Yarn Crawl

Miscellany

Thanks to everyone for their button source suggestions! After hearing from so many of you about M&J Trimming, I visited their site and bought two sets of buttons to try on Juliet (just two each as that’s all I want to put on it.) I can’t wait for them to arrive!

You may recall that I cast on for Tree Jacket a few times and just wasn’t liking the Brooks Farm Riata I was using for it. Too thick and not drapey enough (similar to Juliet.) I also read on Green Apples that she recommends something other than 100% wool based on her experience with the pattern. I decided to swatch the recommended yarn, Knit Picks Andean Silk and brought it to work with me today. I had purchased a skein of it for swatching about a month ago in my favorite of their colors, the Hyacinth, so if it works out I’ll order more to make this. I’m going to do a larger swatch than normal (maybe 8”x8” or so) both in garter stitch and in the lace pattern to make sure I like the drape of it.

I had my MBA class last night. Thankfully, there’s only two more classes after this one because I am getting SICK of this program. I’ve been doing this one class at a time since 2003. To be fair, I think this class, “Corporate Social Responsibility” will be interesting and very different from other classes I’ve taken in the program. However, I thought the professor would never stop talking last night. He kept us right up to 9:30 on the first night of class. Not a good sign. He also doesn’t want us to miss any class (of course, it’s never advisable, but he made kind of a big deal about it) and made a point of saying that we’re only meeting 14 times so we need to be there.

After two days in a row of classes, I am looking forward to just coming home tonight and relaxing with Jim. On Monday night we had the dinner from hell at Capital Grille, so we need a good night to counteract that! I go there about once every three weeks or so for lunch and really like it then, but the wheels definitely fell off the bus on Monday night. For those who haven’t been there before, it is a chain, but is pretty pricey and I expect the food and service to be at a certain standard. Service was horrible (waitress got me the chardonnay I ordered and didn’t even ask Jim what he wanted until she came back, waitress was telling oddball stories about herself falling down in a museum “spreadeagled” for no apparent reason, she took away our bread basket before our dinner came without even asking, took Jim’s drink away when he still had about ¼ of a glass left, etc. etc. etc.) and then on top of it our food was bad. It had clearly been sitting for awhile when someone else finally ran it out for our waitress, and it was actually COLD. We usually don’t ever complain, but when the waitress came by to ask us if “everything was wonderful” we couldn’t leave it alone and said, well, no, not really wonderful. She offered to “replate” the food for us when we told her it was cold, and we were like, well, no, that’s not necessary (what good is replating it going to do? The food itself is cold.) So then she sent the manager over, we told her the situation and she kept asking what she could do. We said, really nothing. So we ate a few bites of the baked potato and things that could be eaten, and then asked for our check. There went our date night! At least when we gave them the credit card for the check, they came back after that and said that they comped the whole meal. So we left the waitress $20 and were on our way, but will not be visiting that establishment again. As a result, we’re probably staying home tonight or going to Bok Choy, my new favorite Asian restaurant, or out for sushi.

ETA: I received an email from the VP of Operations at the Capital Grille following up on my dining experience about an hour after posting this. He was extremely nice and said he will be fedexing out some gift certificates to try out the restaurant again to show that it was a fluke and that "they're better than that". He said that although any restaurant can make mistakes, what differentiates them is how they address them and make amends. So I was impressed with that and will give them another try. I certainly didn't expect anyone to contact me, so that was a pleasant surprise and it showed me that they do care about their guests. Good to know! The "bad taste in my mouth" from Monday night has definitely been reduced.

Oh, also in knitting news, I'm currently using my Sweater Wizard software to convert the Wheat Ear Cable Yoke sweater to top-down construction. Stay tuned for updates!

Clothing Construction I Class #3

Last night was a great class. We started out by turning in our samples from last week. It was interesting to see how different people packaged theirs to turn them in. The only suggestions that the teacher had given us were to just staple them to the handouts and write our names on them. I put mine in plastic sheet protectors, for putting into a binder later. Some other people put them in a manila envelope, and others turned them in “bare bones” (stapled to the handout.)

