CFGriffith.com

Check the link below for more photos!

Finally! I finished another project — one that has been sitting around gathering dust for a while, at that! And just in time for an event this past Saturday.

I was nervous I wouldn’t even finish in time or that it wouldn’t work out, but I somehow pulled it off. I tried it on for the first time as I was getting ready for the event. Whew!

I made a page in the costume section so you can see photos and information on the construction. See below for the link.

The event was the Dallas Ft Worth Costumers Guild (DFWCG) tea at a local antique shop. The theme was hats… you didn’t need a full costume, but many of us went ahead and made something new for it. I still haven’t finished my husband’s 18th century costume, so he had fun shopping around for a hat to wear.

It was a blast, and a great way to have some fun after the past couple of months I’ve had. These folks are wonderful, supportive, and you’re guaranteed lots of laughs.

The food and tea was lovely, and we were there for a few hours. I had hoped to look around the little antique shop, but I didn’t get very far before others arrived and I stopped to chat with them.

After the tea, we went to a nearby park and took photos. I need to get better at taking photos, but we’re hoping to get a better camera. Phones can be handy for some things, but not for event photos (at least for my needs).

I did set up a Flickr account, and I changed the image gallery setup on my blog. Here are the links for the event photos and the costume information and photos:

It was a great time, and I’m already looking forward to trying to make a few accessories before the next event!

On August 15th, my husband Christopher and I decided to take a break from social networking.  We would not visit Facebook, Google+, or Twitter until October 3rd.

Yesterday, October 4th, I returned — but Christopher was dared to do it again and he has another 50 days to go.

I’m back!

I admitted that I would not take it as far as Christopher did, deleting apps and logging out completely. I did not want to ignore any friend requests, so I admitted I would still allow follows and friend requests, and only go to the sites enough to at least see who the person was if I couldn’t tell.  So, I still didn’t get a completely social networking-free break.

I had enough of a break, though. And it was lonely!

I missed a lot of friends who mainly use certain sites to stay in touch with friends. I missed a lot of information and news I like to follow. I found myself a few times wishing I could share what I was up to.  I could update this blog, but some of my friends are so used to me tweeting or announcing “Hey! I have a new post! Go here to read it!” that I’m sure many of them wouldn’t have even seen it anyway.

And sometimes you don’t want to post much more than a sentence or two anyway.

It did help break me of the need to be constantly connected, though. Don’t get me wrong — I love how you can meet new friends and be informed quickly about things you’re interested in. Information just flows so quickly and constantly that I felt like I had to check it as well or I’d be overwhelmed.

Moderation is good.

While I don’t see myself ever giving up social networking sites completely, I’ll admit that there will be times I think I will stay away from them — either due to floods of news articles and stressful things that end up with lots of frustration or potentially hurt feelings, or when I really should be focusing on other things with a deadline.

I’m almost ready to post the knotting videos.

I’m a little nervous about it too — this is new for me. I never thought I would be sharing anything remotely close to a tutorial, and I probably went overboard with the disclaimers.  I just have enjoyed knotting and embroidery and I want to share it.  I’ve had enough people tell me they want to know more, so I felt that these videos might help, and while I am still learning things like knotting and embroidery and I am not historically accurate or claiming to be an expert at any of those things, I do hope the videos help encourage people to go ahead and try it.

It was also a chance to play with videos and editing. There were times it drove me nuts trying to figure out how to organize things and keep the quality sharp enough to make sense or be seen easily, I hope it helps someone out there at least.

The problem now is that uploading these files is taking a long time. Our Internet is slow (it’s definitely time to look for another company that’s affordable and faster).  I am about halfway finished with the files, but the last one is much longer than the other five.  I’m *hoping* to post them all together on Monday, but if it’s not online by then, well I probably either had issues or just needed a break from trying to get the files online.

Twitter and Google+ reminder:

Just a reminder for anyone who adds me on Twitter or Google+ — if you do request a friendship or follow me, please send me a message. If I can’t tell who you are or if we have similar interests, I may not add you back.

Juggling this past weekend -- for another photo and some videos, see the bottom of this entry.

I mentioned autumn was here and I’ve been enjoying it.  Since it’s been cooler, my husband Christopher and I made time for juggling this past weekend.

