Finally Got the Right Haircut

 After I left you I went to Soddy's Wmart and got the new hair cut. Made the girl redo the back a second time as it wasn't close enough to my head. I am so happy now. But seeing these pictures, I am appalled at what I REALLY look like. Especially the neck! Eeek! First pic is OK but the second one. Oy. And I really must wash that bathroom mirror, eh?

 So much white hair! But not enough to make me a whitehair yet. Now I can grow this out to a short bob and trim it myself, one day.

 My Aunt Dot face. Again, Oy!
Hope this gave you a good laff!
Mel

say, write, read= it happens

Manifesto

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noun, plural man·i·fes·toes. a public declaration of intentions, opinions, objectives, or motives, as one issued by a government, sovereign, or organization or just me.

 

Since I am a verbal processor, I have to say it to make it real. And then if I write it and read it, I can refer to it when I get lost.
So this is the new manifesto.
Instead of focusing and being depressed on the lack of girlfriends  having a bestest friend,  I will instead focus on the fact that I will have uninterrupted time, space, and materials to make all the quilts I always loved, or been inspired by, since beginning my love affair career with quilting.
I will not concern myself with 'doing something' with all this work, but will focus on enjoying the process, the product and using up the materials on hand, and if nothing else, knowing I have an entire attic space to store all this stuff for some future discovery.
The fact that there is no endgame will (hopefully) lift the fear, the competition, the having to invent something new-mindset, and just allow me the right to dink around, change what I don't like, repeat or copy what makes me happy, and not care about the old ways of the career induced stress and anxiety.

Grand Finale Tutu

 We shot these fotos in the shade on the porch, but a little sunlight hit the bottom of the sweater, making it look white . Of course it isn't.
I used every smidgen of the yarn to make this wide enough to overlap in front. It just does, without grabbing anything in the rear.
 

Finished Straw Bag

Hey Judy, I finished lining your bag yesterday. I would say it was easy but then the hand stitching belies that claim. It looks nicer on the outside than the inside, because nothing about the bag is smooth and straight. Nevertheless it works as a yarn satchel perfectly.

Anthea pattern

I decided that if I challenged you to design your own Anthea, then I should be able to do it too. I found a similar design in my book 400 Knitting Stitches, Potter Craft. It is written in English, meaning that yarn forward is what they mean to be yarn over. The pattern stitch didn't include the bobbles, so I just decided to put them in where they looked approximately correct.

I've included the instructions and got COMPLETELY lost at the double vertical decrease. Yikes!
I think there must be a better way...
Anyway, I figured you had more resources at the store than my two books here, the other being Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns, pub. in 1968, a fine year.
For this tryout I cast on 25 stitches, (maybe should have cast on one more stitch...?) and did a four stitch bobble, which seemed even too fat compared to the original. So I would redo with a three stitch bobble if this were me, which it isn't.  Obviously I stopped dinking at one bobble, since I should be working on my pink tutu cardi.
You can see that the garter hem automatically will ripple, when properly blocked. I think.

Matching Buttons!

I found some 99 cent buttons that match my yarn! So perfectly sized too. I bought some MORE yarn. Shame on me... It was hard to find enough matching dye lots so this is what I ended up with...
6 skeins of Mauna Loa Amazing Yarn by Lion Brand @ $6.99 see below
3 Washable Ewe (wool) in yellow @ $5.29
6 Washable Ewe in lilac @$5.29 which means I have every possible iteration of purple in wool now. ha! I spent $78.59 and saved $30.83. At the bottom of this page is a pair of Ryka shoes which I got online for Jazzercise since my regular shoes are coming apart at the sole.

No buttons for this yarn.