The Camping Shirt

This project has been in the works for quite some time now.  Back in January, after our first camping trip of the year, we endured some high winds and cold weather.  After that, Jeff decided he wanted a Merino wool undershirt to keep him warm.  And he wanted me to make it for him.

Cue nervous stomach butterflies.

Only once have I sewn something for someone other than myself, and it was a pretty poor quality.  I'm willing to live with imperfections and slightly skewed hems and such with things I make for myself - I call those little mess-ups my "only God is perfect" moments.  But I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to making things for other people.  Something that seems great to me all of a sudden seems less than acceptable if it's going to someone else.  It's an issue.  Of course, this issue was immediately compounded by the fact that it was for my husband.  I want him to be proud of my work, to show it off and be like, "look at this awesome shirt!  My wife made it from scratch!"  So when he seriously asked me to make this shirt, my perfectionism went into overdrive, and my level of nervousness that it wouldn't be good enough shot through the roof.

Merino wool is some fantastic stuff.  It is crazy warm!  It also keeps moisture off of the skin (to a degree) and dries relatively quickly.  It is also expensive.  Jeff wanted his shirt made out of Merino wool, since that's what a lot of the high quality undershirts were made out of at REI.  So I found a company that would sell a few yards of Merino wool fabric, and bought some.  I got it on sale, so it was only $15/yard, but that's still more than I've ever paid for fabric before.  Theoretically, it made it cheaper than buying a shirt from the store.  Theoretically.

I used another undershirt of Jeff's to draw my basic pattern. Then I measured again and again and again to make sure everything was even.  Then, I got some cheap knit fabric to test the pattern out, and sewed up the tester shirt.  Boy am I glad I did that!  The shirt did not fit well around the shoulders or underarms, and it was too tight across the back.  There were a number of adjustments that needed to be made.  So I began to read up on fitting armholes.

drawing my pattern pieces

all of the finished pieces!

making the tester shirt

a hot mess of a shoulder/armhole

Let me just tell you - if ever you're making your own clothes and find a pre-made pattern with armholes that fit well, use it for all of your armholes.  Drawing them from scratch is ridiculous.  Do-able, for sure, and easier with practice, but it was no easy feat.  My mother worked some miracles to get those armholes adjusted!

After we figured out the adjustments, we drew new pieces of patterns and taped them onto the old ones (so we wouldn't have to redraw all of the patterns).  Then we got some more tester fabric and sewed up a new tester shirt.  This one fit much better.  I made some final adjustments to the pattern and then prepared the Merino wool - it was go time!

Cue more nervous stomach butterflies.

I took my time lining up the fabric and cutting out all the pieces, checking and re-checking everything before I cut the fabric.  Then I went to work.  Once the sleeves were on, I had Jeff try it on.  The shoulders were a little off - possibly because of differences in stretch and stretch recovery - so I had to unpick, adjust, and resew the shoulders.  Then I attached the cuffs and finished it off with a hem using a twin needle (for the first time!).

Overall, I'm glad I could make something special for Jeff.  It's a great shirt for camping, and apparently for cold mornings at work.  It was a somewhat stressful experience, mostly because of the armhole debacle.  Fitting it was a mess.  On the bright side though, I now have a perfectly fit armhole pattern for Jeff!  All his future shirt projects should be considerably easier, once I recover from this one, that is...

the finished product!

Lake Texoma

Several weeks ago, Jeff and I went on our first camping trip of the year!  It was a short trip - we left on Friday around noon and got back about the same time on Saturday.  We went up to Lake Texoma, which straddles the Texas-Oklahoma border.  It was also probably the shortest hike in to a campsite we've done so far, only about half a mile, but we found a great camping spot (or so we thought) and didn't want to pass it up.

Friday was just a gorgeous day!  It was warm enough to hike and walk around in shorts and a tshirt.  After going up and down several steep hills, we found a path along the drop-off that led down to the lake shore.  There was a rocky surface that was relatively flat - perfect for the tent! - which dropped off as well.  It was roughly 30 feet from the edge of the water.  We had a great view of the lake, and it was quite, and far enough off the path that we wouldn't be bothered by other people.  In fact, many people didn't even see us down there, we gave them a fright when we yelled hi...  We set up the tent and then Jeff began collecting firewood while I blew up the camping pads.

Jeff, of course, loves his camping saw.  After an hour or so, we had a pretty good pile of firewood, so we grabbed the hammock and took a little nap.  Definitely scared some runners from the hammock - we were apparently well camouflaged.  As the sun was setting, we got a fire going and enjoyed a nice hot meal while watching the sun set.

working on the firewood

we love our Eno double nest - perfect for napping by the lake :)

surprise!

Now, when we were getting ready to go to sleep, I started to hear some noises.  Coyotes, apparently.  That freaked me out a little since it was the first time I could hear larger wild animals being somewhat close by.  Nothing happened with that, but I did feel pretty vulnerable, having nothing but a measly tent separating me from the coyotes.

The real issue became apparent around 2:30 am.  This is when the wind all of a sudden picked up.  Not a breeze, but 15-20 mph gusts, right off the lake.  Since we were on the shore, we had no protection from the wind.  (Next time, we're back in the woods.)  The noise didn't bother us much, but the huge drop in temperature did.  We had checked the weather before we left - it was supposed to get down to the high 40s.  Well, at 3am, it was 40, with the wind chill making it more like 30.  It felt every bit of below freezing.  Our bags are rated for 30 degrees, but neither of us could get warm.  I had long johns on, and put on sweats on top of that - no joy.  There wasn't much sleep to be had from that point on.  The wind didn't die down either, it was still freezing the snot out of our noses as we rushed to start a fire and eat some oatmeal and pack up camp.  We decided not to stick around since we were miserably cold and rain was moving in.  I couldn't feel my fingers or my hands again until about 15 minutes into the car ride home.

the wind blew the fire sideways all morning... it was pretty miserable out

dinosaur eggs for breakfast!!!!! haven't had these since I was reaaaaaally young...

Even with the rough night/morning, it still was a fun trip for us, and we were glad to get a chance to break out the camping gear and spend some one on one time together.

Kentucky

After exams finished, Jeff and I piled into the van with my parents to drive to Kentucky for a 4 day vacation.  It was really a belated celebration of my sister's 21st birthday, which was in April.  It was about a 6 hour drive, with some car-sickness inducing windy roads at the end.  But once we arrived in Meridzo at Shekinah Village, I was relieved (that the drive was over ha) that we were able to spend a few quiet days away in such a beautiful place.

Shekinah Village upon arrival

Once we arrived, we settled into these beautiful cabins along the lake - my parents, Jeff, and myself in one cabin and my two sisters in the other.  There were 4 rooms in each - two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a large room that functioned as a dining room/living room/kitchen.  I absolutely loved the cabin!!  The only downside was that mining operations nearby had messed with the water supply, so while it was safe to drink, it smelled super strongly of sulfur.

the family room

our cabin on the lake

We spent a lot of time doing puzzles, playing cards, reading (for enjoyment!  what a concept!) wandering around the grounds, eating various chocolatey things, and enjoying the scenery.  The weather was beautiful as well!  I learned how to play Spades, so we played Spades a lot, as well as Hearts, Rummy, Gin Rummy, Dutch Blitz (also known as a variation of Nertz), and Sequence - I'll have you know that the women beat the men handily at that!

all finished!!

the couples cabin on the right, singles on the left

walking across the flooded creek

they had a llama!

Jeff thoroughly enjoyed feeding the pygmy goats

feeding the foal

the foal and her mama

We also got to go trail riding, although our ride was cut short because construction on a new road cut through the trails.  It was so much fun to be able to ride again!  My horse was sweet, definitely excited to get on the trails.  It was the first trail ride of the season for the horses, so the staff were a little unsure of how they would behave.  My sisters both had horses who apparently kicked and/or bit other horses when they got too close.  Dusty, my horse for the day, apparently liked to take off with his rider every once in a while, but he was on his best behavior.  My sisters' horses though - definitely not.  One of them kicked multiple horses as they passed, the other tried to, albeit unsuccessfully.  Cheeky things.  Jeff looked oh-so-natural on his horse, I think it's the Texan in him.  All he was missing was his cowboy hat :)  Overall, I wasn't too sore from riding, except I really should have stuck a pillow on the saddle.  Turns out not having much natural padding means bruised bones.  I had to sit on pillows for a few days afterwards - it was too painful to sit on wooden chairs.  Clearly I need to have more milkshakes to fix that.

