This Week's Happenings

I realize that my posts have been gradually stretching out, since our days here in Yuma have become somewhat routine. Have no fear--we will be back on the move at the beginning of April and I'll be posting much more frequently.

But, when last I checked in, it was almost a week ago. On Friday Bob and I went in to Los Algodones, Mexico so that Bob could get a root canal done. He handled it like a trouper and this Friday we'll go back to get the permanent crown. We'll be in and out early in the morning which is the best way to avoid lines when returning to the US border.

On Sunday our park had their annual Artisan's Show, which is a really nice showcase of projects that people have been working on. Some people sell their handmade items but the majority just display them. It's a great way to see what all the park's craft classes have been up to. There were quilts, hand carvings, decorated gourds, baskets, scrapbooks, paintings, jewelry, knitting, and more. It was a lot of fun.

In addition, the clogging class and the line dancing class put on a demonstration. Here are the cloggers. My three nieces used to do clogging and this brought back some happy memories.

Our Sit 'N Stitch group had a couple of tables to display our projects, too. I had a good selection of bands displayed, along with a chart of "What to do With Handwoven Bands," since the first question out of everybody's mouth is, "So what do you DO with these?" I had my little Ashford Inklette with me to keep my hands busy, and folks were fascinated to watch me weave.

I've finished my three shoelace bands, which has been interesting because I used three different colorways of the same draft, and emphasized specific colors by using a heavier cotton yarn mixed with lighter weight.

At the bottom, you see that the pink in the center is more dominant than the green next to it. Had they been the same weight yarn, these bands would have looked striped in the center. Instead, the "flower" color looks more rounded. An interesting exercise. Here is the draft for the band on the bottom. I simply changed colors and yarns for the others. The thin (dark green and lime green) warp was 10/2 cotton, the other colors were 5/2 except for the top band which used 3/2 purple.

On Monday, Bob and I volunteered to help set up for the Mardi Gras celebration the next day. Bob has been building booths and carnival games for it, for the past couple of weeks. I was part of the team to decorate the ballroom. Unfortunately, when we went to the party Tuesday night, the line to get food was just not moving, so after waiting a half hour and getting no closer to the front, we decided to just go home and have dinner. Thus, we ended up skipping the party. But that was ok, because I finished knitting up a baby sweater.

This is the well-known Baby Surprise Jacket, designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It's a timeless design that is knitted up in a rather amorphous shaped cloth, then with a little flip becomes this adorable sweater. If you've ever made one, you'll know what I mean. I started this one on Friday afternoon so it only took me four days to make, and I'm not known for my speedy knitting! It still needs buttons, but I'll probably wait until they are on sale before getting them and sewing them on. I'm quite pleased with it, and may make another because I spent probably three hours yesterday typing up the instructions line-by-line for the next one. It probably would have been better spending the $11.99 that Schoolhouse Press wanted for the line-by-line instructions, but what can I say? I'm cheap.