**Please note: If you are reading this on Facebook, I am on a FB cleanse right now and I am not participating much. If you want to comment on this post, please visit my blog at http://thetribaldancer.blogspot.com/**
Obviously, I have been in hibernation mode lately. I am sorry, dear readers, for being absent. I honeslty had no idea how many readers, and how far flung my readership was, until I got that little widget guy on the left there. Wow! Thanks to all you anonymous readers who have been visiting and hanging in with me while my blog has been latent.
Catching up a little after the cut...
Last Saturday was my MIL's celebratory memorial. It was small, but special. The sun was shining, we ate good food, met old friends, and I got to share a slideshow I made (at Stephanie's behest), which went over really well. I was surprised how many people had never heard Warren Zevon's "Keep Me in Your Heart For a While", which is one of my favorite songs in the world, and only moreso when I got to put it to photos of an incredible woman like Pat. (Look up info on the recording of that song, and you can see why I cry hopelessly most times I hear it).
My friends Amy and Erik welcomed their second child, a sweet little girl they named Vera, into their family that same week. I got to meet her just days after being born, and it's exciting to see their family grow and change in the time I have known them. I am grateful for their friendship, and am blessed being a part of their circle of love during a time when I need friends most.
Gardening continues to be a fantastic success. The squirrels apparently approve, and that is a new frustration, but all-in-all, everything I am planting is flourishing this year. That is a new one on me. I keep having to hack back my petunias relentlessly, and they keep surging back in huge displays of color, while my ground covers, which you would think would be the most aggressive, are pretty low key. There is still so much to do.
And I have been knitting. Just finished my Luna Moth shawl this week. It’s my first lace project, my first major blocking project, and my first “from a chart” project. Blocking lace…what an exciting treat!
Disappointing, though, was that I could only do 5 repeats of the pattern instead of 6 because I was out of yarn, and while others found theirs to be long enough with this number of repeats, it was awfully small for my taste. Other than that, I am really pleased with the results. Here are some picks of the blocking process (for my non-knitting friends, blocking is basically setting the fibers into the desired finished shape by washing or wetting the fibers, and then pinning it and letting it dry, at which time it is set or blocked)
Before blocking, fresh off the needles
On the bed, pinning into shape.
Only took a few hours to dry.
Complete!
That is the briefest of rundowns. Hope you all are enjoying your summer!
Obviously, I have been in hibernation mode lately. I am sorry, dear readers, for being absent. I honeslty had no idea how many readers, and how far flung my readership was, until I got that little widget guy on the left there. Wow! Thanks to all you anonymous readers who have been visiting and hanging in with me while my blog has been latent.
Catching up a little after the cut...
Last Saturday was my MIL's celebratory memorial. It was small, but special. The sun was shining, we ate good food, met old friends, and I got to share a slideshow I made (at Stephanie's behest), which went over really well. I was surprised how many people had never heard Warren Zevon's "Keep Me in Your Heart For a While", which is one of my favorite songs in the world, and only moreso when I got to put it to photos of an incredible woman like Pat. (Look up info on the recording of that song, and you can see why I cry hopelessly most times I hear it).
My friends Amy and Erik welcomed their second child, a sweet little girl they named Vera, into their family that same week. I got to meet her just days after being born, and it's exciting to see their family grow and change in the time I have known them. I am grateful for their friendship, and am blessed being a part of their circle of love during a time when I need friends most.
Gardening continues to be a fantastic success. The squirrels apparently approve, and that is a new frustration, but all-in-all, everything I am planting is flourishing this year. That is a new one on me. I keep having to hack back my petunias relentlessly, and they keep surging back in huge displays of color, while my ground covers, which you would think would be the most aggressive, are pretty low key. There is still so much to do.
And I have been knitting. Just finished my Luna Moth shawl this week. It’s my first lace project, my first major blocking project, and my first “from a chart” project. Blocking lace…what an exciting treat!
Disappointing, though, was that I could only do 5 repeats of the pattern instead of 6 because I was out of yarn, and while others found theirs to be long enough with this number of repeats, it was awfully small for my taste. Other than that, I am really pleased with the results. Here are some picks of the blocking process (for my non-knitting friends, blocking is basically setting the fibers into the desired finished shape by washing or wetting the fibers, and then pinning it and letting it dry, at which time it is set or blocked)
Before blocking, fresh off the needles
On the bed, pinning into shape.
Only took a few hours to dry.
Complete!
That is the briefest of rundowns. Hope you all are enjoying your summer!
