gearing up for another long drive

I was going to start my post with an explanation of my lack of blogging lately, but then saw this icon:
and explanation while browsing some blogs and decide to keep my apologies to myself.

Mike and I are on our way to the 'ville for Christmas and quite a few of our friends will be in town as well, so it'll be nice to see family and friends over the holidays. I'm not looking forward to the change in weather, as the temperature here in Charleston has be between 60-80 these past few days and it's just been beautiful. But that also means, I haven't felt as much in the Christmas spirit, because it doesn't feel like Christmastime. I suppose I'll be over that in a few days, but in the meantime, I'm rushing around trying to remind myself that Christmas is in one week people! one week!!

I've had work parties and social events for the holidays, and haven't gotten much knitting done at all, but I did get to go to a wonderfully fun yarn-tasting at Knit last Saturday. They had 20 small balls of yarn in little muffin cups to try out, knit with and see what you liked. Vera decided to crochet hers, and ended up with a beautiful granny square of a multitude of colors and expanding weights - it was really pretty:



I was taking a bit longer and am bringing my samples with me over the holiday to play with. I am trying to come up with some favorite yarns so I have some staples to go to, but then again that will also encourage growth for my already-needing-to-be-trimmed stash, so I should be careful.

And the previous Thursday I got to talk to Franklin Habit while he was at a book signing for his book It Itches, at my favorite yarn shop in Chicago - Sister Arts Studio. He is so funny and such a charming person to talk to and it was great to talk with him & all my knitting sisters as well! He even blogged about it here. When I lived in Chicago, I used to see him at events and follow his blog pretty regularly - and it's nice to see that he had a good time while he was there. He's one of those multi-talent people like Mike, where he can do photography, draw, knit and write all with ease and beauty. I am so in awe of such artistic people.

Mike and I often have discussions about the difference between creative people, or coordinated people who can create and artists.
I classify the first as those who can following others directions, - i.e. place nail, hit with hammer, miss finger or see number, wet brush, apply appropriate paint. They have the ability to manipulate the mediums to copy or imitate the ideas of others. Or maybe they have great ideas but not necessarily the talent to get their ideas across - (I'm thinking win, loose or draw, or charades on a much craftier level) Not inspiring, but wonderful and gets the idea across.

Then there's having a gift or talent that I think of for an artist - the ability to create something from nothing or something amazing from another simple thing. Having an idea or image or creation reach others and speak volumes, inspire to create and be happy. I think of an artist as putting that type of beauty and inspiration into anything they work on or create. And do it well. Really well.

I guess for me, I put myself in the first category and Mike and Franklin and plenty of people like them in the second. I have lots of ideas, great intentions, I can follow a pattern and pull a loop through with a hook or pointy stick, but give me a blank sheet of paper, and it stays blank. I can point and shoot a camera and won't cut your head off, but it also won't be something you need to print out and hang on the wall or use as your background. And I'm okay with that. I know my 'talents and gifts' lie elsewhere and I enjoy exploring them.

But when I browse Franklin's pictures, or cartoons or knitted pieces, or watch Mike freehand or create his website, or see the pieces he's carved, I am always amazed and inspired and think, ... how awesome. I wish I could do that. And I love knowing people like that because they are what keep me creating and trying and doodling and thinking and maybe someday I'll inspire somebody too.

On that note, may your Christmas (or whatever holiday you are celebrating) inspire and create happiness and joy wherever you go!

resting between vacations

It's always amazing to me the amount of catch-up time and rest you need when returning from a vacation. After spending 28+ hours in a car for the Thanksgiving holidays (14 hrs each way) I'm happy to be home and NOT in a car.

The trip itself was wonderful, the best part being able to see family we hadn't in a long while. My cousin and I share a birthday which was the Monday before Thanksgiving this year, so it was great to have a double celebration with her (a first in over 30 years I think!).

