Dribs and Drabs

Once again, the insane pace of life around here has left me bereft of any coherent blog fodder. Instead of torturing a few disjointed issues into a semi-logical format, I'll just use the old bullet points to catch up on a few things around here.

• I've been a bit of a fiber arts butterfly of late, knitting a bit here, weaving a rug there, petting yarn and hunting out sock patterns in spare moments. Ergo, a little progress on a lot of things but nothing worthing of photography.



• Even if I wanted to post a photo, I'm having problems with uploading photos. DH changed some security settings and I've had to jump through hoops and play with settings to be able to post photos. While I'm getting pretty good at making adjustments quickly, the software just won't let me do anything with it today.



• Would that be considered a bad software day?



• I've been working lots of extra hours at the ice cream shop this week. A temporary crisis has made it difficult for my boss to be in the shop in the evenings, so I've been there every night but Tuesday this week. And it will probably continue into next week as well.



• At least I'm socking away some extra money to cover gas expenses for awhile.



• But I'm tired. Really tired.



• I've developed a serious obsession with the idea of creating a fairy garden in our landscape. The initial idea came from Fiberit but a quick internet search yielded inspiring sites like this. Being the d0-it-yourself kinda gal I am, I am anxious to give miniature building a try.



• It's time for pointe shoe shopping again. Dancing Diva managed to break the shank in one of her shoes and with pointe class every week this summer, she needs a new pair, pronto. So off we go to St. Paul today.



• I like ballet shoe stores. I'm actually looking forward to it. Guess it's a case of vicarious living through a child.



• I've finally been able to leave the splint off the Stupid Finger. I still have to be very careful not to twist caps or lids with my left hand or put any pressure on the side of the SF but it is gradually getting better.



• Fortunately, I can type, since there is no pain using the finger straight forward or down.



• It still looks terrible, the knuckle being very large and discolored yet. Stupid, Fat, Ugly Finger!

Well, that's about it. Of course, there's a whole bunch more about hockey camps, upcoming camping trips, the flood damage situation in Iowa and stuff but I'm all bullet-pointed out.

Ta-ta, time to go flit among the tutus.

Confessions of a Scooper

It has been a crazy, strenuous couple of weeks around here. It has been difficult to get to the fiber arts and garden work is of the maintenance type that really doesn't make for interesting blog fodder. Weeding, watering, removing dead trees, putting up barriers against bunnies who insist on treating MY vegetable garden as their own personal salad bar and general upkeep has been the routine. The flowers are all blooming and the landscaping is nearly at it's peak in color right now but I'm just a little burned out on the whole garden thing right now.

What's more, the job has ended up taking up far more time than I first anticipated. Initially, my schedule was supposed to be Sundays and one Saturday a month. However, The Boss, enjoying her first taste of freedom from the 78 hour work weeks she's endured for the past few years, has called me in repeatedly for extra hours.

Frankly, with gas prices as high as they are, I'm taking all the extra hours I can squeeze in for now, knowing that summer is the high season for ice cream shops and the hours will decrease dramatically in a couple of months. But, glory be, this is hard work.

Sunday was my first 9 hour shift and by Monday morning, both hands and both feet were aching and swollen. All that scooping and serving ice cream takes a toll on the ol' extremities. Needless to say, it is taking a toll on the knitting again, although I'm trying to knit a couple rows a day, just to keep the ol' digits in fightin' form.

So, no garden or fiber photos today. And I think I need a nap.

Eureka! She's Knitting!

Granted, it is a bit slower than my normal pace but I'm back to knitting on Hockey Tweedy Vest. I get an occasional twinge when I get too excited and start speeding along but for the most part, it is relatively pain free.

I am so excited, I'm drooling over sock patterns and yarn, anxious to get back at the whole Year in Socks thing but waiting a bit longer to tackle the finer needles and yarn. In the meantime, I'm still dancing and woooting around here.

Until I have something really photo worthy, knit-wise, here is a picture Hockeyman took that he color altered and manipulated on the computer. Hey, if the hockey career doesn't work out . . .

God is SO Good!

