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.

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.

Socks and flowers...again.

Is this becoming the most predicatable blog ever?  What crafty-ness have I embarked upon lately?  You get 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count. 

I finished another pair of socks.

Yup. The same grey ones I showed you one of last time? They're done.

I love them. I am perfectly happy with them. And I'm about to cast on for another pair in grey (Ravelry link). Go, Project Spectrum Air!

I also made one sad lonely additional flower for my french roses quilt.

Have I mentioned how much I like the newest line of Kaffes?  LOVE.  I'm plodding along ever so slowly on this project, but, it is fun.  What takes forever is descing which 4 fabrics make up each flower...

Meanwhile, I made some REAL flowers- we finally planted.  We're so sad and behind.  And we chose paint colors for the playroom.  Mainly snow white, with accent walls of bright beautiful blue.  Not exactly turquoise, lighter than that.  I love it.  Now for the not-fun of actually painting, then putting in the new floor.  Ugh.  Everyone say thank you to The Hubby for his super hard work on this project.

Welcome to the special retrospective 200th post celebration!

Howdy, dear audience, and welcome to a celebration you've helped make possible.  The 200th Post here at Diary of a Mad Fabri-Holic!  If we were on TV, we'd do a clip show right about now and showcase some of your favorite moments from the last 11 or so months.  Remember this?  And this?  And surely we can't forget this, right?  Or what about where it all began?  Ahhh, the laughs we've shared.  (And since it appears my blog-i-versary is a mere few days away, we'll have to celebrate again soon!)

We're also celebrating today because last night, I finished the place-mats.  In the nick of time!  Now I can mail them, along with some of my Dad's favorite goodies (because the place-mats are really for my Mom) off to SC, and they should get there by 8/23.  37 years for my folks. Let's give them a hand.  And, while you're at it, let's give the place-mats a hand, too.

Here they are on my small dining room table. Remember, my folks kitchen table is HUGE, and their dishes are white and blue. And, all their chairs are deliberately different. Hence, 6 varied place-mats that go together in pairs.

Small Squares

Rectangles

Horizontal Stripes

Big Squares

Vertical Stripes

Triangles.  (You may notice one of the originals is missing...  I decided I really really hated it and scrapped it.)  Hooray for this very belated Project Spectrum June finish!

Phew.  Next time I try place-mats, if I try place-mats again, I may not do them them the same way.  For these, I wanted to skip binding them, so I sewed all 3 layers together right sides together, left a small opening, and pulled them right sides out, then quilted them, then sewed up the turning-whole.  But the edges don't look as clean as I might have liked.  Overall, though, I am pleased with them, and just hope my mom is as well.

And, now, back to what I really want to be sewing.  Hooray!

The Sun Also Rises...

Hours before setting off for Sin City, I bound and labeled and washed and packed up Virgin Tequila Sunrise!  (By the way, instead of my usual quilt-holder The Lovely Hubby, that is my mom hiding behind this time.) 

Some of you may remember it as a Project Spectrum UFO of mine, using that lovely pattern of Jeanne's.  I thought I had a good 11 days to spare, as the baby to receive this quilt was due to arrive in mid-August by (early) scheduled C-section due to placenta previa.  However, that turned out not to be early enough, and the baby came via emergency c-section the very same morning I finished the quilt.  Tomorrow was to be her birthday, but she wanted out.  She's healthy, lovely and beautiful and I hear her mom is doing well as well.  Phew.  I am thinking I may need to stop making baby quilts, at least before the babies are born.  The last 3 baby quilts I've made before the baby came (not Seth's, Ellen), all three moms have needed C-sections, and 2 due to the same condition.  Hmm, my quilts come with c-sections?  Who knows, but maybe I'll start waiting until after their arrivals to make their blankies from now on?

Meanwhile, back at the fabric ranch...

Princess Girl is much improved.  She actually felt okay, and was getting very bored and demanding having to stay home.  Today she was able to attend camp, and was thrilled to find one of her "long lost" (as in, one week!) preschool friends was in the same class!

Train Boy is carrying around a postcard we sent him from Treasure Island Casino (now trying to be all grown up and calling itself "TI")...  It has an image of the old pirate sign, and he keeps asking, "Daddy, do you want to go back?  Can I go with you?"

I was able to go back to work.  While I was gone, the big move took place.  Not as smoothly as we hoped.  There were phone and computer issues galore.  Phones are back up, but, we can't print.  Which is really annoying.  The place has boxes EVERYWHERE, and just being in my now even-more-shared office is stressing me out.  I'm sure I'll be used to it in a few days, and I keep telling myself, it's only one year, but right now, the chaos and crowding are getting to me.

To counteract that, I am working on nuts and bolts. Pictures to come when I have more progress. I decided to increase it by own row both across and down, to make it a queen/king size.  I have a goal of 4 rotating quilts for my bedroom.  The first is done and lives there now.