My cousins' kids have gotten so tall and big I really didn't recognize them. The last few times I have seen them, they were pretty small or it was at my wedding, which means I really didn't have any time to spend with them, so it was great to get to see them all again.

We also brought some old 8mm film reels that my dad had taken over the years, his childhood and ours, and with my aunt providing the projector, we watched events spanning from her 16th birthday party (won't say how long ago that was.. just that her youngest turned 32 this year) to my 5th birthday party. They were all without sound, and hilarious to watch and try to figure out who was who and what was going on. There were great shots of my grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, and my parents as well. I only wish that they were there to fill us in and enjoy the moment. My aunt did a pretty good job of filling us in on who was who and I know she was excited to see these videos. I doubt anyone had watched them in over 30 years. Now we need to get them onto DVD's to preserve them, as one did split while we watched it, and we want to make sure we are able to keep them as long as possible.

I did manage to get quite a bit of knitting done on the ride up (which we took 2 days to do) and the ride back - which we did in one.

I finished seaming the EZ baby sweater, and in doing so, realized I forgot/didn't pick up the extra 14 stitches created when making the arms and had to do a T-shaped seam job in the underarms, but I'm considering it a design flaw element and the jacket will just have a smaller chest/body and flared or more kimono like arms.

I made 3 scarves from this pattern, which I just love the stitch pattern on. When I saw the pattern I was immediately enthralled by it, and just knew my cousin would like it. So I first chose this Linus yarn which called to me b/c of the small red strips of color running through it:


It came out a bit too masculine, so I continued it into a scarf, and may keep it for myself, or perhaps give it to one of my brothers, we'll see. Here it is unblocked:



Then I started another in orange to test out some thicker yarn, and just love the way it came out - I just need to get a big button for it:



Then I bought some beautiful alpaca with just a touch of tweediness to it, used some of the Linus yarn to make a button and some fringe, and made this one for my cousin:




Here's the button:



It was fun to make. I may get sucked into making another out of some bulky alpaca, but we'll see how my other projects keep me busy.
I started a pair of Fetchings for my other cousin out of some Cherry Hill Alpaca and they're coming along nicely. No pictures yet, that'll be the next post.

celebrating her birthday!!!!

that's right. I'm old. getting older. But now Mike and I are the same age - for at least another couple of months!

I'm getting ready to head to Louisiana to see my aunt/uncle and cousins (one of which happens to share my birthday as well!) and am trying to figure out what I need to do and bring before I leave. I am, of course, knitting her something, and have tried 3 different yarns to find the right one for the gift I'm making for her. (MB - if you read this - don't click the link!!). The first attempt was too manly, but I loved the stitch and am going to use it as a scarf. The second, is working, but rather bright, and may be used for a matching parent/sister gift - we'll see. The third I will cast on in the car once we're on our way in this yarn:



It's so soft and yummy! Considering how the yarn for the other two worked out, I may have to try a couple of needle sizes, but it should work out perfectly. I just love the stitch pattern, it's really easy and looks great. I think I'll be making quite a few of these (not that 3 isn't a few...) because I think I want one for myself!

In other news, the baptism went great, and the bonnet, although didn't match her dress at all (antique white vs. White-white) it looked cute for the 2 minutes it was on:


We got to see a lot of Mike's family and not only was there a baptism, but also a birthday for William! Go November Birthdays! and I took lots of cute pictures. I've put them up on my Kodak gallery, and will be sending out links to the family. William has a fascination with keys, and during the baptism, was fixated on opening up a side vestabul door with his parents car keys - it was super cute. I took a series of shots of him trying to unlock the door, as well as shots of the actual baptism that are gone off my camera! I have no idea where they went - but then Mike suggested that I may have been using someone elses camera. This is a possibility as there were a number of camera's being passed around, and I really hope I was - there were some cute pictures on there.

