A really fast US History lesson

I've been on a bit of a nostalgia kick with watching old Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. (No, I'm not old enough to remember when they first aired but I did see the revival version when they were first run and the old ones in rerun when I was a youngster) In a few of the episodes they showed these really neat films.  One about the history of the US and another just covering 1968.  I thought I'd share them with you here. 

To any new readers who came via my Her Universe fangirl of the day profile, welcome!  I hope you stick around.

What They're Saying #3

I had a coworker who really admired my sense of style.  One of the things she used to say to me all the time was:

"You're very brave for the way you dress, you know that?"

Usually I'd respond with "I don't think so."  or "No, I'm not."  Not indicating that I'm not brave but that the way I dress has nothing to do with bravery.  Or at least I don't think it makes me brave.

Just a pretty dress or an act of bravery?  Also, OMG! is that a Glee calendar?

I see her perspective though.  It would be hard for her personally to dress the way I do and  so she admires me for that.  I often see people doing things with out a second thought that terrify me and I find them brave - even if they consider what they are doing to just be normal and not at all scary.  Still it's strange to me that someone would call me brave because I feel like it's the exact opposite.  When I put on my dresses, hat, stockings, etc . . . well that makes me feel braver. 

Initially it did take a little nerve to start dressing the way I do now but once I got over that it became something I wanted to do all the time.  Which, admittedly, wasn't always possible in the early days.  But once I put those things on, it was like finding myself again.  Like all the other clothes and attempts to blend had just been me playing pretend.  This was the real deal here.  So to be called "brave" for it gives me pause.  No one ever called someone brave for taking a swig of whiskey before they walked out the door.  I don't want to say my clothes are a crutch but I do believe they help me make it through the day a little easier.  Bonus: they don't destroy my liver.

So, what's the point here?  I suppose that just by being you, you might inspire others.  That one woman's brave is just another woman's normal.  And that I have a hard time accepting compliments.

Just Call me Cap

One of the many reasons for radio silence for most of June was because I was hard at work on a new cosplay.  I only started cosplaying officially a year ago - though I've always loved any chance to wear a costume.  While some people do anything to get out of wearing one it's pretty easy to convince me to do something if it involves a costume.

My initial concept sketch

Since I would be attending the event at which I first cosplayed I wanted to do something special.  I was back and forth on who exactly - I know that St. Trinian's girl was a strong contender at one time.  But the truth is Captain America has been a dream of mine for awhile.  I'd been making all these notes and looking at tons of reference photos.  I had all these elaborate plans and had intimidated myself into believing I lacked the skills to even begin to put together the cosplay I imagined.  But then I realized I was being silly.  It didn't have to be my dream version and if I didn't love it the first time - I could change it.


So I set out to put together the cosplay with a few definite guidelines:

1. It had to be '40s style with the heater shaped shield. (BTW I just learned what a heater shape was while putting this cosplay together - cosplay: you learn all the time.) because that's part of why I love Cap.

2. It had to be comfortable - this a rule for all my cosplays because I wear them all day and I don't want to be in agony.

3.  It had to be something that it looked like I could fight evil in it - partially because I hate it when female superheroes wear things that are impractical for fighting in and partially because I wanted to BE Cap and not Cap's girl or biggest fan or something like that. Of course I wouldn't be offended if someone mistook me for American Dream.

Here's the breakdown -

Things I made:

Suitable for non-cosplay occasions as well

The sweater I didn't have a pattern.  I looked on Ravelry for inspiration - here's a great one.  I knew I wanted something that was almost identical to the top of the uniform. I pretty much made it up as I went so I did a lot of ripping.  In fact, the day before we left town I tried the whole thing on and realized I hated the sleeves.  So I removed them and put some red ribbing instead - making it more of a vest. The colorwork on the star isn't perfect but it is way better than my last go at colorwork - so I'm happy about that. Ravelry Link

The Skirt I've made this skirt five times.  Three of those times for cosplays.  I initially didn't know if I would have time to make it so I bought a navy blue pencil skirt.  I did have time to make it so I did - then I couldn't decide if I should wear the pencil skirt or it.  Eventually I fell on the side of the one I made.  The pattern is Simplicity 4044.  The only adaption I made was to make it straight across instead of putting the little dip thing at the waist.

