Month: September 2025

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9.9

Vicki8 Comments

Just before I went to Brazil 12+ years ago, I went shopping for a new wallet. I don’t remember what my old one was like, but I found a new one at TJMaxx that checked all my boxes: big, but not enormous; lots of options for various cards, stamps & labels, hair bands & bobby pins, money (of course), and even crochet hooks (I just found two that I didn’t even know were in there); and colorful (so I’d be able to easily locate it at the bottom of a tote bag while relaxing on a beach, let’s say).

Close-up of a fabric wallet with floral patterns, showing wear and a partially broken zipper.
Close-up of the interior of a worn wallet showing frayed fabric and a broken zipper.

I have used that wallet every day since I bought it. A few years ago, I kept losing change (I don’t always zip it all the way closed), so I used some trusty Button Craft Thread (the strongest thread known to man) and stitched it up where it had come apart a little. The exterior is fabric covered with plastic, and when the plastic started to wear through a couple of years ago, I reinforced it with Gorilla Tape.

I’ve been casually looking for a similar replacement… preparing for the inevitable. I just haven’t found anything in any shops that even comes close.

Close-up of a worn wallet showing a partially broken zipper and fabric cover with floral patterns.

Then, a few weeks ago, the zipper started coming apart on one side, so I cut it off & put in a few stitches to stop the pull (now it won’t zip all the way closed). The other day, as I pulled the zip, I could feel it starting to give way on the other side. Arrgghhhh!

I just love this thing, so I took to Google for a BETSEY JOHNSON FLORAL WALLET. A good number of results appeared and helped me refine my search terms, because there are a lot (“zip-around” was key), and I found a few — used, but not quite as worn as mine — on eBay & Poshmark.

Two Betsy Johnson floral wallets, one on top of the other, displaying vibrant floral designs on a dark background.

I kept looking and couldn’t believe it when I saw a “NWT” listing — it was even reduced in priced (less than one or two of the used ones). Hallelujah!! It arrived yesterday and, well, it’s just THRILLING!! I’m so happy (it’s the little things), and look forward to using this one… if it’s like the original, it should last until right around 2037. I’ll be 79! haha. Heck, maybe it’ll even last until I’m 80!!

Crochet! · Unraveled Wednesday / Knit & Read

9.4: Unraveling a day late

Vicki6 Comments

I’m joining Kat & the Unravelers for Unraveled Wednesday Thursday!

KNITTING CROCHETING:

I’ve been crocheting squares for my Fair Square Riff… using Purl Soho’s Fair + Square Blanket, Crochet Version, as a starting point. (There’s a Knit Version, too.) I went with the crochet version because it seems like it might be a little quicker to do and it just seems like it’s a bit more portable, too.

The Purl Soho blankets also each have two color versions — one uses 16 colors and the other uses four. I have SIX colors, so… riffing! I don’t even remember exactly how I made the calculation that I came up with — do not ask me to show my work — but I came up with color combos for each square, each using two to four colors, always bordered with a row of white. I tried to employ the Granny Squares Color Pattern Generator, which I used so successfully to generate a chart for hexie love (read/see that here), but I needed something more random pattern-wise. I used it to give me the colors for each square, then used whatever calculation I came up with for the row counts, and employed one of my other favorite design tools — a spreadsheet — to make my chart!

A grid of colorful crochet squares featuring concentric patterns in varying shades of red, yellow, blue, purple, and white.

I’m working top-to-bottom with this as my guide, and have the top row & three squares of the second row finished.

A collection of colorful crocheted squares arranged in a grid, featuring various patterns and colors, with white borders on a paved surface.

Obviously, my colors are a little different than charted. I kind of like those brighter colors, but I’m working with what I’ve got/was given (and the guidance for those choices was “jewel tones”). The colors are a bit richer & more vibrant in person — I ran outside to take photos last night as the light was fading.

Anyway, I’m sort of single-minded about this project & want to get it done so I can move on. I’ve been knocking out about one square every evening during TV time. We were watching a Swedish series for a minute, so reading subtitles slowed me down a little bit, but more recently we’ve started watching some historical docu-dramas — Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War, and The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen — which are more crochet-friendly.

READING:

I’m a bit more than half-way through Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming In Color: An Autobiography — there are a lot of photos & photo spreads (it’s a workout holding that bulky book up in bed) which are really fun to look at, and it’s interesting to read about his (really rather) charmed life. And I’m even more interested in meeting The Man next month.

Weekending

9.3: (Long) Weekending

Vicki8 Comments

I had five days off and hardly took any photos! The days were packed with one thing or another, though — and mostly of my choosing.

I spent a lot of time sewing. On Friday, I was able to tune in to The School of Making Club’s 100 Days of Sewing: Weekly Check-in on Zoom… and stay for the whole time! That weekly event happens when I’m either just getting off of work, or I have the day off & I’m occupied elsewhere. Anyway, being the start of a holiday weekend, there weren’t as many participants as I’ve previously seen (when I’ve been able to check in for a few minutes), but it sure was fun! I shared my project, and learned a lot of random things — some even about sewing. The official 100 days is almost up, and those check-ins will end (sadly).

Katie laughed the other day when I told her that I was almost finished with one-third of half the back! And, lo, I did finish it! On to the next third… step-by-step, stitch-by-stitch. I spent a good few hours stitching/beading almost every day that I was off. No photos.

I’ve also been crocheting and have 8-10 out of 35 squares done for the granny square afghan! I’m going to need one more skein of antique white, as it’s used both in the squares and to border each one (not to mention seaming, when that time comes). Also no photos. The skeins are big & they get “floppy” as they’re used, so I plan to wind them all into more compact balls — which will also make them more manageable to take along on an upcoming little road trip, too.

Chalk drawings on a sidewalk featuring a bird and a bunny with playful text.
A child drawing with colorful chalk on a concrete surface, with a butterfly and face partially sketched. Various pieces of chalk are scattered nearby.

Ali & the kids were over a few times — but they were busy, too! Ginny came over on her own one evening & hung out with us… helped Kate make puppy treats, supper (for us), and chalked up the sidewalk a little. We sent her home when the street lights came on (that was always the signal to go home when I was a kid).

Did I mention that the weather was absolutely perfect the whole weekend?

I’m welcoming guests to The Artist’s Perch this weekend for the first time since January — except for five days in July when someone was here for the EAA Fly-in in Oshkosh. Ali & the kids were in the apartment for much of the first half of the year, then I had it blocked off (except for those five days in July) so Maddy had a place to land when she was here. I’ve been doing the kinds of things that no one will really notice — pulling out everything that was put away earlier this year (guest book, house manual, some decor), washing all of the pots & pans, laundering all of the curtains. I also bought a new floor lamp for the living room and found room to install a cute little coffee cart in the kitchen. I have a few more tweaks in mind, then we’ll be ready to do the usual — cleaning the bathroom, making the bed, dusting & vacuuming, and stocking the fridge. I’m a bit out of the Airbnb groove, since Annie’s had a long-term guest since August 1st, and they’ll still be there for another week or so!