We went to a pot-luck dinner the other night thrown by students from Mike's school, and it was very nice. We brought homemade cranberry sauce that hadn't had time to cool/gel, but it still tasted pretty good and pumpkin tartlets that were a hit! I made another batch last night and have been trying not to eat the entire dish.

I still have not seamed the EZ Sweater, but I have finished knitting it:



It needs to be blocked, and I realized I got so far and then just kinda skipped/skimmed over the directions at the end - I didn't do any of the shaping at the bottom (there are supposed to be some decreases in there somewhere) and I think I was supposed to pick-up the armholes when I picked up the rest of the sweater. *shrug* that's the EZ way I suppose, and I'm happy with how it came out.

Now I'm off to get my hair cut, run some other errands and then it's off to Louisiana to give thanks for my wonderful family!!!

returning from Spartenburg

I just got back from a weekend with my in-laws for my niece's baptism, and one thing I realized, other than I have some beautiful beautiful nieces, is that the booties I made for our friends are going to be WAAAYYYY to big. I guess they'll be for when he gets a couple of years old eh? The baby bonnet look cute, but didn't stay on long. It was too off-white for her dress, but looked pretty.

It was a really nice weekend. We got to hang out with a bunch of his family members that we haven't seen in a while. His nieces and nephews are getting really big! And playing with his brother's dog just made us want one even more. In just a couple more weeks I'll get to see my family for the holidays. We're driving to Louisiana to see my aunts and cousins for Thanksgiving. I'm really excited to see them too since it's been even longer since we've seen them! Then for Christmas we'll head back to the 'ville to hang out with friends and family there too. I'm looking forward to the holidays, just not all the driving. I guess it's some good knitting time though.

I'm almost finished with the EZ sweater, it just needs to be seamed up and it looks great! I'm really proud of it. One of these days I'll be brave enough to make and adult sweater for myself. I've got a few favorites right now that I'm thinking of starting on. On is this one (on Ravelry here) called the Green Gable hoodie. I think part of the reason I like it is because it reminds me of the Central Park Hoodie. My second favorite is Riding to Avalon, (here for fellow Ravelers). I was thinking about making it without the hood - or maybe the hood as a flap in the back. My ultimate favorite I think I've mentioned before and is called Pakuna. I keep meaning to pick up the booklet for it, but I've decided to wait until I'm more ready to cast it on and then get the booklet.

Pictures will have to wait until I download them off my camera - maybe tonight if I'm lucky.

at then end of antother crazy week

It's been another busy week, but a quiet weekend, which is nice. It seems like so long ago now, but I did get out and vote on Tuesday. I think they only had one polling place for all of DI where I live, because I spent 3 hrs in line waiting to vote!! The first 1 and 1/2 was just waiting to sign in! This was due partly to my last name being in the middle of the alphabet, so our line was the longest. Then we had to get back at the end of another line that wrapped back and around the parking lot. It was really crazy. I did remember to bring my knitting along and Mike was with me, so I managed.

Then Thursday night was the Fete des Artisans at Mike's school - it was a lot of fun, and both Mike and I got all dolled up to go. Here we are in front of what they've been working on all semester:



Of course looking at it now, we're standing in front of half of their work so here it is as a more unobstructed view:



It was very nice and there was some good food and fun people. One of the ladies I met wowed me with her eyelashes - she had teeny-tiny beads on them!



Are they not great? I love them. I want some. Of course having blue eyes and long lashes in the first place can't hurt either, but I'm determined to find them and find a place to wear them and look just as fabulous!

Today while out shopping, I stopped into a boutique where jeans start at around $250, and was browsing around when I saw the adult version of the sweater I just finished for Crystal's baby on the rack for over $180! I was laughing when I saw it, but then thought - maybe there are a few fun and Christmas presents in it....I could definitely make it out of a better yarn than it was made out of. It still makes me giggle a bit. Well, we know Molly Mack will be fashionable this year! I really did enjoy making that sweater, and I think it's going to become a staple/favorite of mine. I'm going to try it in a few different types of yarn, and then perhaps the adult version is next. I need to see if Ravelry already has one on file to save me some math.

