Shawl Update

As the updates continue, it's time to show you the latest on the Tree of Life anniversary prayer shawl. I'm down to 2 and a half balls of the variegated yarn, so I expect to finish the last of the leaf lace within the next few days. My plan is to use up the 4 balls I had allotted for the right "wing" of the shawl, measure it, and then probably pull out a few rows on the left wing to make sure the distances match. (If I'd really been thinking, it would have occurred to me that I only have 10 balls total in that dye lot, including the 1 and a half or so I used above and below the cable panel. Therefore, I should have weighed out what I had left when I started the left wing, then split it in half so as to end up with evenly sized wings without the excess counting and tinking I've now committed myself to. Hindsight, and all that.) Then, I just have to make "wingtip" strips of the orchid lace in the yellow for each end, and a leaf-type border from Barbara Walker #2 (my new favorite book in the world) in yellow to go around the whole thing.

And for those who are playing the home game - this whole project was due on Saturday. I'm told the party was great, although I was out of town with family and didn't get there myself. New deadline: Memorial Day!

One more shawl-based comment: I'm definitely conflicted over this Crystal Palace Merino. It's light and soft and springy and the colors are great - but at least half of the balls I've knat up so far have a knotted break in somewhere in the middle. I'm not great at weaving in ends anyway, and I do not want extra chances to practice this particular skill. And with a fairly limited amount of this not-very-cheap yarn, my cold Dutch heart just won't let me waste a bunch of it by only switching to a new skein at the end of a row. So, Crystal Palace, please try to do better, for my sake? (I did complain to my LYS and showed Jody, the nice owner-lady, the problem. She's going to relay my concerns to Crystal Palace, with a few extra comments of her own, but that seriously doesn't do me much good at this point. Oh, well.)

And under the category of E-Bay, I'm working to recreate Lora J's favorite amber earrings after she lost one in an unexpected manner. I needed amber for this, obviously, and while purchasing the supplies needed I also impulsively purchased a copper pendant for a whopping $1.99. I figured it was semi-cute, and at that price I'd find a use for it eventually. Unfortunately, I didn't look closely at the actual dimensions. Can you believe this sucker is 4 inches long?!! And the workmanship is not great - I think the bail is soldered on crooked.

I can't see myself actually wearing it. My first thoughts were "Children's Theater prop" and "Christmas Ornament." But if you want it, drop me a line. If you're local or plan to see me at a family event, I'll just bring it to you. If you're a friend that I've not yet met, send me a couple of bucks to cover shipping and I'll put it in the mail to you. First come, first serve - there's got to be someone who can make use of this gem.

I leave you for today with another image of spring, taken in the garden this morning. (I know - I'll have to pull it out of the garden tonight. But I like dandelions in principle, even those with poor sense of location.) Next time, I'll tell you about the Cousins in Chicago weekend, and how the view from the 96th floor women's room of the Hancock Tower really is just as good as the one from the Sears Tower Observation Deck.

Catching Up

I've been thinking of you, Blog - I just couldn't seem to find a spare breath to tell you all about the latest events in our lives.

First of all, Tasha and I explored Cinderella's Closet in Fond du Lac. What a cool place! Big fluffy gowns everywhere, and we found a perfect dress for Tasha that fit beautifully and reflected the theme colors of her prom, all for under $100! She looks beautiful in it - Theresa said it looked like something a Disney princess would wear. Betty N. has volunteered to hem it, and then we need to get it to the cleaners to be cleaned and pressed. But the prom isn't until the 10th, so I think we'll make it in plenty of time.

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Meanwhile, my Baby Girl turned 17 on Wednesday, which gave me the impetus to look back on her life and how much she's matured in these last few years. It will be interesting to see how we all handle her being off at the camp all summer - her first chance to really stretch her wings without us, and our first chance to see what life as empty nesters will be like - at least on the days when Luc is off at work and Rick is not off on a work trip.

So Saturday was "prom dress shopping day." Oh, and we worked in a visit to the Fondy mall, which we really didn't need, and walked out with several bags of towels and other supplies for Tasha's summer on her own, which we managed to convince ourselves that she sort of needed, and a new pair of earrings for me, which I definitely didn't need. (But I feel pretty wearing them today.) Oh, and Tasha drove, which meant I got a LOT of work done on the anniversary shawl.

Sunday was the first prep day for Dad's visit (part of his spring migration from Arizona to Michigan), and I spent most of my after-church time either supervising Luc's cleaning efforts, saying encouraging things about Rick's and Tasha's cleaning efforts, or dreading my own cleaning efforts. I'm repressing the details.

