Are Things Looking Up Today?

Yeah.

Dad went to the bank and I'm not going to be homeless. Even if he croaked today, he has enough stashed away between savings accounts, CD's, retirement money, and life insurance to cover the mortgage note entirely. The mortgage is a debt of his that Sister and I would inherit upon his death, and I'd only be homeless if we couldn't pay it. I told Sister that if we couldn't pay it that I'd just move in with her, and she assured me that if push came to shove she'd find the money to help out. I thought that might motivate her.

Of course, I have life insurance on Mr. Poops that would cover the note and then some. So he better watch his step.

Kidding. I'm kidding. Mostly.

I've forgiven. We've moved on. I've chalked his comments up to sheer stupidity and let it go. What else can I do? I can't be mad forever, and I do have to live with this man the rest of my life. At any rate, stupid or not, I doubt he'll make that same mis-step again with me.

He knows I wield pointy sticks.

Alas, my wheel is still kaput. I tried melting and re-attaching the drive band to no avail. It connects, but once I get the wheel spinning, it snaps at the join. I tried making a ghetto band, but I can't find anything that doesn't slip once the bobbin is engaged. As long as I'm not actually feeding fiber into it, the ghetto bands work great. I need something with greater friction. I suppose that's why the band is rubber in the first place. At any rate, I ordered a new one and it will be here in a week. I figure it's God's way of telling me to step away from the wheel and concentrate on knitting those socks for the lady at church.

Of course he could have slowed the mail down and not had my brown fiber from the Sheep Shed Studios arrive in such a timely fashion. It's a medium brown color with cream shot through it. (Doesn't it look like hair? It'd make a pretty wig.) My last skein of the white came out very even and much thinner, and I'm thinking if I can manage to achieve similar results with the brown that I'll have enough yarn in the end do actually make something substantial. And I'll tell you something else: if I can achieve those results with the brown, I'm going to give the merino that I got at the NHSWF a go on the wheel. I was going to spindle it, but now I don't know. Time will tell.

But for now I'm making socks. I've made them all from the Ella Rae wool I got on sale at WEBS. I made one (not pictured) that I'm not sure if I'm going to make for the customer or not. It's kind of big. I might keep that pair for myself, and I've given thought to felting them down just a bit and see what it looks like. I figure if they come out too small that one of my kids will wear them. Bug loves felted socks. Bug loves everything I make and is still pestering me over when I'm going to make her Monica sweater. Soon, Bug, soon.


So the first pair is a dark green with lemon-lime green stripes. And the second pair, so far, is heathered gold and burgundy. The pair you don't see is navy with avocado accents on the cuff, toe, and heel. It's a color combination I enjoy and it's part of the reason I'm considering keeping them for myself. Or perhaps making myself a pair with those colors. But that would mean making more socks, and I'm just not a sock knitter. Not my favorite project.

I also need to design a sundress for Bug as well. I have some cotton/linen blend in a variegated pink that would make a sweet sundress, only I hate all the patterns out there. So I've sketched one out and I'm going to see what I can do. I'll measure her completely tonight and do some math. I would like to make it with thin straps, an eyelet (or other lace) top, high waist, and knee-length skirt with a bit of a flared hem and maybe a lacy bit down there too. Mostly solid so I don't have to line the skirt. I don't mind lining the bodice if need be.

Ah, so much to think about!

Tonight I am going to a meeting of my class reunion committee. Twenty years. Oh. My. God. Has it really been that long? Yep, it has. I'm looking forward to it. I had a great class and I loved high school. Of course the dinner dance is going to cost us 100 bucks to attend, which is considerably more than I like to spend for a night out. The food better be good, that's all I'm saying.

What sucks is that we belong to a "club" at church called the 300 club. Well, it doesn't suck that we belong to the club. I phrased that badly. See, we pay 80 dollars a year per person, and the money goes toward the mission of the church. But in return for our money, we're entered in a monthly raffle. I won a hundred dollars in December! And in August they have a dinner for everyone in the club. It's fun, and it's lobster and steak, so what's not to like? And there's the year end raffle for the really BIG prizes. Here comes the sucky part: naturally, the dinner is scheduled for the same night as the reunion.



And of course technically we've already paid 160 dollars to go to that particular dinner.

I hope I do well at the Canterbury Fair this year. I'm going to need the money to pay for all my socializing!



As a final note, I noticed that every time I get the camera out, Bobo is right there ready to get her picture taken. Today she says to me "Take a picture of my butt."

I hope when she's Playmate of the Year she'll still go to mass on Sunday.