Happy computer news, and itchy feet (from Camino fever)

Hello, everyone.

As y'all can see, the computer seems to be fixed. It has a new monitor, a new HDMI cable (didn't have that at all before) and a new graphic video card.

It isn't that easy to find a new card that will work with a 6 year old computer.

But it's possible.

And on the other topic of the title, we didn't go on pilgrimage this year at all, and with the heat lately we haven't even been walking around the area. (Today it reached 102F...slightly north of 38C for my metric zone readers.)

Our feet are itching.

Sahagun? but it was siesta time.

The south side bus station in Madrid--both times we walked from our sleeping place
to the station for the 0615 or so express bus to the airport.

Some of the road walking after Lisbon.

This was a nature walking area...I kind of think they'll be adding trees sometime in the future.

More Portuguese road walking.

And even though the scariest roads didn't get into the camera, I think y'all can see why the color for the blouse was called "Don't Run Me Over" Pink.

God willing, we will go on pilgrimage again next year. We're thinking about the Camino Norte. Or possibly a further exploration of the Camino Frances that we did in 2014.

A small programming note: a break for a few days

Hello, everyone.

My computer woke up with a dead monitor and until the new parts arrive I'm without my desktop.

Posts will resume when the comp is fixed.

Thank you for understanding.

Pink blouse progress

Hello, everyone

Today there is a small update on the "Don't-Run-Me-Over Pink" blouse.

Progress to-date

The pocket in this photo, the lower pocket that is, had snap closures. I wanted to try putting a zip closure there instead, and turned to the Stash of Zippers.

They have their own drawer in the little plastic cabinet!

Sadly, no hot pink invisible zips are there. After crawling the internet and deciding not to order one--really, it would have been the only thing I needed and would cost a small fraction of the shipping costs--I conferred with DH and he suggested seeing if there is a zip that goes with the pocket stripes.

As happens, while there is no invisible zip in Ecru, there is one in Natural which is only a tad lighter than the pocket trims.

So, in addition to installing snap closures down the front and hemming the bottom, I will try adding a zip on the pocket opening.

The hot pink blouse has cousins, so to speak

Hello, everyone.

The blouse under construction, from the February, 2007, issue of Burda, is close to being a TNT for me. Or it was! I'm out of practice on collars, so there is no picture of the hot pink blouse today. It's a day of frustration!

Here are two of its "cousins."

In batiste, without a collar, and the gathered sleeves

In flowered shirting, with black collar and the gathered sleeves

Maybe tomorrow there will be a progress report on the hot pink blouse.

It was meant to be blogged on last year but didn't happen: orange top

Hello, everyone.

The orange top of the title has been mentioned in passing more than once. It was made to use up stash and to have a shirt to wear on the Camino Portugues.

The fabric is a nylon Taslan crinkle type, very light weight, and there is a mesh panel in the upper back for breathability. (Is that a word?)

attaching the mesh inner yoke

the mesh needed an edge, so a strip of the Taslan was added as reinforcement

"Feeding" the bronze chickens. Love the Portuguese street sculptures! 

The fabrics: the mesh was bought along with a red mesh, to patch a pocket in DH's pack that had been slightly torn on the return in 2014. A little snip of the red took care of that handily--and there was a yard of this salmon mesh just lying around, blending into the mass of stash. The orange nylon was bought at the same time--both from Fabric.com--and a Burda blouse pattern was used. (Link goes to a Pin of the pattern.)

The yoke seams have reflective piping, which is light gray, and there is an AB finish button at the front neck: a blue fish.

The light crinkle Taslan ravels quite a bit. It has a DWR coating, so moisture basically doesn't pass out of the top. Thus the mesh yoke!

Bearing in mind that the technical fabrics were all bought in late 2014, for the pack repair, and then the various 1 yard pieces were just sitting there, I call the entire project a stash buster.

It works OK for evenings but doesn't let out heat well enough to hike in during a hot day. 2015 had a lot of hot days. This top came out in the evenings.

Progress on the hot-pink blouse

Hello, everyone.

Today a small progress report on the poly microfiber blouse:

 The collar pieces are being assembled.

Bodice, with one of the chest pockets showing. (Stash ribbon for pocket trim) The pale strip going down the front edge is the organza sewn into the button area for a bit of stability.

This poly fabric being stiffer than the light cottons in earlier versions, the sleeves were positively wings when it was tried on. There are now pleats on the outside to control the fullness a little.

The fabric is not excessively hard to work with--it ravels a little, and the tightly woven microfiber often makes that popping sound when the needle goes through. I'm using hand basting to control slippage, just because the peached outside surface will get "stuck" after it slips out of place and be difficult to herd back into line.

One thing about this color of fabric: oncoming traffic will certainly have no trouble seeing me!

More on the tree ducks

Hello, everyone.

DD2 went strolling out along the edge of the field near the ducks the other day. She took my camera and had some fun with it.

 She got a lovely picture of the ducks, showing their bright bills.

She also caught a picture of a rabbit hiding in the grass.