Busy busy, pre-moving panic is setting in...

Lookie!!! This is Betty, my newest girlfriend to find a home with me, and she is a 1956 Singer 401A sewing machine. She came to me from a really super nice gal I met named Carie, who was so sweet letting me adopt her! She is modeling some fabric I found at Wallyworld and fell madly in love with. Geisha girls and paper umbrella's!!! These are on the work table destined to become aprons. I have found myself wanting to make aprons since I have seen so many really neat vintage inspired ones on Etsy. And I want to look cute in the kitchen too!

My boy-unit came home with a plasma ball last night. His best friends Dad was cleaning out the garage and gave it to him. Wow! What a nifty little unit they are! Ive played with them before at Spencers gifts and always thought they were really pretty. Lightning encased in glass. I took some shots of me touching it and the electric streamers reaching up to my fingers. Its as close to lightning your going to get around this place. I still find it hard to believe how little active weather there is here on Oahu. I thought it would have lots of thunderstorms. But sadly, no. Remember how I was saying this little cardi/bolero top was doofus proof? Yea....not. I in all my spastic dorkiness didnt pay very good attention to needle size. I used 8's. It called for 8mm. That my Non- knitting friends is a size 11. Accckkkkkk. Ripped it out and here it is again with a size 11 needle. I also played with the pattern a bit... I didnt start the feather and fan till farther down the top. Anywho...its moving along. I should be able to start the sleeves today. MMMmmmm more sewing machine porn. This is my Brother 1956 Window-matic sewing machine, and she is cherry!! What is it with me and circa 1956 machines? It was a great year though... Her name is Karen Jo. After my mom-unit.

I had to cut the top of this sock and pick up stitches to make it a little longer. It needed length and the bind off was too damned tight. (Crap) Its ok now...no worries. And here are those pretty chocolate socks. They are soooooo soft. They are alpaca and silk blend. The pattern was the "Falling in love" sock pattern. needle size 2. And thats about it. My brother and his girl friend are coming at the end of the month for a visit before we move. We should be moving mid-July. As usual Im in a spaz panic to get rid of everything I have used in the past 7 years or just dont need anymore. Im suck a pack rat, horder. Its really hard. Ya know what I mean? I always think Im going to need "it" for "something" and will be sorry if I dont have it.

ackkk.

ON THE DEVIL BOX: Them, Crazy Love (documentary) and Awful Normal (documentary).

IN THE MUSICAL DEVIL BOX: Depeche mode, Live (Best of), and Puddle of Mud.

Slacking....yes, even more vintage sewing machine porn..

Im sure you're not going to believe that Im actually doing any knitting, but I am! Im finishing a pair of socks and I finished 2 dog hoodies for Milla AND I finished the chocolate pair of alpaca socks I was toiling on, like, 4 ever. I thought I would indulge you in a little bit more of sewing machine porn. I had a few people ask to see the whole collection, so here they are. This is Dahlia. The very gorgeous "Black Dahlia" named after my Grandmother. No, her first name isn't black, but it is Dahlia. ;0) She is a 1950 Singer Featherweight 221. This is the crown of my collection. I am so very happy to own a 221. They only weigh 11 pounds! Great to take on the road. At some point I'm going to pimp her out with a custom paint job. (using auto grade paint). I'm thinking pink or maybe a mirage type paint where it looks different colors in different light. Like a hot rod. Some folks consider that sacrilege,but these gals were made by the millions and mine being painted up ain't hurting a thing. She's not for resale anyway. She has some imperfections in her paint that would be helped by a paint job.

This is Eleneor. She is a Singer 185J. Straight stitching and the neatest old jade green color. She needs a cleaning and a check up with the sewing machine man. But all in all, a tight little 3/4 size machine that is portable and has stood the test of time. Great for a quick patch up job or quilting. Yoshi and Milla.....a bid for freedom????? They sit in the kitchen doorway while Sushi is no where 2 be found. I think Sushi is in the couch cushions sleeping. This is Nadine. Nadine darling, is a 1921 Singer red eye class 66 sewing machine.

Nadine makes a lovely, near perfect straight stitch. She hails from Michigan. But Nadine Darling has one little problem......

She is trying to catch herself on fire. Yea.....um..... we need to be serviced, have the whole thing deep cleaned, and her paint sealed. She is really sticky with 80 some odd year old oil and gunk.

She goes in next week for a fix. The brushes in her motor are so coated with "ewwww" that she is going to blow up. Well.....maybe not blow up...but you know what I mean.

;0)

I swear...next post....only knitting! lol

Vintage sewing machine porn...take 3!

Now this more accurately reflects the color of this sewing machine. Notice the booklet under the foot peddle. Everything that came with the Atlas is the same sorta pink shade. I think its a really special find! If I could, I would probably cut back flips over it. ;0) Here you can see the "Good housekeeping seal" and the gold tag that has a serial number and the words "Made by Master Craftsman in Japan". Click on the picture for a super closeup. Next time I blog I will show you the inside of the booklet it came with. It has some cute images of the "happy homemaker" of that era. Cheers!

