Adversity

Everything’s Going to Be All Rice

by CZeitler

About a month ago I purchased a great deal on frozen fish. Since then I have created a couple of amazing rice bowls to enjoy. Rice from the rice cooker, baked fish, Japanese BBQ sauce or Hoisin Sauce, and then sprinkled over with the ‘Everything’s Gonna be All Rice’ seasoning that was available at Walmart for a while. I have to go light on the seasoning since it does have salt which can then overwhelm everything. This has been a fun treat a few times a month to get me to eat more fish, eat at home more, and enjoy flavors that I do not always get to enjoy.

This is what happens when you are at work, as a librarian, and notice that the t-shirt you pulled from the clean laundry pile has a couple of grease stains that are now set in and do not come out with a shout stick. You sew a felt wizards tower to cover the stains. I think this turned out well!

I am also trying to sew a skirt for my cousin’s wedding this upcoming weekend, I lost the pattern until this past Saturday, so it isn’t just that I am procrastinating. The waistband is elasticated, my left hand had ligament repair surgery, so I improvised. I used a pair of table clamps to clamp down on the waistband while the elastic is slightly stretched, then I sewed the seam. This worked really well, though since the fabric is linen some of the fibers were slightly crushed leaving tiny shiny spots that are not noticeable at all.

I asked a cousin of mine if they would like a quilt. They readily agreed so I wanted to make some samples of different colored thread. I am looking at this sampler and even I can tell that the variegated is right out, the white just blends in too well with the background fabric. Fortunately I will be seeing this cousin at the wedding and various festivities around the wedding, so I am quite excited about that.

Other than some organizing and trying to put a shed up in my back yard that is all that I have been up to. Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Too Much, Too Soon

by CZeitler

This past weekend was busy, though it could have gone much worse. Friday I missed half of staff development day, with the directors approval, and my sister and I made the 11 hour drive to where my cousin and uncle live. We got there about midnight, and were up the next morning to attend the funeral, graveside service, and memorial lunch. We did a little bit of shopping and were back in time to get invited to a family pizza fest. We ducked out of that a little early and crashed hard. The next morning we woke early to catch a cousin we had not seen in a long time, then crashed a bit more before we had to pack up, check out, and attend a lovely brunch to commemorate the family. Much was made of the little banner things I made, I hope they truly enjoyed them. There were so many people I only got a few minutes with my uncle and cousin, however I did get to spend time with family I had not seen in a while.

I also found out that another cousin was engaged to be married, I have never seen him happier than he is with his fiance. I am looking forward to seeing the family again in June for (yet another) cousin’s wedding. I love being a part of a large family, I do need to save up a bit to give them a wedding present.

We drove home on Sunday, getting there about 1am Monday. I had an appointment to get a tooth pulled at 9:30 am, which we made. It was fascinating as I swear I was only out for five minutes, but it turns out the procedure took 30 minutes. I did spend the rest of the day sleeping instead of the shopping trip my sister thought we would be taking. My supervisor had scheduled me to come back on Wednesday since I am going to be working this Saturday. I really appreciate that since I was not up to much on Tuesday.

Today is Wednesday, I am not sure if I am reacting to the surgery and antibiotics or if I have the cold that was going around work last week. Either way I seem to have a runny nose, and a slightly dry/sore throat. Plans are always shifting here. Originally I was going to attend Maryland Sheep and Wool festival, then go on to H&H Americas. Then I chose to do a car shuffle with my cousin, sister, and myself. That meant that longer trips were off the table for a bit. After that I cut my vacation in half, however, I was going to go south east to help my cousin, that I did the car shuffle with, because her dad was having a procedure. The procedure was pushed back a week, so I am not needed, and I feel slightly like garbage so I do not know if it is a good idea for me to take the trip for a visit.

My cousin who lost her mom asked for me to distract her with a quilt I will be making her, I sent and email and hope to make progress on that. At present, if I am feeling better by next Tuesday I plan on visiting my cousin for Wednesday through Friday, leave early Saturday so I can swing by and change cars with my sister, then sleep on Sunday. I think that this would be the easiest way to not feel like I am missing out on anything and still give myself a little time to figure things out. On the other hand, if I still feel like something ran me over I will probably skip everything and sleep my time off away.

Until next time remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Tangled Threads

by CZeitler

*There is very little crafting content in this*

Sometimes you do ‘everything right’ and there is a tangled mess in the background. I spent quite a bit of time winding a very long warp, crocheting it into chains, and then warping the heddle. I am at the point of winding the warp onto the back beam so I can start tying onto the front beam and weaving my bog jacket. The threads have currently turned into a snarled mess that makes me want to cut the entire thing off and tie on the rest of the warp when I get time. I have had to take a break and leave things as they are until I get a little more time and patience so I can take the next step.