I just got off the phone with my Mom. They were able to return to their neighborhood today and the damage was far less than anyone anticipated. My sister's home lost a portion of the foundation and the main level flooring will all need to be replaced but she has already been able to line up trustworthy contractors who can repair the foundation and help with the flooring issues. Her renter had stayed for an additional day after she and her daughter evacuated and managed to move most of her valuables to the upper level of the home, so she lost very few of her possessions.

My Mom's home only ended up with a few inches of water on the main floor and her flooring appears to be salvageable. Most of her antiques look as though they will also be fixable. Although there will still be quite a bit of clean-up needed, she has received an offer of a place to stay until her home is inhabitable.

This is amazing because just last night the sheriff who talked to Mary on the perimeter of the flood zone told her that most of the homes in her area were going to have to be condemned and she was devastated. What a joyful thing it was to find out today that her home and Mom's were not nearly as damaged as others in that area and they could rebuild.

I plan on spending some time doing happy dances and whooping at unpredictable intervals tonight. Woot, cha cha cha!

A slow return to knitting . . .

It was one of those mornings when I arose before the roosters. It was about 3 am today and, knowing I'd need to go back to sleep at some point or risk being accused of being a zombie this afternoon and being neutralized by some concerned citizen with a bullet to the head. Or a pie to the face.

So, rather than take a walk or do anything particularly stimulating, I chose to turn on TCM and watch Fiddler on the Room and try to knit. I cannot say that it was an unqualified success. I managed to knit 1 and 1/2 rounds on the May Year In Socks installment before deciding that the fine yarn and small needles were a little too hard on the Stupid Finger. However, it did give me some hope that I could perhaps knit on something softer and on bigger needles very soon. I am planning to give Tweedy vest a try very soon. (BTW, I did manage to doze back off around 6 am for another hour of sleep - guess I'll be safe from gun-toting, zombie hunters this afternoon.)

One thing that is also hindering the return to knitting is the achiness of the good hand. The good news is, I got the job at the local ice cream shop, It's Just Perfect. The bad news is I've been putting in a lot of hours training for the position. Who knew scooping ice cream could be so strenuous! I am sure that I will adapt to the stresses of the job soon enough but it is a bit frustrating to come home and be too sore to craft.

Ergo, there is nothing new to show in the fiber arts department. But my garden is definitely starting to come alive with color. This shot is if the Veronica that is along side the garage. All this sprung from 3 small plants put there 8 years ago. It spreads with abandon and I've transplanted much of it to other areas of the garden. You just gotta love a plant that just keeps filling in and spreading out like this one.

Now if I could just bring myself to go weed the vegetable garden. Yuck. Do you suppose the Stupid Finger is enough reason to pawn this job off on the kidlets?

Surprise!

Just when things seem a bit depressing (stupid finger and flooding), you get a present in the mail. The lastest Woolgirl Sock club installment just arrived.

I won't spoil the surprise for others . . . yet. But I LOVE the yarn and pattern.

Now if the Stupid Finger would hurry up and get better so I can knit some socks.

Changes in the wind

It has been an eventful few days. Some of it good, some of it horrible. My head is a bit discombobulated by it all and I can't seem to put a flowing, coherent blog post together. So to borrow a technique from Sheepish Annie, I think I'll just let bullet points do the organizing for me.

• In an effort to come up with a little cash to pay for gas and/or a few
  payments toward a new car (my van is on its last legs wheels), I applied for a part-time job at a local ice cream shop. It's taken a few weeks but I finally had an interview yesterday and I'm fairly certain that I may have the job. I find out today.
  
  
• Because I'm struggling with this whole "no knitting" aspect of having broken my finger, I have been prowling around the ol' craft room trying to find something new and exciting that wouldn't put any stress on the left hand. I ended up pulling out this booklet and some fabric from my stash and starting a rug for the front entry. It fits the bill as a "do no harm" project for the stupid left hand. We'll have to wait and see if I like the finished project enough to actually use it in the entryway.
  
