Notes and Notions

There’s a note going around Facebook where you make something for the first five people that respond. Fun! I might post it more than once, after I make things for the first five.

Dritz sewing notions are 50% at Hobby Lobby this week, so I went today and got some eyelets and needles. The power cord to my sewing machine came yesterday, so I tried it out. The top thread breaks when I sew too fast. It might just be when I’m doing a fancy stitch, though. The bobbin thread got pretty jammed up, but I set the tension on “Auto”, and whatdaya know, it stopped jamming. The stitches look nice. I had fun trying out the decorative ones, especially the penguin. Who thought to include a penguin stitch? There’s also a duck and what looks like an alligator. I’m not sure I’ll find a reason to use those. The machine is quieter than my other one and seems to sew quite nicely. I was afraid at first that the screen didn’t work, but I just needed to adjust the brightness. It’s a lot heavier than my other machine, too. Which doesn’t mean anything to me, just thought I’d comment…*stops rambling*

Now that I’ve finished reading How Sleep the Brave, I’m back to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. I’m enjoying the humor, and the rest of it.

I thought of something to write about, didn’t hold onto the thought, and lost it when I was rereading my last two sentences.

Oh! My new story. The current “Extra Credit” project on Clean Place is Adopt-a-Plot 2 (because we’ve done it once before). Everyone that wants to participate submits two plot ideas and chooses one submitted by another person to base their story on. The one I picked is, “[Write] A story about a bounty hunter. But he/she’s not just any bounty hunter.” We have to write the story in 6,000 words or less. This might sound like a lot if you don’t have anything to compare it to. It’s not. For example, 50,000 words is on the short side for the average novel. I’m trying to fit as much character development in as possible while still moving the plot along to a satisfactory conclusion, and it’s rather difficult, but I’m enjoying the project overall. I’m posting it on Facebook as I write and get feedback for them, if you want to read it.

I need to go to sleep. Goodnight.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Book Review: How Sleep the Brave

How Sleep the Brave is a novel by J. H. Hunter. The setting is late 17th-century Scotland, and the Catholics are severely oppressing the Presbyterians. Duncan Fenwick sets out to help relieve the oppression and fight for freedom in the land by taking on the role of the mysterious Black Avenger.

This is just my kind of book. It has action, suspense, romance, godly wisdom, a satisfactory end, great dialogue, an abundance of well-crafted moments that made me smile for their sheer well-craftedness…okay, that may be a writer thing. There are a couple of slow parts, but they’re short. The book has a nice pace for the most part. It keeps you hooked but everything doesn’t fly by so quickly that you can’t enjoy it. There are some technical writing errors, but normal people probably won’t notice them and they didn’t bother me too much. The rest of the book makes up for them. The dialogue is written in a Scottish accent that some people may find annoying, but I like that and wouldn’t change it. I started to be quite annoyed by the fact that the author skips a few years near the beginning, but it turned out to be fine. Some people might find Duncan’s “invincibility” to be unbelievable, but that didn’t bother me, either.

I highly recommend it. I want to buy it now (I checked it out from the library).

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

The Sewing Machine Saga

I got a new sewing machine yesterday. Here’s the story behind it.

But first, in case you don’t want to read the novel I wrote on how I got my sewing machine, I’m going to write about something else first.

I hope you had a great Singles Awareness Day. Congratulate a single friend and comfort one who dates.

…Just playin’. ;p My parents bought my sisters and I chocolate and jewelry (I got a pretty leaf-shaped necklace, and some earrings came with it), and Dad bought Mom chocolate and a cute, stuffed dog with a couple of hearts on it.

Okay, now…

I have a simple Brother machine (this one). I knew I wanted to upgrade at some point. I heard that Bernina sewing machines are some of the best there are, and that Bernina Bernettes are a less expensive version. I found one on the Hancock Fabrics website, here, for $350, so I decided I’d save up for it. I don’t remember what inspired me to research it, but a couple of days ago, I looked it up.

I discovered “it isn’t a Bernina. Well it is and it isn’t the Bernina name is used as the lowest end machine, However it isn’t a True Bernina. The Cheapest machine Bernina makes is 600+ this one is the lowest end, just like some of the Janome’s that Hancock sells they also are not true janome’s. The are made in China usually and are of very poor quality. You will not find a Bernina dealer with this machine since the Bernina company doesn’t make it,” to quote the source. I found this information several places. I started researching other brands so I could find another and know what to save up for.

