End of an Era...

You know it's bad when someone says, "So-and-So is discontinuing treatment." Or "So-and-So has entered hospice care." You think, "Oh, it'll be a while."

But not. Both Aretha Franklin and John McCain died swiftly after their respective representatives issued statements saying that there was a dramatic change in their circumstances. 

John McCain's camp actually said he was ending treatment for brain cancer yesterday. He died today, around 4:28 p.m. 

And I totally get it. Who wants to be dogged as you're in the process of dying. Both Franklin and McCain died of cancer: Franklin's was pancreatic. You just had to take a look at her in her last performance (linked here) to see she was a shell of herself. While she had total command of the stage, her voice was clearly not where it was. This was 9 months before she died. The average survival rate for pancreatic cancer is -- just about 9 months. I know. My dad died of pancreatic cancer. 

McCain, who died earlier this afternoon, was a figure who was almost unilaterally respected. If you didn't agree with him, you had to admit that his arguments were almost always classy. He never resorted to petty name-calling, mocking, or other things we routinely see from the White House lately. I rarely agreed with him, and it's not like we had coffee every week, but I understood for the most part where he was coming from. I wished he wasn't so wishy-washy on some things, and wished he'd have decided otherwise on other things. 

But you had to admit that, for the most part, he had principles and was mostly the "maverick" he made himself out to be. 

The Governor of Arizona needs to appoint someone - who will serve till 2020. And who, apparently, has to be a Republican. It's going to be interesting. 

Great Prison Break-In...

Tonight was the Great Prison Break-In...the first fundraiser for the work we've been doing at the old Joliet prison. The crowds were polite and steady. Kid #2 and I were there, but we didn't stay long; he's got an hour drive home, and we were able to see what we wanted to see and take some photos. 

Folks were settling on the grounds with their folding chairs, and in the various tents placed around. The first band was rocking when we were there - there were 4 bands scheduled, including - of course, the Blooze Brothers...

If you aren't aware, the Old Joliet Prison was a pivotal location for "The Blues Brothers" movie. I have a picture of Joliet Jake's cell and we entered through the sallyport that Jake took when he left on his Mission from God. 

The Prison Kitties  (Jake and Elwood - Ellie for short, since she's a girl) were on display with a big bucket for donations for their care. They were feral kittens found by volunteers. These little stinkers managed to make their way (or mom brought them, most likely) to the front of the prison, where Mamma Kitty lives in the far back, under a ramp. They almost died. 

I believe they're being rehabbed and will be up for adoption soon. They're darling little beasties, and Kid # 2 said, "The trouble with kittens is that they turn into cats." They're going to be terrors. Hopefully, they get a home together. 

SAC building

We were only allowed in 2 buildings: SAC (Solitary Confinement) and into one penned area where we got a glimpse of the cells. Of course, as a volunteer, I was all over the place when we worked, but tonight, it was all blocked off and locked up. Which it should have been. There's stuff in there that'll hurt you or kill you; the public doesn't need to be there yet. 

So the "tour" through SAC was literally walking in the front door, peering into the cells that were open (many were locked shut) and walking out. You got to see the ancient cell they had, and there were lovely display boards all over the place. 

Kid #2 wants to volunteer for the continued clean-up and I spoke to one of the organizers. They're taking a few weeks off - as they should because this was an INCREDIBLE amount of work (you may have seen some of the pics I posted before), and Lord knows these folks need to relax a little!

It's going to be an amazing place. 

Knitting...

So I started a prayer shawl. I had the yarn, and I needed a break from socks for a bit. I have to say that I'm surprised. This is on huge needles, and I really can't knit with them for a long time, because they're stressful on the hands. 

But it's working up nicely. This is Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn - a super-bulky weight in Washington Denim. It's kind of periwinkle. I love how the K1 Y/O on the ends makes a "rope" with this size of yarn. It's a great texture. 

It's acrylic, which is fine. You want easy care in a prayer shawl, so that the person getting it doesn't have to futz with it. 