I also completed some knitting this week. The baby bonnet I've been working on is done and I've actually finished something early for a change! The christening is next weekend and I don't have to mail it, so I know it will be there on time and completed. I think this is a first. Of course, I now want to cast on something else either for William or another gift for Cindy. The EZ sweater is coming along, I have one sleeve done and it's going much quicker on the second, but I get distracted easily so I pick it up and put it down. But I've got the pattern down solid in my head so I know it'll go faster now. I should keep an eye out for good buttons. Any suggestions on colors?

2 things I didn't get to go to were my brother's Prive party that he had in Atlanta. They're an invitation only party, at an undisclosed location until the evening of. He's a chef who has a great Cooking/Party Company in San Francisco, and so normally I just hear about them. This time the party was in Atlanta GA, which is only a few hours away, but we weren't able to go because of Mike's schools fundraiser. I heard it went over well, and hope maybe next time he's on this side of the US we'll be able to make it.

Also my cousin Sabrina is receiving her Confirmation this weekend - I didn't realize how hard it can be to find a decent Confirmation - or Christening card these days. It took us three stores, with the last one being a Hallmark store before we found a nice selection. I know next time to hit up Hallmark first. I did not knit/crochet anything for her, but am sending some love along - late as usual. The nice thing about family is they know you, and love and forgive you anyway.

all dressed up for Halloween

This year for Halloween I didn't think I was going to need a costume. Mike and I were going to a party where, as far as I knew, costumes were not required. Then came the email that costumes were "strongly encourage" - 3 days before Halloween!! And then I started to get a bit worried.

I have a few staple costumes that have worked for me in years past, but none that I felt comfortable wearing this year, or I was just plain sick of them. Then while browsing some costumes on the 'net, I came upon one I thought would work - Velma from Scooby-Doo! Pretty easy - maroon skirt orange tights and turtleneck - I already had the glasses, how hard could it be? Well, even in a Clemson loving town, orange is not a color to be easily found. I came up with the idea Wed. and spent most of Thurs. night running from store to store, and finally at 10pm with no tights or turtleneck in sight, gave in to the realization that it was the night before and I had nothing.

I went to sleep hoping I'd dream up something amazing and easy, but nope. Woke up with Nada. So, while getting ready for work, I took one last peruse through my craft room in the hopes that something would inspire me - and realistically, to take note of where my old costumes were. At this point I figured it was going to be an old idea or nothing. As I sorted through the boxes of yarn and needles and fabric, I thought - if only I could do something with all this yarn - I have enough of it, but I don't have time to knit anything.. wouldn't it be great if I could just be .. !!
... but wait!!

what if I....

YES!

I have it!

And with a few tips from some friends at work, I was able to pull together my costume in a few hours when I got home and I went as....



A big ball of yarn!

I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself. It took me an hour or so of fiddling to get the base just right, and then I hand wound the yarn around it to give it the oh-so-real look just the way I envisioned it. Yeah for me!

Mike went as a wind-blown guy - another costume put together last-minute, and I think it turned out pretty well too:



And I quickly learned that when I get pregnant, I may have some maneuverability issues - but at least I won't have to worry about sticking anyone with pointy sticks! Here's me trying to sit in a chair without falling off...



At the party there was also one of my most coveted costumes - Wonder Woman! I've always wanted to dress up as her, but for some reason, never done it:



It was a good time. In what-I've-been-knitting news - I'm almost done with the baby bonnet, and was doing so well on the EZ baby sweater, that I knit about 2 inches too far in the pattern and had to rip back!
The EZ Sweater:



(It's really only coincidental that I've been knitting with so much orange)

Here's the baby bonnet for a certain niece who is about to be baptized:



I'll post more pictures of it once I kitchner the back of it.

