Shifting Gears

Yes, I am alive. Everyone I know in the real world checked in with me to see if the homeschooling did me in or not. I assure you, we all survived. We started the class work in the morning and met with the teacher right before lunch. My biggest fear, that she would be particularly heavy handed, was allayed. Looks more like I have a sufficient structure of support without the feeling of always being watched. Exactly the sort of arrangement I was hoping this would turn out to be. This is definitely a shifting of gears for me however. No more mornings tatting and mindlessly twitter stalking. That must now be relegated to the afternoons while the children nap. I think it's going to be alright though. I felt more productive all around yesterday. I don't know how long that feeling will last, but it's good enough for now.

I finished up my bridal slave bracelets, but I want to get some pictures of them today so that I might list them as a custom set made to fit. I did have to make a few adjustments to this pair to fit the customers measurements. That was a nice exercise for me. I now know the best way to create extra length without disrupting the design. Speaking of custom orders though, the onslaught of questions has not stopped yet. So many questions from potential customers that have yet to result in sales. What scares me more than the lack of sales, is the possibility of all of these people returning at the exact same time to get their custom pieces swamping me with more orders than I can handle.

I thought I'd give you a quick corset update this morning as well. Yes, I'm still doing that. My current corset has reached the comfortable stage, but not the loose stage. I think I may still go one size smaller, but that's as far as I'm willing to go as I'm afraid any smaller would be a little too side show for me. We busted out the Wii Fit last night for the child's P.E. and we all got on to see our stats. This was...umm, painful for all of us. It's clear that even though my waist and stomach are obviously smaller, I'm still very out of shape. My broken toe is getting much closer to healed so onto my already hectic schedule, I shall soon add some real exercise. Oh, how the gears keep shifting.

Corset

As a stay at home mother I'm used to a bit of monotony. Sure everyday is filled with brand new dramas, but mostly the day plays out as I expect it to, so only when an element of that routine is removed does my dependence upon it become obvious. With my husband gone, the last few days have become almost unbearable exhausting. The morning, lunchtime and evenings he is normally here is my little break from the children. My sweet, sweet moments to say, go ask daddy, hide for a bit or do anything else. He also provides an important bad cop element to child discipline, that tiny bit of fear that keeps them from running completely wild. Sure, I can turn it on too, but then I also have to be their comfort and it all feels a bit schizophrenic. I do not know how single parents manage and I hope with every fiber of me being that I never have to find out.

Anyway, I did finish tatting a pair of ankle corsets yesterday and even moved on to a Voodoo mask. It can be awful mindless working on remaking pieces especially when they haven't been ordered and there's no real urgency to the task. I'll finish up this mask today I imagine and then spend an hour or so trying to decide what to make next while secretly hoping someone will buy something I need to make and take the decision away.

Speaking of corsets though, I bought one yesterday. Yeah, I know after all that talk yesterday about not spending money and whatnot. The shop I had previously decided to get the next one from because they have the most reasonable price for the highest quality off the rack pieces, had a new clearance section listed. I had seen one there before but it had been gone. It appears that they only do it when they change a design on a piece they have left over stock on or a design that just didn't sell being discontinued. I had kept checking just in case and I found one that I liked in the size that I need and for even cheaper than their normal prices so I pounced. One note on off the rack corsets if you're going to do waist training also called corset training or tight lacing, they are not recommended. They say corsets should fit perfectly if you're going to strap into them everyday and that makes good sense. Off the rack pieces are made with a standard measurement which may not work for everyone. The one I have right now is made by the same people and it fits me very well and causes no discomfort to me at all which is why I'm sticking with them. I'm only saying all this just in case my corset adventure has inspired anyone else I don't want to be an irresponsible recommend-er of stuff.

