Fiber Monday

 

Owie

Something you have to keep in mind if you're going to do anything in the fiber arts is this: pins & needles are sharp, and sometimes they can hurt you.

I stabbed myself in the finger today lol.

Now, usually, this isn't much of a big deal. I would just work through it. And this one wouldn't have been a big deal if I hadn't apparently jabbed right into a nerve on the knuckle of my ring finger. Because it felt like I was stabbing myself every single time the thread passed over the wound. It literally only bled for a second, but the ouch remained for hours. I didn't get the next batch of rounds done on the Secret Project.

I did bind off the ends of the zipper, though!!!

End #1

End #2

The Honkin Huge Needle (owie)

The cannibalized ribbon

So here's how I bound off those ends (which were fraying like mad!):

Step 1: Find yourself a binding material. I used a ribbon off of an Amazon gift bag. Feel free to use any fabric ribbon you have!

Step 2: Snip off two sections, making sure they're long enough and also wide enough! This part can be hard. You can kind of tell that this ribbon was maybe a little thin and the pieces I cut a little too long.

Step 3: Fold in the cut ends so they won't fray! This took some finessing because I cut them long, but basically, you just want to make sure there are no raw (cut) edges. I made sure there was a tiny bit of wiggle room so that I could sew through all 4 layers of ribbon more easily (hopefully you don't stab yourself...)

Step 4: Fold in half over the end of the zipper, making sure the end is fully covered. For me, it was a bit of a squeeze, since the ribbon was so narrow, but if you chose 3/4" or 1" ribbon, it'd probably work better.

Step 5: Sew the ends of the ribbon shut so it sits over the zipper like a little hat. This is where I stabbed myself. You are going through four layers of ribbon and maybe even some zipper band if you're being very adventurous. Your goal is to make sure that those folded ends on the ribbon don't pop out and fray, and also to fully encapsulate either side of the zipper. And yes, it'll basically be a little hat/endcap on the zipper at this point.

Step 6: Sew along the bottom of the ribbon, affixing to the zipper. This was the hardest part, despite it only being two layers of ribbon and one of zipper band. The problem is the zipper itself! It's big and chunky and right in the middle. So I skipped it. Literally, I just stitched up to one side of the zipper teeth and then made one long stitch from one side of the plastic zipper to the other. If I was being even more careful, I'd have made that long stitch several times, but I'm lazy and by then my finger hurt (and I didn't want to bleed on the project!), so one stitch it is. Then I finished stitching along the opposite zipper band and ribbon edge until I reached the end. 

Boom. Endpiece sewn. Fraying abated. Repeat on other end.

Now, if I'd found my thimble, the stabbing wouldn't have happened. I have 3 - an antique steel one for pushing needles through thick material, a newer steel one that doesn't fit anything but my pinky (I can't even find it - it's probably in a box somewhere) and another missing one, this one made of silicone and bright freaking green. It may have ended up in a project bag I lost. I'd use the silicone one as a "catching" thimble to stop needles coming out of fabric so fast lol.

I have also been thinking of making a thimble, but I'd need to find a single or damaged leather work glove for that and also I'm lazy.

Stupid injuries and blather aside, I have another fairly easy sewing project I could do a mini tutorial on, if anyone's interested. If you'd like to see me sew up a draft-dodger/draft-sausage/door-blocker out of old towels, drop a comment either here or on the Tweet I post this on (or my FB if you're friends/family ;) ). Let me know if that's something you'd like to learn how to make!

It's shockingly easy, and if you have actual sewing skills, they might even be a durable, affordable option for blocking cold air in the winter!

That'll about do it for me today.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC 

Wednesdaymania 236: Updates of the Week

TW: eye injury, blood

Buckle up people of the internet, this week had a lot of news go down in the Pro Wrestling arena.

• Samoa Joe being a troll among trolls
• PCO's horrifying eye injury
• VETV has launched
• AEW's All Out happened and, by all accounts, sounded awesome
• Orange Cassidy is quite possibly insane
• The Jericho Belt Situation

Let's start from the top:

This is practically a non-story, but I found it funny. Samoa Joe, in the midst of a pile of WWE promotional material, has tweeted this little gem:

Is it weird I’m less upset about trolling, but more upset at how garbage most people are at it? Where’s the nuance, the art? For context, 7 yrs ago a man texted my phone by accident thinking I was his estranged Uncle Brian. I have been giving this dude bad life advice ever since.

— Samoa Joe (@SamoaJoe) September 3, 2019

This is exactly the kind of silliness I needed in a world where PCO's eyebrow exploded.

That’s a good JOB ! 17 stitches yaaaaa ! I’m not hUmAn pic.twitter.com/hj0oGa7dRA

— PCO Perfect Creation One (@PCOisNotHuman) August 25, 2019

The injury occurred in the first two minutes of a match, which means that when I do see this, I'll be watching through my fingers, because it looks like the eyebrow completely exploded. I can't even type that without a full body shudder of anxiety.

Still, PCO is NOT HUMAN, so he seems to be handling things perfectly fine.

On the subject of PCO and his injury, since I can't usually watch ROH shows as they're happening, I learned about the eyebrow when I caught Marty Scurll's YouTube update:

VETV is now up and running!

