Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Topsy-turvy Upside-down House


This could end up being a very long story or a very short one, so let's keep this simple. Mother dearest got a brand new Pomeranian puppy named Baylee. In less than three days, this little fuzzball has successfully turned our house upside down. Our cats are furious, but it comes with the perk that my cat will now be sleeping with me in my dog-free room. But because my mom and dad both work in out of the house locations on some days, I get to watch this little rascal.

In knitting related news, I have finished a single sock. Not a complete pair of socks, but one singular sock. Yes, I do know it is the end of October and we only have 56 days left until Christmas. Socks aren't impossible if you knit on them. The trouble is I haven't been knitting. I've been playing games instead and that cuts into my knitting time since I only have one pair of hands. Whoops.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Sewing Machine Love

Ever since I sewed on my mom's fussy sewing machine, I completely fell in love with sewing. It was so fast and fun to do! Don't get me wrong, I love the meditative quality of hand sewing, but sewing on a machine is just so much easier to get more done. It is no wonder that it was invented to help people sew more clothes for more clothes.

But, my mom's sewing machine and I don't get along at all. It jams on me whenever I try to use it. It never wants me to get the bobbin thread up. Even if I use a new needle for every seam, it refuses to sew for me. So I have been looking for a reasonably priced workhorse sewing machine that I can save up for and finally get so I can have my own and don't have to try to make ridiculous bargins to get mom's machine to work for me.

I finally found the sewing machine I want!



It is a Janome Decor Computer 2014 sewing machine. I did go to a sewing machine shop here in town and they told me that the Janome brand was great for beginners who want a quality machine. They also said Brother was a good company and the main difference between the two is that the Brother machines in the price range I was looking at had all plastic parts. It is a computerized sewing machine which as far as I can tell just means that you press buttons to change your stitches instead of turning a dial. It comes with everything you need for basic sewing as well as some fancy decorative stitches for embellishing and three types of buttonholes. The base also slides off so you have a smaller area to sew things like shirt sleeves and pant legs.


And from the video reviews I have seen of this machine, it is quite a reliable workhorse machine. It sews through eight layers of denim without any trouble (unlike my mom's sewing machine). And it is such a good machine that the changes to it over the years is just a cosmetic color change. The model that fits in my price range that I just love is the Janome DC 2011. Not only is it $100 cheaper than the Janome DC 2014, but is comes in pink. I mean, who wouldn't like a pink sewing machine?

Now that I have finally decided that I do like sewing enough to actually save up for a sewing machine, this is the one I'm going to save up for. Hopefully, it won't be that long of a wait. In the meantime, I'll be knitting lots of socks!