Simple Dress Experiment/Crafts: It seems that all is well for now after all. I dedicated some time for searching patterns online yesterday, and managed to find some that looked quite good as well as simple enough to sew. They are now on their way to me (along with a few other irresistible patterns...all I will say is that I will need to find some evening gown occassions in the future ) Only minor changes needed. In fact, it seems that I might get my coat earlier than I would have via PL- their shipping times are rather long, while pattern companies are very fast...and I'm not that slow either.
   Besides, there's no denying that if November is a good month for doing anything, it's crafts. According to weather statistics, November is the rainiest, cloudiest, most miserable month in the year. Sewing and knitting are the perfect way to spend some of those dark evenings ahead.

Recently completed: a pair of violet leg warmers/boot covers and a burgundy dress/apron set. My knitting plans are small, quick accessories- I don't feel like starting the cardigan just yet. Thanks to the bad weather, I've also been quite industrious on the sewing front. I expect to be done with the winter underskirts this week, and then I will review my to-do list and see what comes to the top. If the coats take one week each (which is very generous), I'll still have plenty of time to sew some Christmas presents, as well as something extra for myself. No tv and no gardening means surprisingly much time for other pursuits.

Hair: Washed yesterday, ok today. Up with a gold Primavera Ficcare right now. Calendar tells me that this week it's time to snip a centimeter off it again. After that, it's just one more trim to go and I'm done with maintaining for now. What a happy thought!

BPAL review (just one today!)

Tushnamatay
A very nice "forest" scent: fresh green mosses, green leaves and some pine needles, sunshine and wildflowers that grow on a green clearing. A joyous, yet soothing scent. Something an escapist might wear in an office.
4½/5

A quick update...because Ficcare has finally added both Lotus collections and their new Fall collection to their webpage.
   Nope, I couldn't resist ordering. The fall colors are fantastic- I love jewel tones and now there's an entire collection of really beautiful jewel tones.

A couple of more BPAL reviews as well:


First I have to say- I have now sniffed lots of aquatic-themed Lovecraft scents and the differences between them are not big in general (exception to this rule being Y'Ha-Nthlei). Clear, but not huge, so if you like or dislike strongly one of them, the same judgment serves the rest as well.
     Cthulhu scent follows the line of Deep Ones and R'Lyeh: when sniffing it, there is no doubt that we're still deep in underwater realms.
Cthulhu is most masculine of these scents- not terribly much so, but there is that. It is also a clean smell, like scented hand wipes. Pleasant, refreshing but perhaps lacking a little character compared to its cousin scents.
4/5



Wiener nougat. Great many people love that almondy nougat, but I really hate, detest and abhor it, whether it is edible or in a perfume bottle. I see why the Vampire is in tears- maybe the poor thing has been forced to eat a whole box of wiener nougats instead of a cup of nice, warm blood? When the scent develops, a hint of citrus rises to freshen up the scent just a little. Not nearly enough to save it though. I'll give this one ½ a point more than I did to Mandrake just because I can imagine someone liking this a lot more than I do.
1½/5

I've got trouble uploading pictures. I think my computer somehow knows we're going to shop a new one on the coming weekend...

Hair: Maybe scientific writing makes me absent-minded, but I forgot to wash my hair yesterday. It's not terribly dirty, just enough to be noticeable when I touch it. Winter is coming- during summertime I could never have forgotten my mid-week wash, but lately my hair has just not become irritatingly dirty in the middle of the week. Which is sort of good, I suppose. Today's style is a bun with brown MT sticks I got in a swap and that seem to be among my favorite hairsticks. One good thing about dark and wet days of late fall is, that since I stay indoors anyway if I can, there are more opportunities to wear hairsticks. Yep, I've decided to stay positive through the season.

Crafts: I think I'll finish T's socks today. I feel like taking my simple cardigan as the next project. I've now decided that it will be a simple, basic cardigan because that's what I really need right now. Not that I wouldn't find use for a fancier one as well, but basic things first. I hope making it will make my yarn sack a little smaller too.  
As a side project, I'm planning to make a pair of felted slippers according to a pattern BB shared with me. They will be for myself, as I think that T still wants his next slippers to be a combination of flannel and faux fur, as toasty warm as humanly possible to make. For me, felted wool will be perfect. Since the instructions are in English, they will improve my poor knitting vocabulary. It's just happened so that I know sewing terminology in English but not knitting terms, even though I'm much better in knitting than in sewing. That'll be soon fixed, though!
       I'm also pretty sure that I need not just one but two more lace shawls. There are too gorgeous patterns out there. Lace is challenging to knit, but the results are well worth the trouble.
 