The instructor demonstrated the samples for next week, and they are getting a little more tricky. I double checked the syllabus, and we are actually going to be doing four weeks of samples, not just two as I thought. I had thought we would stop the samples once we started purse construction, but am actually glad we’re not. I am finding these really helpful.

The first sample was a hand-sewing technique, the blind hem. She showed us how to do this correctly (not showing on the right side of the fabric), and then incorrectly (showing on the right side of the fabric.) I like that she shows us what NOT to do as well as what to do.

Next up was stay stitching (easy). One thing I didn’t really ever think about before is that you wouldn’t pivot at the corners when doing so, as this can stretch out the fabric and defeat the purpose of the stay stitching. I guess I always just followed the pattern instructions, which basically involved sewing straight across a piece so pivoting didn’t enter into it.

Next, she showed us how to make darts. I have struggled with these in the past so was anxious to hear any tips and techniques for getting these right. I did learn a trick for darts to avoid “bubbles” at the bottom (always a bad look!). She said that this mistake occurs most often when the dart is not sewn smoothly all the way off the fabric (then backstitched back on the fabric.) I know I’ve done this as I am always afraid of sewing off the fabric for fear that I will mess up the machine with tangling the threads up somehow. I guess I need to “trust the machine” a little more. Two of the more experienced sewers raised other ideas for getting the darts flat – I didn’t follow the one that said something about using the bobbin thread somehow in the top thread. Does anyone know what this was about? The teacher didn’t really explain it as she said it was beyond the scope of what we’d be doing, but did say it works well if you can figure it out.

We then did a simple elastic casing (stitch-in-the-ditch, my former nemesis, is not coming up for a few more weeks.) I never thought about the fact that the shorter the elastic is compared to the fabric, the more the elastic will cinch in. It makes sense, but I just never thought about it before. So conversely, I was thinking, you could make the elastic close to the measurement of the casing and then have elastic without that elasticized waistband “look”. I was thinking this could work for pajama pants. I hate the bulky elastic waistbands and like the kind that lay flat.

The next demonstration was of two types of gathering techniques. First, we did normal gathering, and she reminded us that you always want to pull two of the same type of threads (either both bobbin threads, which is best as these tend to be looser, or both top threads), otherwise the thread will likely break. The second type of gathering was to be used for stiffer or thicker fabrics, and involved first sewing down a thin cord (like crochet cotton thread) within the seam allowance, then zigzagging over it, then pulling the threads to gather as normal. I had never seen this technique before. I believe the cording is intended to stabilize the seam. She said to sew the seam after gathering on the side of the fabric with the gathers so you can see what you’re doing, which a few more experienced sewers (sewists?) were arguing about a bit with her. I didn’t quite catch why they thought that the gathers should be on the bottom, as it makes sense to me to sew with them facing up so you can see what you’re doing. One thing that I had never thought about before was the tip to stop the machine with the needle down, in the fabric, if the fabric had to be adjusted or needing to stop for any reason. I never thought about that but I guess that is what I’ve done when I’ve gotten better results.

The last technique was “easing”, which knitters are quite familiar with in the context of easing in a sleeve into an armhole when seaming a sweater. The instructor said that this was the most difficult of our samples and that there should be no vertical lines (or “puckers”) on the right side of the fabric after easing the gathers in. She said you have to play with it a little to get it right, and it works much more easily with natural fibers, like wool, silk, or cotton, as well as thinner fabrics.