I also decided to add a small flower to the sweater for Crystal's baby - she just had her on Wednesday and named her Molly - so here's the flower and sweater for Molly Mack which is on it's way to her now:





Once I get the EZ sweater and bonnet done, I think I'll be starting on some dishcloths and... I'm not sure what else. Perhaps a yoga bag or a sweater for myself. But I'm betting I'll end up working on a few Christmas ideas I've been working on in my head.. we'll see. I do need to plan out some projects and make sure I have the yarn and whatnot put together for the drive to Louisiana for Thanksgiving. Perhaps I need to peruse my que on Ravelry again.

playing catch-up

It's been a busy week and a half and I find I've been playing a bit of catch up at home and at work. I was a bit sickly this week, and all the things I had put aside some time to do ended up becoming resting time instead.

I did want to post a few pictures from the Puttin' on the Ritz extravaganza! We found a great little place to eat beforehand called Fast and French (or G&H) that is top on my list of favorites here in Charleston, we had some great fondue and cheap table wine - it was great! All the ladies and their gents looked their finest and we had a lovely time - it was rather entertaining evening, and not just because of the show - the audience was just as amusing. Here we are all cleaned up:



And our hat looked pretty fine too:


(upper right)
I only wish it had been on the table so you could see all the knitting parts better.

Speaking of hats, I promised pictures of the baby hat I finished:



It doesn't look as cute in the pictures, but I was trying to take pictures on a rainy day. I think the rain is partly why I've felt so cruddy lately.

And I have almost finished the booties to go along with it -I did run out of yarn for the ties, but I'm going to add some brown ribbon instead:



Ignore the stuffing as I blocked them! I just have to get out of work in enough time to make it to the store to get some ribbon. I will see if Knit has any tomorrow when I go.

Part of the reason I haven't been getting out of work until late is ... I got promoted! whoo-hoo! I kinda knew it was coming because they added two people to replace me a few weeks ago - that's right! It took two to replace me! So lately I've been training them to do my job, while also trying to get my job done.. oh and although technically things don't go into effect until Nov. 1st.. I'm now doing the new job too. Oh. joy. So, I'm getting a bit behind - which really frustrates me, because I'm usually pretty good about being up on my work and tasks and getting back to people.

I just realized tonight, I have to let some of it go, and that's what I was having a hard time with this past week. I didn't want to turn over my duties to the new people quite yet, I wanted to try to get them all done and cleaned up and in order before they were passed on. But I'm realizing I'm just being less effective at the new job, so I need to do that tomorrow. I just don't want to be a slacker or fall behind in the new position. I'm giving myself the end of the week to clean up as much as I can, and then .. let all the old stuff go. Move on and forward.

Next progress on the last of the baby items (for now I think) - a flower for Crystal's sweater, 1/4 of the way through the EZ baby sweater and I found the pattern I'm going to use and have started on the baby bonnet. Pictures of all that in the next post. I'm trying not to wear myself out too much.

with car trouble

I've been having issues with my car, but couldn't put my finger on just what it was. First I thought it was the brakes and brought it here and they were so nice that they didn't even charge me to look at it and tell me my brakes are fine. Then I got an extra oil change - nope - still acting up. Finally I took it in and found out it needed a new transmission. Ugh. The mechanics here were so nice they let me know that it could still be covered by the warranty and I so I took it to the dealership to find out I was 300 miles and 6mo. past the extended 'defect' warranty! After a discussion with the dealership and a call to corporate to make my plea, Acura/Honda is standing behind their product and covering it -whew! I still have to pay for the service and a new transmission mount, but all-in-all that's not anywhere near as bad as it could have been. Thanks M&D for keeping an extra eye out on me!