Vintage sewing machine porn part2...How about a pale milkshake pink sewing machine?

(These pictures dont really do the Atlas much justice. I need to find the proper lighting so you can better see the shade of pink she is. Its very soft. The foot peddle is a bit more pink then the machine. Maybe it hadnt recieved as much sunlight over its 50 years or so of hanging out under sewing tables ;0) My beautiful pink Atlas sewing machine just arrived today from Texas! I was really lucky with this beautiful machine because she came with 2 full boxes of feet AND the original booklet that tells how to use everything. The date in the book is 1957. I cant find any information at all about these machines online. The little gold label under the "good housekeeping" seal says it was made by "Master Craftsman in Japan" and if you flip it over...molded into the undercarriage of the metal it says "Brother". I plugged her in and gave her a little spin. She runs effortlessly but she needs to be seen by the sewing machine doctor before she gets any use. The wiring looks a little dangerous in spots. lol Two, packed-to-the-gills boxes of sewing attachments.And the usual booty shot. Besides a visit for a cleaning, oiling, and timing, she needs a god rub down and polishing. Shes got some sticky bits here and there and someone used duct tape for a seam guide and its all melted and ubber gross when you try to pull the tape off. Fabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vintage sewing machine porn

Hi, my name is Mabel, I'm mid-century-ish and have come to live in a new home with a "threadbanger" wannabe owner. Im a Morse and was made in Japan at a Toyota production plant. Weird, eh? Sewing machines.....cars....whoda thunk? I guess that why these vintage gals run so well.Here she is showing you a sexy sideshot...and (whoooah! shocking, a full frontal!!)Her knobs. Yea, I said knobs...heh heh...knobs. Reminds me of a radio from an old classic car.She also came with the original how to booklet and lots of funky feets to try out. Also some strange glob of Easter grass. And double needles!!!! I don't know why I'm excited about double needles. I don't even have the foggiest notion what one does with double needles??? The double needles are wrapped up in foil nice and neat....like crack? or is it heroin that comes wrapped in foil? Whatever, doesn't matter...drugs....tattooos....sewing needles...ALL addictive. Now she is showing you her backside........naughty machine. I am so glad I wandered into the sewing machine repair shop and found Mabel. She is really pretty and man, talk about tight stitches...she purrs like a kitten and sews like buttah.

Milla Mouse watches the birds while I wander around the internet.... I love the starburst shape in her eyes. Her mother had the same ones.... Grumpy grumpy grumble bee Binx.

ON THE DEVIL BOX: Waxworks 1 and 2....The Woods...and Desperation.

ON THE TABLE: scallops and stir fry.

Whats been going on as of late...

Spring Solstice brought chocolate eggs with tiny marshmallow chicks inside... Poor little thing. Its about to be consumed by a sugarvore. I almost felt sorry for it. Almost. I have been really into finding vintage sewing machines lately. I have a really good workhorse machine that needs rewiring. Its a vintage "White" that my Grandma Wilma gave me at least 10 years ago. That beastie of a machine will sew through anything, and I mean anything! It has zigzag and straight stitch and not much else but still is worth her weight in gold. I'm going to get her serviced and rewired after we get to California...but in the meantime I was visiting the local hole-in-the-wall sewing machine repair shop and LO and BEHOLD they had a gorgeous 1950ish Morse machine that had been overhauled. It looks like a 56 Chevy car radio. I fell in love so hard! It has all its feet attachments, manual and original case. I promptly put a 40 dollar down payment on it. I'll pick her up next week. THEN on Ebay I found a Vintage BABY PINK Atlas machine 2 die 4. I got that one too... Now this little 1920-ish treadle Economy from Sears and Roebuck I already had. I just decided to get it out and really look at it the other day. The sewing table and machine came to me through a trade about 8 years ago when I was living in California. It was the table I was mostly after at the time. Anywho, the machine is still in very good shape...all parts move. I have all the feet and the original manual too! Another project to work on once we settle. Now I'm on the hunt for a Singer Featherweight. And that should round out my collection pretty well. Now, the Brother machine that I bought second hand after my workhorse blew a fuse is a nice little machine and does lots of fancy stitches but it doesn't have soul. I like the way old metal machines feel. I like their weight. I love their strength. So I guess when I need some fancy stitches on something it will get some use, but I prefer to sew with a vintage machine anyday!

Finished a beautiful Noro scarf. Gawd Noro yarn is pretty.

I also finished my Market bag. Its made from a really nice and sturdy cotton yarn. I will be able to put gobs of vegetables and fruits in this thing! It looks like a huge tank top!I tried it out on Milla Mouse. I caught her mid yawn.There she goes, ears flexed back...tongue curling like a flower petal. I nice big yawn. She is bored of being made to pretend she is some sort of vegetable.Yoshi in blue. ON THE DEVIL BOX: Funny Games, Catacombs, Satans Playground, and to round it out Albert Fish.

