Diary of a Mad Fabri-Holic

A stitch in time saves 9

And that was the only way I could think of to get a "9" into the title.

I needed a 9 because... today is our 9th wedding anniversary!

9 years! Wow. Almost a decade.  I can't believe we've been married that long.  Crazy!  The above photo is from right after we were pronounced husband and wife.  We had packed the room to overflow capacity- everyone said yes.  And I had my dream dress- with layer upon layer of tulle in the skirt.

And we didn't fit back down the aisle next to each other.  So The Hubby had to fall behind.  I could make a smart aleck comment about how he's been falling into place ever since, but really, I am super duper blessed to have such a great husband.

And before I forget- I share my anniversary with a bunch of fabulous birthdays.  Happy birthday to Sunne, Schordinger, Anna Maria Horner, and Kari!  And Harry Potter, too, actually.

The other reason I included stitch in the title- I actually did some last night. Some sewing, not knitting.  I put together that hip to be square top, and also cut the 70 4.5x4.5 border squares.

I needed some sewing time to de-stress. Those of you that follow me on Twitter, or are my friends on Facebook, or both, have noticed my feed over the last 2 days. Thank you for all the sweet messages of concern. On Tuesday afternoon, directly out front of our building, a woman we serve was struck and killed by a car. Many of our staff witnessed her death.  The story came out later: she had been kicked out of the bar across the street, she was hammered, and she wandered into the street.  It is a VERY busy street. No charges will be filed against the driver as he had no way to stop in time.  Needless to say, this was shocking and awful for both our staff and the women we serve.  The bar is actually liable- you can't get someone that drunk, and if you do, you can't throw them out without taking some precautions for their safety...

So we are all moving on from that.  And I'm going to celebrate with my husband- but not until tomorrow, when the neighbors are watching the kids so we can get dinner out and see the new Batman.

The good, the bad, and the briefly hospitalized.

What a few days!  Emotional roller coaster about sums it up.

The good: finished my undulating rib socks.

I truly love this pattern.

It just looks so lovely.  And once Sunne told me how to read the chart... so easy to do!  And they fit perfectly.  I also cast on for my dad's birthday Tubeys, and got almost to the heel on #1.  And, I just cast on for a scarf- I needed to branch out from my sock addiction.

The bad: last Weds, the DVR in our bedroom died.  I know, having a TV in the bedroom is terrible for marriage, sleep, stress, etc.  But, I'm a TV junkie.  And I have trouble falling asleep without it.  And, The Hubby works so many nights, I like being able to watch TV and movies in bed.  While knitting.  Meanwhile, I spent OVER 2 hours on the phone with DirecTv trying to get them to authorize a replacement (we pay the insurance that guarantees us one...)  It finally arrived today, 6 days later- and it's not a DVR, it's just a receiver.  I am not pleased.  Fortunately, I had the Season 1 finale of Big Love on DVD to watch tonight while The Hubby is at work. Anyway...

The briefly hospitalized: my Dad.  As some of you know, he has a verrrrrrrrry complicated medical history.  Friday, he woke up in crazy pain and my mom rushed him to the local ER- his dr is 2 hours away.  The ER ran some tests and briefly decided he had cancer.  And then... they got his specialist in.  Thank god.  As his specialist is familiar with his very very complicated history, he was better able ti understand what was up.  And it's not cancer.  99%, positive anyway.  But for 24 hours, we had terror.

They need to move here so when this stuff happens, I can be with them.  They're actively looking now, finally.  Phew.  We may get them out here by next spring, which is not soon enough, as far as I am concerned.

More flowers- and wait, can it be? SOMETHING NEW & DIFFERENT!

Maybe it was drinking an entire coke for the first time in months, but yesterday, I had energy to do some serious sewing- even though it felt like it was about 150 degrees outside.  I made two more flowers for the never-ending French Roses quilt.  I'm trying to throw in some more yellows and oranges.

