Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

I've been busy, thanks to a lady I met on ebay: That is 30 bags going to a fiber festival. I'm not going ~sigh~ but look for them. I missed this years' Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival due to school. I was studying for my first big test. Last night I had a dream where I was at the festival, talking spinning wheels with a lady. The festival was one of my only times to mix with other fiber enthusiasts and I do miss that. I've been sneaking a bit of spinning or knitting while waiting for Alex to get out of school or right before bedtime. I find it relaxing not to think of either sewing or school for that short time before bed.

The bags have more pockets! I was thinking and sewing at the same time and thought: what if I just have one loooong pocket divided into sections for stuff? So I sewed a few and the pockets turned out great! They're on ebay now. I think I made about 5 of them Saturday. The wedding went great, and I got to see some friends I hadn't seen since last year. We had our usual wild time. Angie was radiant, and so was Scott. Her Mom thanked me for giving her the wedding stole, and complemented me on how talented I am. You know, sometimes you are just running around so fast that you don't really think you're being talented as much as you're getting things done. It's a bit hard to explain... We have a new addition to the family: My Neice had another baby girl last Monday. We had a welcome baby party at the house yesterday. She's so small!!

I finished the Mystery Stole 3!!! Isn't it the most hideously colored piece of lace you've ever seen???The pattern's great, but my selection of yarn meant that I had to grab all of one type of yarn that I had spun regardless of what the color was. I will attempt to dye it one color, perhaps a bright pink or black. Meanwhile, my Sister's granddaughter turned 2. She was in her typical mood (both Sister and Granddaughter) Someone did put her in a sundress that I had sewed for her about 4 months ago. Isn't it cute? That was one perk with working at a fabric store. We were allowed to pick out a current pattern, and make it from fabrics that were new also. After 6 weeks, we got to take the item home, no charge! I made a skirt, a dress and this dress in the year that I was there. Oh and there was one night when it was snowing and no one came in. I proceeded to knit a fashion scarf in an hour and display it. I think it was in Lion Brand Fettucini. Interesting stuff. This we...

Many thanks to all who gave me compliments on the shawl. Here is the prospective bride wearing the shawl at the bridal shower: (She's going to kill me for this but....) I told her that you only get married for the first time once, you need an heirloom for it! My hideously colored shawl is sulking on the loveseat, almost done. School started for both Rudd Jr. and I this week. Well, actually I started last week, but who's counting! The course I am taking is an intensive one that gives the students lectures and lab time to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. Well, at the youthful age of 37, learning new things takes a bit bigger hammer than it did before. I learned how to take a patient's vitals this last week: along with a test on all that I've learned. Also being tested, was our ability to wash our hands, and converse with patients in a way that they know what is going on and why. That's something you don't normally get in a doctor's visit, and it...

I know the picture is not the best, but it does show the basic shape of the shawl. It's a faerose shawl, knitted for a friend of mine who will be married next month. The middle is a pattern I've memorized from somewhere, but the wings were from the Mystery Stole3 Pattern. Now the left side was the easiest: I picked up 100 stitches from the middle and just utilized the wing chart from the Mystery Stole3. The right side took some canoodling. I figured out that if I read the wing chart from the left to the right instead of the 'usual' way it would work. The last stitch was not a slip stitch, but a k2tog stitch. I then slipped that stitch and purled all the way back to the edge of the wing. It worked out well. The total knitting time was 2 weeks. I knitted like a fiend. Last Thursday I realized that I had to start school this Thursday. I knitted faster and faster. I finished it during the Packer game last night and blocked it on my son's bedroom floor.

Click on picture to see them bigger. They are all the same size: 8 1/2" tall and about 7 1/2" wide, with the two pockets you see on the bottom. One pocket has 5 slots in it for dpns, and the other is small, but can hold a pair of small scissors. All are drawstring: Simply pull on the strings and it will close and stay closed. I carry one with me all the time to keep whatever knitting project I have clean, and keep the ball of yarn from wandering away.

We have had over 6" of rain in the last few days. The basement is leaking, but at least we're not flooded. I've always said the flood would have to become 'biblical' to raise this far. Doba.com is still trying to squeeze 80 bucks out of me for 3 hours of perusing their overpriced crap on their website. Yeah, that's going to be disputed. I went up to the In-Laws' for the weekend. Their was something hinky in the air: I went upstairs to take a nap at about 3 and slept through dinner . I've never done that! They got much more rain in NW Wisconsin than we did. The flood warnings started Saturday and they still have more rain coming. There are 18 new bags to show you. I'll post them in a second. I pulled out some of my most favorite fabrics for the bags. As you will see: I like color.