embroidery on my mind, and my desk, and my couch ...

* Here is my finished February stitch along!

It was shoved in the scanner so it's kinda wrinkly in places. No stitches fell out in the wash - yay! The flowers look kinda wonky - since I use dressmakers' carbon to transfer the pattern, it doesn't always line up properly, and when my hand starts to hurt from pressing down I take shortcuts (I don't need to trace the whole flower, just the middle and I'll figure out the petals). Aaaand the end result is lopsided flowers. But that just adds to the handmade charm, right? :)

In other embroidery news, we went to a rummage sale last weekend and I bought a large bag stuffed with transfer patters! Artex, Superior, Vogart, McCall's, Butterick. The bad news is there were only 8 envelopes in the bag. Most of the pattern sheets were cut up then divided into categories in plastic bags, so I haven't the faintest idea where some of them came from. But some of them are old, like before I knew there were patterns!

This one appears to be from 1923. It's in pretty good shape, too! With some of the other ones, when I unfolded the paper to look at the pattern, I was showered with blue dust where the ink had come off the paper :( 
I probably won't keep all the patterns, but I'll have fun sorting through them!

I also bought a stack of vintage craft magazines, from 1939 - 1980.* And ooh the ads are fun! I've already been picking and scanning for future blog posts. This one, from The Workbasket Oct 1955, intrigued me:

the tubing, the tubing! Where did it go? Why was it a special thing? Will I ever find out the truth?!? 

*Note to self: stop buying knitting magazines. you don't know how to knit. you can't even crochet yet.

still stitchin'

* The February stitch-along is going well; I might even be done in time, thanks to leap year :) The theme (well, one of them) was love so I'm doing a couple of bluebirds.

from Vogart Transfer Patterns No. 265

There's a gajillion french knots and daisies so I'm sure getting practice!
March has a choice of 3 themes - spring, frozen food, or pi(e). I think I'll go with frozen food 'cause I have a cute orange running from a sign that says "freezing plant." Another dish towel!

* Work is going well. I go in for 3 hours at a time in the mornings to sort and box up medical files. Hoo boy do those thick folders give a nasty paper cut! Heh, bleeding all over medical files is probably not a good idea ;)

* The new volunteering didn't happen. They never got back to me to tell me where to go and what time to be there! Maybe I'll try again next week.

* On Sunday I went to a tea festival with my lovely and amazing sister-in-law. It was great! So much tea to taste! Iced tea, black tea, matcha tea (I liked it, my sister did not), fruity tea, magnolia tea, even beer with chamomile infusion! And free tiny cupcakes! We discovered that the hoity-toity hotel on the harbour now has thousands of bees, so the hotel makes its own honey - cool! I hope we can go again next year.

* Let's see, weather has been fairly mild. Several nights it's been colder back in Florida than it was here!

* We've been getting Rome out of the library (yea, we're always behind when it comes to tv shows). I'm enjoying it, it's like a soap opera and action movie rolled into one. We're still waiting for season 4 of True Blood. We've been watching The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. during dinner, and guess who's his childhood sweetheart? Nan Flanagan!!

* I guess that's about it for now. See you in line for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter! (with Wash as Stephen A. Douglas!)

grab your purse - I've got the time machine warmed up!

* Greetings, it is I, and I come bearing news.

* I got a job! kinda. A doctor's office is going to pay me to organize their files! The doctor is the husband of the woman whose office I have organized as a volunteer, and she liked what I did so she recommended me. I start next Tues, and I've already been told that there are other docs in the building who need the same help. yay! 
I sent out an e-mail a couple of months ago to my family to see if anyone wanted organizing help, and got 6 hours work from that, so this thing is progressing.
Yesterday I scooped a Martha Organizing magazine/book (which doesn't seem to be pictured anywhere online) and it's so pretty pretty! Man, if I could make a living doing this, I'd be a happy camper. Happy and tidy :)

* I also have a new volunteer position, helping pack fresh fruit and veg for the Good Food Box. yay for helping the community eat better, fresher food! so that takes care of another resolution that I hadn't made yet.

* I've had some great vintage paper scores in the past week. At the Friends of the Library bookstore, found the 1980 Deities and Demigods, the one that includes the Cthulhu Mythos, for $2.50! I don't know if I'll ever game again, but more info on Cthulhu is a good thing. Also got a couple of nice vintage mystery paperbacks, Anatomy of a Murder and A Murder is Announced. 

Yesterday we finally remembered to check out the thrift store at the Oak Bay church (which is only open 4 hours a week. the store, not the church.) and woo hoo! Buried beneath a stack of 80s knitting patterns, a Mid-Winter Sale catalog from Simpson's.

Mid-winter 1950 that is! C'mon, let's go shopping!

First stop, craft department! I'm gonna spring for some polka-dotted washfast prints in pink and white, just 37 cents a yard. After all, patterns are 25 cents each so I'll get enough for a wonderful dress.

and Glen needs curtains in his studio - that cowboy print is perfect!

The bulk of the catalog is in black and white, though.

There's some nice wool for knitting, in so many colours! Pink, Sand, Burgundy, Scarlet ... oh. oh wow. It's too easy to forget what used to be standard. wow. Uh, check out that washing machine beneath the cover, so glad I don't have to use that thing!
Moving on! Don't ask why valentines are paired with office machines, but "15 cut-out Valentines with envelopes for kiddies" is a bargain at 29 cents.

17 assorted cakes of soap for 98 cents sound divine. But I'll pass on "Simpson's Beef, Iron and Wine for anemic and general run-down conditions." ugh, beef wine, bet it tastes naaasty. 

Words cannot express how much I want that dinette set and cabinet. In red. Good thing it's marked "del'd," which means Simpson's pays for delivery "to your nearest post office, railroad station or wharf." The catalog came from Vancouver so it's just across the water, shouldn't take long.

Last stop, ladies' clothing. Super cute dresses just in time for spring! They even have stout sizes! Good grief, if that lady on the far right is stout, I'm in trouble.

If I'm gonna buy a dress, looks like I'll need some assistance.

What's the point of getting a nice, cool, cotton dress if you have to cover yourself in rayon and elastic underneath? Holy cow, "G" is an "outsize pantie girdle" with "lightly boned inner panel for abdomen control" and "short back bones prevent top from rolling and cutting in." Outsize means "large fits waist 30, 31, 32 inches." eep.
I give up!

aaah, plenty of room to move around in these! I wonder why you can't find bloomers in stores any more? Heh, "D" is "sturdy cotton bloomers" in navy only. At least it's available in outsizes :)

And so ends our shopping trip - hope you got lots of bargains! 
Later gators!