Yay for being inside! This is our first blizzard in a couple of years. The blizzard wrning extends until noon tomorrow. Boy, I hope they cancel work tomorrow. I REALLY don’t want to have to go out in that. I want to stay home and knit, and read, and (maybe, if all goes well) write the first love scene for Quill and Ellie. That man is about to lose his patience with me!

Do I Look Innocent?

This afternoon I spent a half hour in the billing office of the local mega-hospital/clinic conglomerate explaining to the woman (who was extremely unhelpful in the politest possible way) why I believe I had over-paid my bill by several hundred dollars and should have a refund. After about twenty minutes of going over all my receipts with them and showing them my itemized Health Spending Account (HSA) expenditures, I finally got the woman to admit, that, yes, I had over paid. The issue stemmed from the fact that they switched billing software in June. No, I couldn’t have a refund. Their policy was that they would apply any excess funds to my next bill.

Does she realize that I plan to NEVER see any doctor at their facility again? My regular doctor had left the clinic to move to a distant city and their billing practices have convinced me that I don’t want to use their services again.

Grrr! See the image above? Yeah, lady, you are about to become a minor character in Wolf’s Prize, and you are going down. Buh-bye.

No, I never did get my money, but I’m not giving up. I don’t know what i’ll do yet, but I have a bottle of wine and a pound of fudge. Soemthing will come to me.

I’m re-reading Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series. Just finished Regin and Declan’s story and am about to plunge into Lothaire. I inhaled it when it first came out. Now I want to savor it. I should be writing or knitting or doing something productive, but you know how it is when you are into a series? Everything else can go hang. So I’m sitting here, sipping tea and reading.

Anyone else ever get like that?

The winner of the little shoulder shawl I knit by hand is Jessica B! I have emailed her and will have the shawl sent off to her as soon as possible!

Congrats, Jessica!

Like a mother, a cat owner shouldn’t have a favorite, right? But Little Bit might be my favorite.  Like the other two she is a rescue cat. She was live trapped along with her
mother and siblings in a state park when she was about 12 weeks old. I already had two, but a friend who volunteered at a local rescue shelter asked if I could foster her for a few weeks. She was so extremely skittish that she wasn’t eating at the shelter. So I took her, and never gave her back. I named her Masuku, which is Japanese for “mask”, but she was so small at that time that I ended up calling her my Little Bit of Nothing.

She’s not a little bit anymore. At her last vet check up she weighs a very respectable 10 pounds. She is still very skittish. Some of my friends have never seen her. While I was away for the Annual Author & Reader Get Together, the friend who works at the shelter came over every day to play with the kitties and feed and water them, and she texted me asking if I was sure I had three cats. She only saw two.
Like most cats, Little Bit will sleep anywhere. But she is particularly fond of snoozing in places I’d rather she not, like the middle of the Christmas Village.  She is so adorable, though, that I can’t quite get angry at her.

I have decided that Rose Turner will have a cat. Some neighbor’s barn cat will have kittens and Rose will fall in love with the cute little runt of the litter. She’ll cajole Taye into letting her keep it. The adorable little kitten will grow into a huge cat who loves only her, and hates any man who comes too close to “his human.” He’ll especially detest Sky, who will be sporting angry scratches on his hands and face to mark his every attempt to seduce his mate. I imagine the other wolves will enjoy ragging on him about it.

It’s a sunny Sunday morning here in Fargo, ND. It’s been hot all week, and it will continue to be hot this week. I personally detest temps in the upper 80s and lower 90s (that would be 31-35 C) and that’s what we’re getting. The average high temperature for Fargo in July is about 83. Really don’t like it to be warmer than 70, myself.

My cat Merry, however, loves laying in the one patch of sunlight that sneaks through the blinds. She just plain loves warmth. Unnatural creature. When I take the laundry from the basket to put away, she dances with impatience for the moment she can jump in and curl up in the still-warm basket. She’d prefer to jump in while the clothes are still in the basket, but thank God I broke her of that habit. (at least, she doesn’t do it while I’m watching her. If I turned my back, I bet she’d be snuggled up with the sheets and towels quick as a wink)
She is also fascinated by boxes and bags. What is it with cats and empty recepticles? Seriously, in my place, any empty box will have at least one cat in it.