What is VETV, you ask? It's Villain Enterprises' answer to Being the Elite! In the first episode, Marty Scurrll, Brody King, PCO, and Flip Gordon all ride together and talk. They tease Flip for his life choices in a fancy steak restaurant (which I find infinitely funnier with the Jericho news), and it's just... it's fun! I like watching life-on-the-road stuff. It's why I started watching BTE, after all, and without BTE, there would be no AEW.

Speaking of AEW, they had a PPV!

All Out was a rousing success, if the internet is to be believed, and it's so filled with spectacular moments that I think you can probably get a halfway decent idea of what happened if you just... look at Twitter for a while, to be honest? This is good for me, since I missed the PPV while helping set up for a family get-together, which I also missed.

I've had a busy week, lol.

Here are some of the highlights:

• The preshow was pretty fantastic, with Goldenboy and Excalibur commentating really well during both the crazy Casino Battle Royale (with Nyla Rose winning!) and the intensely awesome Angelico and Evans vs Private Party match!
• Kenny Omega and PAC apparently tore it up in the ring, though I would like to see Kenny win for once in this promotion...
• The Escalera de la Muerte match was apparently so scary that it freaked out the "boys in the back" and the Jacksons were ordered to call their mom and let her know they were alive and not in an ambulance. If you see gifs, you'll understand.
• Orange Cassidy joining the Best Friends in the ring against The Dark Order was just as hilarious and satisfying as one might assume, but also hella scary. Cassidy may be insane.
• Arn Anderson did a freakin' move in the ring!!!
• Arn should probably not do moves on account of his neck being held together with wishes and dreams.
• Hangman did, in fact, show up on a g-d horse.
• Spoilers: Chris Jericho won. Which I'm not crazy about, but okay. I think the universe kind of took care of this for me...

Which brings me to our last story of the day:

Chris Jericho lost the Belt at a Longhorn Steakhouse because he didn't handle things on his own and relied on a rented limo and driver.

This is a shoot. This is for real. There are police reports.

Apparently, Chris Jericho decided a Longhorn Steakhouse would be the best place to celebrate his win with AEW. He left the Belt in his limo, but there had been a mixup with the luggage at the airport, so the driver went back to exchange things.

Including the belt.

Maybe it'll show up fast. Maybe it won't ever resurface. Either way, this is insane. I'm not going to say that AEW should only let wrestlers wander around with replica Belts, but... maybe they should be required to have the belt in eyeshot at all times? Or do the old-school thing with the metal briefacase and the handcuff? So this doesn't ever happen again?

I guess Hangman has a new topic for his promos - "If I'd won, this never would have happened because that Title Belt would be surgically grafted to my middle".

What a freakin' week.

Go Enjoy Something!

FC

Wednesdaymania 235: AEW News

By now, everyone who loves wrestling has probably heard the news that Jon Moxley (aka Dean Ambrose) is going to have to miss his dream match with Kenny Omega at All Out. This is devastating not only for me as a fan, but for AEW as a company, and when the news broke, everyone was wild with speculation. Was it a Work? Was it a Shoot? What happened? Who would take Mox's place?!

It was not a Work (a wrestling carnie term that means that the story was fabricated to "work" the crowd, or to force a desired response). Jon Moxley is, in fact, going to be absent from All Out in just a few days. This is a Shoot (which I think may have come from the term "straight shooter", which can be taken to mean "genuine" or "honest" in Wrestling context). But what happened?

At some point in the last month or so, Jon Moxley appears to have injured his elbow. I don't know if it was during the hardcore match or some other time, but the injury occurred all the same. Now, imagine what wrestling with injuries is like for a moment. You're on the road, staying in unfamiliar hotels, and you don't know if the guy who wrestled before you pooped himself (which is absolutely a thing that can happen) in the ring. You're constantly being exposed to pathogens.

Unfortunately, the pathogen that Moxley has been exposed to (and contracted) is MRSA. That's basically a super staph infection. It's so bad he's going to have to have the bursa sac removed from his elbow surgically so it doesn't spread and take the arm.

This means that he's going to be out of All Out.

But Kenny's still on the card.

So what are AEW going to do?

Well, it would seem that this time the stars have aligned and one of the greats has volunteered to have this match.

It's PAC.

Who's PAC?

PAC might be more familiar to you as Adrian Neville. Yeah. The one with the Red Arrow finisher. The one who defies gravity. And Wellness Policies, since there's no way that musculature isn't assisted by certain performance-enhancing substances.

So the new match is Omega vs PAC. I'm super excited!

This will still be an incredible match. It's not going to have the great buildup it should have. It won't be the vicious match it should have been. That's disappointing. I'm not the only one disappointed.

But even though it's disappointing to lose Mox for this match, it's still going to be insane. PAC is a wrestling god. Kenny is a Best Bout Machine. It's gonna be great!

Now, there was one other bit of news that made me very happy.

Tony Schiavone, once the voice of WCW, now a voice for MLW, is also going to be a voice for AEW!

How flipping cool is that?! The guy is awesome. Hopefully this means that there will be greater cooperation among net-based Indies now, especially AEW and MLW. This can only mean better money for everyone.

Obviously they can't crossover on TV, since they're shown on competing stations, but it's still interesting to see some cooperation starting off!

I think that'll do it for me today, folks!

Go Enjoy Something!

FC