I won't tell you about my day yesterday. It was too depressing. But then again, I feel pretty damn fortunate that I got home in one piece and nothing bad happened to me, except to be told at the dentist's that my mouth is falling apart, but then, I wasn't going to talk about that. First it was my eyes in the fall and now my teeth for the spring. What will the summer bring? I'm obviously getting old, and it's all catching up with me in one year's time. I hesitate to point out that it's coincidental with my having blogged for one year. What is the deeper meaning of this? Will Typepad have to post a new warning? "Blog for one year, and your eyes and teeth may fall out."
A poor woman leaving a store ahead of me yesterday got her hand crushed in an automatic door. True, she did something really stupid, and if she sues the store it will be unjust, but still. My hands are very, very precious to me, and I was pretty spooked about going through that door, I'll tell you that. And I got through it, sort of like the person who is forced to walk under the ladder, only to be shouted to by a string of sales clerks, "Ma'am! Ma'am! You forgot your receipt." Frankly, I couldn't have given two damns about the receipt, but they insisted that I go back through that door and get it, and then back OUT that Devil's Door.
It was truly amazing to me that I got home in one piece. It had taken me two hours to get to Burlington, when it usually takes 35 minutes. The roads were that bad. I didn't keep count of how long it took to get home. Less time than it took to get there, but accompanied by no less adrenaline expenditure. When I got back to my home town, my car was in full camo-gear. You could not distinguish it from its surroundings. It had a two-inch-thick layer of salt and slush covering every inch of it. I was Harry Potter in the invisibility cloak. It was so camouflaged that I had to go directly to the car wash and spray off some of that sludge so I could find my way out of it. Seriously.
Oh, damn. I've done it again. I wasn't going to use this entry as a big moaning session. Truly I wasn't.
Let's change the subject to something more sunny, shall we?
Hey, LAUREN!!!
Remember this?
Look at it now!
A sunshiny, spicy zippered clutch. Very L.A., wouldn't you say? How much could we get for these on Rodeo Drive?
For those of you just tuning in, Lauren made those two bags in the photo a while back, and after learning of my penchant for spicy colors and felted bags, she decided that I should have one of them. She sent me the gold one, and I adored it. She later told me that she had another one in the persimmon color, but that she had made a mistake in the handle, but did I want it anyway. I said, "Send it on over, and maybe I'll change the handles." She also sent me her scrap wool in case I wanted to reknit some handles.
Well, when I saw the bags, I immediately thought "clutch," not shoulder or handbag, and I wanted to put a zipper in. I cut off the handles, slick as a whistle (lesson learned: felt cuts beautifully and without any sign that anything has been cut. major bonus,that.)
I found the perfect zipper for the persimmon bag, and I chickened out about putting it in myself. I sent it to a tailor shop. I got it back yesterday. I am THRILLED WITH IT, to put it mildly. In the meantime, I had found a site online for ordering "silk" flower pins, and I ordered two. When they came I was a tad disappointed in the sunflower, but very happy with the orange gerbera daisy, which is what you see there on the bag.
So there you have it. Lauren had already put an adorable and very practical lining in the bag, and I have that little leather zipper pull that you can see on the daybed in the first photo. When I find my wire cutters, I will snip off the regular zipper pull, as per the instructions for the leather pull, and attach the leather one.
Forecast: Sunshine! And a cuter-than-hell spring clutch bag for Norma. Thank you, Lauren.
Now that this worked out so well, I'm going to search for a zipper to match the gold bag and do the same thing. JoAnn's fabrics had one the right color, but the wrong length. The other places I've looked haven't even had anything close to the right color, so I'll keep looking, or perhaps order one from my new favorite zipper place: Zipperstop.com. The level of personalized service I got from them in my recent purchase for the Kirstin sweater was absolutely astonishing and so pleasant. Why can't all businesses be like that?
Chin up. As another recipient of a craptastic day on Tuesday, I can definitely sympathize. I refused to shovel today because the last time I did I fried my wrists for several days. Priorities.
The clutch looks great. Enjoy your little bit of sunshine and good for you for having someone else do the zipper. It looks great and you've saved yourself the headache of agonizing over it yourself.
Posted by: Cassie | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 12:54 AM
Wow, I love the flower and the zipper looks fab. Last night on the corner of Rodeo and some other street I saw some pricey bags that were much, much uglier (one made solely of zipper pull tabs and one of soda can pull tabs) so I'm thinking... $125? Also today I saw a BABIES' shirt with this cars' album cover on it: http://www.superseventies.com/ac8candyo.html
a BABY! this place is weird.
Posted by: Lauren | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 01:49 AM
Norma,
You are the sunshine in my pre-dawn!! And a wealth of info, too! I love the ideas and inspirations you pass along...and at my age, it's no longer fun to go to the dentist because of all the rotten things they have to say about my teeth...and I need new glasses...but keepem coming girl:)
Posted by: vicky | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 06:23 AM
Oh, you poor dear, with a beast of a day! Did you follow my instructions the other day? Buying tulips? Sure, it can't cure. But it can't hurt either!
Here's to your teeth!
Posted by: sandy | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 06:45 AM
What a simply wonderful bag! It's so cheery and cute I can't help but smile looking at it. I hope it makes up a bit for your rotten day. That snow yesterday was terrible! I spent hours at school helping to get kids home, all because our superintendent was too stubborn to call an early dismissal like the rest of the state. A bus actually crashed into a house! Thankfully it was empty.