On Monday, I took off from work like I was being chased by the hounds of Hades, and made it to the Borders Bookstore in Madison in time to get second row seating for The Yarn Harlot. Look how close I was!!
I'm even in her blog - really. If you look close, I'm in the fifth photo down, in my oatmeal cotton sweater, right behind the cute girl in the maroon hoodie. http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2008/04/29/marvellous_madison.html I know, I'm unrecognizable - but some would say that's a good thing. And I was sitting right next to this lady by the name of Dale-Harriet, who was a "living history" buff and was knitting traditional voyageur hats and told great stories about her aspirations to be a cat lady. (I'm sending her Dan's sock pattern, so she can branch out a little.) I brought the anniversary shawl with me and worked on it conscientiously all evening, and even got some compliments on it from some of the gathered masses!

Stephanie, by the way, was a hoot. She seemed a little nervous at first, which surprised me, and her voice was horse from all the traveling and public speaking; but I would love to run into her at a party. I'll bet she can tell some really good stories, especially if she isn't restrained by propriety and her press agent. She retold the story of hiking 7 km on St. Patty's Day in Northern Ontario for beer and toilet paper, and had us all rolling on the floor. And she had prepared remarks about the link between theta waves and knitting, and how those scientists at Cambridge University just couldn't see how it would be practical to carry around "emergency knitting" for stress relief. Obviously, those Cambridge guys need to meet more knitters.

Lessee - got back from Madison about Midnight on Monday - I got a little lost making the transition from 151 back to 23, and wished once more for a Garmin of my very own. Then spent most of Tuesday either working or cleaning until very late. Wednesday was a very busy and productive day at work, with a last minute panic that almost made me late getting home for Dad's visit. But Rick and Tasha were there to keep him company, then we went out and had a dinner in Kohler that couldn't be beat, sang Happy Birthday to Tasha in a low tone that did nothing to mask our off-key start (and finish), then came back to the house and drank a rather fine whiskey with Dad until later than I should have been up on a weeknight.

Today, Dad is on his way again and both the kids are working tonight, so I plan to sit in front of the TV, work hard on the anniversary shawl while watching the first Dr. Who episode for the season, and plan my trip this weekend to Chicago with the cousins. Oh, and laundry . . . we're getting a little critical on laundry again . . .

Tomorrow, I promise: pictures of the status of the anniversary shawl, along with a full report.

Cold and Dark and Windy and Cold

The forsythia are - still - blooming, which is good because I was really worried last night's severe thunderstorm would knock all the blooms off the bushes before we'd even got to enjoy them properly. Today the wind is just whipping through, with threats of possible snow tonight. Rick is off to that Illinois U-Pull-It junkyard for another load of Cellica parts, and is dressed in t-shirt, sweatshirt, fleece-lined pants and double-walled hat. He says he doesn't need a jacket because he's a "Wisconsin Man." (Say it with a flourish.)

Meanwhile, Tasha is at a March of Dimes walkathon down by the lake, and is probably freezing her tuchus off. I'm supposed to pick her up in an hour so we can go prom dress shopping - and she'll still probably want to pick something out that's strapless and has no insulation value at all.

And I was going to plant Dalia bulbs today, but I think I'll make some hot chocolate instead and work on a certain wool knitting project . . .

Another one of my bright ideas

I've been talking off and on for years with different folks at church about doing some note cards with an image of the church. Most recently, we were trying to come up with a new and different fundraiser for a retired member who has no insurance and just had an emergency triple bypass. The idea was to try to get a dawn photo of the church, with the forsythia bushes in front bursting into bloom and the golden morning light streaming out from behind (east) of the church. Sounds pretty, right?

Well, my forsythia bushes at home are now blooming (as you saw in the previous post), so I headed over to choir practice a bit early last night to check out the possibilities. And the short answer is, it ain't gonna work. The winter windbreak - which is not ugly, but does clutter the lines of the building - is still up, even though I was told it was coming down "any time now." Worse, the forsythia bushes out front must have gotten damaged by roof ice or something, because they have an abysmally meager amount of blooms and generally look neglected and abused. And worst of all, apparently this week was chosen to pull a bunch of siding off the area right above those bushes to fix some roof leaks. Now, I appreciate Tyvek as much as the next person, but I didn't really want to feature it in the photo.