I'm hoping to get it done in the next few days, actually. It's zipping along, all things considered. I'll put in a big pile of knitting tomorrow, and see how it goes. 

The pattern is a Simple Triangle - it's a Lion pattern. The original pattern is for smaller needles, but I figured what the heck... I have 4 balls of this yarn; and it has to get to 36" from the cast on. So it's super simple:

Cast on 3 stitches. Knit 1 row, then Row 2 is K1, YO, knit to end. By adding those YOs you get a lovely "lace" bit on the edges. You just keep knitting, repeating Row 2. With this bulky yarn, the rows add up fast. You knit till it's about 35-ish inches from cast on and then bind off loosely. This yarn won't even need blocking! 

I really do have someone in mind for this; I'll get it blessed and we'll see about getting it delivered. I like this shape and I'm really liking the drape of this fabric. Of course, it helps that I'm doing it inside, with the AC on! It's still August, and tomorrow's supposed to be beastly, in time for the full moon. 

It's a great mindless knit while I watch the old Dr. Who series. I feel really bad for that "Traveler Scarf" that Tom Baker wears as his doctor's costume. The man is stomping on it half the time!! He's one of my favorite doctors, but jeeze - that scarf!! I'd love to do that one day, when I'm in the mood for TWELVE FEET of mindless garter stitch... It's not a great picture of him, but it's a fantastic picture of the scarf. 

I love the mythology of this garment. Apparently, the BBC plopped this big box of yarn in front of some woman, and told her "we need a scarf." She used ALL the yarn. This is now an iconic piece of Whovian lore. Imitations abound, and to really make it can cost a small fortune if you're looking for the exact yarns. It's on my Knitting Bucket List. That and Orenberg lace...

Not sure when I'll get to either of them, but I'm thinking that in the long run, 12 feet of garter is going to be more accessible than learning to read an Orenberg lace chart and then knitting it with smaller-than-spider-web yarn. 

In the Kitchen...

I'm addicted to the Starbucks Green Tea Latte. I mean seriously addicted. I get them unsweetened and I thought I was being very virtuous. I made them at home and of course noticed a taste difference. After some digging, I found that the "unsweetened" version had -- hang on to your hat -- about 14 grams of SUGAR in it. The matcha powder they use has sugar in it. Seriously. Unsweetened my rear leg. How in the world do people drink it SWEET??

After drinking some godawful combinations I worked on, I've finally figured out a home-based alternative. 

I take about 2 heaping teaspoons of pure matcha powder (not a "drink" powder, but pure matcha), put it in a jar, and add a little unsweetened almond or almond/coconut milk. Shake the living daylights out of it.... Add more almond milk till it's about 14-15 ounces and then shake again. If you need sugar, either put a tiny dab of honey in there (organic or pure - check the label) or a couple crystals of rock sugar in there. You don't need much. Shake the daylights out of it again to mix in your preferred sweetener and pour over ice. I think if I used sweetened almond milk, I wouldn't want to add any further sweet to it. Matcha is delicate as it is. You don't want to make it disappear. 

I still make the hot matcha with water and a drizzle of the almond milk. Since I'm off dairy, I want to keep the lovely energy of the matcha but I don't want the dairy or calories of half & half. 

The other night, I was looking for something to do with cauliflower rice. I found a Spanish Rice dish and I added to it (of course). Again, since I'm off dairy, there's no cheese in here (which would've been delicious!). I was a bit heavy-handed with the Penzey's Arizona Dreaming spice blend, so it's kinda hot. But I added sliced green olives and a couple drops of Young Living Essential Oils Lime Vitality oil. The Vitality oil line is specifically designed to ingest. 

The taste and scent of limes was so lovely! It actually cut the heat a tad. I'm going to make this again, but not so heavy on the hot. 

It's good with avocado slices or with guacamole. I would have used sour cream, but...dairy... 

I had it with chicken tonight. It's "plan-over" (not left-over) and I ate it yesterday with some salmon. 