I didn’t know what to expect

Since I have fibromyalgia now, I honestly wasn’t sure I would be able to juggle for very long.  Clubs always smacked me in the hands and fingers pretty hard, and left a sting even before my sensitivity to pain.  Sure enough, I couldn’t juggle for too long.  I would end up shaking a bit if I kept  juggling without a little break.

It’s a shame, and a little frustrating, but I’ll just have to figure out my limits and really focus on what I want to work on so I can enjoy juggling for long enough amounts of time.

It’s been a while

We keep meaning to get back to juggling regularly, but you know how it goes.  There are only so many hours in the day, and we have so many hobbies and things we work on — sometimes things we love get put on hold.

Video and photos

We took plenty of video and photos, especially of Christopher.  It gave me a chance to warm up gradually, and not over do it too quickly.

I’m not posting any videos of me juggling online (especially since I’m not that great even when I do practice regularly), but I have two photos of me from that day on here.  I’ve also included a video of my husband juggling.

It was a lovely day!

We juggled at a park, and during one break I took some video of a duck that kept watching us, and a turtle I saw in the water nearby.  I put it online for some practice. I’m still learning how to edit video.  Forgive any choppiness — unfortunately my computer has trouble handling the HD quality and does that to the final version.  Also, sorry about the sound being so low or muted.  My husband didn’t know what I was doing and walked up talking.  I didn’t want that in the video, and didn’t want to add music, so I faded the sound out to nothing by the end of the video.

And yes, I was lying on the ground shooting video while Christopher juggled over me.  Got nailed in the shoulder really hard during one drop, but I trust him, and I’m used to getting hit by juggling props. *laughs*

I definitely need to practice more again, I'm so rusty! We also need to repair our poor old juggling props.

An old project I've been working on -- time to finally finish it!

As I posted recently, I’m taking a break from social media, but that doesn’t mean I logged off completely.

How is it going?

It’s been very strange not being connected with people so easily.  I have to say that the addiction to wanting to check updates constantly was pretty easy to get over, but there are those times I miss the updates.

What am I missing?

Someone I know (and there may have been others) went to a big convention and I always enjoy seeing updates and photos.  I haven’t seen any yet and wonder how it was.

I’m sure I’ve been missing big news, too.  Everything from people who finally got that job they were looking for, to finishing a cool project.  I hope I can catch up on the important things I’ve missed.

I’ve even missed certain news items.  I follow certain people on Twitter especially for updates.  I could always go to their webpages and see what is going on (things like power warnings for those really hot days Texas has had), but it’s hard to remember everything I wanted or needed to follow. That is what’s so handy about putting everything together in one feed, I guess.  Of course, I have to skim a lot and I’m sure I miss information that way, but it worked for me most of the time.

What have I been up to?

I’ve been trying to take care of some things with the extra time not spent online.

My husband took a week off and we ran errands, hung out, and worked on a few projects that we needed to focus on.  He’d been working on a crazy project at work and a lot of things were on hold.  It was nice to have a relaxing break even though we didn’t go anywhere special.

Sewing Progress.

I’m currently trying to finish an old project that has been sitting around for several years.  It’s going a little slower than I’d hoped, but I don’t want to mess up or end up hating it.  I’m also trying a few things differently to see if I like that finish better.

I still have a lot of things on hold gathering dust, so I’m hoping to hurry up and get to them.  I definitely need to start my husband’s 18th century costume soon.  I’m running out of time and don’t want to rush those.

Knotting videos status.

I’m still working on the knotting videos, but they’re almost finished.  I’m hoping to post them next week if things continue going smoothly.

There is a lot of webpage stuff I need to take care of with them.  Even though they’ll be hosted on YouTube, I want to keep them together and handy on my website.  Although I don’t see myself making tons of videos, I want to make sure however I organize them will leave room for a variety of subjects.

Happy birthday to the Juggling Writer!

I also want to wish my husband’s website/blog, The Juggling Writer a Happy Birthday!  He started that site two years ago, and it was a big reason for my starting this website.

We made a fun video for his blog’s birthday, so go check it out.

Sorry for the lack of updates.

I do apologize for the lack of updates lately.  It seems so funny — I feel like I’ve been busy and doing a lot of different things, but interestingly don’t really have much to show for it yet.  I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes.

I’ll definitely post when I do have finished projects to show, whether they’re sewing-related or video projects.