The second is of course the lovely ready-to-be-tied-as-soon-as-I buy-backing Snakes.

The third will be the wild and crazy nuts and bolts.  The fourth is still waiting to reveal itself to me.  I think It will be fun to change them out seasonally!  I have a tendency to get bored with my decor, so this should help stifle the urge to re-do everything else.  Now, I just need to get around to re-painting the bedroom...

A Post So Nice I'm going to Name It Twice.

#1.  3rd Time's a Charm.

#2.  Once, Twice, 3 Times a Snake-y.

Against my better judgment, last night I went home and, after eating a yummy dinner made by The Hubby, sewed and sewed until the top was done!

It was against my better judgment because it was a long day at work, trying to wrap things up before vacation, and my back was killing me- bad chairs at our conference table.  By the time I finished the last snake and the borders, my back was a disaster.  But, wasn't it worth it?  The snakes look so great on the bed!  (No modesty problems here, eh?)  Pardon the disastrous messy background of my bedroom.  I threw everything aside to take the photos.  Oh, and, the wall color will be changing, soon, to a deeper purple.

I did end up modifying the border sizes.  My sides and top are longer, but bottom is shorter.  This is one big quilt, as you can see as The Hubby valiantly tried to hold it up so I could photograph it in the morning light...

I am proud to say that had I not run out of the background fabric and had to buy more, the top would have been 100% stash!!  Of course, I don't have anything big enough for a backing, so I will have to buy that.  I could piece it, but it would reallllly eat into my batik stash, and I'm still too much of a hoarder to be able to do that, at least on a quilt this big.  I am going to to tie it- the original just looks so good that way.  But, probably not until AFTER vacation.  Meanwhile, I have a baby quilt to quilt and a new project to cut out ASAP!  Yippee!

2 out of 3 ain't bad

I know that's a song lyric- but what song?  I think semi-modern country?  Anyone?

Anyway!  The power managed to stay on all weekend, which was probably no small feat, judging by an article in the Sunday paper...    My weekend was odd as The Hubby worked all weekend as usual, but different hours.  Normally Fri and Sat nights are mine for sewing, but he was home later in the evenings, and I kind of enjoy spending time with him.  So, I got a bit of work done Sunday while the kiddos napped.

2 of the three snakes are done!  You can't tell, but 2 blocks in the 3rd snake actually need to be pieced- the one extra I was missing, and I ripped one completely and cut a new one for color reasons...   Maybe tonight I will finish?  Though, now that I've typed that, I've cursed myself.  After the snakes are done, I will lay it out on the bed and decide how big the borders need to be.  Since my blocks are bigger than Denyse Schmidt's (oops), I think I may end up cutting thinner borders.  But who knows?  Also- I think I'm going to tie this one.  Her's is, and it looks fantastic with the simple design.  She says she uses "crochet cotton" or embroidery floss to tie.  Can anyone tell me what crochet cotton is?  Yarn, or thread, or something else entirely?

Sunday was a nice day.  The kids and I hung at the park with some good friends in the morning, then went back-to-school shopping in the afternoon.  Princess Girl has decided, prematurely, that Kindergarten sucks, but, she likes her new school clothes, so maybe I can convince her school itself will be okay.  She only has 5 days left at her daycare!  She's been there since she was about 20 months old, and she is pretty freaked to be leaving.  We have one month of no daycare until kindergarten, which totally sucks.  They kick the kindergarten kids out at the end of July, even though for most all of them, K won't start until later August (the 23rd in our case).  Brutal.  Train Boy will keep on going there, though, even while we scramble to cover Princess Girl.  Oh well.

Snaking around... (aka, I'm running out of inspired snake post titles. I'm saving the best one for last, too.)

Thanks to everyone who sent a nice comment or email about my best friend problems.  I have sort of come to the conclusion that, if we can't agree that mistakes were made on BOTH ends (yes, mine too!), then it's not really fixable.  That sucks, but I don't know what else to do.  I'm doing better, except, every time I check my email my heart kind of stops while I check to see if there is another angry missive.

Ah, well.

Hey, look.  Snakes.  (Did i ever tell you guys that I have a fairly paralyzing fear of snakes?  It's true.  Randomly, it developed when I was pregnant with Princess Girl. The Hubby and I went to the zoo, and I totally freaked out when we walked by some snakes.  Never had before.  I think I thought they wanted to eat the -unborn- baby.  Crazy hormones!  Baby came out, hormones went away, but, the fear stayed!)  And now Iplan to sleep under snakes every night.  I think I will probably have to skip a certain summer blockbuster to be as it combines my two worst fears- air travel and snakes...

It may be obvious to you that one of the snakes has suffered an amputation.  Well, much like Patti, I seem to be losing my mind when it comes to counting.  (Except Patti later found her missing pieces, and I just made a mistake!)  I had one extra 2 block, and one to few 2M blocks.  So, I need to make one final piece of a snake to fill in the hole.