The Wings I initially planned on making a big white felt star to put in my hair.  Then I was thinking of doing the "A".  Finally I settled on the little wings.  They are made with felt stuffed with fiber fill.  They were pretty easy and quick to make.

Arm Sock With out sleeves (and even with the ones I had before I ripped them off) I didn't have anything to protect my arm from the leather straps of my shield, so I used the extra yarn from my sweater to knit a little sock/elbow cover thing - it got loose during the course of the day but did it's job.  My arm was unscathed.

Thing I just painted:

Photographing a shield is hard

The Shield If you want a round Captain America shield it's super easy to buy something.  If not - well it's tough.  I almost bought a rather pricey replica because I was desperate.  I do have a friend whose father can make one but this was less than a month to go and I didn't want to rush it.  I needed something good for now.  Finally it hit me that LARPing shields would be a good idea.  I did several searches and found this one. It was covered with stretch canvas so I just pulled out my oil paints and had at it.  It worked quite well.

Things I bought:

Leggings from Kohls, gloves from Sock Dreams, shield necklace from SilverThink, and boots from Zappos.

No amount of photo editing could save this one of only three photos of me in the costume.  And this is the only one that shows the whole thing.

So, how was it?  I've never cosplayed as such a well known character so I was a little nervous but people were so nice and it was loads of fun.  I'm sure there are more photos of me on other people's cameras but I don't mind.  I had a blast being Cap and will be Cap again for certain and next time I will definitely make sure to get more photos.  I do want to make some changes but what I have here is a great start.  I do promise better photos when I premiere the second version.

 I think I need to plan a little less and do a little more. 

Also, who next?  Hmm . . .

Pictures of Yarn

I was going through my pictures in search of a stash photo and the most recent one was from 2011.  The good news is I had knit nearly all the yarn in the photo.  The bad news is, if I had knit all the yarn, what on earth was in those bins under the bed?  So I decided it was time to take a new stash photo.  Pretty sure "Flash your Stash" is in April ( far too lazy to look it up - I already pulled out all my yarn today) but I decided to post it anyway. 

It's not as bad as I had feared.  It didn't cover a full-sized bed and many yarns have plans for them.  Some are leftovers.  That pink cotton in the middle bottom is actually leftovers.  I knit a whole sweater out of it and I still have more yarn left than what went into the sweater.  The shoebox is also leftovers and really full.   I probably should sort through it and see what I am keeping for repairs and what I can use for tiny projects.

I like to take these photos because I am a very visual person and while I can pull out the bins or even get all fancy and keep track of my stash on Ravelry (I'm so behind on documenting my projects so if I have 'extra time' for Ravelry I will be doing that instead.) I like being able to see everything all at once.  It's a nice way of seeing everything I have and reminding myself of what I can knit next.  Also, it's fun to cross out yarns when they are gone.  And it's interesting to see how the stash changes over time.

This is the last stash photo:

I haven't crossed off everything I used up but very little of what is there is present in the 2014 photo.  Some things have lingered though.

Does anyone else use photos to keep organized?  How?

Because I can't say it in person . . .

Today is the 70th anniversary of D-Day.  I'm not going to get into a history lesson here because if you don't know what I'm talking about then you can look it up and get much better background than I can probably give you.

Both my grandfathers and my great uncles on my mother's side fought in WWII.  My one great uncle lost his life in the Pacific: PFC Thomas F. Vasta.  I actually have his high school yearbooks and will someday do a post on them.

But back to D-Day.  My paternal grandfather was there and badly wounded.  As my dad said the other day - "The most important thing to me about D-Day is my dad survived."   Because if he hadn't, my dad wouldn't have been born.  So I'm pretty grateful too.

I never got to know my grandfather.  He died before I was born.  Because the universe loves irony, the career army man who was declared KIA and MIA so many times my grandmother just ignored the telegrams after awhile, lost his life in a car accident.

I know.

So to one 21 year old man who would someday have son who would grow up to be my father: Thank You.  I wish I'd known you from more than stories.  I don't smoke but I will have a beer in your honor today.

As opposed to yesterday when I just had a beer because I wanted one.

I'm definitely your granddaughter.