I like finding new ways to use cauliflower rice. I don't rice it myself; I could. I have a lovely Vita-Mix and it would be simple to do it. But it's simpler to buy the bag. I may try it, but I'm honestly afraid I'm going to have "cream of cauliflower soup" by mistake... 

Random Picture...

Someone posted a pic on Pinterest which ended upon Facebook regarding using "vintage recipes" as kitchen decor. Duh... 

Got that one. I give you my father's potica recipe,which has been hanging in my kitchen for about 18 years. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to pry his rolling pin (solid oak with ball bearings) out of my mother's hands, despite me being the potica baker in the family... But I wouldn't hang that on the wall anyway. That gets its own drawer. Someday. 

This was his handwritten recipe. It's one page long. The actual recipe for potica is about 4 pages long. He lists ingredients, barely lists amounts, and says, "Bake at 350."

I'm sorry the picture is a bit keystoned. As you can see, the flash spot is below the actual picture. Otherwise, it was right in the middle. 

There's a story... My sister and I each got some handwritten recipes from my dad and we both had them framed. Hers was neater... Mine was folded up (this is looseleaf paper) and crusty. Dad wasn't a neat cook. 

The poor framer at Michael's actually looked at me as if I was crazy. She did a beautiful job and I love it. 

What would you do with a family favorite recipe? Any other ideas?

Here's the Lap Robe...

Ok, remember a few posts back where I showed my pillow for my LYS owner? Well, I saw the finished lap robe.

So it's a bit bigger than a lap robe. The person who put it together went a little crazy with the crocheted border. And she put one square in backwards. It had a cable - it was easy to see but apparently, she missed it. Oh well - there's not much anyone can do about it.

Completed chemo throw

Here's a picture of it:

As you can see, it's quite extravagant. The entire thing is in Cascade superwash wool. I love that the white and cream blocks anchor the entire blanket. I'm not sure that the cream was a good idea to do the connecting and border, but I can say, if you click on the picture, the detail in the border really pops in that color.

I love the top right square with the "sweater in the square" theme. And the grey one in the middle is fun, with its abstract design.

Each square rather reflects the person who knitted it.

They're giving it to her in the next 10 days or so, and I'll probably miss that - but I took the picture before it was blocked, just so we could print the thing and have the photo on the "picture board" in the shop.

This throw is the essence of "crazy" because while everyone picked from 2 main pattern books, there was no organizing of the squares - it's not like everyone said, "Well, let's all do cable variations." The squares are the representation of the knitter's ability and that's what's cool about it.

The pillow

As a reminder, here's a shot of my pillow. I understand that one or two others are making pillows, which is a great idea.

The pillows can be under her arm if she's having an IV treatment; they can be at the small of her back, or under her knees if she wants.

And EVERYTHING is washable!

When you think about this, the warmth of the objects is magnified by the affection with which they were knitted. We didn't have them "blessed" like you would a traditional prayer shawl or afghan, but I think that the "blessings" accrued in the knitting and organization of the project.

Often, when a group of women have been together a while, things get so comfy that we can get ourselves into pickles without realizing it. That just happened at the shop, at a time when we should all be pulling together.

This project was an example of the pulling together. We don't always get along: we're human! And there are spats: disagreements, political stuff (which really shouldn't be discussed when you've got sharp sticks and scissors!), family squabbles that create strong opinions.

But we set that all aside. We had a 2-week window to get the project done. And we did it.

That's a blessing indeed.

Making of a Pillow...

I can't remember who I've told what, so I'll start from the beginning.

Unfortunately, our LYS owner (LYS = Local Yarn Store for the un-knitterly crowd) was diagnosed with a melanoma that had spread. She had originally sought treatment for what she was told was a sinus infection.

The sinus infection got so bad that she was losing feeling on her left side...never a good sign! So they rushed her to the ER with "the worst headache ever" and they found 2 brain tumors, plus a spot on her lung (she's a smoker).

The brain tumors were taken out and they're not really worrying about the spot on the lung now, because there were actually FOUR brain tumors, but two were quite small and they thought they could zap them with radiation.

