Poll issues and CC28

[msmcknittington]

Uh-oh. People there is a problem with the NaNoWriMo poll. Namely, there's a big fat tie. Like everywhere.



You need to vote in this if you haven't. Vote early, vote often!

OK, so a post or so ago, I said that I was thinking about CC28, which is in 2010* in Milwaukee. That is so much more accessible than either of the coasts for me. Which means the only way I will not be there is if something sudden and horrible happens, like the appearance of Cthulu. Tentacled doom. That's the only thing that will stop me.

So, of course, I'm already thinking of what I'd like to make and wear there. What centuries? What silken insanity? Why am I planning so far ahead? We'll probably never know the answer to that one. (Actually, I do know the answer. So I can save money and sew things.)

What are my ideas? Click and behold!

1. 1840s Gentlemen's Outfit for a Lady
   • Why: Because I love George Sand. I want to boss Chopin around and make my much younger lover jealous of my work ethic. And apparently I want people to grimace when they see me.
   • What I need to make for it: Everything!
   • Undies: Chemise, corset (buttoned, I think, with whitework and cording), stockings (from Weldon's?), men's drawers (do I wanted embroidered braces to hold up my underdrawers?), men's poufy shirt
   • Next layer: Pants (have the most ridiculous wool flannel plaid for these -- salmon-y orange and pink on cocoa brown background), ostentatious silk vest (I want it to be blue-green)
   • Top layer: Big skirted frock coat in pink? orange? red? -- something bright
   • Accessories: Cravat, something else that I'm forgetting
   • Things to buy: Top hat, shoes



2. Something Regency -- This would be a great reason to knit that Danish lace dress I keep talking about. (And koshka_the_cat and I could shoot dirty looks at each other, because we're wearing the same dress. Hee!) And it's not like I don't have lead time. But I also love this bit of ostentatiousness. I mean, poppies? Magnificent!



3. Something Bustle Era -- Perhaps I will end up actually embroidering all the flowers on that pink/green walking dress (which will actually be burgundy in my version)?



4. Something Late 19th Century -- I love everything in this folder. I cannot make everything in that folder.



5. Something 1920s -- I still crave a 1920s teadress, with lots of embroidery and beading and amazingness.



6. Something 1950s -- I have enough fabulous wool/mohair yarn to make a "sweater girl" sweater. It's this really flattering color of orange on me, too. Orange? Flattering? I know! But it is. I was thinking of matching it with a black skirt, but that's too Hallowe'en. I'd have to buy a girdle for this -- a real girdle -- and a garter belt and seamed stockings and a bullet bra and all those kicky undergarments, because I want to go full-out Mad Men, if a handful of years earlier.



7. A Secret Project -- Do I need a secret project? Everyone and their sister does one, it seems. I have ideas. Ideas with understructure.

*sigh* I'm obviously suffering from a surfeit of prettyful. Should I do something 16th century? I don't know. Maybe I should just make a paper doll of myself and carry it around with me. Would that work?

OK, so basically, if I make everything on that list, I will be making at least three clothing changes a day. Uh-huh. I can see weeding will have to be done already. Also, I'd really like to lose some weight, because I'd like those high-waisted 1840s trousers to not emphasize my belly. I have the yoga and ballet tapes to do this. Can I commit to a half-hour every day? I used to be able to do the entire hour of the NYC Ballet workout tape (actually, it's a DVD), but I know I can't anymore. I was looking at pictures of me from a little over a year ago, and blergh! I've developed fat face since then. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I will get up early and do the PBS old lady yoga that's on every morning. Six weeks of that, and we'll see what happens.

Ohmigod, you guys, I could potentially have little boobs that don't need old lady bras to hold them up! I could get rid of my minimizing bras. I could not special order my sports bras!

Although, even when I was slender and in high school, I still had C/D cups, so we'll see what happens there.

In other news, I made dinner tonight and it was total fail. I don't know what went wrong. Well, I do for one part, but the other two are a little wha-? huh?

I made sweet and sour chicken from a boxed kit and garlic sesame chicken from scratch. So I had a wok and a cast-iron skillet going at the same time, both with chicken in them. I was supposed to add a half-cup of water to the sweet and sour, and 1 1/2 cups to the garlic chicken, and oops! I mixed that up. So the sweet and sour chicken was a little bland because the sauce was way watered down. And then I followed Mom's recipe for the garlic chicken, with 1/4 cup of cornstarch to 1 1/2 cups of water, but that turned out so thick. Like a gel instead of a sauce. I've no idea why. I measured right, I cooked it right, and it just turned out as a gel instead of a sauce. I ended up adding another cup of water to thin it to the right consistency.

And then the rice. I don't know what happened to the rice. I brought it to a boil, put a cover on it, and turned off the heat, which should have resulted in delicious fluffy rice. But instead I got rice that was perfectly cooked on top and still crunchy on the bottom. I don't know . . . That shouldn't happen.

I'm a better cook than that. A way better cook. I just wasn't on my game and I don't know why. It's edible, but not as good as it could have been. *sigh*

_{*In the year 2525, if man is still alive . . .}