I decided that I wanted a Kenmore. Kenmores and Janomes are the same and I heard they’re one of the better brands (aside from the really expensive ones – Bernina, Viking, Pfaff). I researched various models and was considering either the 19110 or the 19233. I found them on Sears.com for $299 and $380 (on sale, down from $450), respectively. I wasn’t sure if the extra stitches and functions on the 19233 were worth the extra $80. After a little more browsing, I came across it on another site, Ken’s Sewing Center, for $300, the same price as the model below it. It had been factory-serviced (meaning someone returned it from reason and the place they returned it to couldn’t sell it as new because the box had been opened, but it was still in perfect condition). I asked the people on patternreview.com if Ken’s was a reputable dealer, and they are, and someone said it looked like a fantastic deal.

But someone else pointed me to a topic on the Kenmore 19606. This is originally a $700 machine. It’s being discontinued and Sears was selling it for $225. But there are very few left for sale in the country. Someone said they had called all of the Sears in the Atlanta area and was told they didn’t have any. You could have one ordered from out-of-state Sears, but you have to have a Sears card. I asked if that was the only way you could get one if there weren’t any at nearby Sears stores, just to make sure.

Someone said that a certain Sears in the Atlanta area still had their floor model. They had thrown out the box and accessories, so the manager said they could take another 20% off to help whoever bought it afford the accessories. I called to ask if they still had it and they did, so the next day (Saturday), Mom drove me there and we picked it up – a $700 machine for $180 + tax. I was (and am) very happy.

Of course, I have to buy the power cord ($8) and the foot control ($59! I don’t /have/ to buy it, because the machine has a start/stop button, but I think I’m going to anyway). They’re available at the Sears parts store. I think I’m also going to buy a few presser feet from them, so it’ll be close to $100 more, but that’s still /a lot/ better than $700 total. I downloaded the manual for free from managemyhome.com and saved it to a disk.

I think it must have been God who directed my steps to finding that machine, because of the timing and the fact that I really didn’t have a reason to research the Bernette I had my eye on at the time, due to the fact I wouldn’t be able to afford it for a long while (for the Kenmore, I borrowed money from my savings account, since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I don’t like doing that. At least I have a regular babysitting job).

Props to you if you actually read all that. Here’s a picture for your patience (or impatience if you just scrolled down). I like the lavender color on it.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM

Football, Strider, and a Robin Hood Review

The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl tonight. I don’t care much which team wins. Figuring out who to support goes something like, “Well, Arizona has a popular Renaissance festival that the Hanlon-Lees joust at, but on the other hand, swords are made of steel…” As someone else said, I would rather watch a joust. I’m just looking forward to the commercials. I’m rather disappointed that my stomach is still not itself, as I’ve had some sort of stomach bug since Wednesday, so I will be eating saltine crackers and rice instead of the food Mother is making. :p What’s the point of having the Super Bowl if you can’t eat more interesting food? *mope mope*

I watched most of a dog show on TV last night. German shepherds are my favorite breed of dog, followed closely by Great Danes. For quite a while now, I’ve wanted to get a male German shepherd and name it Strider. And then on the dog show last night, I noticed that the male German shepherd in the ring is named Strider! The dog’s show name is “Rohan’s Reward”. Rohan is my favorite culture of Middle-Earth. So it was kind of strange.

I watched “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” on TV yesterday. HAHAHAHA. Ahem, excuse me. It was…interesting. Keven Costner does not make the best Robin Hood, in my humble opinion. Azim (Morgan Freeman) and Will Scarlet are more likable. And the theme music didn’t fit the movie very well. I think a great score would have made a huge difference. And the sheriff’s and the sheriff’s cousin’s acting seemed a bit over-the-top in a bad way at times (sorry, Colonel Brandon). The witch is icky, but she’s one of the bad people, so I suppose it’s okay…There are a couple of disturbing moments, like when she gets impaled and the scene where the sheriff…eh…the scene where the sheriff and Marian have supposedly just gotten married and the sheriff wants to…uh, take it further. Robin Hood stops him, thankfully, while everyone is still dressed, but I don’t like that part.

Now! For the Robin Hood I /do/ like (but sadly haven’t seen in years):

And I decided to vote for the Arizona Cardinals, because a Clean Place member lives in Arizona.

Have an amazing rest of your life!
- WM