After demonstrating all of the sample techniques, our instructor showed us how to lay out pattern pieces on fabric and check to make sure that they were evenly placed on the grain of the fabric by measuring to the fabric’s edge. One thing I learned is that interfacing also has a grain, so pattern pieces should be properly placed on grain on it as well, just like regular fabric. I also learned how to reliably tell which way the grainlines run (sounds stupid, but I never really felt confident in this before) by pulling on the fabric each direction and seeing which way doesn’t stretch. I can never tell by looking at it and this method works. She showed us how much fabric stretches on the bias, which I knew, but never actually saw demonstrated, and explained that this is why it’s used for clingier evening wear, etc. to conform to and show off curves. It was a good reminder, although I’d heard this before. She also showed us how to use the rotary cutting tool and told us some safety hints. She said we can use anything as pattern weights with the rotary tool, and said that full tuna cans would be a good choice if improvising. I had tried out my rotary tool and cutting mat last week when I cut out my sample fabric for swatches and really liked working with it. I had bought the set a while ago but hadn’t taken it out of the package, and this gave me a great excuse to do so.

After all of the instruction, we could either work on our samples (more fighting for the non-home-décor fabrics in the charity bin – as the thicker fabrics would not work well for this week’s samples) or cut out our paper pattern pieces and lay them out on the fabric. For next week we need to have our purses ready to be cut, and turn in our samples. I opted to work on the purse in class, and got all of the pieces cut out of the fabric, lining and interfacing except for one piece on the interfacing because of the grain issue I described. I ran out of interfacing to lay the pattern piece out either singly or doubly to cut two more out of interfacing on grain. If I disregarded grain, I could have easily fit it on there. Also on my purse pattern, I was supposed to cut a piece of cardboard for the bottom of it, and I asked the instructor what kind of cardboard to use, and she said NONE, that if it gets wet it’s a soppy mess. Made sense to me, and she recommended using “duck” fabric instead. I will look for a small piece of this to use on the inside. I also asked why the purse patterns I was looking at all called for a 3/8” seam allowance instead of 5/8”, and she said because of all the layers of fabric, lining and interfacing, it will make for a less bulky seam.

Anyway, that was my class last night. I’m sorry I have no pictures at this point as my pieces are all in my sewing luggage bag at home. To come soon!

Buttons

So now that I'm almost done with Juliet, I'm at the stage where the wheels always fall off the bus - finding the right buttons. I can never find any that I like in stores near me. Does anyone have a good online source for them? If so, please let me know. I would love to find a good source.

Speaking of buttons, I finished all of my samples for class tonight. Whew! The buttons were easy but the hooks and eyes and snaps were a pain in the rear. I really haven't enjoyed hand-sewing very much in the past, and I won't say I love it now, but I like it better because I am more competent at it. Kind of like sewing seams on sweaters - once you know how to do it correctly, it is not that bad. Anyway, the samples were a great confidence builder. Now when I run across one of the techniques I practiced, I will be ready to dive right in and won't worry like I would have before. Tonight I think we are doing something called a Hong Kong seam finish, and I think different kinds of zippers. Also we are bringing in our purse/bag patterns and fabric for approval by the instructor. I think we start cutting and construction next week and the purses have to be turned in the first week of October. Then on to skirts!

I'll give a complete update after tonight's class. I am really liking this though.

Quick Weekend Recap

I'm almost done with Juliet! I had to put the stitches on waste yarn to really see how long it would be, and I think all I need to do is add the 3 rows of garter stitch at the bottom and buttons/crochet button-loops. The alpaca is much nicer than the Brown Sheep bulky was - softer, drapier, but also very heavy. I think the perfect yarn for this is Rowan Cork. The right gauge, the right weight. Why did Rowan have to stop making it?

I also almost finished the Karolyn vest. I reknitted the fronts (both at the same time this time - I gave in and conformed) and really like it. It is a little big on me, but it will pull in a bit once I pick up around the armholes and neckline. Plus I'll be wearing it with a long-sleeved top under it, so a little ease will be OK.

Other than that, no progress. I ripped the Brown Sheep version of Juliet to repurpose that yarn. I also bought some new sewing patterns (details to come soon) after being inspired by the fall edition of Lucky magazine. It feels so empowering to be able to sew a complete fall wardrobe at a fraction of the cost of buying it, but even better, customized to fit me and with my exact choice of combination of fabric and pattern. Love it!

