BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES FINISHED!!!

I have the greatest news. The bridesmaids' dresses are finished. The veil is finished. The girls seem happy with the outcome. I have come to a life-altering decision. I will stop dressmaking for non-family members. I will continue to take in basic alterations: they come and go, and don't occupy every waking and sleeping moment. When folks bring me an alteration, and its due in a week or two, they don't gain or lose a lot of weight between start and finish. I didn't enjoy the dressmaking like I used to. And if I'm going to lose the pleasure in garment sewing, I've got a whole lot of sewing for myself and family to hurry up and get done.

Another good piece of news, We have a new Grandpuppy!! He's 3 months old, some kind of an apricot-colored furball. No picture to share yet. He is sooo well-behaved, and so adorable. I can't wait to babysit him.

The handsome young fellow below is our oldest Grandpuppy, Toby. He is so hyper, so funny, he dances in circles and keeps everyone in stitches. he looks like a puppy, acts like a puppy, but is already several years old. One hot summer a couple of years ago, our daughter sheared him very closely all over. He looked so funny--our son-in-law laughed at Toby, and Toby wouldn't come out of hiding for days when anyone was around. The dog groomer told our daughter that she should always leave Toby his mane and tail, then he won't notice he's been shorn. She said he truly was embarassed in addition to having experienced an identity crisis. Animals are the strangest people.

I'm having this weird feeling without the pressure of the sewing, very edgy, and at a loss. It's probably just fatigue--backwards and forwards fatigue.

It started with the kind of day I was having. The bridesmaids are 50 miles from me, but very close to each other. One of the girls is my daughter, so I decided to travel with the ironing board, my own iron, and the sewing machine, lots of thread, pins, etc. The plan was to go to the daughter's apartment (she was to work at 6:30 pm), drop everything off, go to the first girl's house at 10 am (who was in the process of moving--everything was gone, she was cleaning). Her outfit was the most unfinished; because of her very large bust, I wanted to try another way to do the front. It turned out to be a good fit the old way, so I went back to the daughter's to do the sewing. The sewing machine almost went on strike: it wouldn't sew in reverse, so I had to focus and remember to shorten up the stitches at beginning and end of seams.

At 12:30 I went to the next girl's house. I prayed all the way that the Lord would see fit to bless my work. Good fit, but the spaghetti straps were just a bit too long. I didn't open the top up, just shortened them by tucking them in by hand and stitching them securely down--she was happy with that.

Back to the first girl's house, the alterations having been done before 12:30. Good fit. She's happy.

Back to the daughter's. Her outfit had been the easiest fit of all, so I had completely finished it and given it the final, professional pressing--she's lost some weight in the hips, so, open up the lining, take out the understitching at the hem of the top, loosen off the boning, take in the bottom, press out the seam, stitch it up, understitch the hem, handstitch the lining back along the zipper. The top had a contrast band with a bow just below the bust. She was sure it was crooked. I measured--it was even. She wasn't happy. I snipped off the band (hand-appliquéd on). We moved it to where it looked good--measurements didn't match--turns out that one of her " girls" is bigger than the other. Stitched it back on. Press. Press.

By now it's about 4:45. I had to pack up and hurry all the way across the city during rush hour traffic to pick up a shipment of greenhouse supplies at a trucking depot. The young gentlemen helping weren't hard to look at, and were so courteous. We were loaded and out of there in no time at all. Stopped at the donut shop for a sandwich and coffee, since I had just realized I hadn't eaten since B'fast at 7 am. Home by 7pm. That's the cause of the backwards fatigue.

Tonight I will knit on a new pair of socks I started. I call them Spring Posies socks because of the colors. I hate grafting toes, so I always turn them inside-out and use a 3-needle cast-off when the stitches are reduced to two needles. This time I'm going to try to turn them inside-out before the toe decreases, then, when it gets tight, the sock'll already be inside out. Will photograph and post if it works.

Now for the forwards-fatigue.

And I'd better make my list for tomorrow:
1. Finish cleaning dried plants out of greenhouse, load into truck along with other refuse, to make a trip to the dump early next week.
2. Fertilize and dead-head all the flowerpots on the deck. Sweep the deck.
3. Tidy my sewing room, and get rid of everything teal and mint green. Then alter the other Bridesmaid dress--a lovely cinnamon-y coral color. Not a difficult job.
4. Just remembered--Sunday is first Sunday of Month--brunch at church after Mass. Make muffins or something.
5. Next Sunday after Mass 3 priests are coming for dinner. Plan menu.

And that's only the morning LOL!

