Semi-Glamourous

Today I am delivering discs and prints for the "Glamour Shots" session from last Saturday. The funny thing is, Pam (no, not that Pam) and I started this project for women who might enjoy the chance to get dolled up for the camera. A brighter shade of lipstick than normal, the confidence of knowing you have a professional on hand to make sure your hair is just right, maybe a cute little lacy thing to wear . . . you get the idea. But more and more, our work is geared towards taking photos of children before they have time to get messed up. It's a whole different attitude, but I'm loving the chance to work with the kids.

This time around, someone even brought in a baby! I didn't have the right kind of stuff to get a baby positioned correctly (and safely), but I found a big old wooden wire spool in the salon's basement. Throw a length of velvet over it, and voila! We took some shots that way, and some with his big sister or his grandmother holding him.I always knew those old hats and scarfs in my collection would come in handy!

Tree of Life Anniversary Shawl

At long last - almost exactly a year late - the Anniversary Shawl is done. I don't know how many hours of actual work it took, but the entire process was spread over at least 16 months. The wool is incredibly soft and springy, and it was worth every penny to use "the good stuff" on this project. Tammy has crocheted the last bit of edging on, and I've taken it down to Hilton's Fiber Shop so Jodi could admire the yarn she sold me. I even snuck it into church to show to some choir members, while carefully keeping it out of the sight of it's intended final owner. It's packed away in a bag with a big lavender sachet on top for moth protection, waiting to be presented. And this is the part that scares me.

Originally, it was going to be presented at the church service adjacent to Bob and Glenda's big 50th anniversary party, when all three of their kids would be in town and could take part in the presentation. Having missed that opportunity, the next reasonably appropriate time to present it may not happen for a month or longer. And if something, anything happened to it in the interim, I might not be able to cope. Here's "Exhibit A" on how that could happen:

What you're looking at is the aftermath of another lace prayer shawl. This project was less ambitious, to be sure. I only had about 3 hours into it so far, and it wasn't nearly the stretch of my abilities which the first shawl required. But Luc helpfully let the dog out on her cable so she could tend to her necessaries. This normally takes about 30 seconds, but he decided to leave her out there for 15 minutes or so while he switched over some laundry (and puttered with his video game, I'm willing to bet). The dog got bored, and pawed on the front door until she managed to turn the lever handle. She then dragged her cable with her into the living room and proceeded to have a party with the blue lace shawl and 4 other yarns I had in sitting together in an open basket. This is what it looks like AFTER I spent a good hour untangling the other yarns (and her cable) from the dog-sized heap that was sitting on the floor when I got home.

Lucas wisely apologized and then quickly left for work, bringing flowers with him when he got home. Oh, and the Knitpicks interchangeable needle set I'd been using was in at least 8 gnawed pieces, but I've luckily been able to account for all the metal parts.

So, yeah; a moth, a puppy . . . there's a long list of things that could damage the tree of life shawl and really, really ruin my day. Keep your fingers crossed, and hopefully I'll get to do the hand-off soon. Oh, and if you want the pattern, I could probably cobble it together from my notes. But I'm telling you right now, I am not test knitting it.