I have been quite productive on the knitting front - I finally sent out a few of the baby things I had made. Missy liked the hat I sent her son so much, she requested one for her daughter as well! Yeah! It's always nice when people like what you made them. And the Anouk did fit Gabriella - whew! I was a bit worried there. Just this morning I finished the booties to go with the hat for the brand new Chicagoan. They're blocking now, so they should be able to go out once I have transportation again. I'd take pictures, but my camera is in my knitting bag, which is in my car, which is still at the shop - doh!

Now I'm onto EZ's baby sweater and a christening cap for a certain baby girl (I got a few in mind and need to pick one to start on). Another thing down to the wire - but I've been feeling much more productive and quicker with my knitting lately. I think I'm getting a better handle on when I need to sit and focus, and when I can knit while talking/watching TV etc.

Since I'm off work today - I'm trying to be productive around the house and get things cleaned and in order. We had the bug-lady come and spray and all the 'palmetto bugs' I've seen lately have been dead or dying so I feel oh-so-much better about that too!

in awe of my hubby's mad skills!

This semester, Mike's project for school has been for the plaster students to photograph, document and duplicate one of the ornamental plaster ceilings located inside Drayton Hall here in Charleston.



It's the third ceiling for this house, dates to the 1870s and is beautiful and massive. Each plaster student chose a particular element to replicate from the decorated ceiling:



To give you an idea of scale, each star around the outside is I think, about the size of your hand. In the picture you can see spots where the stars are missing around the outside and a portion at the bottom middle that has been repaired without all the decoration. These decorations are what they are trying to replicate.

If you look closely, you can barely make out the part Mike chose - it's the very center medallion piece and looks like a sunflower with a large middle and small petals:



This is the type of work he wants to do when he graduates, so he's been working really hard to get it just right. To replicate it, he had to draw it all out in proper proportions and then carve it out of clay. The clay is then used to make a mold to cast the plaster piece in. (If you really want to know more about how the whole thing works, look at his website - he explains it all there).

Here's what he started with, which is about the size of a small Frisbee:



And then carved away, ending up with this beauty:



Not bad for his first ever clay sculpture. Puts my knitting to shame eh?

knitting again

Mike and I have decided our Thanksgiving plans and are headed to Louisiana for the holidays to see my Aunt & Uncle and cousins! The have come to us the past few years for my brothers and my weddings, so now it's time to visit them! It's been a while since we've all been together that wasn't for a wedding, so this should be a really good time! The Tamburro side (which this is) usually gets together every 10 years or so for a full family reunion, but I think that's still a few years away, so this will do well in the meantime!

I think I've figured out what to make with the Indigo Moon fibers yarn I won recently. I'd love to make a pair of socks out of it, but the color really isn't right for my skin tone, so I've decided it will look really wonderful as the February baby sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman, and it'll take care of one of the last baby gifts I have to make.

In the meantime, I'm knitting as fast as I can to finish a gift for someone due this week (who I don't think reads my blog, but you never know). Either way, I have some beautiful baby alpaca yarn 3-ply in browns that I tried making socks out of and they just didn't turn out - see blob on left-hand side of photo? Can we say bad gage bad!?



Then I was going to make a baby boy sweater out of it, and realized I didn't have quite enough yarn, and we don't need to go through that again! So I have now decided a warm hat and cute booties will work perfectly. I've started on the hat tonight and am already 2-3" up the brim (don't get too excited here, it is a baby hat) and its' going quickly. I didn't take any pictures, but I will in the next day or two. I've chosen the bootie pattern that I want to use already too - it's got a cute bulbous toe and ribbed cuffs that fold over - it should be really cute and just in time for the Chicago winters! What I really need to do is enter all this in Ravelry so it'll show up in my side bar and if I ever add pictures people can see what I'm talking about. Another night, not this one - it's too late to get going on that. I'll never make it to bed!

with the best hat

My friends Sarah and Laura and I were asked by our LYS to decorate a hat to be auctioned off for a local theatre troupe. Their up coming show, Puttin' on the Ritz is being hosted by the hat ladies society are they are auctioning off hats to raise money. Knit was asked to decorate/design three of them, and as part of the Thursday night knit-night crew, we were asked to make one our own.

