Shoes
I found 5 pairs of shoes yesterday at Target that seem like they will be good for me.
It was a little expensive, but damn it, I'm worth it.
And my feet were killing me while I was shopping in my old sandals. And I can't seem to wrap my brain around the concept of putting insert/insoles into sandals. It just seems wrong.
Walmart doesn't have them in my size and I really like them, but they are no longer a good thing.
*pouts*
But I have new sandals now. :) They are ugly, men's sandals, with a really big toe box, size 8 1/2 and they are really comfortable. Here's hoping they stay that way until the end of the summer.
They even look a bit Roman, so that works well for my Pennsic plans.
Speaking of my Pennsic plans, since we are going for two weeks I am in need of new garb.
It seems like I say that every year, but it is true... I usually end up getting rid of a lot of garb after Pennsic because "It doesn't fit right," "It's not good enough," It isn't period enough and I'm going to make something better," "It really doesn't look good on me," or "It isn't comfortable enough."
I have decided to try to stick with one country: Italy. I can vary time periods, but I'm trying to keep it down to two. Venice in the 16th century and Rome in the height of the Republic. :)
I spent part of today dying fabric swatches. Yes, I know RIT dye isn't period, but neither is cotton and that was what I had, so that is what I used. I used this horrible slightly orange-red heavy weight cotton gauze, this obnoxiously bright blue pattern woven into it 50 cents a yard bought at Pennsic in 2001 light to medium weight cotton, and some natural cotton/linen from Dharma. I also took very small swatches of the tan linen with tan flower embroidery (which btw is poly/cotton thread) and the screaming hot pink linen/poly blend.
First I dyed them in Purple on the stove for about 30 minutes. The "Red" Cotton turned out this really pretty shade of Red, almost scarlet. The Blue turned out a much nicer and darker shade of blue. The linen came out a pretty lavender. And no, I'm not allergic to the linen now. :-p
The 'hot pink' turn a nice deep fuchsia. The linen w/embroidery turned a decent shade of purple (not too dark, but darker than the plain linen. More muted. The embroidery is a kind of grayish purple now. All of these turned out really well.
I can use Purple, dye the whole batch of each of these fabrics and be very pleased with the results.
Then I dyed other pieces of the same fabrics in Royal Blue. I don't think that I used enough dye (I was using liquid for the purple, but powdered for the blue). The hot pink calmed down a bit, not as deep a fuchsia definitely more pink than the other one (which makes sense). The linen w/ embroidery came out a very light grey blue (periwinkle?) with grayish tan embroidery on it. I think it just looks like light blue that got dirty. The Obnoxious Blue came out a vibrant (but not as vibrant) slightly darker blue... I really need to take pictures and post them... The linen is a medium sky blue. The red is now a really pretty burgundy.
Overall, I'm really please. The only one that I wouldn't use would be two from the blue experiment. The Bright Blue and the Embroidered Blue.
I'll have to borrow my husband's digital camera and try to take some pictures...
Oh, and dear hubby would like purple pants. :-p
And he has stated that the purple linen is fine with him. *sighs*
It was a little expensive, but damn it, I'm worth it.
And my feet were killing me while I was shopping in my old sandals. And I can't seem to wrap my brain around the concept of putting insert/insoles into sandals. It just seems wrong.
Walmart doesn't have them in my size and I really like them, but they are no longer a good thing.
*pouts*
But I have new sandals now. :) They are ugly, men's sandals, with a really big toe box, size 8 1/2 and they are really comfortable. Here's hoping they stay that way until the end of the summer.
They even look a bit Roman, so that works well for my Pennsic plans.
Speaking of my Pennsic plans, since we are going for two weeks I am in need of new garb.
It seems like I say that every year, but it is true... I usually end up getting rid of a lot of garb after Pennsic because "It doesn't fit right," "It's not good enough," It isn't period enough and I'm going to make something better," "It really doesn't look good on me," or "It isn't comfortable enough."
I have decided to try to stick with one country: Italy. I can vary time periods, but I'm trying to keep it down to two. Venice in the 16th century and Rome in the height of the Republic. :)
I spent part of today dying fabric swatches. Yes, I know RIT dye isn't period, but neither is cotton and that was what I had, so that is what I used. I used this horrible slightly orange-red heavy weight cotton gauze, this obnoxiously bright blue pattern woven into it 50 cents a yard bought at Pennsic in 2001 light to medium weight cotton, and some natural cotton/linen from Dharma. I also took very small swatches of the tan linen with tan flower embroidery (which btw is poly/cotton thread) and the screaming hot pink linen/poly blend.
First I dyed them in Purple on the stove for about 30 minutes. The "Red" Cotton turned out this really pretty shade of Red, almost scarlet. The Blue turned out a much nicer and darker shade of blue. The linen came out a pretty lavender. And no, I'm not allergic to the linen now. :-p
The 'hot pink' turn a nice deep fuchsia. The linen w/embroidery turned a decent shade of purple (not too dark, but darker than the plain linen. More muted. The embroidery is a kind of grayish purple now. All of these turned out really well.
I can use Purple, dye the whole batch of each of these fabrics and be very pleased with the results.
Then I dyed other pieces of the same fabrics in Royal Blue. I don't think that I used enough dye (I was using liquid for the purple, but powdered for the blue). The hot pink calmed down a bit, not as deep a fuchsia definitely more pink than the other one (which makes sense). The linen w/ embroidery came out a very light grey blue (periwinkle?) with grayish tan embroidery on it. I think it just looks like light blue that got dirty. The Obnoxious Blue came out a vibrant (but not as vibrant) slightly darker blue... I really need to take pictures and post them... The linen is a medium sky blue. The red is now a really pretty burgundy.
Overall, I'm really please. The only one that I wouldn't use would be two from the blue experiment. The Bright Blue and the Embroidered Blue.
I'll have to borrow my husband's digital camera and try to take some pictures...
Oh, and dear hubby would like purple pants. :-p
And he has stated that the purple linen is fine with him. *sighs*