Best wishes!

It may seem funny, since I only recently started adding links to things like Google+ and YouTube, but I am taking a social networking break.

What made me think of it?

My husband, Christopher, is a writer, and he has also been swamped with work from his day job.  He had read a few blog entries about taking a break from things like Twitter and Facebook, and he kept thinking about it.

He realized how often he would pick up his iPhone and check one of those places, and when he had a break or was waiting for something at his computer, he would find himself on those websites.

He finally decided he would start this experiment starting August 15th and until October 3rd (originally it was the 1st, but he thought it would be cool to go ahead and go 50 days).

I didn’t have to join him.

I didn’t have to join him, and in fact he was a little surprised when I said I would do it as well.  The thing is, he is one of the main people who actually reply to me on those various networking sites, so it would be a little lonely without him.

I also realized if I kept checking and talking about those sites, it would not only be a little bit of a temptation, but he would be able to get updates through me.

Why did I decide to do it?

Although I have had a lot of luck and tons of fun with networking and finding the costuming community, it also distracts from my time.  I would find myself procrastinating and not starting any of my sewing projects until later in the day, and I even found myself checking and chatting more than working on my blog!

When I finally did get around to sewing, I would frequently take quick breaks to go check a few things online before getting back to sewing.  While that is nice in a way — helping stretch muscles and giving my eyes a break — I was probably taking advantage of it a little.

I have plenty to do.

I already have a lot to do, both sewing and non-sewing related things.  Along with the above reasons, I thought it might help inspire me to push myself and see how much I can get done by my various deadlines.

I’m still around.

This doesn’t mean I am logging off from the Internet completely.  I need it to research costumes and sewing too much to do that.  I also want to make sure friends can get in touch with me.

While Christopher completely deleted apps from his iPhone and fully logged out from places like Facebook, I am just going to practice restraint and not go.

The only reasons I will use those apps or websites are when someone who doesn’t know how else to get in touch with me needs to contact me, and also for those who are wanting to follow me and need me to follow them back or allow the request.  I don’t want those people to think I am ignoring them.  In fact, just this morning I had someone totally new add me on Google+ who did not know I was taking a break.  Fortunately, the app allowed me to get to the Circles section, see who the person was so I could add them to the correct circle, and leave without looking at my friends’ posts.

I will also still be updating various things like this website when I have something to post about.

I have no idea what to expect.

It should be interesting to see how much I miss keeping up with people.  I’m sure I will miss out on a lot of news and things I would have liked to read about, but also — in the case of Twitter, for example — there will be a lot I won’t have to wade through.  I already skim Twitter since there is so much I’m following.  In fact, one of the reasons I checked Twitter so often was so I wasn’t flooded with hundreds of messages and miss something important.

It will be weird relying on news readers and email subscription to get the word out about my blog updates. I will not be able to post anywhere else to announce a new blog entry.  I suspect my traffic will slow down a little.

Here’s hoping I get a lot of work done and goals completed, and here’s hoping I don’t get tempted to quit the experiment too soon!

I’ve had a profile on Google+ for a while, but I took a while to add it on my website since they’re taking their time to make changes and test it out.  I haven’t yet seen a lot of people adding links from their blogs and webpages, probably for the same reason I haven’t.

I’m on Google+!

I already have a link for Twitter, Blogger, and once I update one other thing I’m on and join another I’ll probably have two more down the line. (I do have a Facebook profile, but I keep it mostly private and may even start using it less and thinning out my friend list — I was very pleased about Google+ starting up because I wanted something like it to use for socializing with other costumers and people I meet through my website.)

Anyway, as you can see I’ve added a link to my Google+ profile to the sidebar on the right.  Please let me know who you are as well, so I can add you to the correct circle!  I have friends all over from different interests, and my memory is also horrible — plus many of the people I know online go by nicknames totally unrelated to their real name!

Another social networking site?

When Google+ first came out, a lot of people didn’t want anything to do with it.  They hated the thought of yet another social network.  Others were happy to have something they liked better and deleted the other ones they were on or use them less.

Options are great!

I must admit, so far from what I can tell, I think Google+ has really come up with some neat ideas to make their social network stand out.  First, I like having different options.  Some of the places I’m on are for private use and I don’t mention them publicly or provide a link to them. Others, I use differently, like Twitter.

