downhill. He stopped walking, stopped standing, nearly stopped eating. Speech is slurred even when he is trying to communicate, so only an occasional word gets through most of the time.
We cope by changing his routines. His bed now sits in the living room, where the futon used to be. Since it takes two moderately normal people or one strong one to transfer him from bed to chair to bed, this makes it easier. He's out where we can see and hear him. Since he doesn't stand up, we no longer put on his pants, but leave his legs covered in a very soft blanket while in his chair. Mostly he fusses with it, taking it off his legs until they get cold, but not complaining about the cold. We watch for it anyway.
His sitting up muscles are pretty shaky, so there's a whole routine associated with getting him to sit in his bed so we can give him water or transfer him to the chair. First, you have to get him to bend his knees. They're stiff as two-by-fours these days, and bending is accompanied by groans. We try to soothe him and apologize for any pain we're causing. Once bent, the knees and feet are dragged over the side of the bed. More groans, making faces. Then we grab his hand and slowly pull him up to a sit. Or something close to one anyway. Balance is not a current skill, so one arm around the shoulders tilts him erect, and we place his hands on the side railing and the mattress side, where he can grip and hold his position on his good days. Even then he's a bit of a moving target.
There's very poor hand-eye coordination, even allowing for his blindness, so on the days when he recognizes the bottle of water and remembers how to bring it up for a drink, he often misses on the first try. When he does make it, he drools some on his lap, and often chokes on what he swallows. He's mostly being hand-fed now, rather than watching him tilt his plate so most of the food winds up in his lap or chair for the dogs to help clean up, or tilt the spoon/fork so ditto. Breakfast is his best meal. Often he'll finish his bowl of oatmeal with fruit. Lunch and supper can be a few bites or a complete refusal. We don't force it. Sometimes he'll eat a cookie instead. Lately maybe not even that. He might not stay awake long enough to finish it. Or for that matter, not long enough for his daily phone call from Steve.
We've discontinued his vitamins and most of his meds unless they keep him comfortable. The nebulizer is more of a battle than ever, and mostly we hold it. On his good days he keeps pulling it out to look at it, or possibly to make sure we're paying attention to what he's doing. Even if I'm pouring coffee, I can hear the difference in sound from the next room when he takes it out of his mouth. Lately we hold it just outside his open mouth and trust his breathing will suck enough of the medication in to do some good. He's been known to knock our hand aside, whether holding nebulizer, pills, or coffee. He treated himself to a fairly warm lapful the other day.
With all that, this morning was a complete surprise. I'd just gotten him to the sit-up-and-balance phase of his morning routine, when he asked, "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"I find it hard to wake up, you come and go, Paul comes and goes. Am I dying?"
We've avoided that word in his presence lately. But this time he brought it up. He deserved whatever he could grasp of the truth. I sat next to him on the bed and put my arm around his shoulder. Partly it was to help him balance, partly it's because I've learned that touch can keep him focused for a bit. It worked years ago with kids, a light hand on their hand or arm while you talk to them, so I'm doing it with him too.
"Yes. You've been working on dying for seven-eight months now. At the moment you're just further down that road. You might last a few more days, or several more weeks. But," - answering the question he hasn't asked but I figure he likely would if he could frame it - "we're going to keep you here at home with us for however long you have. You won't be going to a hospital, or to a nursing home. You'll be with family." It seemed to satisfy him.
Or perhaps by then he'd forgotten the question.
We cope by changing his routines. His bed now sits in the living room, where the futon used to be. Since it takes two moderately normal people or one strong one to transfer him from bed to chair to bed, this makes it easier. He's out where we can see and hear him. Since he doesn't stand up, we no longer put on his pants, but leave his legs covered in a very soft blanket while in his chair. Mostly he fusses with it, taking it off his legs until they get cold, but not complaining about the cold. We watch for it anyway.
His sitting up muscles are pretty shaky, so there's a whole routine associated with getting him to sit in his bed so we can give him water or transfer him to the chair. First, you have to get him to bend his knees. They're stiff as two-by-fours these days, and bending is accompanied by groans. We try to soothe him and apologize for any pain we're causing. Once bent, the knees and feet are dragged over the side of the bed. More groans, making faces. Then we grab his hand and slowly pull him up to a sit. Or something close to one anyway. Balance is not a current skill, so one arm around the shoulders tilts him erect, and we place his hands on the side railing and the mattress side, where he can grip and hold his position on his good days. Even then he's a bit of a moving target.
There's very poor hand-eye coordination, even allowing for his blindness, so on the days when he recognizes the bottle of water and remembers how to bring it up for a drink, he often misses on the first try. When he does make it, he drools some on his lap, and often chokes on what he swallows. He's mostly being hand-fed now, rather than watching him tilt his plate so most of the food winds up in his lap or chair for the dogs to help clean up, or tilt the spoon/fork so ditto. Breakfast is his best meal. Often he'll finish his bowl of oatmeal with fruit. Lunch and supper can be a few bites or a complete refusal. We don't force it. Sometimes he'll eat a cookie instead. Lately maybe not even that. He might not stay awake long enough to finish it. Or for that matter, not long enough for his daily phone call from Steve.
