Check It Out

I recently dusted off my embroidery supplies to make a delightfully nerdy little birthday present for my favorite bibliophile, Morgan:

It was fairly easy to do.  I googled "library book card pocket" for some inspiration, and determined that--aside from the lettering--this project would simply involve a lot of straight lines using the trusty back stitch.

I sketched out the design on paper to get the spacing right, and then lightly drew the design on the fabric itself.  I ended up just winging it on the letters for the most part.  I'm not a huge fan of how the "C" turned out, and would probably try to make it less angular next time.

This was my first time making something meant to stay in the embroidery hoop to be hung on the wall.  I used some fabric glue to try to glue down the fabric in back, which sort of worked.  I think next time I'd cut a bigger piece of fabric so I had more to work with in folding it down.

Spending a morning watching Star Trek: The Next Generation and embroidering reminded me how much I enjoy this craft.  It's very satisfying to make something physically tangible, especially since I spend most of my time thinking, reading, and writing on the computer.  Now, I need to finish the somewhat ambitious squirrel cross stitch tote bag I've been working on for my mom forever!

Embroidered Handkerchiefs

One of the (many, many) things I find endearing about my boyfriend is that he carries a handkerchief.  To me, a handkerchief is symbolic of a civilized gentleman and of general preparedness.  So, when Valentine's Day rolled around this year, I decided to embroider him a few handkerchiefs.

I ordered a set of colorful handkerchiefs on Amazon, and was a little disappointed with their quality; they weren't very evenly cut.  I used some creative folding and ironing techniques to mask the irregularities, but would have been happier with some straight lines!

For each handkerchief, I did a lot of searching on Pinterest and Google Images to look at examples of the ideas I had in my head.  For some of them, I just stitched without a pattern, but for others, I held the handkerchief up to my computer monitor and traced a little pattern in pencil directly onto the handkerchief using the image shining through.

My first embroidery attempt was a classic monogram inspired by this photo on Pinterest, using some fun variegated embroidery floss.  I think if I were to do it again, I'd stitch the horizontal line of the "A" using a vertical stitch so it's a little more solid.

Next, because Alan is a bibliophile, I stitched him a little book based on this.  I like the way the pages look, all fanned out, and the green is a fun contrast to the purple.

Then, because he is an avid biker, I stitched a bicycle.  Initially, I thought I was going to stitch a thicker bike frame, but I ended up changing my mind, so one part of the frame is a little funky--or, as I like to think of it, has character.

Finally, and my personal favorite, I stitched our initials carved into a tree (inspired by this).

Continuing the theme of creative, thoughtful, homemade Valentine's Day gifts, Alan baked me some delicious and adorable chocolate hazelnut "Scrabble tiles" that spelled out my name:

All in all, I was pretty happy with how this project turned out.  It was nice to branch out from cross-stitch, which can be a little more labor-intensive and less varied in style.  I look forward to expanding my repertoire of stitches; for this project, I relied primarily on the back stitch (this link goes to a blog with excellent tutorials).

Post-Bar, the Sequel

It's wonderful to find myself in a post-bar exam world again.  The exam went well enough.  It's impossible to tell how I did, of course, but I found myself feeling very calm in the days leading up to it.  I think it helped that I had no jitters about the unknown, having taken it before.  The three-day exam took place at the Oakland Convention Center, so I stayed at the Washington Inn across the street.  It was nice to have such an easy "commute."  There were no surprises during the exam, in contrast to the fire alarm that went off during the July administration.  After the exam, I went out for celebratory drinks and dinner with some Berkeley friends who live/work in the area--what catharsis!

The following week, I used some of my frequent flyer miles to take a lovely trip to D.C.  I stayed with my old roommate Jess at her new apartment, crashing on my old couch.  It was splendid to see some of my dearest D.C. friends, many of whom were able to take off time from work to hang out with me!  Having spent several years in D.C., there was no pressure to see the quintessential D.C. sights--the point was to spend time with friends.  However, we did take advantage of the unseasonably warm weather to walk the Tidal Basin, visit the zoo, fly kites, see the Arboretum, and tour my favorite historical site, Mount Vernon.  It is always delightful to see old friends and pick right up from where we left off.

Since returning to California, I've been spending time with my family, catching up on a backlog of emails and blog subscriptions, and beginning some post-bar projects.  I've started using my Spanish software again, which was one of my New Year's Resolutions.  I've also been cooking more, reading for pleasure, and working on my embroidery.  In fact, yesterday was my dad's birthday, and I gave him this cross-stitched version of the famous Blue Marble photograph of the Earth from Apollo 17, because he loves rocketry and the space program:

Other post-bar endeavors include volunteering more, donating blood, using the yoga classes I bought on Groupon, and getting back into jogging.  I discovered a free iPhone app called C25K Free (Couch to 5k) that provides an eight-week schedule of audio-guided interval training, which has been very helpful in keeping me motivated.

I also plan to spend a significant amount of time helping my parents downsize and clear out the garage, as they are hoping to buy their first home this summer.  All of these things should keep me busy while waiting for bar results and employment!  Although, it's funny...  Just as I came to terms emotionally with the fact that I was still unemployed and taking the bar exam a second time, I got two interviews in a week.  Mysterious.  We'll see what happens, but for now, I'm trusting in God and trying to celebrate the time I have been given.