Looking Good

...if I do say so myself. Take a look:

Zany Stars Quilt in Progress

I've decided on placements for all the different star blocks, and I still need to sew up some more of the checkerboard filler, but I really like the way it's coming together. My sister-in-law tells me that my nephew is really into stars these days, so I have incentive to finish it quickly before he moves out of that phase!

I've got my sewing table all set up with the ironing board right next to it, so I can sit down and sew some pieces together whenever I have a spare 5 minutes or so. That has really helped my productivity. Of course, I would much rather spend larger blocks of time and see more progress, but I'll take what I can get.

On the home front, kids have recovered from the school musical and the SATs, and mandatory state standardized testing is finally over. We may actually have a calmer week ahead of us.

I am still running, and trying to bump my running schedule up to 3 runs per week. I was doing pretty well with that, 2 weeks in a row with 3 runs, and then this past week I hosted knitting group on my running day, so the run went out the window. Oh well, I'll try to pick it back up this week.

My local dance studio expanded their classes recently and are now offering an adult tap class. I had taken tap for a number of years, but had to stop about 5 or 6 years ago when the class was cancelled due to scheduling issues. I had been dancing with the high-schoolers, which was often a stretch for me, but it was a lot of fun and a really good workout. This new class is all adults, most of whom tapped as kids and are trying to pick it back up. I find myself the most experienced tapper in the class (besides the teacher), which is a first for me. We are starting slowly, but I do love tapping, so I am going to use this opportunity to work on my technique, which could certainly use some work, and hope that the others will be able to move forward quickly so we can get to the fun stuff.

The sun's been out lately and spring flowers are popping up. Everyone's healthy. Life is good.

Shelley in CT

Zany Stars!!!

My nephew Zane's 2nd birthday has come and gone, and the baby quilt I started for him over 2 years ago is still sitting, half made, on my sewing table. Well, it's time to finish it! I must say, Helen's posts (one of the blogs I follow: runquiltknitwrite) with pictures of her Wonky Stars certainly helped motivate me to pick up this languishing project. This pattern comes from the Sew Many Quilts magazine, nov/dec 1998 issue, and is actually called Ph.D. Stars, for Personally Hand-Designed Stars. Here's the pic of the pattern:

Each star is drawn by hand on a square piece of freezer paper and cut apart. Each star piece is ironed on to a piece of fabric, and the star is sewn together. I loved the look of the quilt and the idea, but after about half a dozen stars, I was finding it rather tedious. Thus, the long hiatus. Now I finally have all the stars sewn and have started on the checkerboard pieces (heavenly easy!). I think I'll be able to finish it up fairly quickly now that all the fussy piecing is done. It would be good to get this baby quilt sent to him before he turns 3! This should be the very last of the baby quilts for nieces and nephews. The quilt for my penultimate nephew got to him for his 2nd birthday. Apparently I'm getting lazier less efficient in my old age.

Kids are now (finally!) finished with the school play. The last performance was this evening so Dan and Aya and I went to see it, and brought along a friend and neighbour as well. They all did a great job! I know the kids worked hard and really enjoyed the process, but it got so hectic and time-consuming by performance time that they are both kind of relieved that it's over. So are we.

I'm elected to stay up until the kids get home from the cast party, so it's time to settle in with an episode of Inspector Morse, my knitting, and a glass of wine. And on top of that, tonight we lose an hour because we switch to Daylight Savings Time. At least there's not much going on tomorrow and I can try to catch up.

Shelley in CT

Getting back on Track

Well, the new year has had a rough start for me and the family, but I'm finding my way again and getting back on track.

Shortly after my last post my mother-in-law passed away. We knew it was coming and was only a matter of time, and she suffered from dementia to a degree where she no longer recognized anybody and didn't appear to find enjoyment any longer in her life, but nevertheless it was hard to say goodbye.

We gathered the troops and prepared to drive down to Pennsylvania for the funeral. There were a lot of little things to take care of, like appropriate clothing for the kids (the boys have been growing so quickly that we didn't have suits that fit them) and what to do with Aya (our Japanese exchange student), as I felt there was no need to drag her to a family funeral and make her miss 3 days of school. We got the call just in time to pull our oldest son off the plane (he was on his way back to college for his second semester) with about 15 minutes to spare. In a way, it helped me to focus on all the little details until I was ready to experience the funeral and the sadness. It was a difficult time, but as my husband's Aunt K said, the silver lining was that all the family was together.

Since then, we've been back at school and work, kids have survived midterms, and DH and I have caught up with our work too. I've been feeling really up and down over the last couple months and haven't blogged because I was afraid it would turn out sad and whiney. But here are some highlights of the beginning of 2012:

I drove up with a vanload of ladies from my knitting group to visit Susan, my running partner and fellow knitter, in her new house outside of Boston. It was a great visit, but of course it ended too soon. We made it a day trip, leaving as soon as our kids had left for school, but with a 2-hour drive each way the visit couldn't be terribly long, and we ran out of time before we ran out of conversation!

I've almost finished knitting a top-down raglan cardigan that I've been working on for ME! I just have buttonbands to finish knitting, and buttons to buy. I have pulled out my notes from a class on buttonbands that I took at Stitches a couple of years ago with Leslye Solomon (who is an excellent teacher, but the way!). So glad I kept the notes. I am just about out of yarn, and have unravelled my gauge swatches and now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have enough yarn to finish. At least with a top-down sweater, I can pull out an inch from the bottom of the ribbing if I really need more yarn and the sweater will still look good and I won't have to reknit anything.

Cardigan ready to bind off

close-up of yarn - more accurate color

The other project I have been working on is clearing up my office. My desk has been a disaster area for way too long. Last fall I bought some boards and the hardware to put up some wall shelves above the desk. I have finally cut, sanded and painted the last shelf and it's up. I spent last weekend clearing my desktop and organizing and throwing out the stuff I don't need. I can now see the wood on the desktop and it feels so good!

Maybe I'll be able to accomplish more now that I have space to work and think! It has certainly helped me find more energy - I've gotten my dresser top cleared off too! There are more areas of the house to go, but I do feel like I'm making progress, and it feels good to get rid of the clutter.

Two of the kids are participating in the school spring musical: one in the chorus and the other playing in the pit orchestra. They've been staying late at the school for rehearsals every night this week and they opened last night. I know the kids have been enjoying the experience, but they are getting tired and fighting to keep up with homework, so I suspect they'll be a little relieved when all the performances are done. I went to see them on opening night and it looks good. I'll go see it again next weekend too.

Time to go finish up a sweater, or work on a quilt, or (more likely) do more of the never-ending laundry.

Shelley in CT