First, I’ve been listening to oodles and oodles of music the last couple of weeks. Thought I’d share some of my particular favourites. Two songs are by Lewis Capaldi, and the videos for them are just too delightful for words: Strangers and Wish You The Best. And, couldn’t stop listening to Paris Paloma’s Labour. Great feminist song. Last, but definitely not least, KALEO’s Way Down We Go. Enjoy.

Now, on to the crafting that’s been going on, when I haven’t been listening to music, that is. Or while I’ve been listening to music.

Did actually manage to print on some fabric. Yay!! Ironing freezer paper to the fabric went well. Put the fabric wrong side up in my printer on the first try, though. Why is it when there’s a 50/50 chance something will go wrong, I always get it wrong 100% of the time. Weird that.

Managed to print it out correctly on only the second try, and that was nice. Still can’t believe it really worked. Well, I did watch some YouTube videos so it’s not like I figured it all out on my own. But, hey, managed to do it, so, yay!

The paintings did come out darker than I would have liked. Maybe I can find some lighter versions online. Nice that you can steal what you want as long as it’s for your own use.

Did do the heat set thing with a hot iron, but the blues disappeared when rinsed with water. The other colours stayed. In this picture, the bottom print is how they both were originally and the top one was after rinsing.

Yes, I know, terrible picture, as usual. Sorry. Not much more to say on that subject.

Now, don’t know if I just didn’t use enough heat for as long as I should have. Or maybe a better method would be using a salt solution or vinegar. Thanks, Dorothy, for the ideas. Oh, and this time, it’s the Dorothy I know, not the music group (reference last blog post). Will have to google how to make it colourfast.

For the embroidery, I’ve been obsessing quite a bit over this:

It’s maybe a bit busy for the Dali jacket, but I do like what’s going on here. Sorry, can’t give credit. Have no idea where I found this.

Anyway, I have lots of embroidery thread in practically every colour under the sun, and lots of different beads. Would like to get some narrow velvet ribbons in an assortment of colours. But, altogether, it shouldn’t cost too much for the decorations. I am a quarter Scottish, so sometimes saving money soothes my very soul. Unfortunately, I’m three-quarters spendthrift, so there’s that.

Guess that’s it for today. Thank you to all the damned for blessing me with your time. Hope very much you come again.

Welcome to the damned. Thank you so much for coming. Your presence here warms my little damned heart ever so much.

Didn’t do all that much, but the crocheting part of the top hat is finished. Gave myself a bunch of extra work by not following the pattern designed by Melivia Mutch. By the way, her Etsy shop is HookedbyMutch. She sells patterns for hats and scarves. Love her stuff.

Here’s what the top hat looks like so far.

Anyway, thought I wanted a taller hat and added 16 rows. Should have been 25 rows and I did 41. Tried it on before doing the brim and liked the height. Crocheted the brim and then didn’t like it that tall. Too much like a President Abraham Lincoln stovepipe hat. So, undid the brim and eight rows, then redid the brim. Tried it on and it was still too tall. Again, undid the brim and eight more rows, and then redid the brim. Finally got what I liked and it was the original pattern for the hat. Like to say lesson learned, but it probably isn’t.

Anyway, now have to figure out what frivolities to add. Going to Michael’s next week to see what catches my fancy. Probably will get some steampunk sort of stuff, but maybe other kinds of bits and bobs as well.

For the Dali jacket, I made the changes to the pattern that I talked about a blog post or two ago. Did a mock-up and I think I like it. So that’s going well. The rest of the jacket pattern pieces will be as used before. Didn’t take a picture of what’s done so far. Figured it would be terrible. Will show what the jacket looks like once the inner and outer fabrics are together. Before the slow stitches gets started.

Have some other ideas for the jacket. Found this a week or two ago, and I absolutely love it. Sorry, didn’t make a note about where it came from. To whoever created it, stupendous work. I’m absolutely flabbergasted.

Got me to thinking that I don’t have to use just whole Dali paintings. Could also use pieces of them and have other embroidery around them. Much to think about.

Have also been enjoying some YouTube videos of Elena Rugal Studio. Love her freeform crochet, in particular. She does masses of other stuff, as well. If you like crochet and want to go down a rabbit hole you never have to come back from, I wholeheartedly suggest this channel.

And I have started on a large project. My sister procured for me a ton of yarn, well fourteen pounds anyway, for me to bring out the creativity on my not so gothy side. Do plan on starting an Etsy shop selling patterns for crocheting. I’ll start with scarves with flowers. Hope to do something original, but we’ll have to see if that comes to fruition. Will provide further facts and figures as soon as they become available.

Suppose that’s it for now. Thank you for coming, damned ones. Enjoyed your fine company and hope to see you again.