That has not turned out to be the case. Soooooooooooo. To help her out, those of us in the LYS community at her shop have all been pitching in to do what we can. Some are working in the shop; others come in to provide a bathroom break for those manning the register, or to sit with folks and help newbies, etc.

And to honor our friend, we had the great idea to make a lap robe for her. She didn't want a full afghan. There were already 12 knitters for the squares, taken from a "Great American Afghan" book (I can't cite the source because I don't have the book). Anyway, some of us thought we'd make pillows. Just little 12" squares for her to use at chemo or at home when her neck ached or she needed back support.

Eggplant Cascade

We are all using Cascade 22o superwash wool. Here's what I started:

As you can see, it's 2 balls. The actual squares take 1 ball, but I figured for a pillow, you do need 2 sides! I'd rather have a knitted pillow than put a knitted piece in a fabric frame. My sewing skills aren't that fantastic.

We all mostly chose different colors and I think it'll be stunning when it's done. If I can get a picture of it, I'll post it later on.

My pillow is a simple one. Double moss stitch, one of my favorite 'basic' stitches because it's got lots of texture, makes an interesting swath of stitching and looks much more complex than it really is! It's a 4-row repeat and I got the pillow finished in about a month, which may be long, but hey - I work for a living!!

Double Moss Stitch

I started it on the semi-circular needles, but quickly switched to circulars, just to keep control of it. If you click on the picture, you can see that the stitches look as if they're going diagonally, and almost like mini-cables.

This was a very fast pattern, and I really like the eggplant color. She likes earthy tones, so this will fit right in.

I made an "envelope" - I decided at the point pictured here that I wasn't willing to struggle with sewing all 4 sides together, or having to figure out how to crochet it all. It blocked out beautifully and I did a 27" long piece of fabric.

I bought a 12" square pillow form from the local craft store; it's washable if needed, and of course the yarn is as well. I wrapped it with a 4 or 5" flap on it and then used a mattress stitch to close it.

Mattress Stitch to sew up sides

Not the knitting mattress stitch; the crewel work mattress stitch, otherwise known as a buttonhole stitch if you've ever done hand-sewn buttonholes. I have. Only because I couldn't ever figure out the buttonhole attachment on my sewing machine.

The mattress stitch in crewel and hand sewing resembles a backward "L" and you come up at the bottom, hold onto the thread, then stick the needle in at the top and catch the bottom of the L on the way down. It's complex - Google it, but I can tell you that once you get it, you really get a rhythym going and it's quite easy to master.

Clicking on the top picture will give you a good idea of the color of the yarn, too. I think that the pictures were a little dark, but that was depending on where I took them.

I just fluffed it up and didn't bother stitching down the flap - it's long enough and it won't come apart. Here's the completed pillow:   As you can see, the pillow form showed through a bit, but when you're looking at it without a flash attachment, it looks just fine.

If I wanted to be fancy, I could've made a pillow form cover out of purple fabric and THEN put the envelope over it. But that's a little more than I wanted to do. Besides, we want to give her the ensemble this week, and we all needed to get our act together!

Here's a final shot of the double moss stitch up close. If you have a chance, add this stitch to your arsenal. It's lovely and easy. And it's something that you can use for cuffs, a sweater band, a scarf -- just a great and great-looking utility stitch that can be used in many ways.

One thing I've learned from this: If you have someone who maybe doesn't want or need a shawl, a pillow is a great idea. Whether for someone seriously ill who may be having treatment or maybe even as a baby gift for a nursing mom: it's an idea somewhat out of the box, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The Birthing of a Prayer Shawl...

I'm sad to report that my friend's son died last week. It's been a horrible week, with 2 wakes, 2 funerals and then finding out that a friend of mine - my LYS owner(!) has a spot on her lung and a 3 cm. tumor in her brain. She's a smoker -- or shall I say "former smoker" since the doctor in the ICU slapped a nicotine patch on her and said, "Your puffing days are over!"

So. I finished the prayer shawl, and I figured I'd set out a little "life cycle" on this one since it did take me the entire 18 months of Mark's illness to get this done.