Till next time: Grandmothers will put up with most things, but they turn a very nasty purple when it comes to Bad Manners. (Monique)

More on Dazey and Sparky and the Orange Kitty

Dazey and Sparky were wondering about the dearth of comments after their mommy posted their pictures. They are happier now that 2 friends posted comments (one of which their mommy lost while publishing the comment). Dazey and Sparky are now 9 or 10 years old. In people years, that means that they are older than their Mommy now. Believe it or not, they are sisters from the same litter.
There is a long (does Sigrun know any other kind?) story behind their arrival at the farm.

I DO NOT LIKE DOGS. No, I really don't like dogs. I value dogs for their capacity to be helpful to us helpless humans: dogs for company, guide dogs, police dogs, drug-bustin' dogs, sheep-herding dogs...... We used to raise pure-bred German Shepherds, and were card-holding members of the Canadian Kennel Club. And then one pooper-scoop, chicken-scatter, and one lamb-eating incident too many, and the bloom was off the rose.

Several years ago, I saw these tiny creatures trying to climb into the sheep pen. I thought they might be baby skunks or some other little varmint. Upon closer examination, I found this tiny, fur-ball-y little pair. Our son 'fessed up. His friends A&M, had plans to move into a house, and had to take the puppies while they were still in the apartment. KMJr. offered to look after them at the farm. Knowing how I felt about dogs, he kept their presence a secret--fed them and played with them in the barn. One day, they went exploring, and that's when I found them. They were precious, adorable, just a bit bigger than a handful, and sooooo precious, and adorable (did I tell you how precious and adorable they were?). So they were out of the "closet", and we openly cared for them, and fell in love with them. Well, A&M did not move to a house, and after the puppies' 2-month spell of farm vacation and freedom, I refused to doom them to apartment-dwelling. So I suggested that A&M give them to us (really, NO $$$ changed hands). KMJr. knew the deal was sealed when he heard me say to them, "Come to Mommy, girls".

They are so clever. They have such personality. Dazey (the black one) is the "Blondest" dog I've ever seen, except I think her "Blond-ness" is a crazy-like-a fox act. Sparky is really intelligent. You can just imagine that she is problem-solving. They love the greenhouse season because everyone adores them and the kids come to visit the dogs, associate dogs with plants, and will probably become plant-lovers in later life.

There are other dogs I can easily put up with: the Grandpuppies. Since the Grandkids are grown up or almost so, I look forward to babysitting the grandpuppies: Toby the Pomeranian, and Tundra the German Shepherd cross (KMJr's dog).

This next part is for all you Orange Kitten fans: our orange kitty --all grown up.
PS: Knitting news; The Honeycomb Sweater #1 is finished. I am not showing it yet, in case I decide to submit it somewhere, then I think I'm not allowed to reveal it ahead of time (I'm not sure about that, though).
Still slugging on the bridesmaids' dresses. Will definitely be finished this week (Wedding is on the 8th of Aug.) come H or high water. The tough part isn't the sewing, it's getting together with the girls--we're 50 miles apart.
Garden: half weeded. Had 5 tomatoes ripe off the vines (2 weeks later than usual), the sheep had a feast of swiss chard--I'll get the second cut. Cucumbers next week. Kohlrabi next week. The flower beds that had been weeded, as well as the strawberry bed, all need re-weeding. The other flower beds haven't been touched yet. Also, YEAY!! I managed to kill out 2 major ant hills. Only 4 more to go.

Till next time: Grandmothers are inclined to bring their grandchildren home muddy, sticky, radiant, exhausted and two hours late. Wise mothers say nothing. (Clara Ortega)

Wordless Wednesday-Dazey and Sparky

Tempest--but not in a Teapot

Yesterday we had severe weather warnings all day, but the weather was very nice--extremely hot. In the evening while still full daylight, the wind came up and I went outside to check the sky because we were to look for funnel clouds. About 5 miles away I saw the weirdest sky. Layers of clouds--the white upper layer over the black lower layer looked like a tidal wave, and the noise was like something alive--heavy breathing, but not roaring. I ran for the camera and by the time I got outside it was over our heads.

Remember, I said it had been full daylight. In moments it was almost darker than night. I used the night setting on the camera.
You can see just a glimpse of the sunlight to the south.
It was a scary night. Many noises like cannon fire, and the incessant wind. We feared for the greenhouses, since the power went out at 10:00. The greenhouses have 2 layers of plastic and the space between is inflated. This makes the outer skin very tight and smooth and relatively safe from wind damage. But without power, they deflate and flap in the wind. My clematis trellis was ripped off the wall about halfway up.

This is what we saw when we got up at 6 am. Out driveway full of spruce trees. Due to the earlier drought, the spruces developed an inordinate number of cones near the tops, so they were top-heavy. About 15 trees lost their tops, some at the very top, some at varying heights along the trunk. The driveway was impassable, so I missed going to church. But I sure sang a lot of praise--it could have been so much worse.
This tree had a diameter of about 16 inches (40 centimetres). It broke near the bottom.
Same tree. It split it right down into the root and lifted the root out of the ground for about 2 feet.


Kubota Man with his favorite toy, piling up the damaged trees. In fall after harvest, we'll pile them in the field behind him and in winter we will burn them.
We worked till 11 am. then had a coffee break. Then we went to work again. After lunch the wind came up again. We know we will lose more trees since there are still many with heavy tops. And now the shelterbelt is so much thinner, the remaining ones have less support.

Some neighbors dropped by while we were working--many metal grain bins were seen flying around the countryside. Our neighbour 4 miles down the road saw the new roof over her patio fly away. But it wasn't tornadoes. In Edmonton they clocked winds at 107 km/hour (over 64 mph). There was also a lot of tree damage and structural damage to buildings.

Now a happier picture. I have no new knitting to show you, so I decided to show you a WIP--the Norwegian Roses sweater from the Green Mountain Spinnery book. I had hoped to photograph the book's page along with the yarn and sleeve, but don't know where I put the book (another senior's moment). The reason the sleeve is done is that, when I start a new project, I often start with the sleeve instead of swatching. so if my gauge is right, I haven't wasted the knitting. If my gauge is off, I unravel, and I haven't lost anything. Obviously the gauge was right-spot-on or I wouldn't have finished the sleeve. I'm using Briggs and Little Regal 2-ply, a lovely, soft worsted weight. I can honestly say, that B&L yarns are my favorite yarns for everyday servicable knitting--great color selection and excellent price. I order it directly from the mill as the LYS's don't always carry the full color selection. Today there will be no knitting until late evening--I have to do laundry and work on the bridesmaids' dresses. The second fitting is done on the interlining, so now I'm safe to cut out the good fabric. I am planning to go to the city on Tuesday for a dentist app't., so to save the girls a long trip, I'll try to catch up with them on their turf.

Till next time: Grandmothers walk slowly and so rediscover oil rainbows, fallen leaves, puddles and worms in need of rescue. (Julie B. Jones)

Wordless Wednesday

And It'll be a wonderful Summer After All

Welcome to my blog, Kathy.

We had a lovely day today. The kind of day you have after several days of good rain, when the sun shines again. Yesterday evening Jeanet and I went to church to weed the garden we planted around the Blessed Mother's statue. We replaced some plants that had succumbed to the harsh winter and the spring drought. It is lovely.

Our wonderful priest has been transferred to another parish in Edmonton. While it saddens us, we know that his talents are needed elsewhere, and we believe that life is about sharing our time, talents and treasures (isn't that like blogging?). We had a farewell pot-luck for him after Mass today. A good time was had by all. He is happy that his new parish also has a prayer shawl ministry.

Now I would like to introduce you to Jack, the regal (aka Wimpy) Llama. Jack used to have 2 wives, the seductive ZsaZsa, and the Lovely Coco (unfortunately over the years, Jack became a widower). Jack is so handsome. He looks so regal. When the Llamas first came to live with us, we wanted to give them names. ZsaZsa was the same color as Jack, with sweeping eyelashes out to here. Coco was a chocolate brown real lady. And the ladies totally henpecked and dominated the poor guy. Naming him was a challenge--a name such as Prince or Royal was just undeserved. But if we named him Wimpy, he'd have nothing to aim up to. One day a 4-year old smartie named "Summer" was visiting while I was fitting her mom for a bridesmaid's dress. She re-named our two dogs (whom you haven't met yet) so appropriately, had they not had names they were used to, I could have changed them. So I asked her to help me name the Llama. She looked at him, arms a-kimbo, and said: "He's a Jack". And Jack he was. Not pretentious. Our school caretaker's name is Jack--a great person, a great family man. A good role model for our Jack, the Llama. Coco had a baby girl before she died. Jack was a real good dad to her. The power of a good name.
A glimpse at some lovely flowers. The pot above is from my "monochromatic period". I'm always trying to show folks how to creatively put plants together. The terra-cotta colored pot has a bronze Carex grass, an Alternantherna Royal Tapestry, a green-leafed Purple fountain grass whose seed heads will be shiny mahogany later on, and a Coleus that is mostly rust with just a bit of green. At the back is another Alternantherna-Purple Knight. I love it!!
This rose is Prairie Joy (oops, I forgot to deadhead one of last-year's flower stalks). It grows to 6 feet tall, is loaded with pink flowers, the scent is heavenly--it's a prairie hardy rose. I trim it bare at the bottom, sort of like a multi-stemmed tree. This allows other plants to share the sun under the rose bush. Its only drawback is that it suckers like crazy--I dig them out.

This gardener has the same vice in gardening as in knitting--starting too many projects. When I'm about to procrastinate on a knitting (or sewing) project, for whatever reason, I often just start something new, in the hope that this will somehow re-energize me for the other, less desirable project. Well, guess what happened in the garden? I have many large flower beds (after all, we own 320 acres of land), in various stages of maintenance. The ones nearest the greenhouse are well-maintained because they are demonstration gardens. The worst ones are overgrown with quack grass, dandelions and clover, but I can't Round-up them because the perennials hiding in there were given to me by special people, some of whom are no longer around. Others are in various stages in between. I couldn't go weed the garden (too wet), so I STARTED A BRAND NEW FLOWER BED on the west side of the house, where it was dry enough to work. It's 25 feet long and varies from 3-4 feet wide. I planted 2 Brandon Cedars, a Mock Orange, a clematis, and a Sensation Lilac. I will fill it out with a variety of lilies.

My Honeycomb Sweater #1 is coming along nicely. I'm almost finished the second sleeve. This pattern is so versatile--stretched, it can be incorporated into a lace shawl, I'm already thinking of sweater variations with the stitch. Wouldn't that make a good knitting book: Variations on a Theme, that theme being a single knitting stitch pattern?

I was just reviewing my blog list. There are just too many wonderful blogs out there. I have two blog lists. The ones on my blog, which I intended to be a) Very Interesting and b) Frequent posters. So my bloglist needs to be revised. I have another list of Bookmarked Favorites, on Firefox, all very interesting, but less frequent posting. I'm still trying to limit my time on the computer, so I have to streamline the blog-visiting. If your blog disappears from my blog--yiou have not been rejected--just moved to my other list (please post more). And please, blog friends, leave a little comment so I know you were here.

Till next time: There is a frisson that comes when a small grandchild smiles up into your face and says, "Oh, thank you for bringing me here", exactly as her mother said twenty years before. (Monique)

Picture/Project Update

Here is a close-up of the Honeycomb Sweater that I'm loving working on. The custom-spun Alpaca yarn has a homespun feel, and the pattern just pops out. When I swatched with a regular yarn, the pattern was more flat. It knits to approximately a Dk gauge, I'm using 3.25 needles.I wish you could see these plants in person. They are all purple, dark green or black. The Heliotrope is almost luminescent, and has a heavenly scent. The Ornamental Black Pearl Pepper is very black with a purple haze to it, and the other plant (whose name I can't remember) is a metallic purple. The combination, with the garden fairies is very meditative.
Last week I finished this Marshmallow Comforter, which has been getting in my way for 2 or 3 years. After I stuffed the pockets according to the directions, I thought I wanted some batting in the edges, too, so, since the quilt batting seemed so thin, I added a double layer. Now the comforter is quite heavy, and I hope, warm.
The baby hoodie that I finished a long time ago, and which should now have arrived in Passau, Germany for my cousin's new son, Noah.
The very Large, Large Man's Alpaca Cardigan. It's really charcoal grey. It has tiny cables for ribbings, and a double row of tiny cables for a front band. I resized these two pictures too small, that's why I think they are blurry in the middle. Will keep learning.

All these pictures took less than 5 minutes to upload--and I'm on dial-up. Excellent!
It's still raining today. Today I will go to the local hospital (where I have a contract to plant the flower beds) and replace some of the plants that perished during the hot/dry spell). I want to take advantage of the wet soil so I don't have to haul hose around. The hospital has many flower pots at the entrance doors of several wings. These pots my mom and I plant, and I donate the plants for the pots. The in-ground flower beds are a paid job.

The awning at the nursing home is supposed to be installed this week, weather permitting. I have raised almost all the money, and have faith the rest will come. The hospital administrator also has faith (he and I belong to the same church), because he said the hospital will front the money so we can get the awning up quickly. Praise the Lord

Knitting: Today I may possibly not knit, since I need to get my head around the bridesmaid's dress with the big bust alteration. If I knit, I will knit on the second sleeve of the Honeycomb sweater--the back, one sleeve, and one front are done. Or maybe I'll start the second front, then I can do the button/buttonhole band sooner. I sure get why test knitters are necessary. I wrote this pattern in 2000, and immediately made 2 more sweaters from it. Now I'm seeing it with new eyes, and am sure making a lot of corrections that I didn't see the need for the first time. This design is also sparking ideas for other variations, since I love knitting that stitch.

Check this out:
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3211188.html

Till next time: Always remember to forget the things that make you sad,
but never forget to remember the things that make you glad. (Elbert Hubbard)

I'm Happy to be Back

Helloooo, out there, to everyone in Blogland. My computer is back, and I'm back. Here is all the latest news:
1. It is really raining here, for several days now. It is likely too late for the crops--our area had been declared an official drought zone with respect to the crops. It may mean there will be one cut of hay, but there will be a shortage of both hay and straw. It's good timing for flower beds, lawns, and gardens. Praise the Lord.

2. During this last week, I did a lot of work in the yard, in the house, and on the bridesmaids' dresses. Two of them will be easy fits, the third one is a puzzle to me--petite girl, small hips, normal waist and Huge bust (for all you sewers: her overbust measurement is 8" smaller than her full bust measurement). Will have to get out all my books on large bust adjustments--but I remember there is very little information on that adjustment in princess-seam patterns. Also did my regular work in the greenhouse and a lot of cleaning up. Made 2 trips to the garbage dump also.

3. Did a bit of knitting: finished sewing the Large, large Man's Cardigan for my alpaca friend. Also finished the back and almost one sleeve for the sweater that I'm loving working on the Honeycomb Sweater. (also for my alpaca friend). When I went through the boxes of his yarns, hoping for inspiration, I found that I had already started the same sweater in another color, so I'm partway through the next sweater, too. I might work on them simultaneously.

4. My order from KnitPicks came in--I ordered the Palette yarn for the "Little Birds" sweater (can't make this link work. It's in the fall 2008 edition of Twist Collective). I also ordered some awesome patterns from Twist Collective, the Harika socks, and the Sunflower and Ladybug dolls ( I figure I can make a dent in my Sayelle stash). But I need to do a pile of the alpaca and my Christmas knitting first. And a pattern for some beautiful kilt socks for my bagpiping nephew.

You are no doubt aware that my friends and I have a prayer shawl ministry in our church. Also, another project that I enjoy working on: In our church the children receive Holy Communion for the first time in Grade Two. For a little "secret" gift I give each one this little project. It is simple to make, uses up any kind of yarn ( I use synthetics, worsted weight). Inside the little pocket, I insert a poem called " The Cross in My Pocket".

Step one: Cut the 7-count plastic canvas pieces.
Step 2: Stitch each piece--you can make up different patterns. When stitching, leave the outside edges unstitched at first. Finish the top edge of the small rectangle and one of the tall rectangles. Fasten off the yarn. When finishing the top edge of the second tall rectangle, make sure you have a very long yarn on the needle, as you will now sandwich them together by stitching through two, then three pieces, to make the pockets. There will be a deep pocket between the tall rectangles, and a little pocket at the front for the little cross.
Step Three: Hold the two tall rectangles together, right sides facing outward. Stitch the sides together for half the length (take an extra stitch in the first hole for reinforcement). Now sandwich the little rectangle on top of the other two as shown, and stitch through all three layers (again take an extra stitch in the first set of holes to reinforce). Stitch around the sides and bottom and up the other side, reinforcing the top stitch of the little pocket and the very top of the long rectangle. Hide the end inside. I think the pictures are fairly obvious.
Step Four: Make copies of the poem. It will be a long strip, which is folded to fit into the deeper pocket of the little case.
I have the poem on a word document, multiple copies on one page, ready for printing. If you would like a copy, leave a comment and I'll figure out how to send it to you.

My son installed Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, since the latter was doing weird things, so that takes getting used to--like my list of favorites isn't perpetually open.

Now that I can upload pictures so quickly, I will catch up older pictures on the next post.

Oops: It's Wednesday--I'll do the Wordless Wednesday thing again starting next week.

Till next time: Slate Work (from Mc Guffey's Second Reader)
Beautiful faces are they that wear
The light of a pleasant Spirit there;
Beautiful hands are they that do
Deeds that are noble, good and true;
Beautiful feet are they that go
Swiftly to lighten another's woe.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

My computer is acting up, so it's going to the computer hospital. It should be back on Tuesday. I will have serious blog withdrawal and e-mail withdrawal. But maybe I'll get a lot of knitting done.

Till next time: Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail. (Anonymous)