IN THE MUSICAL DEVIL BOX: Metallica, 311 and Depeche Mode.

Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers....

I found me some treasures at the Thrift Store! First off, I snapped up this glittery pin from the Jewelry bin. It makes a great sweater pin. It has the neatest little details on the backside of the pin, like, all the tiny solders that hold each stone bracket. One of my babies is modeling it for you. She is armless and legless but she still has taste and doesn't mind putting on something pretty. She told me so. Then I found this sweet pale pink cardigan that has pretty little flower buds stitched on. I'm going to tea dye it so it has that "prairie grunge" look I adore. I find allot of cardigans at the second hand shops here in Hawaii. I guess since its so warm here no one loves the sweaters......;0) Found a great little Maneki Neko coffee (tea for me) cup. Got it for a buck. Its a keeper. And here I stole the pin from the baby and put it on one of my thrift store cardigans that was magically turned into a shrug. Tah-dah! ON THE DEVIL BOX: Requiem for a Dream ON THE TABBLE: Nice rare juicy Rib eye steaks and baked taters with all the trimmings...and Long island iced teas. Yummm....say goodnight after like 2 Long islands...lol

Ravelry find.....modified cloud bolero

I saw the most gorgeous little confection of a sweater on Ravelry. (In the cardigan section) It was a modified form of the "Cloud Bolero" pattern found here. http://www.yarnforwardmagazine.co.uk/cloudbolero.htm Anywho..the modifications were a set of long long sleeves and a longer torso that could be knotted at the waist. Ubber sweet. Doofus proof simple.

I know it has a simple feather and fan stitch, (directed to my knitting group who loves to pick on me since I use the feather and fan pattern so much in everything I make...lol). Here is a look at the back with Lola modeling. It needs a couple more rounds then I can set the sleeves on holding yarn and work on the body. This yarn is that scrumptious Dolce yarn, which is SUPER fine alpaca (shivers), silk and wool mixture. Yarn heaven.

ON THE TABLE TONIGHT: stew over mashed potatoes and artichokes.

ON THE DEVIL BOX: Mad Max

IN THE MUSICAL DEVIL BOX: 311, Sublime and Audioslave.

Let them eat cake. Even if it aint that pretty....

Im not going to try and tell you I make beautiful baked goods. That would be a lie. A big fat lie. I can tell you that I make baked goods that are quite tasty. Looks aint everything. Right?This is a vanilla cake...putting in 3 eggs, 1/3 cup oil and 1 and 1/3 cup water. I think its Betty Crocker. ;0) My beautiful mixer....wish it was pink though. I waited and waited for a pink one and they never had a single one every time I came in the store. So I bought this pistachio green model. Its a very nice machine...no matter what color. Though I would trade it for the 1950's pink model! Here we have the finished product. Yea, I ran out of icing towards the end. So its a little patchy. There is a big ass dent in the top where it stuck to the baking dish. It sorta looks like an obese donut. But the sprinkles are pretty...yes? You can see there is evidence of an assault here. I think some little mice...some teenage mice got into the cake before dinner. They said it was very yummy. O well, with the lid on the cake plate it makes the whole thing look much prettier. Ever seen a demon? Yoshi is a demon. I'm not sure why she made this face. I think Mi-Mi was licking her eyeball. Miss Mouse has a terrible habit of licking Yoshi's face, which Yoshi hates with a passion. Anywho...its a terribly scary face.

I bought some books to drool over. This book, Intertwined is total eyecandy and handspun yarn porn. If I have to become a hit man to make enough extra cash to buy a drum carder and a nice spinning wheel, I will! I want to make slubby, bumpy, sparkly, twisty yarn with lots of goodies and gee-gaws SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also picked up this tasty treat. Sublime stitching. I have some ideas for designs on the lapel area of some cardigans I have stashed. My sock is rolling along. I was told by a little birdie that ALOHA YARN was getting in some NORO sock yarn. I about fell out and then when I recoverd I called Nanea and told her I will take a skein of each color she gets in. I cant wait to get my hands on that yarn. Its my reason for living. ;0) ON THE TABLE 2NIGHT: scramby eggs on english muffins.

ON THE DEVIL BOX: The Rage, 30 Days of Night and....Mad Max.

If you haven't seen 30 days of night...do so! Its one of the best vampire movies I have ever seen. Sceeeeery vampires! eeck! I saw it twice at the theater and bought my own copy the day it came out.

Cupcake Porn...need I say more.

I "Heart" cupcakes!!!!! My fondest wish is to live near "Dozen" cupcakes. This bakery is a cupcake eater and lovers delite! Check the site here http://www.dozencupcakes.com/html/flavors.html and get an eyeful of cupcake porn. It doesnt hurt the waistline to look...now does it? ;0)