  
• I spent a few panicky hours last night trying to get in touch with my mom. You see, her home is on the fringe of the 500 year flood area of Cedar Rapids and the news about the flooding has been so dire that I was very much afraid for her and my sister. Unfortunately, when I did get through, I learned that they had been evacuated and their homes are under water right now. It is such a shock, since they came through the '93 floods with very little damage (a little water in the basement). But this flood has exceeded any in recorded history and their homes are anticipated to be complete losses.
  
  
• As a result, I fully expect to make a trip or two down to Iowa in the next few weeks to help with the aftermath of this tragedy. Starting a new job and having kids in so many activities is going to make it extremely problematic but it will just have to be done.
  
  
• I'm a little concerned about the broken finger hindering my ability to be as much help as I normally would be able to. Stupid finger.
  
  
• There has been some question about how I managed to break the stupid finger. Well, it's not terribly interesting. On the one hot day we had on vacation, I decided to swim with Peeps. We were just stepping into the pool on the stairs and I slipped. I'm not even sure what I jammed my hand into because when I slipped, I knocked little Peeps down and my first concern was pulling her up and out of the pool to make sure she was okay. Only after setting her back on her feet and apologizing profusely for knocking her down, and watching her paddle away, did I realize how badly I'd hurt my hand. While the finger looked straight and it didn't seem to be broken, the immediate swelling and bruising made it clear that this was going to take some time to get over. Little did I know that it really was broken.
  
  
• I've never had a broken bone before. It didn't hurt as much as I thought a broken bone would hurt, so I wasn't really too concerned. Until Mrs. Doctor's Wife gave me a little gentle rebuke, that is.
  
  
• I guess I can't brag about not having ever broken a bone any more.
  
  

Well, that's a sample of the craziness of my life this week. Who knows what the rest of the month will look like. For now, I'll just spend some extra time in prayer for my family in Iowa and everyone else who has been impacted by this tragic flood.



In the meantime, here are some volunteer Johnny Jump Ups that appeared in my garden. Even in the midst of uncertain times, there is beauty to comfort us.

Yup - it's broken - kind of

After being gently chided by a close friend (who is also a doctor's wife) about not seeing a doctor about my finger, I finally capitulated and went in for an x-ray.

I have what is called an avulsion fracture. While the doctor did not tell me to do anything different than what I've already been doing (buddy taping and complete immobilization), she did give me a time frame for healing (at least 4 to 6 weeks). It's good in that I can continue to demand coerce ask for help from the kids with chores that require two hands for at least a month. It's lousy in that I'm not allowed to return to knitting or other two-handed crafty endeavors for the same amount of time.

Guess I won't be joining any bowling leagues this summer either. Gah!

Camping by faith

Faith can be a life saver - honestly. This last week is a great case in point.

Initially, we were scheduled to go to Kansas City. My hubby went to college there and has wanted to go visit friends and show off his alma mater to the kidlets. However, a week before we were to leave, he came to me with grave reservations about that trip. He didn't feel he had anything to base it on but his gut was telling him not to go to Kansas.

Since I knew how important it was that he pay attention to such promptings (he's had them before), I suggested several other campgrounds in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. After some research, he settled on one I hadn't even suggested in Hayward, Wisconsin, and the reservations were made and we were off.

It wasn't until we were back to civilization with television and weather news that we realized what a close shave we had. After hearing about the devastation from flooding, tornados and other weather-related issues in Kansas, Illinois, Minnesota and parts of Wisconsin, I am convinced that it was God talking to hubby. The weather up in Hayward, WI was cool and misty but the few showers we endured were nothing compared to those further south. What a blessing to enjoy a calm vacation in such a beautiful setting without all the chaos that severe weather would have created. Whew!

In knitting news, I did manage to finish the back of the Tweedy Hockey Vest in the Malabrigo I recently purchased before injuring my left hand. The front is cast on and a few inches along but will have to wait a few more days. While the swelling has gone down a little, I still can't grip much with the left hand. While the middle finger took the brunt of the force, all the fingers of that hand are stiff and sore.