We've discontinued his vitamins and most of his meds unless they keep him comfortable. The nebulizer is more of a battle than ever, and mostly we hold it. On his good days he keeps pulling it out to look at it, or possibly to make sure we're paying attention to what he's doing. Even if I'm pouring coffee, I can hear the difference in sound from the next room when he takes it out of his mouth. Lately we hold it just outside his open mouth and trust his breathing will suck enough of the medication in to do some good. He's been known to knock our hand aside, whether holding nebulizer, pills, or coffee. He treated himself to a fairly warm lapful the other day.
With all that, this morning was a complete surprise. I'd just gotten him to the sit-up-and-balance phase of his morning routine, when he asked, "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?"
"I find it hard to wake up, you come and go, Paul comes and goes. Am I dying?"
We've avoided that word in his presence lately. But this time he brought it up. He deserved whatever he could grasp of the truth. I sat next to him on the bed and put my arm around his shoulder. Partly it was to help him balance, partly it's because I've learned that touch can keep him focused for a bit. It worked years ago with kids, a light hand on their hand or arm while you talk to them, so I'm doing it with him too.
"Yes. You've been working on dying for seven-eight months now. At the moment you're just further down that road. You might last a few more days, or several more weeks. But," - answering the question he hasn't asked but I figure he likely would if he could frame it - "we're going to keep you here at home with us for however long you have. You won't be going to a hospital, or to a nursing home. You'll be with family." It seemed to satisfy him.
Or perhaps by then he'd forgotten the question.
Halloween Trick
The last runs of the day were pharmacy runs, taking meds from pharmacy to patient, either in home or care facility settings. The one I carried marked ASAP went to John Doe (not his real name of course) in an assisted living center. I did my usual by approaching the front desk and asking who I needed to see to sign for meds for John Doe.
Normally I'll be directed down that hall on such a floor to a particular nursing station. Only nurses are allowed to sign for the meds, since many of them are scheduled drugs. I wasn't expecting the reaction I got tonight.
First she gestured a co-worker over and informed him I was delivering meds to John Doe. Both then looked at me. The second co-worker informed me that he had been a patient there, but he was gone. "Gone", it turns out, is the euphemism for "dead." He'd been "gone" for a long time.
I asked him to clarify "long time". I'm thinking he died early in the month, now it's end of month, and somebody just hasn't caught up yet. No so. Not exactly. Long time meant years. John Doe died there years ago.
This so entertained them that they called up to 2nd floor and asked for his old regular nurse. "Hey, we got somebody here with medications for John Doe. They're marked "ASAP". .... OK, I'll send her up." She then started giving me directions to how to get to second floor. I guess the nurse up there wanted to tell me that John Doe had died years ago. I'd gotten the message. I declined the honor of hearing the message yet again from someone who actually knew John Doe. I believed it the first time. I even verified there wasn't a new admit with the same name. Nope.
Well, I still had deliveries to make, and now one of them was going to have to go back to the shipping pharmacy, and they closed at 7:00. I still had drops to make. Not a lot of time. While driving to my next stop, I contacted dispatch, told them the story, and let them contact the pharmacy to try to figure out why a ghost might needs his meds ASAP. (I think it's just a little late.)
Or more likely, why a second John Doe comes up on their computer with the first John Doe's old address. And who's not getting his meds tonight even though they're urgent.
Normally I'll be directed down that hall on such a floor to a particular nursing station. Only nurses are allowed to sign for the meds, since many of them are scheduled drugs. I wasn't expecting the reaction I got tonight.
First she gestured a co-worker over and informed him I was delivering meds to John Doe. Both then looked at me. The second co-worker informed me that he had been a patient there, but he was gone. "Gone", it turns out, is the euphemism for "dead." He'd been "gone" for a long time.
I asked him to clarify "long time". I'm thinking he died early in the month, now it's end of month, and somebody just hasn't caught up yet. No so. Not exactly. Long time meant years. John Doe died there years ago.
This so entertained them that they called up to 2nd floor and asked for his old regular nurse. "Hey, we got somebody here with medications for John Doe. They're marked "ASAP". .... OK, I'll send her up." She then started giving me directions to how to get to second floor. I guess the nurse up there wanted to tell me that John Doe had died years ago. I'd gotten the message. I declined the honor of hearing the message yet again from someone who actually knew John Doe. I believed it the first time. I even verified there wasn't a new admit with the same name. Nope.
Well, I still had deliveries to make, and now one of them was going to have to go back to the shipping pharmacy, and they closed at 7:00. I still had drops to make. Not a lot of time. While driving to my next stop, I contacted dispatch, told them the story, and let them contact the pharmacy to try to figure out why a ghost might needs his meds ASAP. (I think it's just a little late.)
Or more likely, why a second John Doe comes up on their computer with the first John Doe's old address. And who's not getting his meds tonight even though they're urgent.
Disqualified
One of my favorite local radio stations was sponsoring a contest tonight, with a chance to win your admission paid to a workshop just for answering the question about what kind of Halloween candy you were giving out tonight. The workshop? Learning how to use social media like Twitter and Facebook. How to enter? Go to their Facebook site....
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