This is why, in my darker times, I wonder if making plans is even worth it. I had plans to do some traveling this summer, those have fallen through so I have attempted to pivot. For May I was going to have to miss my weaving guild meeting due to a conflict, that was fine, I was not that invested in the topic being discussed. I decided that I was going to miss my cousin’s bridal shower, I’m always single and didn’t want to deal with that, but I hoped to get some projects completed during that time. The bride’s mother (who had asked me to make the quilt) had been under a lot of stress attempting to help her oldest brother (my uncle) take care of his wife since she is an EMT. Unfortunately the morning of the bridal shower my aunt, my uncle’s wife, lost her battle. Instead of going to the April weaver’s guild meeting I will be attending a funeral. I am trying to be there for my cousin of that branch of the family, I will be working on making a quilt for her.

In the long run the pieces that I am having to pivot are small potatoes. I would rather be there for my family than worry about a chance to learn card weaving on an inkle loom. It looks like this year, similar to last, is going to be one of remembering what is truly important in life. Things are not all doom and gloom. I have made significant progress on sewing up my folkwear Edwardian gown. I am currently fighting with myself about adding the zipper onto the back, I would like to be able to add more authentic closures, however I am not double jointed so a Zipper is a must.

(Note, I started this post almost a week ago. I discovered that if I do not hit the ‘Save Draft’ button at the top then the draft is not saved for me to work on it on other devices. The rest of this post is from the 17th of April, while the first is from the 12 of April.)

I did manage to get the zipper added as well as remembering that I wanted to add pockets. It fits amazingly well, I am so pleased. I do plan on using Rit dye in the color Wine to add a pink to red color to this dress. I am hoping that it either turns out pink or burgundy-ish. I then hope to put some hot-fix rhinestones on to add a small amount of weight in the hem and decoration. I am hoping to ask one of my colleagues to take photos of me in the dress on Monday so I can send them in to the Folkwear contest.

I have made no progress on getting the rigid heddle loom warped up, I will in the near future, however it just seemed so daunting when I have this dress to finish and a funeral to attend. The funeral is next weekend so I have not dealt with that yet. Next week is going to be quite busy for me, I am planning on using a system of treats to allow me to get through the week in a relatively positive way. Every day is a chance for new adventures and new blessings. Often it is your attitude that gets you through each day, and sometimes bed rotting for a day or two is the only way to get through things.

Until next time remember to Live Life in a way that is A Little More Abstract.

Figure Out What You Can Live With

by CZeitler

My Aunt asked me to quilt a quilt top she had made for her daughter. I initially resisted because I want her to approve and knew that my skills were not to the point where I was really comfortable taking this commission. I was afraid I would majorly screw it up, however I agreed despite my reservations. Now it has been over a year since I received the quilt top, my Aunt has been talking to her sisters (my other aunts) asking if they have heard anything about the quilt top. I did screw some things up. When I was first quilting using my embroidery machine I listened to conventional wisdom and left as much background around the edges as I could, I managed to get most of the fabric unpicked from where it folded under. Since I had so much bulk of the quilt around the edges of the hoop my machine now prefers to have the hoop at a slight angle before it will finish stitching a pattern. The, sort of expensive, quilting background fabric in a wide width, did not take to the dense embroidery I wanted to use for the quilt label. That took 4 tries and finally using a different fabric, which does not really match as it is an almost latte color. I finally let my aunt know that I was finished, she sent a much more generous payment than I asked for, and now I just have to send the quilt top off. I know I am stressing her out, however I am also stressing myself out.

Can I actually send the quilt off with that piece of fabric on the back and the quilt label so mismatched? I was terrified of starting the project, so it took me several months to even get the quilt sandwich made. Once I had started, and trimmed off the extra backing after the doubled over problem, I noticed that some of the pieces that had been appliqued came loose. I checked with my aunt to see if she wanted those stitched down in invisible thread, she agreed. I hand stitched each piece down, that took some time. Now I am supposed to send this off on Wednesday, it is Saturday today, and I am at work. I think I have to try to remake the label on a fabric that more closely matches the quilt back. I cannot in good conscience send the quilt the way it is now. I don’t think I can pick much more of that selvedge piece that got caught out of the back, however, I can change the label (I hope). I did also make ‘matching’ pillow cases to add to the Wedding present.