I did bring my spinning wheel out and plan to try some spinning tonight but in the meantime, I resurrected an ancient UFO from my needlepoint phase of 15 years ago and am gingerly stitching away on it until I can return to quilting and knitting. I only have the roof, sky and band for the recipient's name left. I can't imagine why I stopped working on this Christmas stocking when I was so close to completion but, alas, I did. Hopefully, it will be just enough work to keep me busy until I'm back to full knitting strength.

Well, we're off to a full day of music camp, dance camp, play dates, an orthodontist appointment and an emergency homeschool support group meeting.

And I thought things were going to slow down for the summer. Oi!

Owwwww!

We had a great vacation last week, with one notable exception . . . I managed to severely jam my left middle finger. I don't think it is broken and it is not out of joint but the swelling and bruising will keep me from knitting for a little while.

I've decided to do some experimenting with cross-stitch, hand-quilting and other needle arts that won't require so much left-handed interaction.

Typing is also rather slow right now, since I have buddy-taped two fingers together. I may invite some guest bloggers to fill in.

In the meantime, here are the flower photos Hockeyman took last week. Enjoy.

Vacation, here we come

I was going to show off some picture Hockeyman took in the garden this week. However, Blogger is being very naughty and not allowing me to upload photos at the moment.

Anyway, we've been furiously preparing for a camping trip to Wisconsin this week, so nothing really blog-worthy has been happening around here.

I'll be back in a week.

Oh, my aching back!

After 3 days of unremitting effort, I am pleased to announce the completion of Phase 2 of the Great Garden Overhaul.

Phase 1 began last summer. Here is where we started in May '07. And here is were Phase 1 ended. The raised beds are currently planted with tomatoes, peppers and onions. The outside dirt area will be planted with peas, green beans, cucumbers, squash and strawberries. The areas with cypress mulch are the flower gardens with many of my lilies already transplanted and a few phlox and geraniums already moved in. Oh, and that giant green thing in the center is rhubarb which seems to be on steroids because it gets more massive every year. Oi!

While I had hoped to move into Phase 3 yet this summer (the construction of the white picket fence and small arbor surrounding the vegetable garden), it is looking unlikely for now. Some of my annual gardening budget had to go toward some new evergreen plants in the front. The lack of winter color/structure really got to both my husband and me this past winter and we just had to rectify it this year.

Still on the agenda - plant vegetable seeds, plant 4 more shrubs/evergreens in the front yard and divide perennials in other parts of the garden to fill in the new flower bed around the vegetable garden. That is, if my aching hands/feet/back/arms/shoulders/hamstrings/etc. can take it.

OWWWWW!

New projects

With decent weather FINALLY upon us, we've kicked our landscaping/gardening activities up a notch.

This project was started last year, with the removal of sod and enlargement of the vegetable/flower garden in back. Right now, I'm in the process of laying down landscape fabric and mulch in the flower bed portion of the garden.

I'm not sure if we'll get the white picket fence of my dreams in this year, as the garden budget is fast disappearing. But if sweat equity means anything, we may manage it yet.

In fiber news, the Malabrigo burned a hole in my stash and I just had to cast on. I decided on the Tweedy Vest from Knitscene. Until it gets too long and heavy, it will be my kwitting project for now.

Well, time to get back to the gardening. Ta ta for now!

The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful!

It is difficult to figure out where to start when trying to catch up. While blogging may have been on the back burner, fiber arts projects certainly were not.

So we'll start with the good. Inspired by Trek, I started "kwitting". It has become more and more apparent that the added padding I'd gained over the winter was not going to just disappear on its own. Drastic action needed to be taken. But how could I sacrifice those early morning hours previously spent in fibery pursuits in order to sweat off the winter weight. Along comes Trek with her ingenious solution and I was off and running walking. The washcloth is the result of 3 morning walks or the equivalent of 12 miles of kwitting. Not bad, eh!

Now for the bad - I just can't seem to stop casting on new projects. Although I did finish a number of projects over the past few weeks, the UFO pile really has not decreased appreciably in May. I am just not good at good intentions. This old dog just can't seem to learn new tricks.