As you can see, she has lots of long, fluffy white fur, which is as soft as bunny fur. It sticks to everything. I take it with me, apparently, because my chair at work is liberally coated with white hairs about 2 inches long. I get so depressed when I’m sitting down in my chair after a couple hours of thorough cleaning and see white hair dancing in the beam of sunlight. That’s another reason I hate sunny days! Although she drives me slightly crazy, I love her. She is very sweet natured, doesn’t have any bad habits, and always uses the box. Really, what more can you ask from a cat?

Do you have a cat? What little quirks do they have?

I’m going to a Murder Mystery party in a few weeks, and the theme is Babes, Bootleg and Bodies. We’re all being asked to dress in the style of the 1920s.
I don’t have a pattern, but the styles of the 1920s are based on a simple, straight sillouette. It’s the fantastic beading that makes a dress stand out. Well, I haven’t the money or time for fancy beading, but I can eyeball a dress and figure out the basic pattern. And since I’m not the only one to ever need a pattern for a dress like this I thought I’d share the quick and dirty directions that I came up with. I’m not a professional costume designer, and these directions are basic, so I’m not guaranteeing a perfect end product. But maybe these will help.

First, get some measurements.

A = widest part of your body + 3 inches divided by 4.

On me, that’s my bust. For you it might be your hips. So if your widest is 43 inches, add 3 (a total of 46) divide that by 4 and you have 11.5. Your “A” measurement is 11.5.

B = Distance from top of shoulder to where the hem will be (usually about the knee) + 3.

If your measurement from the top of your shoulder to your knee is 42 inches, add 3 for a total of 45. Your “B” is 45.  This determines how much fabric you need. Multiply B by 2. You will need 90 inches, or 2.5 yards.

C = Distance around arm, divided by 2.

Measure from the top of your shoulder, through the armpit, and back to the shoulder, snugly.  If this is 20 inches, divide by 2. Your “C” is 10.

D = Distance from the center back neck to end of shoulder.

Find the little bony bump at the base of the back of your neck and measure to where you want the outside of the shoulder of the dress to be. On mine, I wish I would have not gone so far out. I may trim that and re-sew it if I have time.

E = Top of Shoulder to Neckline

Measure from the top of your shoulder, down your chest to where you want neckline of your dress to hit. In the 1920s some necklines were very deep, some were very modest. Please yourself.

Cut the Dress Out

1. Fold your fabric lengthwise, selvedge to selvedge (that’s the woven sides, not the cut ones) with the right side of the fabric inside.
2. Fold again crosswise (in quarters) so the cut ends are together. It’s like folding paper to make paper dolls. If you haven’t done this before, it might be a good idea to get a piece of paper and practice the next few steps in miniature.
3. The fabric should now equal measurement “A”.  The top fold will be the shoulders of the dress. Use a pin or chalk to mark the shoulder fold. Open the fabric again so
   the selvedges are still together

Mark and Cut Out Neckline

1. See the pin or chalk mark you just made? Let’s call that the shoulder. Measure 1 inch above the shoulder and use a pin or chalk to mark the back of the neck.
2. Measure 6 inches away from the fold. Mark.
3. Measure “E” from Shoulder. Mark.

Now you can decide if you want a V neck, a square neck or a round neck. Use c
halk or pins to trace neck and cut. yay! You have a neck hole! Re-fold the fabric again in quarters so the cut edges are together.

      Mark and Cut Out Dress Body

1. From body fold, measure along shoulder fold the distance of “D”. Mark. (actually, since you’ve alread ycut out your neckline, you have to estimate where the body fold would be. Shouldn’t be too hard tho) From shoulder fold, measure down “C”. Mark.
2. Measure “A” from fold near the cut edges , mark. Continue to mark “A” at 6 inch intervals as you go up. When you get to “C”, curve inward until you meet “D”.
3. Cut out dress.

Sew the Dress

1. Use seam binding (purchased or self-made) to bind the neck edge.
2. Make a narrow hem in arm opening.
3. Fold the dress right sides together and sew the side seams.
4. Turn up 1 inch hem and sew.

Note: I chose to do an asymmetrical hemline.

Basically, you’re done now.  You can go a step further and fancy your dress up with extra stuff if you want.

Embellish the Dress

Here’s the fun part. Let your imagination go. Make a sash. Add glitz. Fringe, beads, feathers, braids and trims were all used lavishly in the 1920s. Here are a few pics of actual dresses from the 1920s to give you some ideas.