I’ve met some people on Twitter, but I mainly use it to follow news, weather, and topics I like to keep track of. With Google+, I like that it has the feel of both Facebook and Twitter, and I’ve decided to use it for my website.  I may eventually create a Facebook page like other bloggers have done, since some people prefer Facebook. We’ll see how things go — I don’t want to feel like I’m spread too thin with all of these different networking sites.

Google+ could be great for costumers

Google+ makes organizing friends into groups is so quick and easy.  If I don’t want to bother my musician friends or WordPress acquaintances with costuming stuff, I can quickly change who sees what I’m about to put as a status.

Also, while I never use Facebook chat, there is a video chat where you can add a lot of friends.  Once it’s working smoothly (it hasn’t worked the two times I’ve tried it), there is also an option to watch YouTube videos with the people you’re chatting with. Can you imagine talking with sewing and costuming friends about a certain sewing technique and someone says “oh! There’s a video for that! Hold on…” and they pull up the YouTube video so everyone can watch it at the same time and comment on it?  Also, I haven’t used it yet, but there is something called a huddle where people could chat about a topic and it keeps it all together and handy to follow.

My husband’s entry about Google+ features

My husband created a blog entry explaining some of the features from a writer’s point of view, but I think it could work for many different groups.  Instead of making one from scratch for costumers, I thought I would just link to it here (and here is another entry covering his initial thoughts about Google+).

Say hello if you’re there!

So, if you’re on Google+ I’d love to hear from you. Please let me know who you are so I can make sure I add you to the correct circle (costumer, history blogger, musician, kilt wearer, etc).  Best wishes, and I hope there can be a great costuming community that’s easy to find on Google+!

Not only does my husband have some of his short stories for sale online, he now has a novel too.

Christopher Gronlund has made his first novel, written about 2003 or 2004, into an eBook.  You can purchase it in various formats here.

This is the same story that he read as a podcast.  He didn’t just read it — he used different voices and really got into the storytelling!

Hell Comes With Wood Paneled Doors is about:

A humorous coming of age story about a family traveling cross-country in a possessed station wagon.

So, for those of you who haven’t listened to the podcast, or enjoyed it so much that you’d like a copy to read on your own — check it out!  Enjoy!

The cadadh I started -- we decided to stop working on it and just buy the type we need. The fabric most likely won't hold up, and it wasn't even the color we originally wanted.

I tried working on accessories for my husband last week.  The good news is, I have a pattern to work with for different versions later, but we’ve decided to just buy these for now.

Cadadh

I tried to make cadadh, or bag hose, for my husband’s 18th century Highland costume.  The problem is that he’s going for a fancier look, and I had my heart set on a castellated or similar top, instead of plain or fold-over cuff.

It’s difficult to be happy with something when you’re trying to make it fancier than you’d normally make.

The fabric

The biggest issue is the fabric. The colors are nice (I love blue), but we had hoped for red and black diced fabric.

The color wasn’t the only problem with the fabric. It was one of the first items we purchased when we decided to do 18th century costuming, so I can’t even remember what type of fabric it is. I only remember thinking it was probably one of the few times I would find diced fabric, so we bought it.

At the time, it had very little give even on the bias. I worried it would be uncomfortable for Christopher to wear. Once I washed it however, it was almost too flimsy.

When I cut it out following the pattern I’d made, it ended up HUGE in the calf.  I’m still not sure how that happened since I was careful. I expected a possibility of a little difference, but not that much.  It was an easy fix though, I just took it in even more. The fit was perfect. My husband loves how it feels, and said it was very comfortable.

Unfortunately, I noticed another issue with the fabric: holes and unraveling.

As I was hand sewing, I would catch glimpses of light from behind the fabric and realized the needle was leaving holes bigger than it should have been. I tried to fix the seams as best I could, but my husband goes through socks fast.  I just knew the cadadh would not last very long.

The fancy top

Instead of doing the plain cuff, we decided to try out a fancier version. That’s when we really realized the fabric wasn’t worth it. I had to keep the seams in the little triangles small, but the fabric issues were worse there.  I was already seeing ragged chunks of fabric fraying at the seams.