This little scarf pattern was first seen at Rani's blog. I was so fascinated by the stitch pattern that I just had to grab some leftover cheap variegated acrylic and give it a try. The little girls think it's beautiful and I may end up having to make two, just to keep the peace.

Of course, I have half a dozen other projects lined up as well, since I'm firmly on my way toward planning far too many projects and activities in this brief span of summer vacation than anyone in their right minds would plan. What can I say, besides being a bad girl, I'm an incurably optimistic dreamer.


Now for the beautiful. A quick stop at Coldwater Collaborative last week to find a set of purse handles netted this treasure. I managed to snag 3 hanks of Malabrigo - ON SALE - 33% off. What is more, these are a variation of the local school colors. While there is not enough yardage for a full sweater, I'm hoping to get a nice vest out of it for fall. Or coordinating it with some solid yarn for a patterned sweater.

I foresee some happy hours spent swatching and searching Ravelry for the perfect hockey watching vest or sweater.

Good, bad or beautiful, it's shaping up to be a wonderful summer already. Woot!

Spinning progress

You'll have to forgive the poor photo quality. Hubby changed some of the camera settings and I can't seem to take decent photos anymore. I'll have to either learn how to change the settings on the camera myself or twist his arm until he sets it back to a higher resolution setting.

Anyway, here are three hanks of handspun yarns drying after a good bath. The dark gray is more of the same Coopworth I've been spinning since I received the wheel. I have actually started the Back-to-School vest from Fitted Knits with it and am trying to spin just enough to finish the project.

The white 2-ply is the practice yarn from the class at Shepherd's Harvest. It is an unknown breed but it seems to be a close match (in crimp and coarseness) to the two shades of Coopworth that I have on hand. I am planning on using it as an accent color with the other two Coopworth colors for a Fair Isle hat and perhaps matching mittens. The design is still in it's embryonic stage in the old brain pan, though.

The pale blue is an experiment in plying with a commercial yarn core. I took the blue batts from Fiberit and started a very slubby, unevenly spun single. Then I plied it with the over-twisted white wool cone yarn I've had in my stash for quite awhile. Unfortunately, I didn't look closely at it before beginning the plying process. The commercial yarn turned out to be Z-spun, which kinked up even more when I attempted to Z-ply it with the blue single. I ended up with a kinky, highly-energized yarn. I washed and rinsed it thoroughly and now am drying it under high tension to try and set the twist. I may even give it a quick steaming, just to see if I can unkink it enough knit with it. I have an idea to try a scarf from the Spring 2006 Spin Off Magazine article about knitting with energized singles. Hopefully the same principles will apply to energized 2-ply yarn as well. If not, it's been a successful spinning experiment in that I learned the value of checking the direction of the twist of commercial yarns before plying. Doh!

The next batch will probably be very different, as I want to reverse the direction I spin the blue single so that I can perhaps get a balanced yarn next time. Then I'll be ready to wash and perhaps dye the new white Coopworth that's waiting for it's turn to come out and play.

Oh, I have so many plans and ideas percolating in my head now. After all, dance recitals are over, homeschool is nearly done and summer is almost here and I'm SOOOoooooo ready to just play and play and play.

Checking in

It has been a wild week, trying to get the garden in, attending high school hockey parent meetings, repairing and steaming costumes and generally preparing for and participating in dance recitals. Lots of fiberlicious activities have taken place in the wee small hours of the morning but, alas, I've been too busy during daylight hours to take photos. I do have 3 hanks of freshly spun fibers ready for a wash. Hopefully, I will have some pictures tomorrow for you all.

One more day of dance recitals (3 shows today) and I'll hopefully be back to a more normal routine. Bear with me one more day and then I'll have some much more interesting posts for ya'll.

Shepherd's Harvest

Shepherd's Harvest was as delightful as could be. The day started out with an hour+ drive. I'm not a huge fan of driving but the majority of the trip was a straight shot on Hwy 494, so I could crank my music and sing along. If you knew how seldom I drive alone, you'd know what a treat it was for me to sing as loud as I wanted without embarrassed kids groaning and rolling their eyes at me.

