LOTS TO REPORT

The last 24 hours have been full, rich.  One of the perks that one realizes when working for an academic institution is the educational discount - this is important since everyone KNOWS that academia rarely provides a living wage!  The hallowed halls, the ivy-covered towers are breath-taking, but the reality is that many work behind those walls for sub-standard wages, present company included.  Vassar is my employer.  I could sing its praises and its pitfalls, but that would be for another time.  Tonight I want to give thanks for the educational discount that allowed me to purchase a GLORIOUS computer for my Bean's 30th birthday.  (Early)


 It's a MacBook Pro.  It's stainless steel.  It's absolutely fantastic and she is in another orbit.  And that's good enough for me!  When Bean is happy, we are all happy!  Moving right along, because I cannot figure out how to download the images ...




Here's an image of cousin Karen -

 She's the one in the gorgeous shade of blue.  Karen is Scott's first cousin - her father and Scott's dad were twins.  This is a shot of some family members sorting through photos for the collage that was displayed at the funeral home - it was taken a few weeks ago.  I want you to pay special attention to what Karen is wearing.  There will be a test.


Karen is one of those special people that, if you are really really fortunate, you will bump into during your life time.  And, if you are UBER lucky, it will be during a crisis, because Karen really shines when things get dicey.  I like to say (and it's a fact) that she is the glue that held this family together when Scott's dad became ill and quickly passed on.  She was ever-present.  She is tiny, but diminutive - a powerhouse who apparently never sleeps.  She always has a kind word, a warm glance, a hug.  She never runs out.  You could wake up with a savage headache and she would know what to do.  You could experience a break with your faith while standing in a mortuary, and she would have the words to comfort you.  When she smiles it is exactly like the sun breaking loose from a cloud-filled sky.  She brought us all through these last few weeks intact.  How do you say thank you for such a gift?

I thought so.  And I KNEW that you all would agree.  Now, I need some help.  The fiber is Perfection.  The color is Perfection (remember what she was wearing?).  Please help me find a pattern for a lace shawl for 800 yards of Perfection.  I've been shifting through everything that I have, but nothing has moved me.  I'm wanting a pattern that is easily committed to memory.  Something beautiful to make the most of this cashmere.  Something that will let Karen know how valued she is.  Cherished.

I spent some time in my sewing room this morning getting reacquainted with UFO's that have been clamoring for CLOSURE!  Do you remember this?

I aggressively promised this piece that it would see closure before the 2010 holiday.  I pulled out it's colors and it's finishing patterns and fabrics.  And then something caught my eye -

This is the view from my sewing room door out into the hallway.  Layers of projects, both finished and not so finished.  Quilts - as far as the eye can see!  This is the way that I like it!  Explosions of color and texture abound.  I wonder what it would be like to begin and finish one project at a time.  B O R I N G ...

I've finished my Lovely Leaf Scarf and am busy memorizing the kitchener stitch.  Why do I have such trouble committing this grafting technique to memory?  I should have started to knit in my twenties.

It's so pretty that I can hardly stand it.  I'm ready to order about a bajillion more skeins of this yarn.  Seriously.  The silk lends itself in such a seductive way - the perfect marriage to the merino.  There is one tiny detail that I've avoided overlooked - with all of this knitting I have managed to hurt myself, again.  I've got a good sized ganglion percolating on the top of my right hand.  It hurts like hell.  It makes me feel OLD.  I'm going to knit through the pain!

Because I PROMISED this project that I would finish it!