No Knitting Now

At least not for another couple of days. I had a huge burst leading up to the last blog, and the Celtic Cap is exactly the same today as it was then. I somehow misplaced the 3 pages I actually use of the 12 in the (did I mention wonderfully and flexibly written) pattern. So I had to print it out again. And now I'll need to find my place. It shouldn't be too hard, but I won't get to it today or tomorrow.

The Daughter's Spring Break ended for us on Saturday when she returned to Blacksburg. I was able to schedule work so that I could be off for several days while she was home, and we had fun. We had lunch out, did some shopping, and we both needed haircuts. Mine's back to where it belongs, and hers is, I think, the shortest it's been in her 20 years of life. It is darling-- about chin length, and it will be easy for her during the summer. We made a quick stop by the shop to chat with The Irregulars on Wednesday.

We covered a chair-- and it looks really great. I should have taken pictures. It was one of those bare white armchairs from IKEA that needs to either be covered or get a slipcover. We did it in a cocoa-colored microsuede fabric. I watched the people in Changing Rooms and Trading Spaces when they sort of held up fabric and pinned it, then cut it and sewed. Hey-- it works!!! I'd say it took about 4-5 hours to do from start to finish. The actual sewing part was only about an hour, and most of that was trying to figure out which direction to go and try to avoid poking myself with the pins.

If you decide to try this at home, make sure you have enough pins. You'll need dozens if not hundreds. I got poked plenty, and the tips of my fingers are still sore from inserting and removing pins through the heavy fabric. I probably should have used a leather thimble or something.

The bottom of the seat isn't sewn. If I'd had more time, or more energy, I probably would have finished that part. As it is, the fabric that comes in from the back, the arms, and the bottom of the front are tucked under the seat cushion. Since the fabric is microsuede, and the cushion fits tightly, it seems like it will "hold". We'll find out, and I can always tidy it up later. The cover is stapled to the chair frame around the bottom.

During the construction of the chair cover we watched Almost Like Heaven and The Wedding Crashers. Both fun, feel-good movies. The Wedding Crashers wasn't as mindless as I thought it was going to be. It was good to see Owen Wilson as not a total idiot.

During cushion construction we watched The Constant Gardener. Definitely NOT a feel-good movie, but SO worth watching. It is truly a well-done, disturbing, well-acted film. I highly recommend it-- but make sure your head is in a good place.

I did have to go to work a couple of days, and on one of those, The Daughter came in and took some pictures for The Writing, since she knows my camera better than I do.

Of course, days away from work have not been days free from work, as I'm still working on The Chapter whose deadline is tomorrow. I've been doing a bit on it every day, and since the content is the same as The Article, only really pared down and in outline form, I'm not at all stressed. The pictures are taken, and now it's just a case of pulling it together, getting the references straightened out and emailing it to the publisher. (Tell me again WHY I thought this was a good idea?) I'd rather be knitting.

The Son is on break now--came home late Saturday night. I worked a bunch at the end of last week and over the weekend, and I haven't been able to spend as much time with him as I'd like, especially since he's mightily in to sleep while I'm conscious. I need to go in to work today for a couple of hours, so maybe we can do something this afternoon. He leaves tomorrow for a trek with frat buddies. Tonight will be corned-beef and cabbage (our second in 2 weeks, since The Daughter needed to have some last week.) Not only will The Son not be here on St. Patrick's Day, but it's also Friday during Lent, and, you know...

I need to put together a lecture to give next week, and it'll take a few hours, so Thursday is for that. But only part of Thursday is for that.

Some of it will be for knitting.