I would have needed to do a little more work to get the top edge to lay correctly when he was wearing the cadadh (I had to use another fabric cut on the bias to help give it a little more strength and keep it from stretching out more), but we decided to just stop at that point.  I didn’t even finish turning the points out.

The pattern

It’s not a total loss, however. My husband will also have costumes with breeches, so he’ll need regular stockings.  I feel very confident this pattern will work fine for those, or even regular cadadh if we find the right fabric.

Sometimes it’s better to just buy something for now

I also learned a lot, and got to test out some ideas. We just felt my time could be better spent elsewhere. Not to mention, since he wears a regular kilt, it’s nice to invest in accessories he can wear for both. We had asked a sporran maker who was familiar with 18th century, and he knew we weren’t going for re-enacting or 100% authenticity. He recommended a sporran type that will work for both 18th century costuming group needs, but not look out of place with modern kilt-wearing.

I’m still very new to embroidery, but I sometimes like to make things for people as gifts. This past Thursday was my husband’s birthday, and since I didn’t have any pressing deadlines I thought I would try to make him something.

It can be very hard to keep something secret from my husband, Christopher.  We’re constantly together!  He loves to see what I’m working on, and he can usually tell when I have been sewing.  So he knew I was up to something, but he didn’t know what it looked like.  The funniest part was that I’d actually chatted with him enough where he should have known what I was up to, but I managed to time the conversation when he’d had a few drinks and he probably didn’t remember it.  Whew!

I decided to keep this project simple, so I opted for a hand sewn handkerchief.  It’s made from the cotton fabric I’ve been using for mock-ups and linings, and I used DMC cotton embroidery floss.  I had some pretty navy thread, and then I decided to get something with a copper tone for the initial.

I had been practicing various embroidery stitches, and when I was sewing the herringbone stitch in the navy thread I had, I fell in love with it and knew I had to use it on a project soon.

I didn’t quite get the corners just right, but hey — that’s what practice is for.  This was also the first time I had done satin stitch for a letter.  I felt a little rushed with it, but it works and Christopher was very pleased with it.

I hope to make him some nicer gifts for Christmas (sorry dear!  I won’t be discussing any details with you about those! Bwahahaha!), but it will definitely be hard to keep it secret.  Especially if I get started early enough and they turn out like I hope they do.

The embroidered handkerchief I made for my husband's birthday. I don't quite have the corners right yet for this stitch, but it was a fun project and he loved it.

I just wanted to do a quick update — I’m hoping to have a better update or two this week, sometime.

Sewing

I’ve been staying very busy.  I’m trying to keep sewing, although I’ve not been as productive as the petticoat week.  I’m trying to make a few accessories before I work on a tape dummy and sew a jacket or two.

I’m also looking forward to finishing my garments (for the first one or two outfits, anyway) so I can start working on my husband’s again!  I’m excited about costuming with my friends and letting my husband join in.

He seems excited as well — I caught him looking briefly at a few informative websites about period card games to see what they’re like.

Downton Abbey and Christopher

I had about two days where I wasn’t feeling too great, so I watched Downton Abbey on Netflix.  I know, I’m a little slow finally getting around to watching it.  I’m not a big fan of being glued to television’s schedule, so I waited to catch it on my own time.

I loved it SO much, I told Christopher about it and we sat down to watch it together over a period of a few days.  By the second episode, he exclaimed “We are buying this on DVD!!!” I kept warning him about the last episode, and sure enough as the end credits started rolling, he practically jumped up and had fits.  He wanted to see more!

I think he’s hooked!   (what a lucky gal I am to have a husband who loves watching things like that with me)

Blogger

I decided to create a blogger account so I could more easily reply to friends there.  I also felt like I was missing out on the great sewing and costuming community there.  I feel a little alone on my self-hosted server (although, I very much appreciate those of you who reply here or talk to me about my entries in person or elsewhere — thank you so much!).  Having an account there will help people recognize me, or even get a feel for who I am when they see me replying.

I don’t know if I’ll do anything more than just use it as an informative placeholder for this blog/website.  We’ll see how my needs change over time.  It seems like a neat setup so far.

I’m looking forward to keeping up a little better with my friends, as well as meeting new people.  Here is the link to my blogger account.

Hoping to post later this week

I’m hoping to post two entries later this week — one related to sewing, and the other to something Christopher did this weekend.  In the meantime, I hope everyone has a wonderful week!