I could be done with roses now, but I took a look at the wall over my bed and decided to make it 5x5 instead of 4x5, so, 5 to go!  (I plan on some more deep purple, and some more deep orange, I think.)

But after the 2 flowers yesterday, I was kind of flowered-out.

So I finally started the project I had been planning for Project Spectrum Air- a silver/grey, white and black Hip to Be Square.  Man, it IS really fast.  30 blocks in one afternoon/evening.  I needed a fast and funky fix.  This one is certainly funky.  I threw in some of my favorite fabrics, including some small pieces of that X-rated fabric I bought a few months back.  Also, zippers, skulls, odd cameos, flowers, disco dots and more.

It still needs lots of playing around and rearranging to balance out color and pattern, but overall, I'm really pleased.  Also, please forgive the very wrinkly layout on the design wall.  When I get this all sewn together, it should be much straighter.  I hope. And then onto the not one, not two, but three baby quilts I need to get done!  And 2 of them are for babies of unknown gender, ack!  I'm not good at those neutral projects.

And I just realized- I didn't show you guys my latest finished socks!

Who knew Chucks made Mary Janes? Chalk this up to another shoe purchase just to show off socks.

Meanwhile, I'm nearly done with my 2nd undulating rib sock, and as soon as I am, I'll cast on for my dad's birthday socks- some Tubeys (ravelry link).  Coincidentally, these will be white with blue and grey bands, making them also great for Project Spectrum Air.

No wonder I seem to have no time to blog.  Meanwhile, I'm still helping my folks plan a move out here.  It sounds like I need to take another trip to visit the various model homes and report back to them...  Our basement is so very nearly done, it's amazing (three cheers for The Hubby)!  Just floor to go.  A co-worker of mine was going to Ikea in MN this week, and as she was bringing an entire moving van of stuff back for herself, she's hopefully got room for a few things for me too.  Then, the basement will be perfect.  And I'll never have to listen to Spongebob again- the kids watch TV in the family room right outside my sewing room now...  When the basement is done, that's where they'll be from now on!

Phew, this quick update is now ridiculous.  If anyone read this far, my hat is off to you.  BTW, have I mentioned accoridng to Bloglines I'm about 2000 posts behind?  Apologies to all.  Know that I still love you, but summer is kicking my butt.

Apparently my blog needed a brief summer vacation. Wish I had gotten one, too.

 I didn't realize how long I'd gone without posting until the "are you ok?" emails started up.  Thank you for wondering :-)  I am just fine.  The last few weeks have been crazy busy is all.

There  was Princess Girl's stage debut.

And then my folks in town for a week.  Over the Fourth of July.

And that pesky basement.  We're still working our butts off on it.  Well, to be honest, the Hubby is still working his butt off and I am only a bit useful.  Today may be the last painting day, tomorrow the floor.  We had to take a hiatus while my folks were here, as we had to take all the basement crap we'd piled in the guest room and move it back to the basement...

And then there's the sad but true fact... I have no good blog fodder.  (Though I have been updating my photoblog with my favorite photos.  I feel like I *finally* got out of the photography slump that I was in for the last 6 months...)  I've become obsessed with microblogging, specifically Twitter.  In fact, if you look at the left hand column of this here blog, you can see a feed of my Twitter updates.  I LOVE Twitter.  If you're on it, let me know so I can follow you?

I feel like I can Tweet about random little things, but I should have a reason to post.  And life has kept me away from anything fun and crafty.  I have- you guessed it- more socks and flower blocks to show you.  and that's it.

With no further ado, here is the sad, brief craft work I have to share.

More flowers.

And just the three newbies:

And of course, the socks.

One undualting rib sock (ravelry link) and one simple yet gorgeous striped sock (again, ravelry.)

Other big stuff?  Hmm, my new-ish neighborhood bookclub is going really well.  I've got some great friends in the 'hood!  Oh, and minor little thing- my parents may be moving out to Denver to be near us!

Really!

Stay tuned for details.  Added to my already insane schedule is checking out the house they want.  More details to come.