As always seems to happen to me at this point, I'm going layout crazy.  I get it up on the wall, like it, then walk away, and fifteen minutes later, I don't like it so much anymore.  So I move around some blocks, like it, and then... The entire cycle repeats.  I photographed a few different layouts to give me ideas of what does and doesn't seem to be working.

If you click on the image, it will take you to Flickr, and to links to larger versions of each of the individual layouts...  It's much much easier to see the color changes in the larger photos.  If anyone wanted to offer an opinion, you know it would be welcome!

The new Stitch N Bitch group seemed very cool- lots of young and funky folks there- and- many of them are quilters as well.  Amazing quilters!  That's exciting.  The east side of town part of the group is meeting next Tues at my closest LYS...  Five minutes from my office!  What did I work on during the Stitch N Bitch, you want to know?  Here is my progress:

That's not Typepad eating a photo.  Rather, my progress was- Nothing.  I started working on the sleeves (here are someone else's so you get the idea)from One Skein.  First of all, I had to make 3 different gauge swatches.  Mine kept being way too small, and finally I went up 2 entire needle sizes.  I worked the first 13 rows of the pattern during the meeting, and was worried that I would not be able to fit the sleeves over my hand- it just didn't seem like it would finish wide enough.  As I tried to stretch them and see, I BROKE THE YARN in the cast on row.  Wah, whine.  My knitting lately has pretty much sucked.  Bad luck all around, really.  Or, perhaps not bad luck, but, lack of skill and patience?  I think I need a quick remedial project to get my mojo back.

Okay, I'm off to work, and to obsessively check my email some more...

And by the way, i am what I drink ;-)

You Are a Margarita Jelly Bean

Wildly optimistic and jovial, you know how to get through anything with flair. You have a certain "je ne sais quoi" that makes you an alluring companion.

What Flavor Jelly Bean Are You?

The snakes are TOO BIG!

The snakes are growing!  The snakes are growing! 

Which, actually, has turned out to present two big ole challenges.  First off, this is the biggest quilt I have worked on since The Hubby made my design wall (aka two felt backed tablecloths tacked to the wall...)  And, it turns out, to see the quilt, I have to drag my cutting table into the middle of the room.  Where it can't stay, due to space restrictions.  I may try laying this out horizontally soon.

Problem #2 is that- while, we took the original pattern from the book to the copy shop and had them enlarge it the specified 400%, it turns out, that was too big!  My blocks are about 2 inches too big, and, last night I realized- I was going to run out of the lavender background batik!  ACK!  I had enough to finish the blocks, but, not enough for the borders.  And even though the quilt will probably be long enough that I could skip top and bottom borders, the sides were not wide enough.  Grumble.  I didn't want to piece a border from the various snake fabrics as I really love the border-free look of the original.  So today I hightailed it to an LQS that I only like for its batik selection, and where I bought the original.  And, they had another bolt.  Which is good, because I finished the first bolt months ago.  I intended the fabric for the background of another quilt, and then it was going to be for Love Beads from the Modern Quilt Workshop, but now I'm planning to do that one in grey- and purple.  Anyway!  Crisis resolved, I bought 4 more yards, and now, I can continue!  Ahem, I may also have bought another 3 yards of fabric, but, let's not talk about that stash enhancement.  Or, do you want to know?  1 yard of a cute retro pink poodle flannel, for Princess Girl's Xmas present.  Hmm, I should probably start that.  And 2 yards of an amazingly cute ice cream cone print. 

Oi, what a weakness for novelties I have.

Meanwhile, I am reading the most fascinating book I have picked up in quite some time.  And eye-opening, and heartbreaking too.  The Girls Who Went Away is an amazing read. It is the story, written by an adoptee, of women, young teens and early 20s mostly, who gave away babies for adoption between 1945-1973 (the end of WWII to the passing of Roe V Wade...)  The Hubby is actually one of these babies, and I have always wondered about his other mother, and that connection being out there somewhere.  What is so shocking to me is how naive these girls were, and how cruelly treated.  The idea that anyone could give up a baby and forget about that baby forever seems ludicrous to me.  (Especially with the 2 of my own.)  And often, these babies it seems were pretty much forced away from the young mothers, who knew nothing of their own rights, and received no support from society.  These poor girls received so little information that some of them were taken into the delivery room, still not knowing where the baby would come out.  I cannot imagine the terror!  The author of this book has done an amazing job balancing first person interviews with historical research, and also her own journey as an adoptee.  It is depressing to read of how so many of these young moms never recovered emotionally...  I have to say, I'm doing a lousy job trying to convey how simply amazing this book, and the chunk of American history it exposes, are, but, really, what an amazing read.  It's so darn good I may not work on the snakes at all tonight, even though the kids are tucked safely in bed after a wild and crazy and H*O*T day at a local free kid festival.  Every year it seems to hit the hottest weekend of the summer.