Cascade Pima Cotton, garnet color

Here are the statistics: 1,100 yards of yarn. Cascade Pima Cotton, voted "yarn of the year" on a bunch of websites and in a flock of knitting magazines. Here's what it looked like pre-balling and pre-knitting. This has turned out to be the most popular yarn in my LYS. The shawl is actually my second project in this fiber, and it won't be my last. This yarn washes beautifully, holds color, stitches pop like crazy, and it drapes like a dream.

Shawl Version #1

So I started this and my initial idea was to do lace. I've always wanted to do lace; the baby car seat blanket was a simple lace, and I found what I thought was the perfect pattern. And I started. Here's the first go-round. It was a take on a "Little Arrowhead" pattern with a border of knit stitch to give it some stability.

Well. That didn't work out. I tried. Seriously tried. But I kept screwing it up and getting more and more frustrated. So I know that doing a prayer shawl is supposed to be a "meditative" experience, and it's hard to meditate when you are pitching a hissy fit because, for the 6th time, you missed a yarnover, or you have 3 extra stitches on your needle, and your written pattern says "...end with K1." This was about April, 2010. I remember blogging about how excited I was because as you can see with this yarn, the lace would have been fantastic.

Shawl Version #2

I frogged. Then I came up with this version, in June 2010... You can see that I took the border off. I rejiggered the pattern and I got this lovely rippled edge, and I was swimming along nicely.

But then, it screwed up again. Or actually, I  screwed up because when I went to the LYS to knit, all I needed to do was move my eyes off the directions or the knitting just once and it was toast.


I even had my LYS owner help me when I got so totally messed up that I was considering chucking the whole thing and not doing the project. Which I felt would've been a real let-down.

Pipes pattern. The other 2 were done in Stockinette Stitch. The first
I frogged. So I did more research on patterns. I looked at non-lace patterns, and I wanted stuff that I could do kind of robotically so that I could finally reach Knitting Zen and do this pattern for my friend.

Organ Pipes w/Stockinette Intervals

This is what I came up with. It's off a "Knit Stitch A Day" calendar, and it's called "Organ Pipes" which is appropriate since my friend is an organist.


I decided to alternate the pattern. This shawl took 5 balls of yarn, and I did 3 of them in the Organ StSt part went quickly, but the last one seemed. To. Take. For.....e....ver....


The Organ Pipes sections were 70 rows each, and the StSt parts were roughly the same - about a ball's worth of that stitch.

Organ Pipes close-up

This close-up was about June, 2011. I washed the complete shawl in my front-loading Maytag, on "delicate," in Ivory Snow baby wash, rinsed it and blocked it. Here's my blocking board - actually "playroom floor tiles" set on my office floor, with the door closed so Tippi didn't have access.

Blocked Shawl Overview

I have seen blocking board sets in catalogs that were hugely expensive. I know it's all in what you can afford, but to me, going to Menards or Home Depot to get these multi-colored tiles made more sense. They're interlocking, they're rubber, the colors don't run, and they're pretty much the same thing as the $80 ones I can buy. I can tailor these to the size I need, too, which is helpful. For the baby car seat blanket, I only needed 4. As you can see for this, I needed more!

Blocking Pins

You can see where I added the new balls; I need to work on how I do these transitions in a more effective way. Here's a close-up of how I pinned it. I went through 3 boxes of pins! I had a knitted edge on the StSt part, to keep it from rolling, so I needed to make sure that knitted edge was nice and straight. If you double-click on the picture, you can see the transition and the pins I used.


It was easy to lay out and gently tug into place. It took 3 days to dry, even though I did use the spin cycle on the Maytag. I tossed a clean bath towel (not a new one) in there, too. Both to grab the inevitable dog hair that all my projects collect, and to give the shawl something to bounce off. I didn't use a new one because I didn't want terry cloth fuzzies on the shawl! Enough that the dog hair was there!

Finished shawl

Here's the finished shawl, with the shawl pin I got. My friend is a very simple person. She likes straightforward speech, appreciates quality, but prefers plain styles with her clothes or jewelry. I think this fits the bill nicely. Again, double-click on the picture to see it in a larger size.