Posted by: Emily | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 07:52 AM
Lovely bag (too femme for me but great for you LOL). If the 'right colour, wrong length' zipper is too long, buy it anyway. It is easy to shorten zippers. The tailoring place will have no problem.
You maybe got the snow a day later than we did. Monday we got about a foot. Was I grateful for a shared driveway and a neighbour with a snowblower! Today it is -33C with the windchill (and remember the closer you get to -40 the more like the F scale that is)
Posted by: jo in ottawa | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:15 AM
Norma - the sight of that bag is just what I needed this morning. Winter must be coming to an end!!!!
It rained and the wind blew here all day yesterday and now we're getting snow. If you want to continue on the grip session, be assured that although winter will end, we will then enter pothole season (aka spring). That's the season before road construction (other people call it summer).
Posted by: Stephanie VW | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:19 AM
Be grateful you are not a horse.
;-)
Now, time to dig out from last night's blizzard.
Posted by: claudia | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:25 AM
Oh that bag looks so happy and sunny! Has me thinking of warmer days ahead on this "kids are home from school again" day. I second Jo's advice, get the zipper-a tailor will have no problem changing in, and knowing you, you can probably find info online and do it yourself if you are taking that project on. Hope today is better!
Posted by: Teresa C | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:25 AM
Ohyeah. Sucktastic weather yesterday, although today is at least sunny if also somewhat brisk. (Seriously, from about 1 p.m. on we had near white-out conditions. Luckily they hadn't plowed yet when I headed home, so the snow gave traction and it was cold enough that the snow was the nice, powdery, non-lube type.) Delighted that you got home in one piece, unscathed if not unfrazzled.
Heh. I hear you on the teeth front. I should hook you up with my mom. After living in England for many, many years, she's spent the last several getting her teeth and gums fixed. Lovely country, rotten dental care.
Posted by: Melanie | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:31 AM
Glad you're home in one piece - this weather sucks for sure! You have such a way with those felted bags! So, so pretty and feminine. Quite the inspiration, Norma! Thanks.
Posted by: Cara | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:37 AM
Love the bag!
Posted by: General Ginger | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:44 AM
Ohhhhh, I'm glad the Devil Door didn't get you! And of course I understand about your hands . . . not long ago I tripped at work and jammed one of my fingers (mildly, but painfully), and my first thought was "what if I can't knit?!".
Hope today is better for you!
Posted by: chris | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 09:59 AM
The bag looks great. If you can't get spring outside you have to bring it in! I was thinking of forcing some bulbs in the house. Ever tried it? I haven't, it'll be an adventure!
Posted by: Wendy | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 10:27 AM
Gripe session. Not Grip Session. Geez. Grip session. Isn't that a Brit slang for something nasty? Got a case of the Grip????
What a doughnut I am. Doh! Nuts!
Posted by: Stephanie VW | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 12:23 PM
The bag is soo cute. It is bright and cheery. I hope today goes better than yesterday.
Posted by: mia | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 12:29 PM
The bags are fab! Hey, my teeth haven't fallen out...yet but then I do need a new back. Is that what happened the ol' 1st year o'blog.
Posted by: Margene | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 12:35 PM
I'm having my teeth redone Saturday - all day. It sucks, but I suppose it beats the alternative - bannishment to pudding only.
And I know what you mean about your hands. I was rear-ended a few months back, and my hands were on my steering wheel at the time. It was EXTREMELY minor, but my wrist was sore for some time after that. Now, I have the terrible habit of taking my hands off the wheel if someone gets too close behind me. Sure, I may veer into oncoming traffic or off a cliff, but I won't have my wrists damaged again...
Posted by: Amie | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 02:14 PM
What a wonderful little bag!! You sure did need something like that to perk you up after a super crappy day!! Hoope today was MUCH better.
Posted by: Jackie | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 02:23 PM
I'm sorry your day sucked. But the bag is creativity ++ !
Posted by: Laurie | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 02:36 PM
Creepy about the door - I can imagine how you must have felt after witnessing that kind of accident. Best not to talk about the dentist.
I love the clutch, love the colour. Could you tell me what pattern your friend used? I'm working on a multi-coloured stripey version of the one in Weekend Knitting, but it's taking me forever b/c I get tangled up in ends and then have to weave them all in. That, and I have a very short attention span.
Posted by: Alison A. | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 03:38 PM
Now if you really want to make a fortune, make those clutches bit enough to hold a chihuahua and sell them in Orange County...really...
Posted by: Silvia | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 04:43 PM
It's better when the memory goes. Then you won't remember about the eyes or the teeth.
Posted by: Sharon | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 06:14 PM
Norma the clutch is on my must have list. Very stylish if I must say so.
Last night while attending my local knitting group get together, I told them about your blog and the candy company. They were all like "Wow" over the candy company. Of course I shared the web addy with them and told them how I had wanted to place my order when you were working. They accused me of stalking you! Guess, I'll just have to resurrect my blog so I can send them over to the chocolate factory and taste for themselves!!
Along with reading your blog.
Posted by: Donna | Wednesday, March 09, 2005 at 10:12 PM