I arrived at the Washington County Fairgrounds a little after 9 am. As per my habit, I made a round of all the vendors before buying anything. I even swung by the sheep/goat and llama/alpaca barns before shopping.

I've had a hankering to process my own fleece, so hand cards and a flick card were already on my shopping list, as well as a WPI gauge. Once these were purchased, I was on the hunt for the right fiber to use them on. I took my time looking at different bags of raw fleece and locks for sale. After awhile, I decided that this white Coopworth looked the cleanest and was within my price range. Having been spinning Coopworth already, I knew it would spin nicely for a beginner like me. Being white, it will also allow me to experiment with dyeing locks and blending colors.

By this time, it was after 11 a.m. and I wanted to stop by and say "hi" to Ellen at the MKG booth. The booth was very busy, with many people stopping by to get information about the guild, so we chatted for only a few moments before I had to leave her to fulfill her official duties for the afternoon.

I lugged my purchases back to the car and picked up the wheel and headed into the 4-H building, where the classes were being held. I had plans to meet with Tonyia for lunch and a little shopping during her hour long break in the Spinning for Scandinavian Knitting class.

I was a little early, so I wandered around and checked out some of the other classes that were already going on. I'd already decided that I'd like to take an advanced spinning class of some sort next year but the basket weaving class looked like so much fun that it also went on my list of classes to take.

At 12:00, Tonyia and I had lunch and shopped. It was so nice to meet someone I've chatted with via blogs for so long. I enjoyed it immensely and feel like I have made a wonderful new friend.

At 1 pm, the beginning spinning class started. As soon as I arrived, the teacher (Melanie Galligher of Fiburzzzz in Breezy Point, MN) asked me how much spinning I'd done. I mentioned that I'd already plied 6 bobbins worth of 2-ply yarn and she asked, "What are you doing in this class? You aren't a beginner!" I laughed and admitted that when I signed up, I didn't even own a wheel but once it arrived, I couldn't wait to practice. She was able to help me learn a few new tricks and I picked up some more basic spinning knowledge, so it was worthwhile to me. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with some of the other students and ended up heading over to the Fiburzzzz booth to buy some alpaca fiber.

After class, I headed home. Dancing Diva had been taking an Italian Cooking class and last night was the "final project." The teacher had all the students over to her home to prepare a full Italian dinner and dessert for the parents. It was a wonderful meal and time of fellowship with good friends.

The perfect ending to a perfect day.

P.S. I figured out how to finish the back pack! It was so funny how it happened. I asked my engineering genius husband for help. As I was trying to explain to him how the back pack should cinch closed and I suddenly had a picture in my head of how it should work. My hubby just sat and looked at me the whole time with this baffled expression as I explained the problem, how the solution should work and then snatched the backpack back and excitedly started threading the cords through the eyelets and danced around in joy when it worked.

What can I say, he's my inspiration.

Knitting S.O.S.

I have a crisis! I am in desperate need of some help!

As mentioned before, I am making gifts for teachers. I am in the midst of finishing up the Fabulous Felted Backpack from Bags - A Knitter's Dozen and I've misplaced my copy of the book. I've made an exhaustive search of the house, told my kids there is a $5 reward for whoever finds it and prayed for inspiration to remember where I put it. It is just nowhere to be found.

Ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem for me. I am a very creative person and manage to rewrite patterns from knitted items and can usually finish anything without the original pattern.

But I have hit the wall on this one. I DON'T REMEMBER HOW TO THREAD THE STRAPS THROUGH THE EYELETS! This pattern has the I-cord threaded through the eyelets twice in a specific way so that it ends up with two shoulder straps and sewn around the base of the backpack. I have experimented and tested with no success. I've looked at finished backpack pictures on Ravelry to see if I could figure it out and it was no help.

If anyone out there has a copy of the book or the Winter 2000 Knitters Magazine, please help me out.

Who knows, maybe Murphy's Law will kick in and the book will show up after I've received the help I need. If not, it will show up the day after I am supposed to deliver the gift.