The Yarn Harlot says, in her book Knitting Rules, that knitters should keep notebooks or journals. Well, I've combined a notebook with a journal, and I have several going, depending on the projects I have. I will literally re-write the instructions to a pattern, and use the journal/notebook to make notes on how many rows it took me to get to "X" inches, any pattern changes, any techniques I acquired while doing the project. All that stuff that comes in handy when you do these kinds of projects. Because I agree with her: I'll never remember this stuff!! So when I knit my second sweater, I'll drag out the notebook I used, and check the notes I made, because I know what I would do differently now that I've done one sweater already. And the green t-shirt I'm knitting will get the same treatment. I'll know that I kind of "fudged" the first 3" before the waist decreases, and I have to do the same on the right side, since the left is slightly more than 3"... you can bet that I will NOT remember that.

My notes

So here's a shot of my current notebook... Kind of a peek inside my knitterly mind; notes on what I did and the date the shawl was finished. The date the shawl was finished was about 2 days after Mark died.


You can see my scribbles and see that at first, I was only going to do 2 panels of the Organ Pipes pattern. I'm glad I didn't; all that Stockinette would've driven me round the bend. Mindless knitting to be sure, but good vibes don't come from mindless, dull, boring stretches of knitting!


I still haven't given it to her; we haven't caught up with each other yet. I have several copies of the DVD of the Mass that my Hubby did for her. She had elderly relatives who couldn't be at the service, and since we've done this before, it was no great shakes, though Hubby really did want to join us in the funeral choir.


Finishing this shawl is kind of bittersweet. My LYS owner will not see it, since she's still in the hospital and I'm hoping to get it to my friend sooner rather than later. But I can print up a nice picture of it. I'm thinking now of what else I'd like to do with that yarn. I can see another quick summer tank top or maybe a 3/4 sleeve plain top with a nice bottom band. I know my Knit Pattern A Day calendar will have plenty of ideas for me for the bottom band of a sweater. Just have to finish a few more WIPs and then on to something new.


I would love to hear from people who've received prayer shawls. What did you like? What would you have liked on them? (Ability to tie it; ability to button; a pocket??) I don't have any other shawls planned yet. But you never know.

We Survived 4th of July...

...and considering our idiot neighbor a block over who thought shooting off M-80s and M-120s was a good idea.... well, let's just say it's rough pulling your dogs off the ceiling when you're busy ducking because your large picture window is visibly wobbling. Luckily, a neighbor yet another block farther away was able to give the local police a decent location, and the cops started to increase their presence so that by the actual 4th of July, it was not as horrible.

My back door neighbor is a Navy veteran and when he says it sounds "like a combat zone" then I have to take that more seriously than I would otherwise.

Prayer Shawl in Pima Cotton

So, this long weekend saw several things accomplished. I'm 30 rows away from finishing the prayer shawl; which is good because unfortunately, it'll be needed soon.

I've been plugging away on it in earnest for several weeks now, and while there are speedier knitters, I'm not one of them. I am moving along as fast as I can, and remembering the premise: speed, in this case, is not the objective.

Mindfulness is the objective. Sounds like my last post? Well, in this case, doing a prayer shawl is a meditation on the person for whom it is intended. It's the one time that I really don't want to be a "product" knitter - interested in pushing out a product just to take it off my "WIP" list (work-in-progress).

While I can appreciate those who have a "stash" of prayer shawls, that's just not me. I make them for specific individuals. For example, the church ladies in my parish have a stack of "prayer blankets" and I think that's a fine ministry. That's the way they want to do it. I choose to make them differently, and that's ok.

Another addition to my knitting arsenal is the yarn pot Kid #2 did. Actually, I bought the clay and asked him to help me, but since clay is one of his hobbies, he just did it. Mainly because I bugged him...but that's a mom's right, right?