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So I crawled around in the front yard, playing with the evening light and the way the burgundy leaf buds on the trees played off the burgundy roof of the building, and I took this:

I'll pick up a print this afternoon, to see what the color looks like in "real life." But what do you think? Assuming decent production values and professional packaging, would you pay $6 for five note cards and envelopes, especially if you knew that all proceeds would benefit the "First Congregational UCC Uninsured/Underinsured Member Fund"?

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(For those who aren't familiar with the building and are wondering, the forsythia, wind break, and missing siding are all hiding around the corner on the left side, obscured by the branches of that strategically placed tree.)

I love Spring!

The Breakfast Club

During the summer I day-range my poultry. That is to say, I let the birds out in the morning, and they wander the yard and woods for the day, and we have trained each other to meet again at the coop around dusk so I can fill the feed dish and shut the door against predators. (This has occasionally been a rather fluid agreement - every year I have to re-train the younger hens to this concept, and back when I had ducks they were downright obstinate about the whole thing.)

Anyway, last spring one morning I let the girls out as usual - and a wild turkey hen walked up behind me, calmly walked into the coop and started helping herself to breakfast. She didn't have much fear of me (and none of the chickens), and had kind of a "Ladies who Lunch" attitude about the whole thing. This went on for several weeks, and she even started spending her nights roosting on top of the coop. We called her Clarice, with the implication that she might be good with Fava Beans and a nice Chianti. I found out she was spending her "off" nights at the coop of my poultry-keeping neighbor down the road, whose children had christened her "Mrs. Turken." But in late spring something called her away - could have been a tom, could have been a truck - and we didn't see her any more. (I think. Wild turkey hens are not what you'd describe as individually distinctive.)

Fast forward to this morning, and who to my wondering eyes should appear but Clarice. She nodded politely to the chickens, but seemed especially interested in following me around to see if I had anything special for her.

I think it was Ben Franklin who advocated for the Wild Turkey to be our national bird, rather than the Bald Eagle (whom Brother Dan refers to as our "National Scavenger"). No question - those wild turkeys are smart.

Oh, and one more thing: here is a photo of the reincarnated southern edge of the septic garden. Up until last year, it would have been full of early-blooming lipstick tulips by now; but my favorite rooster decided last summer to dig a dust bath in there while I was at work. I've done my best to replant it, and hopefully the miniature roses and prickly mulch will discourage the birds from doing it again. Just the same, I thought I'd better have a "before" picture in place. Keep your fingers crossed.

I feel better

I made pretty good progress on the Tree of Life shawl on Saturday, while watching two very strange movies. (Fur with Robert Downey Jr. and Nicole Kidman, and The Fountain with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. The Fountain was weird and convoluted but pretty; Fur was just plain weird.) Just the same, I'm starting to think that I'm not going to make my deadline with the shawl. Therefore, by all rights I should have reached full on panic mode by Sunday afternoon, and spent the remainder of that day huddled in front of the TV with my needles.

But it was absolutely gorgeous out. Wells Fargo's sign said it was 75°F, which I have decided to believe even if Community Bank's sign next door was only claiming 65°F. The sun was out, the garden centers were open, and I wanted some color in my life! (I swear to God, I was only in K-Mart for toiletries - but the pansy's were calling to me!) So I planted three hanging baskets, the two tubs on the north side of the house, and the whisky barrel in the garden over the septic tank. (The barrel covers the lid, and we have lots of fun every 3 years moving it when the County requires us to pump out our tank. But in the mean time, it camouflages the situation nicely.) Oh, and I managed to gather and burn all those sale fliers and pizza boxes and other miscellaneous stuff that always manages to blow away over the course of the winter and get stuck in the brush on the edge of our woods. And I cut back all the dead stalks and gathered up all the dead leaves and such from last years blooms, along with other garden-cleaning duties. I do wonder why there was a exhaust gasket in my rose bed - but I guess that's the price of sharing a yard with a motorhead. In the winter, he gets to put cars on engine blocks in the front yard if he feels it necessary; but our rule is that all his motor stuff must be cleaned up by the time my flowers bloom, and must be stored neatly behind the house or somewhere else that doesn't block the view of the garden by the road.

So, yeah, I should be in a blind knitting panic just now. But I got to get dirt under my nails yesterday, and plant pretty things, and maybe even sunburn the back of my neck a little bit. And I may be starting to accept that the Tree of Life shawl is going to be late. And today it's supposed to be even warmer, if a little misty. And I'm wearing a floaty summer dress and sandals to work, and franky, I feel pretty content.