Cool

Good news my friends, the air is cool and today should be a lovely day. The story of how the air go cool however is a long and annoying one, so I'll share it with you. I got a call a little before 8, the a/c man would be coming soon, he said he'd have been here the night before but had been given the wrong number. He arrives quickly, hops on the roof and 5 minutes later he's done. The motor needs to be replaced and he cannot do that without the owners permission, so the property management will have to get that first. I am defeated as I know the owner lives overseas and can't imagine how easy it is to get a hold of him. Two hours later the a/c man calls back, he has permission and comes right back. He hops on the roof and 10 minutes later tells me that he thought he had a motor, but does not so he has to go out of town to get one. I estimate the time that will take and assume I'll see him around 2 or 3. Time passes, the house heats up to nearly 90 degree and I hear nothing. The children have resorted to soaking their feet in ice water to stay cool...yes it was a bad idea. It's 6:30 when the a/c man calls again. There have been some problems, but he is just now getting that motor and will be over. Another hour passes before he does arrive. He hops on the roof and 30 minutes later the air is finally cool again. If you're keeping track, that was a 12 hour adventure from start to finish...yeah, fun.

I know that I really ought not complain. In the wide scheme of things a couple of days without air conditional is less than nothing, but I was too hot. Too hot makes me irritable, lazy and full of malaise. I did learn a few things though. Creating a cave by closing everything up only works for so long. Wet washcloths are like magic and if you want to cool down fast, cool your feet first. A wet, but not dripping pair of socks also magic. In fact the kids had so much fun with the washcloths and socks the first night, they were upset they couldn't use them once the air was fixed. Oh well for them though, I am so not doing that again if I can help it.

I did get a lot of tatting done early in the day though. I knew that heat was going to get me so I started early and I worked fast. I finished up a mask I had already started, made a bracelet and started on a pair of ankle corsets that I hope to finish this morning. Speaking of corsets, how about a corset training update. Yes, I'm still doing that. It's actually become really routine and comfortable, though I admit I left it off the last couple of days due to the ridiculous heat. When I put it back on this morning, one thing was clear, the effects have stuck. The corset went on just as quickly as normal and feels just as comfortable. I have decided that I will buy myself the next smaller corset for my birthday next month. With all the house buying I think that's the only way I can justify the purchase. So you can expect the corset complaints to start again mid to late August. I do still think this is a viable solution for my belly issues, but only time will tell for sure.

More Maker Faire & Corset Talk

Turns out that while I chose yesterday to gush about teaching people to needle tat with the help of Instructables, they were in turn posting some stories about who they met at the Maker Faire which included me. There is a lovely photo and some very nice words. Go, check it out and leave comments so I appear much more popular than I actually am: Maker Faire.

I spent a good part of yesterday still recovering from the weekend. I know, I know, I should be over it, but I'm such an old biddy already that three days of late bedtimes and standing on my feet in heels for 10 hours did me in. I was also on a mad corset search. The one I am currently using has gotten...a bit too comfortable. Sure it's still tight and it restricts my movements, but I've found that I can now slouch in it a bit which means its getting loose. So yay for progress, but now I need another smaller one to continue on my path to recovered waist and stomach.

I really love the work at Dark Garden Corsetry and I even met the proprietress at the Faire, but fine quality aside, I cannot justify spending over $500 on a garment meant to trim my waistline and not dazzle the public. I was going to go with another off the rack one, but I think that these next few inches will be a bit harder to work on, so I really should go for custom. I did find one shop with custom prices under $200, Mechantes and they take a ridiculous number of measurements so I have faith in their process at least. So there's my current waist training corset adventure.

I had wanted to tell more Maker Faire stories today, but it appears that I have already rambled on quite extensively so I shall save them for later. I finished up the mask I was working on yesterday, so now it's onto remaking the pieces that sold at the fair. To be honest a lot of what sold was never listed in the store anyhow, so it didn't deplete stock like I feared. I do want to get a few done before I up and close the store again on the 9th for my trip to the Seattle/Tacoma area. I've never closed up shop for a whole week so I'm a little afraid of losing the attention I so obviously feed on while I'm gone, but there's nothing to be done about it. I shall close up for a week and hope that my silence does not cause a vacuum that someone else fills up.