Yarn pot

Lid closed

Here's what he came up with. The clay is self-drying, so he just used some of my ornament paint, plus he rolled a clear glaze around the inside. He did a nice job; it's rustic, and while the top isn't a perfect fit, I don't care. It keeps the dog hair out! Another view shows it closed; I know he wants to do another version and I told him I'd be happy to be his "test market." Frankly, while I appreciate the lovely pots I see on Etsy, I'm tickled to know that all this one cost me was a box of clay and some sculpting tools. We also found out that the silicon mat I bought was useless. Wax paper seems to work well.

4th of July bandanas

River decked out

The next thing that got done (almost all done) were bandanas for the dogs. Since I take Tippi to do therapy work, I figured maybe I could deck her out to make her seem more approachable. We went to the Local Retirement Home on July 5, and she had to have something to wear, right? So I had purchased some fat quarters at the new JoAnn Fabric location and cut the bandanas to size. With a giant-sized snap on it, they fit her and River. Quinn, they're a little big on, but that's ok. Here are some pictures of the end product. The last bandana has to wait till I fix the tension on my sewing machine...and rip out the grosgrain ribbon that's on there... (sigh). I'm going to take the chunks of the fat quarters that are left, and (gulp!) "quilt" them together, making a "crazy bandana" for them to wear. I have fat quarters in various girly prints, since Tippi is often considered a boy dog at the Local Retirement Home.

Quinn's bandana

As you can see, we can literally tie Quinn's on her. I wanted to make them to be able to be used on all the dogs, so since River and Tippi are the largest, we went from there. I am anxious to work with the rest of the fabric, and I hope I'll have a nice selection for the coming months.

I heard on my elkhound list that there's some breed-specific fabric out there. It's holiday themed, so I'll be ordering at least a fat quarter for each breed! We do have some holiday scarves for the girls, and they'll tolerate them, so why not?

The final project that got done was the reupholstery of my chair. Now here's the story on that. We bought a La-Z-Boy couch and chair. The couch is lovely, except my feet don't reach the floor. Everyone else fits in that thing but me! So we figured we'd buy a chair to go along with it; and we found a lovely sort-of-Queen-Anne chair that I liked. Perfect reading and knitting chair. Except that the fabric didn't last 2 years, and it ripped right where the back of your knees hit. Now I could see if it ripped on the arm or where you might have something in your pocket, but I don't generally store things at the back of my knees!

Mechanically, the chair was sound. So I went to the local designer store and they assured me they could do the work on the chair. What they didn't tell me was that I'd have a coronary in the process. The chair originally cost me about $500.

My Chair

This is what it ended up looking like, with fabric that has been "wear tested" for 30,000 repetitions. So we can get into and out of the chair 30,000 times before it shows wear, so they tell me.

The first fabric I picked was my absolute favorite. But the gal made a mistake and miscalcuated. The original fabric I wanted would've cost me $800+ to have done. That's $300 more than the chair was worth new. And it's not like this is a family heirloom.

So we re-worked it and came up with this fabric. Well. It still cost me way more than the chair is worth, but it was closer to $700 than the other one. I'm not particularly happy for a couple of reasons: I liked the other fabric, in spite of its coronary-inducing cost and I was upset that she got the price so far wrong. And I didn't expect an upholstery project to cost this much just in general. This fabric is lovely; it's a little more stiff than I like, but maybe that's where the 30,000 "sits" come in! It's also a little more formal than I wanted for our very casual household.

Would I do this again? Well, not for a chair at that price. If the chair had been leather or had been a family piece, yeah, probably. But now, I wish I'd have gone with what Hubby said: Give the chair to Kid #1 when he moves out (with a makeshift cover on the bottom cushion) and buy a new one. The only thing I objected to with that was that I resented having a La-Z-Boy (who're big on advertising quality) that fell apart like that after only a few years. What if we'd bought the identical chair and 2 years after that, it did the same thing? No value there. If this fabric does last the way the designer said, then maybe this is worth the investment. In spite of the sticker shock.

On the plus side, it does match River, and she likes to sit next to it. Sometimes partially under it. So I guess I did make the right choice. Now we'll see if we can keep the elkhounds off it.