New goodies

It's been an exciting week of spinning related deliveries. First, I ordered a couple of books for the ol' spinning library. Spinning in Color came highly recommended by Bonny, since I am very interested in learning to card and blend my own color combinations. I also invested in the "Bible" of hand spinning - The Alden Amos Big Book of Handspinning.

ANNNND . . . the rest of the parts of the spinning wheel arrived this week. Now that I have the jumbo flyer and a REAL lazy Kate, plying will go much easier. Also pictured is the high speed flyer, which I'm hoping will come in handy in the future, when I join the ranks of elite lace weight spinners.

Also delivered today were some wonderful wool batts that Bonny carded up for me. It was a mixture of pale blue and green locks she had dyed herself. I forgot to ask what the breed was, so I'll have to figure that out before I start blogging about processing all that gorgeous, cloudy, soft goodness. All I know is it is light and fluffy as a dream and the variation between the blue and green should make it fascinating to spin.

Alas, the poor spinning wheel has been a bit neglected this week. I'm still finishing up some end of year gifts for various teachers, which was a higher priority. However, the spinning wheel will see some action this week, in preparation for Shepherd's Harvest. Gotta empty all those bobbins just in case I need them for my beginning spinning class. WOOT!

I'm planning on meeting Tonyia for lunch on Saturday. Any other blogger buddies want to meet us? Let me know and we'll make plans to get together. Can you spell "ANTICIPATION?"

Long delayed post

Wow, it's been 8 days since my last confession post. What is it about spring that makes you ignore blogger friends while engaging in a frenzy of fiber activity?

Anyway, I'm posting my Sewing Room Friday post a day early. I am hoping to finish this latest sewing project today so that I can clear up the dining room for the weekend. While sewing in the dining room makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids while they do their schoolwork, it does tend to make the house look untidy and drives the neatniks in this kooky crew crazy.

And what is this latest sewing project, you ask? Well, it is a tale of some woe. You see, one of the owners of the dance studio is retiring this year. She is a wonderful dancer and my girls have all loved being in her classes through the years. Her son is graduating from high school next year and she felt the need to spend more time with him and her husband.

So, when she approached me about doing some sewing for her, I jumped at the chance. This project is a set of window toppers for her breezeway. It is a pleasure to do something helpful for such a wonderful teacher and friend.

In other fiber news, I'm feverishly finishing year-end gifts for various teachers and church leaders. Last night was the Awana Leader Appreciation Dinner, where I delivered some hand-made soaps wrapped in yet more dishcloths. Yes, it's true. Even after the great Washcloth Wasteland of Christmas '07, I had the ability to pull out the tried and true Ball-Band Dishcloth pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting and make a few more. I also delivered Nautie to it's intended recipient last night. Nautie was a big hit - the life of the party, even. I'm just hoping the video of the evening doesn't appear on You-Tube and embarrass everyone. While Nautie is adorable, watching him swim around the punch bowl with a lampshade on his head was just a tad too much.

I am feverishly finishing up some gifts for the dance teachers and trying to complete my goal of finishing 3 UFO's before casting on anything new for myself. While I still have a couple of denial projects to report, they are towards the bottom of my "to be finished" pile and not getting any attention at the moment.

I've also been busy doing some costume alterations and repairs over the past week. After picture day, people realized that costumes weren't going to magically fit properly and needed to be worked on before recitals in two weeks. I'm praying that a crop of them doesn't show up on Thursday afternoon, the day before dress rehearsals start. Oi! That reminds me - Peeps costume is too big and needs to be taken in, too. Ooops.

In the meantime, I'm gearing up for Shepherd's Harvest next weekend. I've been saving my pennies and watching the weather forecasts with an anxious eye, so that I can plan what to wear and whether I'll need to drag out the snow pants and galoshes one more time or if the new summer wardrobe and clogs will suffice. This spring has been insane, weather wise. I am so ready for summer that I may show up at Shepherd's Harvest wearing shorts and flip flops even if it is snowing and below freezing.

There is just a limit to how long you can stand wearing your winter duds.