BPAL:

Athens

Honey and roses. A surprising, unusual but quite pleasant combination. Very sweet, but BPAL's honey does still catch the other flavors of real honey well. Rose scent is a fresh tea rose that prevents the scent from becoming too heavy. Not "my scent", but in its own way quite charming.
3½/5

Batsheba

Flowers, a hint of amber and even slighter hint of oriental spices. A pleasant scent but unfortunately something one can find from every perfume department of the world. You can't go wrong wearing this scent- it is appropriate for both office and the cocktail party after it, but there's nothing personal about it either. This is a scent for soccer moms and middle-class workers who hope to reach upper middle class one day and scent their dreams with perfumes made by luxury brands from which the could not afford shopping clothes.
2½/5

Wolf's Heart

An evening in eucalyptus grove where colorful birds are going to sleep and night flowers are starting to release their scent over the sun-warmed scent of daytime flowers that still lingers in still air. Clouds are gathering in the horizon and if you breathe deep, you can smell the rain in the air, clean water that will wash away the scents of flowers after the midnight. Do you have the courage to stay here until that happens, as the night darkens around you and clouds veil the stars almost as soon as they appear?
4½/5

Haven't updated for a while. What can I say? Work. Yet another round of flu in the house. This fall has been really bad flu-wise. On top of everything, I seem to have some hormonal mess. Typical for my luck: I haven't had any issues requiring a doctor visit for the whole year (don't count fetching new recipes as an issue), and of course I must develop an issue on the eve of nurse strike when the whole country's healthcare system is in crisis mode. As it is, I've got a five-minute phone appointment with doctor on Friday, after the receptionist lady had tried and failed to get me a 30-minute appointment. On a lighter side, I'm not feeling particularly bad. I know that something is not quite as it should, but that's all.

Crafts: The weather is the same: thick clouds, cold, and rain in varying combinations. Right now it's all three together. But I've accomplished a lot on the knitting front! I shopped more yarn on Monday so that I can outsit the season in my armchair besides the heating stove if need be.
I've knitted mittens, and then I got inspiration to do something with the gorgeous thick and soft yarn I discovered a little while ago, and made two scarves and a beret. It's so thick that it was super quick to knit or crochet. I still have some of it left waiting for the next inspiration. I'm so glad I got that yarn.
Today is a particularly nasty day weather-wise, so I've finally started the cardigan project. It'll keep me occupied for a while, I reckon. I just hope it will turn out to be the right size. I haven't met a sweater or a cardigan for myself in years. But, this year seems to be very special knitting-wise.
    Oh, and I found some gorgeous chocolate brown felting yarn that I'm going to use for the bikerbraid-slippers. Now I will just need to print out the pattern. I'm waiting for the inspiration.
   My flannel slips are also done- I'll finish the last one this evening. I also have the aubergine dress cut. First of my coat patterns have arrived as well. I'm still pondering of what I will sew and how. I need lots of inspiration!

Miserable weather makes me very productive.

Hair: Hair has been nice and well behaving though it seems that my long season of almost no shedding is over. Well, it was nice while it lasted. My favorite styles during the past days have been buns with caps. I haven't felt like playing with my hair, and caps protect from mess and drizzling rain when I must go out.
    I have received the new Ficcare catalog. The Fall Collection is just gorgeous, and I'm afraid I didn't order all the clips I wanted. I now want new beak clips in Fall colors. I got a notification that the clips I ordered have arrived to the Customs. Don't know when I will fetch them. Perhaps early next week when I have other business in that direction. I know they'll be worth the wait. I tell myself I'm only frugal if I shop the rest of the clips I want while the promo code still works. I'm not even planning to shop new eartoys this month.

((hugs))  These are scary times we live in for any part of the world.  As I was growing up we had school stabbings, riots and walkouts.  It's sad that these things happen

We bought a new computer yesterday, and I'm typing this while transferring files from the old computer to this one. This one is a big laptop (17"), and nice to work with. I just can't believe how many files I have to move. I hope I can get the most uploading and installing done today (depending on whether we can find where we have put our Word and Paintshop...) But, after that my computer troubles should be over. Hooray!

Hair: As always. Still thinking of what Ficcares to order next. And when to fetch the ones I have waiting for me in Customs. I think that one may depend on when this computer will be ready.