Put on your yarmulke ...

Dad asked if it was possible to embroider a yarmulke. After nudging a couple of times I realized he wanted one for his birthday. Hooray and thanks for the hint because I had no idea what to do. 

A trip to the Judaica store and Michael's for some extra supplies and I was ready to stitch. I bought two yarmulkes just in case I flubbed it so badly that I needed a back up. I also decided to try working with metallic floss even though I'd heard it was difficult to work with. Yeah, it is, but worth it. The bit of sheen and wiry texture makes it a little extra special.

Stitches used: chevron and back stitch 

With the border done, I had to plan how to make a symmetrical Star of David. Google, pins and spare floss helped me measure the star. The yarmulke was too stiff for an embroidery hoop, which made me nervous, but it all worked out.

It kind of looked like Pinhead at first.  

I incorporated threading to give the star a little more interest.

Now all that's left is to find a dust pouch, make a card and wrap this baby up.

Career crossroad

I studied journalism in college, focusing on copy editing. My internships were as a copy editor. My first job was copy editing. It was a career path my parents didn't readily understand. Mom thought I was in a telecom program and dad assumed I'd be a reporter. It was difficult for them to grasp that I would be reading stories, writing headlines, designing pages and never have a byline. When I switched to the dark side of journalism, public relations, I was thankful I no longer had to explain why I had such crummy hours and still didn't have my name in print. 

My career is back in the spotlight since I've been unemployed. My family has been super supportive, although now they're making it clear it's time for me to get a job. I understand how it affects them -- mom has been helping me with rent and dad feeds me more than usual, but I haven't really been motivated and still don't know what I want to do.

In lieu of making any real commitments (which speaks volumes about my life in general), I've decided on a tentative course of action: find temp or part-time work to hold me over until my lease is up. At that point, I need to have a long-term game plan because I would like to move out of Miami.

So I've submitted my resume to several temp agencies and have a headhunter who is keeping an eye out for me. Most friends and family members also have a copy of my resume on file just in case they hear of anything. My references have also been put on red alert should something come up.

A couple of days ago mom calls me with great news: a friend of a friend knows someone who is hiring. With such a promising lead I resend her my resume. Later on I think to ask what the hell I just potentially applied for.

Me: So yeah, what is friend of a friend looking for? 

Mom: Oh the guy apparently has an opening for a reporter to cover community news.

Me: Um, a reporting position you say? Well I've never really been a reporter.

Mom: Didn't I pay for journalism school?

Me: Yeah. And I left a copy editor. We've discussed this.

Mom (annoyed): Whatever. They would pay you.

Well alrighty then. She has a point. A paycheck is a paycheck. Thankfully I'll be seeing her friend soon so I can clear things up and see how likely an opportunity this is. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy however much of this time of unemployment I have left.

Baby on board

I spoke to soon -- for a week it's been all baby all the time with my latest projects. Each were gifts for friends, though, so there was a greater pleasure in working on them.

Embroidered fairy was part of a new baby congrats card

Train onesie for a baby shower mom will be attending

A planes, trains and automobiles gift needs a proper card

Lest I jinx myself again, I think it's safe to go back to embroidering kitchen towels.

Happy first day of spring

And that's when I broke his leg

Mom bought a puppy about a month and a half ago. It was her way of dealing with an empty nest when my brother moved. Dallas the dachshund is a handful, albeit a cute one. He is six pounds of nibbling, squirming, whining goodness. 

Dallas has a bell on his collar so we can hear him coming. It almost always works.

Dallas hasn't gotten used to going to the bathroom outside. He's more than OK relieving himself in his crate or really anywhere around the house. The other day he unleashed a surprisingly large pile of poo on an area rug. Annoyed about having to clean up after him (again), I opened the back door to toss said poo in the yard. There was resistance when I tried closing the door followed by a blood-curdling screech. I caught his leg in the door. Fabulous. Dallas limped the rest of the night and cowered whenever I approached.

A trip to the vet revealed the news: I broke my mother's puppy. Actually, it's only a small chip fracture, but the vet may as well have told me the dog had two days to live. I was a crying, blubbering mess. The vet assured me Dallas only needed a couple of weeks rest and minimal exercise and he'd be good as new. 

Two weeks later, Dallas occasionally limps and is terrified by the back door. He still cowers from me. That's been the worst because it makes me feel like such a jerk. I can't wait for the vet to give him a clean bill of health so maybe my guilt will start to subside. Until then I will feed him as many cookies as he wants and won't complain when I have to pick up after him.

Update: The vet said his leg is OK. Let the guilt magically disappear!

Kitchen towels anyone?

I'm officially tired of embroidering all things baby. It's nothing personal, but my brain has fizzled when it comes to stitching onesies, burping cloths, receiving blankets and bibs. I'll still do it -- gladly -- but a change is in order. So I'm leaving the nursery and moving into the kitchen. 

These are new kitchen towels I listed on my Etsy shop.

Stitches used: back, leaf, split, satin and running.

The design comes from a print I bought in Calafate, Argentina. The small, purple blooms can be found in fields and mountainsides throughout the country. I thought the set of two would make a fun addition to any kitchen. Each towel is 30 inches x 30 inches and made of flour sack cotton. Three hand-embroidered flower designs where created - one per panel. 

Mom's house was the setting for the photo shoot -- her kitchen is exponentially larger. I tried it first at my place and I couldn't back away enough to get the towels in the frame. 

They're handy with spills, but also look good just hanging around.

A little housekeeping

I grew tired of my previous web layout and spent most of my morning searching for easy-to-understand tutorials on how I could change the site's html without driving me too loco. So here it is. I'm not completely satisfied yet, but I think it's an improvement. My next step will be to incorporate more/better pictures. Whatcha think? 

Why stop now?

The Week of Eating In was a success. Only one slip up: a day full of meals provided by my parents. That can't be held against me because who would pass up on a free meal with mom and dad?

I'm attributing the win to better planning of meals and trips to the market. I was able to transform many of the ingredients into new dishes versus just having leftovers that I would normally throw away. So why stop now? I've been eating (mostly) in every day since. I enjoy the process of preparing a meal and I'm happy to learn skills and try new things. It took me long enough, but I've finally graduated from just boiling water.