New Apartment

Yesterday, I finished moving in to my new apartment. It's a nice place. Our living room is bare-looking at the moment, but all we have is a coffee table, a couch and a TV on a small table with an N64. We're getting another couch on Monday, and an antenna for the TV hopefully soon. My roommate's S.O. is allergic to dogs, and our couch has a light coat of dog hair on it. Poor guy. He had to change clothes after he helped us shove it up to our apartment.

My room is all put together. These are some pictures. When the living room and kitchen get figured out, I'll put pics of up those, as well.

This is my desk area, including my balance ball/chair.
This is my bed/futon, including my finishedt-shirt blanket. Yay! I finished it!
And my dresser and bookshelf. See the swords? My dad gave those to me yesterday, too. I managed to get them on the wall, balancing precariously on thumbtacks. Or pushpins? I don't know what they're called. Like my hula hoop? : )

Now I have to pay bills, too. Suck... yay adulthood?

I start work tomorrow. 6:30-2:30. Good times......

Fail...

So, I've been putting together a little lap desk for my laptop so my testicles don't overheat when I have it in my lap (I don't want my sperm count to go down). Today was the day I got to nail it all together.

So I spent a good length of time nailing and missing the nails (my aim isn't so great), and I go to turn it over and flip the pillowcase right side out (I nailed the pillowcase to the lapdesk between the three boards that make the desk top and the four smaller planks that hold them together), and lo and behold the center piece of wood got flipped over when I was setting up the pillow/wood arrangement. So among the two larger pieces of shiny black painted boards, there is a glaring bare plank of poplar, with traces of primer and glossy black paint at the edges.

Subsequently I swore a lot in annoyance. Then I swore a bit in resignation. With a final "God damn it...." I went and got the primer and started repainting it. I was so frustrated I forgot to take a picture of how foolish it looked to show you all. Darn. You can't see evidence of my fail.

So instead of having a finished lapdesk this evening, I am still hunched in an awkward twist while I attempt to recline on the sofa and type with the computer on a footstool. It overheats really easily, so I can only have it on my lap for a few minutes, otherwise I get burned and it gets damaged. The lapdesk should be done by Friday evening.

Grr.

At least I finished putting all the squares in my blanket together. I just need to put the border on it and make the seams more secure. It's very heavy, and will be warm once I get the seams tighter. It's more of a blanket to put over a comforter (I forget what those are called) than a lap blanket or anything, but it'll be nice on a cold lonely February night. (I won't have any cold lonely January nights, because I'll be in Europe! Woot)

So, my three crafty projects: lapdesk, blanket and work desk are almost done. Just in time, too. I start moving Saturday.

Tshirt Blanket

I've started a new project today which I better stick with.
I'm turning 22 of my t-shirts that I never wear but can't get rid of because they have personal meaning into a blanket. I have all my theater shirts, Girl Scout shirts, extracurricular acivities, work shirts, non-profit shirts, etc. It probably won't be very warm, but that's ok. I'm not going to even try to quilt it. It would be a disaster. I'll just use it in the summer or over my comforter.

My sewing skills are extremely limited. I can't use machines, and I'm really bad at hemming. I can make button holes like no other, though. Not sure why. I almost never make button holes, but I can do it really well. I can't really sew in a straight line, nor do I have patience to make a good strong seam. Maybe I just need a really simple, easy sewing machine that doesn't confound me. : )

Thus, because of my impoverished sewing skills, I am doing the 2nd laziest way of making t-shirt blankets. I am cutting off the sleeves, sewing a square around the image while it's inside out, then turning it right side out and finish closing it up. Then I will take these squares and cross stitch them together with yarn. For the edge of the blanket, I will line it with the sleeves and my girl scout t-shirts. So the leftover fabric becomes stuffing that doesn't shift around, and I use the whole t shirt. And I don't mess up cutting. I can just take out the stitches and start over.

The laziest way would be to cut out the squares and fringe them without sewing anything and then just tying it all together. Works better with fleece than with cotton t shirts, but it'd work. It would be very thin and not blanket-like though.

Fleece tie blankets are really nice though. Takes about an hour to make, easily personable and relatively cheap, so it's a good gift for kids and teens. : )

Actually, I take that back. The Absolute Laziest Way would be to make a pile of t shirts and sleep under it. Like a hobo. : )

When I'm done, I'll take pictures and show you. Don't hold your breath though, it will take a few weeks, I think. I spent 3 hours working on it today, and got the shirts marked and 1 square done.

Tomorrow, I fill water balloons. A lot of them. Family reunion on Sunday!