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Monday, August 23, 2010

Make Do and Get It Done

I finished knitting my French Lace Camisole yesterday morning and blocked it. What does a body do when she has no blocking wires and a shortage of pins (and patience)? Bamboo skewers to the rescue. Other than being a little sticky and leaving behind a splinter or two, they worked perfectly for blocking the lace on the straps. (But I could really use some blocking wires -- hint to husband.)



I sewed on the straps tonight and tried it on. Hmm...a little big through the upper region (delusions of grandeur on my part, perhaps?). What do you think? Take it in just a bit with a seam on each side or throw it in the dryer for a bit? Suggestions?



Sunday, August 15, 2010

Geekery

Do you ever spy a piece of furniture, an old appliance, a book, anything that time has passed by, and you feel just a little sad. This is an old school card catalog cabinet that my husband found for me a few months ago. It's sad for me to know that my kids have never learned about the Dewey Decimal system and how to navigate the old card catalog system. You see, I'm a library geek from way back (former library aide) and a book nerd from even farther back (had books in my crib -- seriously). I used to love to flip through those cards in my school library and fantasize about reading every book catalogued (told you -- major geek). Scrolling through the computer catalog is just not the same.


Anyway, I absolutely love this cabinet. I don't know what school she called home. But she still had intact most of her cards from her previous career. We couldn't decide where she should go, so she's been living in our garage. Well, today was her lucky day, and mine. I cleaned her up, and we moved her to a place of honor next to the front door. I did have to exchange some of her drawers with those from another cabinet that was not completely intact, but I kind of like her mismatched appearance.







It is truly amazing how many UFOs I can fit into these long narrow drawers. Maybe now that they're within easy reach instead of languishing in the back of a closet or the bottom of a bag, some of them might see completion. Or maybe not...at least they don't take up so much space now.






Oh, and another feature in her favor, she holds my long needles perfectly!

And, yes, I'm still a library geek. I can walk into a library, no matter the size, and immediately feel like I've come home. But I've also evolved into a yarn geek, so using the cabinet for all my fibery treasures is a match made in heaven -- geek heaven.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

A Tangled Mess

Lately, my soul feels a bit like this:



My thoughts and emotions seem to be all tangled and running in a thousand different directions.

I really should not feel this way right now. We just returned from a wonderful vacation in Hilton Head, and I can truly say that I fell head over heels in love with the place. Larry said that, everywhere we went, I had a big smile on my face. Who would be able to suppress happiness when surrounded by giant trees dripping with Spanish moss, beach waters full of live sand dollars, turtles paddling around all the local ponds, salt marshes and gorgeous birds around every corner?




So perhaps my current state of mind is partially due to mourning for a place in which I would have liked to have spent much more time. Could be that I miss the "little girl" unfettered joy that my now older kids previously exuded whenever we had new experiences or visited new places. Perhaps it is adjusting to being back to reality. Maybe it is that, in my everyday world, I feel stretched a bit too thin. More likely, I'm just a spoiled brat who wants more fun and less responsibility.

Whatever the cause, it's time to snap out of my funk and be grateful that I was able to spend yet another great vacation with my family, grateful that I have a home and a job to return to, grateful for responsibilities because that means I am needed. . .

But, in my mind, I'm gone to Carolina...


Oh, and lest I bring you all down too much, I am grateful for YARN! I found this in the sale bin at my LYS and I'm going to make a little goody for a friend's niece who is having a baby this fall:


And I am making progress on the French Lace Camisole. I finished the back and am now done with the lace border for the front: