Our Seams meeting for June was a smaller group than usual, but the conversation was good and as always, it does me so much good to be out and about with other like-minded people. As in people who sew and knit and understand.

Look what Flo is making--the Palette Fair Isle Cardigan from Knit Picks. Is this not a project to die for? All that glorious color... Her tension is perfect and this is shaping up to be a huge success. She is about to dive into the world of steeks and when the time comes may need a good deal of moral support, mood-enhancing drugs, and/or liquor to empower her to actually cut into that gorgeousness.
I was there as a Highly Motivated Sewer. I brought my traveling machine--my Featherweight, a pile of newly minted Mile-a-Minute blocks, a box of cut sashing strips and corner blocks, and set to work.
One minor but annoying setback: I fully intended to make the blocks to finish to 6 inches. But I must have packed the wrong ruler when I went to the Glen--my 6 inch square rather than my 6.5 inch square. So my blocks will finsh to 5.5 inches. That cuts several inches from the size of the little quilt. I may end up needing more blocks. I don't know why I keep doing these idiot things and sabotaging my own work. So annoying and brainless...

But I got all the block strips sewn and half the cornerblock strips. Decent progress.

In other news, the Mumbo Gumbos go on and on and on. At least three more were underway tonight. Will I get sucked into this whirling vortex of group dynamics and shared fabric strips?? Time will tell.

Drove home through patchy ground fog and a million sparkly stars overhead as I got close to home.

Steps today--11034.

Snail's Pace Knitting

I have several knit blog webring logos on my sidebar. I'd best include some knitting content so I don't get rejected by the knitters too as I was by the art quilters! So here is the present state of the Kimono Shawl. Not the most artsy photo with the gray knitting NOT contrasting with the gray sidewalk, but I was in a hurry.

I love working on this. I've long since internalized the pattern and it moves along relatively smoothly. Still, my progress is slowish and I stop and check the stitch count on every repeat.

I have so little unbroken time for knitting--I think my average is about one 24-row pattern repeat per week, which is negligible progress indeed. One basic with knitting is that it requires the time put in to yield results. But it's summer and no wooly shawls will be needed for some months now. So I'm not sweating my snail's pace.

Lovely wooly texture...

Tomorrow night is Seams at Bonnie's and I plan to surprise everyone and bring a sewing machine, and actually work on a quilt or two. Wonders never cease.

In other news... As always, I'm slow to jump on the bandwagon with the popular girls but, better late than never I've joined the WOMAN Challenge, sponsored by the US Department of Health and Human Services. It's a walking challenge promoting women's fitness, with downloadable progress sheets, online record-keeping, and virtual routes across the county. It runs through July 8, which doesn't really give me much time to virtually walk across the county, now does it?

Eh. My lateness on this one doesn't bother me. I know I don't really need a group challenge to keep me moving. I get more motivated all the time.

I've been a dedicated walker since my kids became old enough that I could be gone for an hour or so with no adverse consequences. That would have been somewhere in the mid-80s. I even did a year of running along the line, but have settled back into walking as what feels best. Weather permitting, I do a 40 to 50 minute walk each morning, and truth be told, not much weather stops me. My personal winter rule is that I can't bail unless it's under ten degrees Fahrenheit.

I have two routes: the weekday one which is about 2.75 miles, and the weekend one which is about 4.2 miles. This latter one requires traveling some distance on a state highway, which is very busy and scary most weekdays. So I tend to save that route for early Saturday and Sunday mornings.

I bought myself a high-end pedometer, which didn't cost so very much at all, and I'm having fun seeing just how far I go in a day. The challenge goal is 10,000 steps. I have no trouble whatsoever doing 10,000 steps as long as I get in that morning walk.

Anybody else walking, either as part of the WOMAN Challenge or without it?

SLP Full Throttle

This was an absolutely crazed day. Librarians always anticipate/dread summer library programming and we are in the total full-blast throes of it now. I guess it's the result of successful programming--we have tons more kids signed up than last year and have run out of goodie bags and some prizes, but still they come in in DROVES to sign up. And then they come in with their completed challenge sheets and reading logs, ready to recite poems and sing to us (some of the challenge sheet requirements). Today we had two different day care centers descend on us. It's great that everyone is reading, but ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH.

But in the midst of all this chaos, one of the sweet little rewards of my job--an older gentleman who favors squeaky-clean romance novels, and who gives me long lists of titles he wants, most of which need to be ordered through the Byzantine channels of Interlibrary Loan, brought me a big heaping bowl of strawberries fresh from his garden.

That's the thing--the people-to-people stuff is what makes the job fun and greatly rewarding. It's funny--some of the libraries are setting up automated phone systems at great cost--paying thousands and thousands of dollars to avoid human contact. We are small and I'm glad that our human contact is 24/7. No phone menus, no self-checkout. It's all people, all the time, with all the attendant messes. And we like it that way.

I have to say I arrived home fairly wrung out tonight. But there was strawberry shortcake to make (and it was fabulous!) and there was committed work to do on quilting projects. I completed basting on the Flying Geese element. That's progress and that's enough for me. Before I turn into a pumpkin tonight, I'm also going to get some fabric pre-washed and maybe ready to cut out tomorrow night for sewing at Seams on Wednesday. I feel like I'm regaining some momentum. Yes.

Flying Slowly

Boris the cat spends most of his time looking at me with reproach and contempt, and today he had good reason. I was determined to have this Flying Geese element appliqued to the Ephemera quilt by the end of this weekend and I failed miserably. Chalk it up to my sorely lacking applique skills. I had it all prepared, along with corded piping, last night, and figured I could get it all attached in short order. I sewed it on the quilt, using a very tiny blind hem applique stitch and invisilbe thread, and it looked absolutely horrible. My essential mistake was in trying to sew both--the Flying Geese piece and the piping--in one operation. Wrong approach.

And oh boy, ripping out all that tiny stitching was character-building.

So I went back to square one and spent tonight BASTING the Flying Geese element, preparing it much more thoroughly. Like I should have done in the first place. And it's occuring to me that the piping may not work. We'll see.

I'm going to knit for awhile and sooth myself.

Plaza Jacket

Here is a good feeling--finishing up a project that's been laying around in a heap for entirely too long. I mentioned one doozy of procrastination a couple posts back. It's literally been dumped in a heap at the rear of my sewing machine cabinet table top since April of 2005, and I've been just sewing around it. And it needed only a couple hours more work at the time I quit working on it.

I know--I'm pretty pathetic.

Happy to report that it's entirely completed now. It's the Plaza Jacket, made from a Sewing Workshop pattern. I bought the pattern last year at the Rosemont IQA Show, thinking how perfect it would be to make using a linen tablecloth. I've been wanting to try something like this for quite awhile, ever since I bought the book Sew Vintage by Jenny Atwood.

The tablecloth, which I suspect may have been handwoven but fit no table in my house, was among my MIL's things. It was woven in two strips in a plaid-type design. The two strips were whip-stitched together making a nearly imperceptible center seam. I was able to cut the pattern pieces to take advantage of the subtle border design.

I started this project with great enthusiasm which petered out for some reason. Don't know why--I love the jacket and it was almost finished when I abandoned it. It was a simple matter to pick it up this afternoon and complete it.

What a fun jacket, huh? Simple sewing except for the sleeve seam, which involves hitting precise points at the underarm. Managed to navigate that minefield and Ta Da! There it is.

Would this look good in cowboy fabric? I have some cowboy-print barkcloth.... It could be fun.

I'm just about completely moved into the new bookcases. It's very fun moving things around and tweaking arrangements. (I did used to be in retail display and can just get waaaay too involved in this sort of thing.) The books ended up being arranged in kind of an idiosyncratic way but it all makes sense to me. More tweaking to come, I'm sure, but it's very good to have things all together in one place. Long needed.

Funding Options

Our county library system commissioned a study on "alternate options for library funding and governance" earlier this year and the results are being presented in several community forums this week. I had to attend one session, and so dutifully I drove the 20 miles last night to listen to all the library babble about crossover borrowing, true non-residents, tax districts, and other equally mind-numbing, bean-counting topics. It was an evening designed to suck one's soul right into oblivion.

I knit furiously through the whole thing. It barely helped.

Sightings and Shelving

Living in the country as we do, there's usually some animal action going on in the backyard. I've written about our bird visitors, but lately it's all about deer. Weekend before last we got to see a mom and very, VERY newborn deer. I think actually witnessing the birth would have been a matter of looking in the right direction just a few moments earlier.

The fawn was so tiny--about the size of a small dog--and the mama crouched a bit to allow it to nurse. When the baby wasn't nursing, the mama was licking it. Then they would both lie down in the tall grass together for more mutual licking and nursing. It was all a bit too far away to photograph with the meager camera equipment I have, but trust me--it was a memorable sight nonetheless.

In the days that followed, we would see the little one scampering around a bit, but we haven't seen it in a few days and are a bit worried. And a big reason why we're concerned is that an adult deer was hit a few days ago on the state highway just off our street and we're fearful it may have been the mother deer.

We've got a deer who regularly ventures up close, empties our birdfeeder, and all but sits on the lawn furniture, but no sign of the baby. We suspect this may be a different adult deer.

Life in the country: we keep binoculars, a bird book, and an animal track guide handy at all times.

In other news, my reason for not sewing or knitting this week arrived on Tuesday night with a flourish.
Bookcases! These have been sorely needed around here for several years and they've finally arrived. The past two evenings I've spent gathering books from piles all over the house and planning some organization system. How to organize?? I imagine I'll end up with a system that makes sense to me, even if Melville Dewey might not wholly approve. Some of the shelves will also hold music CDs. Of late, these have been in piles inside our sterio cabinet, and you practially had to lie on your stomach to see them.

This will be MUCH better.

Fiber progress in the last two nights has been limited to pattern study. A half-completed jacket has been dumped to the rear of my sewing machine cabinet top FOR THE LAST YEAR and I plan to dive back into this project this weekend. More about that in the following days.

The Glen and What I Did There

Just back from a stimulating but greatly relaxing five-day retreat at Glen Valley Lodge near Portage. There were about 15 or 16 friends there--a good diverse mix. The food was great, there were lots of laughs and a few field trips out to shops in nearby towns. More pictures here.

The Glen was a great respite from the real world as well as being good, intensive, uninterrupted sewing time. And boy, did I need that. I was feeling like I was losing my quilting street cred. And indeed, I still feel out of the loop on many things. But I have several new projects solidly underway.

Hah--UFOs: the lifeblood of the true quilter! And if I adhere to the 15-minute vow (dedicate at least 15 minutes a day to doing something, anything), I can make some slow but steady progress.

Project #1: The Ephemera Scrap Lap Quilt. I have 48 drab little blocks made. The plan is to sash the blocks in a black-ish batik, with cornerstones in a deep burgundy batik. I may add a pieced outer border. Lord knows I still have enough scraps. Or I may border it in more of the black.

Project #2 is the turquoise and orange MArQ project. The theme for this challenge is Opposing Forces. I left The Glen with a set of blocks made; enough for the quilt I plan. Layout to be determined later. There are umpteen possibilities, which for me means umpteen chances to dither and vaccilate. My opposing forces seem to be primarily of a color variety, but I'll have to come up with some Deep Poetic Meaning to attach to it all.

The blocks were made borrowing liberally from the directions in Margaret J. Miller's book Strips That Sizzle. I'm not entirely happy with the color value distribution in these blocks. It just doesn't seem pronounced enough to really make a shaded value statement. That said, I haven't done any laying out of the blocks yet; maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised when I see them all spread out.

But I'm thinking that to really see a value contrast, one would have to make two sets of blocks--a dark set and a light set. File that one away for another time, another project.

But I think these blocks will make a good color splash, and I'm looking forward to playing with them on my design wall.

And finally, here's the first fruits of the 15 minute productivity vow:I bought a yummy packet of silk kimono scraps at the Rosement Show a couple years back. I cut them into 3-inch squares about a year later, thinking maybe to make a scarf. They recently surfaced in a box of someday stuff and I'm looking on them in a quilterly way now. So to make them workable for quilt purposes, I fused them all onto lightweight knit interfacing and got them all re-cut out. This one will go on the design wall too and will probably end up just as a lovely mix of reds. I think I'll just let the fabric sing and try to stay out the way.Knitting content: my knitting was really about all I had to show for Show and Tell, and everyone oohed and ahhed. Not many knitters in the Glen group. I got a couple more repeats completed on the Kimono Shawl and zippo done on the waffle rib socks.

Travelin' Shoes

I'm packed and ready to go. All that remains is slogging through one more day at work. As of 5 o'clock, I'll be on my way to The Glen.

Back early next week with fiber-related progress to report.

Happy weekend!

Getting Ready

I'm in full prep mode for this weekend's Glen retreat. It will be my kind of long weekend--starting Wednesday. I plan to drive up to the Glen (it's about a two and a half hour drive from here) after work Wednesday night, unload, get unpacked, relax a bit, and still have 3 and a half days of nothing but sewing ahead of me. Glorious, glorious.

The retreat will be at Glen Valley Lodge near Portage and Baraboo, Wisconsin, a retreat house formerly owned by an order of Catholic priests. It's set into a hillside, surrounded by woods. It's a beautiful place to kick back with a dozen and a half or so friends. I can't begin to express how I'm looking forward to this retreat and the uninterrupted sewing time it will bring.

My projects are organized and ready to load in the car and it's only Monday! First on the agenda will be a Mile-a-Minute lap quilt to be made from the gazillion strips left over from my Ephemera quilt (No, Ephemera is not done but it IS in one piece so these strips are expendable.) This colors of these strips remind me of my daughter's futon, so this one is destined for her as a cuddle quilt. There are darker tones too, and on the whole it's quite a subdued palette. It will be a sophisticated little quilt.

Second on the list is my contribution to the Milwaukee Art Quilter's Opposing Forces Challenge. Yes, yes, the deadline for that one was April 1, but a little thing like a deadline two and a half months in the past has never stopped me. Minor detail. This quilt will not be part of the group entry in the Nashville AQS Show, but will be a part of the group for other exhibits on down the line. The idea swirling in my head for this quilt is a Strips that Sizzle variation of some kind using these zoomy oranges and turquoises (which don't look real turquoise-y in the picture). I have bought a ton of fabric for this one so it HAS to get made.

Finally we come to the emergency back-up project. Last summer I made a Wheel of Mystery baby quilt in pastel batiks. I cut waaaay too many pattern pieces and thought I'd segue into the evil twin of the baby quilt--pastel blocks on a dark ground, with some low-contrast blocks, partial blocks, etc. Possibilities abound but this idea is only partially formed in my head and realistically, it's doubtful I'll get to this project at all at this retreat. Still, one must be prepared with plenty of options.

Of course the knitting will go along too--both the Kimono Shawl and the Waffle Rib Socks. When I burn out on the machine, the handwork is always ready to provide a break.

And there may be a field trip or two. Baraboo is home to one of the most amazing bead stores I've ever seen, Turtle Island Beads. I don't think I need any beads but I might have to stop there just to make sure. You never know.

Denim Blue

Although I spent an inordinate amount of this weekend's time driving to and from Lenscrafters (A Lenscrafters 40 minutes from my house, I might add) trying to get new glasses made from the new prescription (that took two tries) and trying to get them fit to my head (that took two tries too), I did manage to get in some sewing time.

The Blue Jean Papasan Cover has been working its way through the construction phase for several months. What that actually means is that I constructed the top and bottom during a retreat in January and they've been folded up on a shelf in the studio since then.

I had planned to finish it up at the upcoming Glen retreat. But the thing is just so heavy, and all that needed doing was to cut both top and bottom into circles and stitch them together. It seemed like way too much effort would be needed to cart it all up to the Glen and then cart it all back here again.

Assembling it this afternoon was a simple matter thanks to my indefatigable Bernina machine. There's a special foot for heavy fabrics and a special triple stitch perfect for heavy-duty occasions such as this. Throw in a 100 needle and we are in business.

Voila:

The finished cushion cover measures 54 inches across. The backside has a heavy upholstery zipper sewn in down a center seam, with a folded-over flange to cover it. Simple, simple.

This is proof positive that a Bernina will sew through ANYTHING. Never even a hiccup as it plowed through multi-multi thicknesses of this denim.

I will add, though, for anyone contemplating a jeans quilt: DON'T. This 54" cushion is so darn heavy. I would be afraid that a bed-sized jeans quilt could crush the will to live right out of the poor person beneath it. That would be one weighty quilt.

Looks pretty good to me and I think it will look great on daughter Caro's Papasan. It will begin its journey to its home in Washington, D.C. tomorrow. Unless I have to take out a loan to pay the postage.

Feet Up

Here is a Friday night, with the whole weekend stretching luxuriously ahead, and what am I doing? A Sudoku from the paper--such a time-waster--followed by getting totally wrapped up in an episode of Dateline. My life is slipping by and I'm watching TV...

It's chilly out this evening; good knitting weather. I did finish another repeat of the Kimono Shawl, and may yet do more tonight. That's fourteen repeats down, eleven to go. It's a wonderful textured soft and fuzzy heap now and I could just bury my face in it and drink in that lovely wool smell. In fact, true confessions here, I DO do that occasionally. Lack of structure may carry this evening but serious organization for next week's retreat starts tomorrow. I'm formulating my list of projects and I'm so anticipating actually accomplishing something with my sewing machine.

Happy weekend.

Flamingo Insanity

I've always been into antiques and I was smart enough to marry the son of an antiques dealer. Both my DH and I were only children. So we have lots of stuff. But you know how it is--you always need more stuff.

A couple years ago I was at a flea market and was moved to buy a couple flamingo figurines. It's been a casual thing since then, finding the occasional flamingo. And lately this flamingo thing has picked up steam. I got a great buy on a large flamingo figurine at an antique mall last fall. (I was there when I should have been at a library conference. But it was an antique mall too good to miss...)

Then a co-worker gave me this, painted by her grandpa. A nice 50s paint-by-number vibe as counterpoint to all the golden oak at my house.

My cousin Jane's husband is an antique dealer and let me know he had just come across a promising item: a flamingo mirror. So I had to drive over to their house after work tonight to take a look. Needless to say, this mirror came home with me. I have very little sales resistance. And it is a beauty, isn't it? So what's next? I have a pattern for a paper-pieced flamingo.....

In funky mellow tones, it might be just the right soft edge to go with all this. And I AM a quilter. Every room in my house cries out to have its own quilty something or other.

But the trouble with these little paper-pieced things is that they are far more work and time than one would estimate.

Still. One more project to take on next week's retreat.

Moving Ahead

This pink Shepherd Sock yarn is beginning its new incarnation as Waffle Rib #2, from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks. I had some doctor's office waiting room time yesterday and was able to get a decent start. And last evening Will was with us and he and I spent the evening wading through season two of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Also good solid knitting time.

I think I'm happy with this scheme. And this pattern doesn't seem to be producing the light pink color pooling that was happening with the Jaywalker. At least not yet. Which is strange because the pooling seemed to be appearing even in the top ribbing on the Jaywalker.

All in all, I'm much happier with the Waffle Rib. My Jaywalker experience was another illustration of how sometimes one cuts one's losses and moves on. And really--it's no loss. As one old friend would say, it's just an opportunity to get more use out of some fairly pricey yarn.

So Rare As a Day in June

After several weekends of action-packed-ness, it was heavenly to have a weekend when nothing particular was going on and there was no particular place I had to be.

But did I get any sewing done? No. Of course not. Sigh. People who work full-time get to do Other Things on weekends. Like cleaning.

Still, there was time to get out and smell the peonies a bit. And they smell just as gorgeous as they look. I can vouch for that.
The knitters were supposed to rendezvous this afternoon, at the local Espresso Love. This is one of the few coffee shops in the world where espresso is served in a paper cup--a paper cup about 1/4 full. Never let it be said that my local coffee shop lacks the common touch. Or perhaps the problem is the 14 year olds they hire?? Anyway, the knitters pooped out and it was looking like I'd be knitting alone.

But I got a call from the multi-talented Nancy K. to come and knit on her deck. It was a perfect afternoon. Thinking about days like this will sustain me through next winter--brilliant blue sky, perfect temp, flowers in bloom, congenial company, and no bugs.

Nancy K. is primarily an art quilter (As I am, though there are those who would dispute that) and her home is filled with her work, as well as that of her husband, who's a professional photographer. It's fun to walk around and browse. Lately, Nancy's been working with architectural images and has a series based on Milwaukee cityscapes. She also has a recent one-woman show at Villa Terrace to her credit.

But Nancy 's an accomplished knitter too, as well as an enthusiastic dyer of fabric and yarn. She retired earlier this year, and as she keeps saying, and SAYING, "Every day is Saturday now!" And right away when she retired, she decided she needed yet another hobby and purchased a spinning wheel. And what do you suppose she's spinning here? If you guessed Sheltie roving, you'd be right. Nancy has two cute Shelties, Nicki and Bonnie and they've generously donated to the fund. I can't wait to see the sweater that develops from this.

This is what I mean about being around creative people--you just get all fired up. :-)

In other news, I have officially ceased living la vida Jaywalker.Nancy pretty much agreed with my logic that it's senseless to tie up $20 worth of yarn and a good deal of time making something I don't love. So I came home and with a minimum of trauma unravelled the nearly completed sock. And I feel OK about it.

Onward.

Thoughts on the Jaywalker

My love affair with the Jaywalker Sock is waning a bit. It's a cute idea on paper and hats off to the designer--I couldn't knit-design my way out of a paper bag and I admire her abilities. And let me say that I'm a knitter with only a few years of experience, so my opinions may not carry much weight.

That said, I'm not in love with this sock.

I absolutely couldn't wait to make a pair of Jaywalkers. I loved the idea of the chevrons and adored the idea of a different configuration for hand-dyed or self-striping yarn. I cast on with some Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn that I was pretty excited about.

The problems:

1. I don't like the meeting of the top ribbing with the chevron pattern. Perhaps it's my meager abilities--I sure am no expert--but I have these little bloops all around the top, where ribbing meets chevron. They would probably disappear when the socks are worn, but just the same, they're there.

2. The chevron-pattern leg has very little stretch to it. This makes for a tight fit when pulling the sock on over the heel. That trait in a sock really annoys me and I just tossed about half a dozen pairs of my own store-bought socks with this problem. So now I'm spending all this time and about $20 worth of yarn to hand-knit socks that have one of the sock-qualities I dislike the most...

Possible solutions:

I've seen some Jaywalker examples topped with a few rows of garter stitch rather than the ribbing. This gives the sock tops a zig-zag design all around the top. Nice and consistent with the chevron pattern. Since the sock is close-fitting, it seems to do OK without the ribbing. A big plus--once it's on the foot, the Jaywalker fits close and well. It doesn't seem like a sock that will bag and bunch up.

The pattern gives directions for a slightly roomier Jaywalker, along with the basic design. This is absolutely the way I should have gone. And I really recommend the larger size to anyone making Jaywalkers who's bigger than a stick figure in size.

And all this leaves me struggling with the decision about whether to continue or whether to rip out and make a pair of different socks altogether. Jaywalker #1 is nearly completed. Everyone at Seams the other night loved the sock and thought I was crazy to even contemplate abandoning this project. But I'm still wavering and dithering.

Seams May

Our Seams group got together Wednesday night. I was anxious to hear about the retreat they all attended last weekend at the Jones Mansion (click on the "create" link and see Diane in the upper right-hand corner) in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. I'd heard before about what a cool place it is. The gang all had great things to say about the facilities, the town, etc. Next time, I hope to be able to attend along with everyone else and experience it all for myself. The beds are said to be beyond luxury...

They were equally eager to hear about my Washington trip. So lots of catching up happened.

And for that matter, two weeks from now, we'll all be at the annual Glen retreat, at Glen Valley Lodge near Portage. This is an annual getaway for a group of about 18 quilters and knitters who all originally met through a listserv for Wisconsin quilters. That's one long-running listserv--we've been going, in one form or another, since about 1996. Two weeks! Time to start planning and organizing.

But back to Seams. Mumbo Gumbo is still happening.This is a cooperative shared pile of scraps being used as at least three people making Mumbo Gumbos. Diane has completed one already (seen before all the blocks were assembled here) and is launched into her second.

One of my planned projects for the Glen is another Mile-a-Minute, this time in more carefully chosen colors. I suspect I'll have a mess every bit as big as this, and it will be for just ONE quilt.

Betsy is seen here finishing the binding on a small quilt she'll be taking on an upcoming church trip to Juarez, Mexico. She'll be helping to build houses and the quilt will be a welcome addition to some family's bedding.

And Renee is working here on Lodde's Mill, as seen at the Country Sampler in Spring Green. Renee usually takes a pattern, reduces its size by 1/3 to 1/2 and makes it more intricate. This one will be a beauty.

Other interesting things were happening at Seams, but this is all the camera caught. As for me, I knit. I showed everyone my Jaywalker, with which I'm getting the teeniest bit disenchanted. More on that once I have my thoughts organized. But I spent the bulk of the evening working away on the Kimono Shawl. Just past halfway on that one.