I am sorry for the stress I am causing her, and the stress that this is causing me. I do not know if I regret this commission or not. I’ve accepted another for some crosses from a different aunt, however I know what she is looking for and should be able to get those done quickly.

I probably did not know how much this has been weighing on me. Now I understand why I have not wanted to send this off, I cannot stand the label…I might try to do a fake miter for the corners of the binding as well since I do not like how those look either.

Wish me luck, I hope to get all of this done this afternoon into tomorrow. I have made some progress on getting my embroidery pieces for February done, it’s only March 7! Lol.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, and decide what you can live with and what you cannot.

Looking to the Future

by CZeitler

Every day brings something new and special to the world. I was able to spend time with my family, and will be able to spend another weekend with my family again soon. The weather is warming up in Western New York, though it will cool down again soon, and spring is just around the corner. March 3, there is an Embroidery Extravaganza happening through Creative Spark. This learning opportunity is a treat to myself, something that I can look forward to and that should spark my imagination for the rest of the year.

One of my cousin’s daughters is getting interested in embroidery and sewing, like me she enjoys using the proper terminology for different stitches. I gave her a choice of having the finished pouch or a kit to put together, and she chose a kit. I am really looking forward to seeing them soon.

I spent the past week having sleeping problems. The 21st was the anniversary of my dad’s passing, February has always sort of sucked since then. I suppose the weather taking a turn for the worse did not help me any. I did get around to spending a few hours stitching up some more circles for my larger project, though certainly not the one a day I was supposed to do.

That is about all for right now, I will post more as I get more finished. I’m trying to look on the bright side, even while not in the best of moods, and having sleeping problems. All of the gardening site I follow keep saying that it is time to start planting seedlings, however, it is not safe to plant outside until the end of May in my area, so spring is a little ways away right now.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Expensive Lessons Cont.

by CZeitler

So I have an update on my expensive lesson. I did some checking on the website that the package is supposed to be delivered from and found another story that is almost identical to mine. https://www.scampulse.com/out-of-country-order-not-delivered-reviews

Due to this, I have reported the company to the Better Business Bureau, asked Venmo to mark the charge as a scam and refund me the money if at all possible. I have sent a warning out to the guild that I received the email through, as well as messaging the Handweaver’s guild of America, Craft industry alliance, and putting a post on Facebook. One of the guild members I emailed let me know that another guild had been emailed the offer so I asked her to pass on the message that it was a scam. I cannot find a single positive review of this company other than the ones on their own website. I also cannot find other people stating that they were scammed by this company other than the one above. From what I can tell that likely means that few people are falling for this, or few people are reporting them. I hope that this can get resolved in my favor, more than that I hope that no one else falls for a scheme like this.

I am not going to let this bring my day down, I had a lovely time with my cousins this weekend and look forward to my next visit.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Expensive Lessons

by CZeitler

I postponed my trip to visit my cousin so that I could be home to receive the delivery of the ‘new to me’ loom. I had emailed the delivery company to check when it would be delivered so that I could figure out whether I would leave a day late or come back a little early. I paid a particular fee to have this item shipped. There was no indication that anything additional would be required. Now that the item is in my town, they are saying: “Okay, we will deliver the item once you pay this surcharge of almost the same as what you paid the first time.”

My response to this is, I do not have the funds, I was not told that this is a requirement, and if push comes to shove, I did not sign anything saying that I would pay you any money. At this point I am very saddened that I have lost the money, the loom is likely to be destroyed, and I feel as if this moving company is operating under false pretenses. I am going to try to look on the bright side of things, I was still able to pay for my mortgage this month, my next paycheck will cover my car loan payment, and I am lucky all around. I used this time to clean the floor of my room off, I hid the threads on my aunt’s quilt, I also managed to get my sink plunged so I can do dishes.

I am going to not purchase items that require shipping from individual sellers from now on, at least if they are very large items. The widow is trying to help out, but I cannot meet her half-way as I would prefer. I’m going to take this as a sign that this is not the time for me to be adding to my loom family, but to use up much of what I have.

I hope that everyone has a good weekend, and remembers to Live Life a Little More Abstract!

Work In Progress

by CZeitler

I have recovered from my cold! I also got a minor secondary infection that I had to take medication for! YAY!

January is almost done, the world is still turning. Nothing majorly bad has happened, I plan on catching up with my January stitching as I am able, there are the most recent 5, I see that the door in purple is not showing up on my dark grey circle. Many of these are experimentations in stitching styles, I planned to do more with the tree, however I decided that since it did not get finished that morning it is considered done.

