so big a stash, so little time

Closing down

Last entry -- time to move on to something else, though I'm not sure what. It's been fun.

posted by lucie @ 5:00 AM 1 comments

Flu

It's no fun, but thank heavens, it seems to have pretty much run its course. Jerry took great care of me, with lots of cups of tea and gobs of sympathy. Today I actually feel as though I might do something besides lie on the couch reading and falling asleep.

posted by lucie @ 4:41 AM 0 comments

Thank you, Secret Pal!

What fun! It's like Christmas. First of all, the Yarn magazine is great. I can't wait for it to go international. It's the only magazine that I've seen recently that I really want to make things out of (specifically, the kiddy tunic top, the mango smoothie, and Jeanius. For a start.) And I'm going to keep this issue unti Miles is old enough to "help" dye yarn for his own special sweater.
You'll notice in the picture that two of the chocolates are already gone. My husband says maybe we'll move to Australia.
The lovely stitch markers come along just as I'm starting to get into repeat patterns -- though two may end up as earrings, they're so lovely. And the grapes will decorate a wine bottle tomorrow evening, when I will also be wearing my beautiful socks to show off to our dinner guests.
And the hand cream is wonderful, though I hardly need it since I've been using the gentle soap from the last gift.
Finally, Felix is wandering around my screen. Wish I could figure out how to put him on the blog so all could see.
Thanks, again, SP.

posted by lucie @ 6:12 AM 0 comments

A few of the cruise pictures....

Only a few of the pictures, partly because I've had so much trouble downloading them, and partly because it was a clothing-optional cruise, and I don't want to get my blog banned as porn. Above, Jerry in front of the ship, in Nassau. It was big -- 2800 passengers, plus almost a thousand in staff. To the left, me on the sailboat as we headed out to snorkel off the Dominican Republic. And below, the both of us (plus the hat, which was a big success) maybe on St. Martin. There was a lecture before the St. Martin stop in which we were told how to save $12000 on our diamond purchases. I decided to save even more and left the lecture. We didn't help the local economy very much.
So what did we do? We ate well, we relaxed and were pampered by the staff, we met some interesting people (would you think that 75-year-old retired farmers from Iowa would be nudists? The Harley owners somehow fit the stereotype better). We danced a bit, we snorkeled, and we were warm. Coming back to 20 degree F weather was a shock. I'm back to knitting.

posted by lucie @ 5:36 AM 1 comments

Getting ready for the cruise

The hat on the left (above) is the one I made with the sari silk I got thanks to my first Secret Pal. However, it never quite worked.
Since we're heading out on a cruise to the Caribbean on Saturday (yay!), I needed a sun hat. What I've done in the past is buy a cheap straw hat on vacation and then either try to bring it back on the plane, squishing it in the process, or leave it behind, wondering if it was really worth it to spend money on a hat that I discarded so soon. I decided that what I really need is a cloth hat that will pack but that will keep the sun off me.
Thus the variation. I widened the brim, which took several tries because it kept curling (the solution is to do sc, sc, sc, 2sc in space, repeat; every third round). Then came the problem of how to stiffen it. After considering starch and boning, I finally went to the cloth store and found some iron-on stiff interfacing and some cotton cloth in the color of the brim. And it worked.
And, by the way, note that the hat and my new hand-made socks are the same color. Now all I need is something to wear between them.

posted by lucie @ 6:43 AM 1 comments

Thank you Secret Pal!

Darn it, the picture is fuzzy again, so it's impossible to see the incredible pattern and workmanship on the socks. I have never in my entire life owned a pair of handmade socks, so my first thought was that they are much too beautiful to wear.
But they will be worn. In New England, cold weather (most years) lasts from late October through winter and mud season, which ends in April. During that time when you go to someone's house, you take slippers or sandals and wear them. Now I plan to wear sandals and show off my socks. Not only do they fit perfectly, but they also go with all of my nicer clothes.
And the soap and soap bag are great, too. Love the scent and look forward to the luxury of using it. Whee! I really enjoy being spoiled!

posted by lucie @ 4:59 AM 0 comments

Fuzzy sweaters

It's partly because the yarn is Lion Brand's "mohair look" from Michael's, which I will never, ever use again, and it's partly because the camera wiggled when I took the picture. Anyhow, these are the sweaters for David and Abbie, promised before Christmas. I got the pattern for the little one from the net, "Quick and Easy Children's Sweater" or something like that, and the larger one is the basic drop shoulder sweater from Ann Budd's book. I added the pocket from my swatch because when I was a kid I always loved pockets. You can't see the fimo buttons (bought, not my creation), but David has little fish and Abbie has flowers.
The funny thing is that I've tried to download a picture of Jerry's feet in the finally-felted slippers, and the virus protection kicks in and won't let me do it. I think his feet are great; don't know why Norton objects.
Other projects in the past couple of weeks include a bathing suit and a slinky long dress, both sewn. I needed a suit to swim at the Y, and bathing suits around here, this time of year, start at $35. I spent $15 on a pattern, $10 on cloth, and $5 on cups, so I've still saved money, as long as we count my time as not worth more than $2.50/hour. However, the point is that I can make a couple more suits and will really save.
The dress, on the other hand, was out of cloth I had on hand, a pattern ditto, and took about an hour and a half, so it really was cheap.
Tomorrow I have a final meeting with the third course I did and on Friday I do a guest lecture on literacy and ELLs in the high school; next week I do a demo lesson and meet with one of my consultees. I think the mad pace is slowing.

posted by lucie @ 4:58 AM 0 comments