Crystal (the horse) - super sweet, except when other horses pass her.  Then she kicks them.

my man looks good on a horse!  clearly being a Texan means there's a hidden cowboy waiting to come out...

hard to see, but those are fresh bear tracks in the mud, and that trail was right behind our cabin!

Dusty - my horse for the day

My dad, Jeff, and I tried our hand at fishing in the lake, since there are decent sized fish swimming about.  We failed to catch anything - the fish apparently didn't like beef meatballs as bait.  We could see them swimming up to the bait, or swimming past it, and they never took it.  Oh well, we weren't really prepared to deal with the fish if we caught one, so maybe it's better that we didn't.  We also had a movie night - we brought a projector with us, taped a sheet onto the wall, and watched 300 (since various family members had never seen it before).

fishing by the lakeside (that's not a real animal next to Jeff... there was an archery contest the next day)

setting up the projector

our makeshift theater

Packing up to leave was a little crazy.  My sister had to leave early for work stuff, so we would have an extra person and extra stuff in the van on the drive home.  But my mother is a packing genius, and we were able to cram everything into the car, narrowly avoiding strapping a cooler to the roof of the van.  I still don't know how she did it...

staging the packing - trying to fit Jeff's and my stuff out the outside since we were being dropped off first

it's all in!

jerry-rigging the inside of the car

All in all, it was a wonderful, relaxing few days off - exactly what I needed.  Shekinah Village is such a beautiful place, with amazing staff, and I would love to go back!

Spring Break!

I began to write about this trip about a month ago, but school and work and trying to maintain my sanity got in the way of finishing it up.  So, finally, here is what happened over Spring Break:

Spring Break came at just the right time.  I was burning out, but had just enough mental energy left to crank out a 5 page paper on our 7 hour drive up to Pennsylvania on a Sunday afternoon.  Not my ideal way to pass the time on a long drive, but it was due by midnight.  We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house around 11:30pm - so my paper was turned in on time! - and I was so excited to go to bed without setting an alarm.  Welcome, Spring Break!

my moving office... 5 page paper in under 5 hours.  done.

Pt. I: The North (around Philadelphia)

On Monday, my cousin Clay made me breakfast before Jeff and I got back in the car to drive to my old hometown in NJ to have lunch with my grandparents.  Grandma made us some delicious roast pork and candied yams!  After lunch, Grandma and I whipped up my special pistachio cake.

There is nothing quite like warm pistachio cake and a good cup of Earl Grey tea.  Now, if there's one thing I will always associate with my grandma, it would be the perfect cup of Earl Grey tea.  I mean, it is always perfect.  I don't know how she does it.

Anyways, we had a wonderful afternoon with my grandparents, and then booked it back across the river to avoid rush hour traffic.  My cousin Abby (who got married 3 weeks before I did) joined us for dinner that night, which was so much fun! We got ice cream, and watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (it was my first time seeing it), and then went to bed.  Tuesday was our lazy day - we hung out in our pjs all day, playing Monopoly and Risk, made tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch, and then made a ridiculous amount of chocolate chip cookies.  They didn't last long.

Wednesday was our last day up North, so we drove across the river to NJ to spend a little more time with my grandparents.  On our way back, we stopped in downtown Philly so that Jeff could have his first real Philly cheesesteak.  Of course, I got mine with cheese whiz - Jeff got his with provolone, but I think he preferred the cheese whiz - and it was a little taste of heaven.  I love cheesesteaks.

FINALLY.  a proper cheesesteak. 

Jeff chowing down on his first Philly cheesesteak

That afternoon, we went to see the queen of chocolate chip cookies - my cousin Ruth.  Ruth and her husband and kids live on this great, big piece of land in the middle of suburbia, except it's more like a farm than a subdivision.  They have chickens, too - we got to go into the coop and see the chickens and collect some fresh eggs.  The eggs were naturally colorful, which was really cool!  After a short visit, we headed back to my aunt's house for dinner.  Then we had to get all of our camping stuff sorted and packed, because we were about to head down to Kentucky for several days of hiking and back-country camping.

yes, those are the actual colors of the eggs.  I like the blue one :)

Pt. II: The Wilderness (well, sort of...)

This happened.

