Wedding Garter

Here's the results of my attempt at Eloping . Frankly, I'm just never going to be a lace person. I thought I'd bang it out over a Sunday afternoon, and instead I spent two Sunday afternoons and three more stolen bits of midweek evening time to finish it up. The blue is that Glimmer alpaca, and it twinkles prettily even though it's incredibly soft. The silk for the ties is Debbie Bliss' Simply Silk - gorgeous stuff, but very slippery. I used my favorite washable and "dries flexible" fray check to secure the ends, or I'm sure it would slip right apart. The pattern called for narrow strips of elastic to be run through the eyelets below the ribbon (in this case, I cord), but I substituted some round elastic cord I found in Wally-World's fabric notions, then secured the ends together using the kind of crimp tubes one normally uses to finish off the ends of a ribbon or cord necklace. The result was kind of like those old hair elastics we used to use 20 years ago with the metal crimp. I wove it through so that the elastic crimp is on the private side of the garter, opposite the silk bow on the public side. Then I slammed it into an envelope and sent it to Maine, priority mail. The last bridal shower is Thursday - let's hope it makes it!

Meanwhile, Nora and I made a trip to the emergency vet on Friday night because the poor baby had a urinary tract infection. She had all the classic symptoms, and I have reason to be sympathetic towards this particular ailment. Besides, she was desperate to go out every 15 minutes or so on Friday evening, and then cried every time she squatted. So off we went. I called ahead and explained to them that I had a dog who did not like strangers on principal, had a history of abuse and neglect, and was now in a foul mood due to her illness. (Just last week the trainer was telling me that she "didn't know how this dog was ever going to be vetted.") But they were waiting at the door for us, then put us straight into a room where she could calm down and feel a little safer. Then I fed her bits of treats through the end of her muzzle while they swooped in quickly behind her and stabbed her in the butt with a sedative. Fifteen minutes later Nora was flying at altitude and we had no problem with the exam. $220 after that, we were discharged with two kinds of pills and a dog that was temporarily in love with everything that moved. So all is well.

Oh, and great day at market on Saturday. My best yet. I'm told that the couple who walked away with about $100 worth of prints were the owners of a major kitchen implements company you may have heard of. I really wish I'd remembered to print some more business cards out so I could have passed them one.