We started a few weeks ago with a white top hat, a bunch of our scrap yarn, a free Saturday and our imaginations - we ended up with our very own Puttin' on the Knits Hat!



On the front is a collection of flowers that have been crocheted and knit and sewn on the hat to a lattice work of fun-fur. On the sides are teeny-tiny little outfits knit up and then sewn on.







I just love it! The other ladies from the Saturday afternoon group and the owners did their own, which came out beautifully as well:

Here is the And They Called It Macaroni hat by the owners/employees (which is a bit big on my peanut size head):



but it comes complete with feather duster!



And the gorgeous Saturday Women hat:



Which has a felted butterfly on the side that I had a hard time getting a shot of:



There are more/better pictures here if you're a Raveler in the Knit forums. It was fun to make, and I'll be interested to see how the auction goes on opening night I think it is? All the "designers" are going to get all dolled up and go to see the show. It should be a good time.

petting pretty yarn

I entered a contest on yarnfloozy's blog a few days ago I mean... about a week ago really more like.. a couple of weeks ago (I've been lost in a small random time-suck - I have no idea where the time as gone) which was quite fun. I got to peruse all the lovely socks she had made and do a bit of investigative math, and low and behold ....I Actually Won!!! I never win anything and I won!! I was super excited - not only because I won (which made for a really nice day) but also because the prize was 200 grams of some beautiful Indigo Moon merino wool!!



It's so pretty and soft - the pictures don't do it justice. Now I just need to decide what I'm going to knit with it. I'm thinking socks because I also received a cute little sock bag and set of addi turbos that go perfectly with the yarn:



The card she sent was really sweet too!! It doesn't hurt that Mike and I are wanting to get a puppy and the mere words cause me to swoon like others do over babies. But now is not the time for either and so I just ooh and aah over the cute ones that are sent to me via cute little cards and such!

I'm also working on the Jacques Cousteau hat I had one started. Gay over at Knit helped me find another color that is working just wonderfully - the pattern I'm hoping will continue as smoothly considering I haven't picked it up in months. Here's my progress so far with the new yarn:



It's not perfect, but it's coming along. I taught one of Mike's classmates how to knit last weekend, and she picked it up really really quick! Then she went home and I think she figured out how to increase and decrease on her own. So, not only did she not give up once she gone home and, as she put it, "was no longer under my supervision" - she went and tried new things! I forget how much I enjoy teaching someone who wants to learn. I think she, and a few others are going to come over this weekend for some more Sn'B'ing which should be fun.

attending a city council meeting

This week I also went to my first City Council meeting ever. It was really ... entertaining and quite surprising. There were quite a few things brought up that I really didn't expect to be city council issues, but it was interesting to hear people say their piece. I was there to support Mike's school - the ACBA, in getting the vote for a loan from the city to support their growth and accreditation. We won the vote (7-3) YEAH, and will be getting the loan and Mike even got up and spoke to voice his support for the school. I did like hearing all the different perspectives and ideas from those both for and against the vote, but I don't know if it's something I'd attend without good cause.

Our next door neighbors are in transition - one has moved out and another is moving in. There was a package on their porch when Hanna was moving in, so we took it inside and left a note, not quite sure which neighbors it was for - the old ones or new ones. It was the old neighbors and we left it back next door for them to pick up. Then the other day this sampler was left on our doorstep:



once again, we're not sure which neighbor left it or who it belongs to. As we try to figure it out, it got me thinking - cross stitch was the first craft I remember doing, and although I still have all the supplies for it, I don't do it anymore. This brought back some fond memories and showed me that there are some really cute things that can be done with cross stitch.

Here is the sweater I finished for Crystal:



I think I'd really like to do a clasp closure on it, especially since I didn't make any button holes - but does it really need buttons or a clasp? What do you think?