Fiberaddict's Fiber Fumblings

don't let the door hit ya on the way out! Hello, 2016! May you be better than 2015!

Figured I'd list my goals for 2016, and do a quick recap of 2015. Let's see, in 2015:

1. I managed to finish 13 pairs of socks last year - which isn't bad, but isn't as good as I'd hoped. (Granted, 1 pair was kilt hose for Himself, which should probably count as 2. Or maybe 3. :lol:)

2. I NAILED sewn dresses and skirts. I made 6 dresses for me, 1 for Herself, and a skirt for Herself. All of them FIT, and all of them are worn. :win!:

3. I managed to cover all the small appliances in the kitchen (we live in a very dusty area; we have 6 dogs and a large pet door near the kitchen. 'Nuff said.) Yesterday I knocked out a case for my MacBook - I think I'm on a roll. :lol:

4. I sewed 5 oven mitts - 2 were presents, 3 were for me. Also necessary, as I have a dog that thinks oven mitts and potholders are tasty. :sigh:

5. I got Herself knitting. I think this is what I am the most proud of....


So, that was 2015. For 2016, I'd like to:

1. Master sewing pants. I *need* pants, and RTW simply doesn't fit me. So...that's the main goal.

2. Make dust covers for the printers, and for Herself's iMac (at least. Himself has already veto'd a cover for his gaming rig. :sigh:)

3. Knit more socks. And hats. :lol:

4. Weave. I didn't weave 1 pick in 2015, and that needs to change. This will involve cleaning and reorganizing the Studio, but....I NEED to weave.

5. Learn to sew knit fabric. I have seen a TON of cute sewn sweaters - the thought of a nice cardigan in a couple of hours is VERY tempting! But...I need to master knit fabrics.

6. Perfect bra-sewing. I really need to update my undergarment drawer (and Herself's), and honestly? It's cheaper to make them myself. I just need to DO them......

7. Learn how to clean/maintain my sewing machines. I simply can't afford the $125 starting fee.....so I need to learn to DIY. To this end......Dad had a sewing machine at his house. It's now in mine....I have NEVER seen it before, nor has Mom, so it's going to be my guinea pig. I figure...there's no sentimental value there, there's no monetary investment on my end, so if I manage to kill it...well, no loss. If I can clean it and get it running smoothly, then I have a 3rd machine (for Himself, maybe? It's in a nice cabinet), and I can tackle Herself's Bernina. :win/win:

8. Handle Dad's stuff. I......I have no idea where to begin. (Besides with the will.) His house...it's full. of. stuff. I need to find someone who will come out and clean the house out for us....but I don't even know what to google. Salvation Army will come out, but the stuff has to be bagged.....there's......yeah. I don't have the time (nor does my brother) to do that. :sigh: Need to figure out something - any ideas? (And when I say "full"...I MEAN Full. It looks like he quit washing clothes, and just bought more....without disposing of the "old" stuff. There's.....a LOT of stuff. It's...sad, and frightening. :shudder: And for the record, he refused all help. We tried.)

9. Make "real" Jedi robes for the kids (and maybe me) - I have until May 2017.....:lol: I need to order some silk noil from Dharma Trading so they can be "authentic". (Yup. We're *those* kind of fans here. :snicker:)

I think that's enough for now.......

and I'm not doing aspirations, goals, or resolutions. Instead, I'm going to do a little predicting - and I hope MOST of these I got wrong:

1. 2010 will be worse than 2009. For everybody. Unemployment will be up, more folks will lose their houses....it's going to be grim.

2. Failure of the Dollar. We can't print our way out of this mess, and things are NOT getting better. I...don't think we'll go global, yet - I think we'll see the introduction of the Amero (or similar)...that will eventually be rolled together with the Euro/Yen/Whatever INTO the Global. This one might not happen for a few years yet....but it's coming. Are you ready? What I see happening is a Huge trade-off: say, 10 Ameros/Globals for each (worthless) Dollar. What they WON'T tell you is that yeah, you'll be 10-times richer, but everything will cost 15-times more. So......think about it.

3. Destruction of the Temple Mount. I have been watching for an earthquake, but the more I think about it......Israel is about to launch a defensive strike against Iran. Iran will retaliate...and hit the mosque. The Israelis will rejoice, and go about building the 3rd Temple. (An earthquake is still my personal choice....but it WILL happen. Again, maybe not this year, but soon. Earthquakes are happening SO much more often now - I watch a Seismic site, and the 5.0 + ones are up to 2 or more PER DAY. Used to be, you'd see MAYBE 1 or 2/week......)

4. People speaking out about the Depression, V.2.0 (that we ARE in right now..if you don't see that, well - I can't help you there) and getting incarcerated for it. We've lost SO many of our Constitutional Rights, and very few people have even noticed (see: Frog, how to boil). Most people believe that DeNial is just a river in Egypt.....it's not.

5. Hyper-inflation. (See #2, above). It's already started - check your grocery store prices. Powdered milk (I use it for my bread) has *tripled* in price over the past year - year and a half. Dairy products have doubled - and will keep going up. I saw a headline today that the FDA is going to impose stricter controls....a) that's not gonna help, and b) it's gonna push prices up. Recommendation: Buy seeds NOW (Heirloom, please - not the genetically-altered crap sold in big-box stores) and put in a garden this Spring. You'll be glad you did. (Oh - and canned goods have almost tripled in price since 2008. It's unreal.)


Sorry to be such a downer....but it IS going to get worse. Pay off all the debt you can, and try to do something productive to help keep your family fed. I'll say it again - most cities will allow you 3 hens (you do NOT need a rooster for eggs!). That'll give you an easily accessible form of protein. You might be able to slip a dairy goat in - Pygmy and Nigerian goats are small; you won't get the amount of milk you'd get with a true dairy breed, but it'd be something. Downfall: You have to breed them for them to produce milk. You don't HAVE to breed 'em to a dairy buck, though......so you could buy a young buck, breed your doe, then send him to freezer camp. Meat and milk, right there. Try to figure out alternative ways to heat your house and cook - when the dollar fails, how are you going to pay the electric/gas bill?? What about clothing? Can you sew (by hand - don't count on electricity, just in case!)? Knit? Crochet? Garage sales will help for a bit...but pretty soon folks will be keeping everything to reuse themselves (and no one will have money to buy their junk, anyway).

Yeah....sobering thoughts for a New Year......but I prefer to be prepared. IF none of this happens, well - I haven't hurt anyone, and I've saved me a bit of money (because I have some food sources here at home). IF it does........and I'm not prepared enough. I'm still working on a lot of this, myself - we have no well, and can't put one in. Water will be problematical. Ditto heat - I'm allergic to wood smoke (guess I need to stock up on Benedryl!) We haven't had a successful garden yet...but we keep trying.