Temporary Distractions from Nihon Vogue

I have taken some breaks from the actual knitting of Nihon Vogue projects because the Aran and the Gansey were both in the design or "calculations needed before proceeding" phase which required blocks of time. In my mind, I was desperate to be productive or show progress on something "crafty" and pulled my sewing machine out of the attic storage where it was buried beneath luggage, fleece fabric, and Christmas wrapping paper. The German made Pfaff machine is an exquisite machine. Lots of stitches, embroidery and many other features I have no idea how to use. Yikes. I am embarrassed to admit that it had been so long since I have devoted any time to sewing that I had completely forgotten how to wind the bobbin. Trouble with the bobbin tension forced me to haul it in to the friendly Issaquah store where I purchased it at 8 years ago. Duh! They oiled the bobbin case and that was all it took for the machine to work perfectly. I decided to make some gifts for a friend's baby: a dress and pants set out of sunflower print fabric and overalls with an animated golf print. I think sunflowers are rather scary and have never held a golf club in my life but... sunflowers are the mom's favorite flower and the dad is an avid golfer so I hope that the fabric choices I searched far and wide for is somewhat pleasing.
On another evening, I pulled out my jewelry pliers and cutters and made a necklace using beads I had purchased from Etsy, a fantastic site for handmade goods. My youngest sister has a flock of 50 or so chickens and I was hoping she would find the lamp worked chicken beads as silly and amusing as I did. She did! I just wished she lived closer so that I could enjoy some of those farm fresh eggs... The second, asymmetric necklace was a design challenge to myself by limiting the necklace to just some basic crystal beads, wire, and chain I had on hand. I'm finding that restricting myself to use what I have (yarn or beads) rather than simply buying new or more of the same can contribute greatly to the creative process. Don't worry though, I am still doing my part to stimulate the economy!