More Than Somewhat: But Where Did It Go?

Every other Thanksgiving weekend (the ones when I'm not cooking) I look forward to getting things done. One year I made a fitted cover for my sofa. That sort of thing.

The thing is, I'm always over-optimistic in terms of what I think I can accomplish in the time allotted when it comes to non-work stuff (then I'm exceedingly cautious).

So it didn't seem unreasonable that I would:

start and complete the instructions for Tuesday's class
make a maru dai
braid four or five things, some with beads, some without
make knotted buttons and frogs with some of the braids
make really good headway with a couple of special orders
paint both bathroom ceilings
re-caulk both bathtubs
recycle an old monitor I forgot I had in the basement
bake bread
make soup

I made the soup and opted to buy artisan bread instead.

The monitor is in my trunk and I just need to find the time to actually take it somewhere.

I got started on leaves for Nancy (and actually I've completed a few more since I took the photo).

I made Adriana's earrings (she admired some grey ones of mine in this style and I'm pretty sure I said I'd make her some).

I started on Janel's necklace.

I took a break and made a flourite and glass pendant. This is doubly good because (a) this is one way of using the rondelle's I'm repeatedly unable to resist buying which then sit in my rondelle-and-disk-drawer because I can never figure out what they're good for and (b) look! That weird stone look over clear something goes really well with fluorite.

The ceiling paint and caulk (and cool caulk tool) are still in my kitchen. I may have moved them against the wall when they got in the way.

I actually made the maru dai (and finding the semi-raw materials was probably the single biggest eater up of my precious weekend hours. I spent way too much of time in various hardware stores, and the best thing I can say about the whole experience is that those drill bits that make large diameter holes are incredibly cool, even if I'm not entirely proficient at drilling straight), though it's bit wobbly and keeps falling over (I think the legs ought to be exactly the same length, not just approximately). As I suspected, woodwork is not my forte, but the thing is useable.

If I hadn't decided that it needed to be portable (i.e. disassembleable) it would probably be sturdier, and perhaps if I decide to take another road trip to explore the hardware stores and hobby shops of the Greater St Louis Area (who knew it would be that hard to find a wooden circle about 10" in diameter) then perhaps I'll make a non-portable maru dai. Or else I'll find a thrift store wooden bar-stool and drill a hole in it (that was the most fun part of the whole experience anyway. The drilling).

I made a cool braid that would be excellent for shoelaces (on the maru dai).

I also made this beaded rope (not on the maru dai, but on the foam disk which is easier on my shoulders). It's meant to mimic the Turkish crochet I've been obsessing about for about a year or more (ask Amy; I keep sending her links to explanations and tutorials in Hungarian and German because she does bead crochet and I really don't, and now one of the latest beading magazines has an explanation IN ENGLISH) and except for a few odd spots (caused by the thread I used for the seed beads: it's too thin and slippery) I'm quite pleased.

I also spun some variegated silk, strung clear seed beads and did a braid with that but apparently neglected to photograph it.

I did make a braid that I thought I'd use for frogs or knotted buttons, but it turns out that my knotted buttons suck and the braid isn't pretty enough (understatement of the weekend; it's really ugly) or fine enough and possibly it's not even the right profile for frogs, so that didn't happen either.

I did make pretty good progress on my class directions though.