Since we had to be at the visitors center before it closed at 4:30, we had to make sure we left with plenty time to spare, just in case something happened.  So we got up at 2:15am.  I'm crying a little inside just writing about it.  We drove through heavy snow, sleet, fog, got slammed with a $27 toll (Pennsylvania = Jeff's new least favorite state to drive in), and eventually rolled into the Visitor's Center at Mammoth Cave in the early afternoon.  We chose a backcountry campsite, then headed over the ferry (a little 3-car ferry across the Green River) to park near the old church.

We then faced a 3 mile hike to our campsite.  Not so bad, right?  Wrong.  We were exhausted before we even started due to the lack of sleep and roughly 12 hours in a car.  Furthermore, we took a wrong turn and added an extra hour to our hike in.  It was getting dark and threatening to rain by the time we finally got there.  But when we did - we realized how cool of a campsite it was.  There were large rock bluffs, the overhangs high enough off the ground to provide ample protection for our tent, gear, and fire.  There were two small waterfalls, so plenty of fresh, running water nearby.  And it was off the main trail, in a little valley, away from popular foot traffic.  Perfect for a quiet, peaceful campsite.

we pitched out tent under the rocky bluffs - taking advantage of the natural rain protection!

The first night though, was miserable.  I could not get warm, even in a 30 degree bag, insulated pad, and two thick layers of clothing.  Turns out that even though it was only predicted to get down to 39 degrees, it was actually got down to 23.  That did not make for a happy camper.  Then, we hiked the 3 miles back to the car the next morning so we could go on some cave tours, but discovered once we reached the car that we had left the car keys at the campsite.  And we had run out of water.  We came across another hiker who kindly treated some nearby water for us, and then headed back down to the campsite.  It was a lovely day - so we cooked some hot dogs over the fire, hung out in the hammock, took quick showers under the waterfall - although let me be clear, that was the COLDEST shower I have ever taken, and I turned a lovely bluish color rather quickly even though I didn't get all the way under - and then grabbed our (empty) packs and headed 3 miles back to the parking lot.  Our friends Zach (hiking buddy we met in Jordan!) and Christine were driving in, and we were meeting them later that evening.  9:45 rolls around, we meet up with them, go back across the ferry, distributed up some of their stuff, and we were off by 10pm.  Ten minutes into our hour and a half hike, the rain starts.  The majority of that hike it rained.  Needless to say, an hour and a half hike in the pitch black when it's cold and raining the whole time is my new low.  But we arrived without injury.  Luckily Jeff had thought to tuck the firewood underneath the bluffs so it wouldn't get wet, so getting the fire started once we made it to the campsite was pretty simple.

That actual temp lo on the left... yeah, that made my night miserable.

getting our water from the clear, cool streams! 

The next day was a fun one - we warmed coffee cake over the fire for breakfast, then hiked back up to the parking lot so we could go on some cave tours.  We did two different tours, about 2 miles each. The caves were so cool!  They were dark, but dry, and a slightly chilly 54 degrees.  We learned about the mining history, the legend about how they were discovered, and there are only 7 miles of publicly accessible caves (out of almost 400 miles of cave they've discovered so far).  It was too dark to take decent pictures, but I would definitely recommend checking out the caves if you get the chance.  We hope to go back sometime and do some of the other tours.  After the second tour, we were all pretty tired, and not looking forward to another 3 mile hike to camp.  But this time, it was light outside and there was no rain, so it wasn't too bad.  We ate a lot of food for dinner - the 10 or so miles of hiking that day certainly worked up an appetite!

descending into the caves

this sign made me laugh.  but it's no joke - my hips were touching both sides of the walls, and I'm a bean pole.

cooking up some lunch in the parking lot

some of the "frozen falls" in the caves

We had an early start for our last day at the Bluffs.  We had to break down camp and pack up all of our stuff.  We had pancakes for breakfast, with some delicious maple syrup, tapped from Christine's parents' maple trees in Wisconsin.  Fantastic stuff!  After we ate, we said goodbye to Zach and Christine and headed back up the trail.  I was so excited to reach the parking lot after that final 3 mile hike.  Once we got there, Jeff and I changed into some cleaner clothes, loaded up the car, and set off for an 11 hour drive home.  Well, to my parents' house really, we decided it was necessary to sit in the hot tub and recover from roughly 30 miles of hiking, most of which was done while carrying heavy packs.

Overall, it was a really fun trip for us!  We got all sorts of weather, got to hang out with awesome family, had really good food, and got to spend some time in the great outdoors.  We drove 1970 miles, so when you through in all the hiking, it was a 2000 mile trip!