I seem to be in a moon of ‘work smart, not hard.’  How odd for me.

I’m worried about freezing in the wind at Gatalop.  I have started the Treble Fib Shawl in order to address cold weather, but there’s no way I’m going to finish by Friday, and I don’t want to rush.  So I remembered that I’d discussed making a semicircular mantle to go with the 1350 Gothic Fitted Dress, per Lyonet’s suggestion, and decided to see what I could find.

Fortunately, Joann puts fabric on sale for Halloween, and I came home with 3.5 yards of 59" wide gray wool, suiting weight.  I thought about a lining, and I might still do that, but I didn’t find a fabric I liked well enough.  I seriously considered a madder red corduroy – the non-stripey sort – but being cotton, if it rains, then the cotton will absorb any water droplets hanging around on the mantle shoulders, whereas if it’s unlined, the water will just sit there for a while, because wool is not that absorbent, and is still warm when wet.  Perhaps I ought to make a wool lining.  Thought for another day.

So at 50% off, the gray wool cost $25.  I noticed that the fabric wasn’t fraying – I won’t even need to hem this mantle.   10 minutes later, with the help of the cat, I have a mantle, and a light blanket to sleep under.  HA!  One less item in the SoftTrunks!  For those of you who have no idea how to do this, here’s the photo diary:

Buy a length of fabric that’s twice as long as it is wide.

Gather together:

a weight (barbell works well);

a chalk pencil that will show on your fabric;

and a piece of string longer than your fabric is wide.

(Cat butt is optional.  I had no choice.)

Fold the fabric crosswise so that it is a square.

Place the weight at the fold – it sits at the center of the half-circle that you will cut.

Tie one end of your string to the weight.  Perhaps your cat will help hold down your fabric.

Stretch the string down to the other end of the fold, and tie it to the chalk pencil so that the pencil will trace a half circle with the weight at the center.

Threading a cat on your string is optional.

Use the chalk pencil to trace a quarter circle on the folded fabric.

Inspector #12 checks my line.

Cut along the line.

Practice draping and pinning with penannular brooch.

Curse lack of decent lighting in front of the mirror AGAIN.

But otherwise, I think it will be terrific.  Very pleased with myself.