There was a plan for me to have inventory up on my website by the end of January. For some strange reason that did not get done, I’m refusing to fret about that. Either it will get done or not, I have other things to work on before I get to that. Honestly, with the illnesses and work I have not gotten the presents sent out yet, that is planned for next week when I get paid. I did get my time off scheduled for work, so I can make some of the trips I planned for this year and ensure that I use up all of my vacation time that I need to.

Honestly, that is my update for this week, I plan to do more over the weekend if I am able.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, don’t let the little things get you down!

Rough Start to the New Year

by CZeitler

I believe I mentioned in my previous post that my heat had gone out and I was lucky enough to have family and friends that allowed me to get a new heater so I can survive the winter. Well, I caught a cold that weekend. One of my supervisors assures me that cold does not cause infection, well this terrible infection disagrees with you, ma’am. It might be the workers coming in and out or the large variety of patrons that think nothing of coming into the library coughing and hacking everywhere, no matter what I’ve been coughing and hacking for almost two weeks now. I only lost my voice for a couple of days, I never knew that menthol dries out the vocal cords, so things are much better now.

This cold has made it difficult to keep up with my daily stitching practice and I have made no progress with the quilt for my aunt even though I just have the binding left. As seen in the pictures above I have mostly been able to catch up with my stitching, though some are simpler than I planned, I cannot stitch today since I overdid it by stitching three pieces yesterday and my thumb joint will not allow me to do much today. There are many days where I have to remind myself that I have so many positives, the negatives are just there to remind me of what I have. Some people talk about having a word that defines their year, I think that I am going to try to have two words, ‘Gratitude’ and ‘Family’. I have so much amazing and fascinating family, I need to remember to spend more time with them, to remind myself and them that I love them, and that I appreciate them not for what they can do for me but just because they exist and are amazing. I also have so many blessings, I am able to pay my bills every month, okay so some are a little later than the ‘deadlines’ however everything gets paid. I have a roof over my head, heat (thank you family & friends), relatively good health, food in my fridge and freezer (thank you to the hard times that taught me several cheap, bulk meals that I enjoy), a full-time job from which I am finally getting ‘cost of living’ pay increases which gives me some breathing room, and so much more. I still hope to get my online shop going, making some things in bulk so that I can sell them, there are a couple of fun ideas I would like to make progress on, but that is an extra. I have vacation time, a reliable car, and a small amount of extra money due to the pay increase, so I plan on visiting with family members that I do not get to see nearly as often as I would like. Last year the family lost three members in very different ways and they made me realize how long it had been since I saw anyone, I need to fix that. I love them, I haven’t visited with my dad’s favorite cousins since 2018, the little kids I played with are graduating high-school and looking at college. It is sort of devastating, fortunately I have the means to fix that.

Okay, enough of my self-reflection for today, I’m going to pick up a bit around the house working on my organization still, then I’ll put a heating pad on my thumb joint to see if the heat will loosen up the muscles some. Until next time remember to Live Life A Little More Abstract!

Everything for a Reason

by CZeitler

Talk about being blessed by my family and friends. Friday after the library closed I dropped a colleague off at home, it was an ice storm, and went home. While curling up for bed I was surprised I did not hear my very loud heater, I checked the temperature of the house…it was 10 degrees below where it was set to. I called in a company for emergency service, they were very nice. It turns out I need a new heater, the current one is over 20 years old and they will not fix it. I had just been denied a credit consolidation loan on Friday, and I do not meet the age requirements for HERR or HEAP heating assistance. I put up a go fund me, and within an hour one of my family members had donated and another used their credit card to pay for my new heater. Since I used the last of my money to pay for the emergency visit my sister forwarded me the money to pay for a small space heater, 1500 watts does not heat very far so it is helping by keeping my house at about 50 degrees. I have had several family members checking on me, making sure I have the water running so my pipes don’t freeze, and I am so blessed by the support I have around me. It is fascinating that in the spring 50 is toasty, in December it is too cold to do much around the house. I turn my stove on a couple of times a day to add some extra heat to the house, and my heater is supposed to be installed Monday or Tuesday. I have to get through today and tonight, mostly curled up and napping truthfully to stay warm, then Monday I either stay home to get my furnace installed or bring the space heater upstairs while I shower for work.

I am very blessed, while I am not starting 2026 how I thought, I will have a new heater, ability to pay off a couple of my cards, catch up on bills, and tangible knowledge that I have people and deities looking out for me. His plans might not be what I desire, however they are always what I need. I wanted to get more presents ready to go this weekend, instead I am napping and appreciating the family and friends I have around me.

Remember to Live Life a Little More Abstract, and count on Him and His Blessings.