Look What I Got!!

It's going to work PERFECTLY for transporting my new sewing machine to class! It arrived just in time for class on Tuesday!

Word for the Day? Obsession

I have realized that I'm obsessed with a few things lately.

I am obsessed with planning a weekend getaway to the beach sometime this fall. Here's where I think I want to go. I've heard great things about this B&B and it is actually owned by friends of a lady I work with. The "Harbor Country" area of southwestern Michigan is about 70 miles from Chicago and has a lot of things to do, including winery tours, good restaurants, and at least a few yarn shops not too far away. I like the idea of going in November when it's chilly outside, and I can put on one of my warm sweaters and walk on the beach with Jim, listening to the sounds of Lake Michigan at night. Ahhh.

Anyway, no big weekend plans for now. I just separated the sleeves on the new Juliet (funny: Jim said he liked the blue version, but that it "felt kinda like a washcloth" - ummm, yep, made the right decision to rip!) and maybe I can even finish this over the weekend. For some reason I'm obsessed with finishing it.

Jim is going to be obsessed with football very soon, as he joined up to do fantasy football this year after a hiatus of a few years. This means that because we have the NFL Sunday Ticket package, he will be watching games ALL DAY LONG from noon to probably midnight. Also before noon, we can't schedule anything where we won't be back in the house by about 11 am b/c he will need to get "the picks" in. Too funny. At least he's not doing three fantasy football leagues like this one guy at my work. It's fine though, it'll give me lots of time to fuel my knitting/sewing obsession.

Notice I didn't say anything about beading or crochet. Part of obsession is focus, which is weird for me to say as I am usually the dilettante of everything - or in more simple terms, Jack (Jill?) of all Trades, Master (Mistress? that word sounds so dominatrix-esque) of None. I've decided to spin off unproductive assets and focus on my core competencies (in corporate speak) and am giving my beads to a co-worker who's really into jewelry-making now, and sending my hairpin lace loom to my mother in law. She has recently discovered that in spite of her arthritis, she can work with bigger crochet hooks successfully, so I was telling her about the hairpin lace thing and she got excited about a new thing to try. I may send her that Giotto too for the hairpin lace skirt! What?? My 13-year old niece Jaclyn, who I saw for the first time in a very long time last weekend, loves blue and purple, which looks great on her with her blonde hair. I'm thinking MIL Peggy could make her a hairpin lace skirt with that pattern I bought from stitchdiva. And I could give the &!*% Giotto to a good cause!

Anyhoo, those are my random musings of the day. Have a great weekend!

Today's Theme? Green

I restarted Juliet yesterday and I have a few more rows to finish on the top section:

I'm using Catalina Chunky Alpaca/Merino blend and I really think alpaca or alpaca blends are a great fit for this pattern.

I went pattern/fabric shopping yesterday at lunch and I found one of the patterns I pictured yesterday (the top one, which I liked best.)

I bought a yard of this home decor fabric as it was on sale for $3 a yard! I figured a yard would work for anything I decided to do unless it was really large, based on the back of the pattern envelope. I still haven't decided for sure on this pattern, because I have a few more to find (they were out of the others yesterday) but I thought this was so cute I couldn't pass it up.

I also worked on my sample swatches last night while Jim was at his fantasy football drafting get-together. I bought some bright green broadcloth for the samples - cute huh? This is one I did just after "finger pressing" - need to iron it. You can't really see it that well, but I wanted to give an idea of what the handouts look like.

I also figured out what's been bugging me about Chantal - I don't like the ribbing pattern. The increases per the pattern instructions are not really even and I think there are some unidentified errata. I'm sort of aggravated with the sizing too. I think I'm going to rip it and make this instead:

I think everyone is tired of boleros or bolero-shaped garments by now, but it is a good look for work and on my body type.

Also, this is another sweater from this book (Handknit Style II) that I'm thinking of making with that bright green Brilla I bought a few weeks ago.

Don't you just love the way they style their garments? Both of their books are really nice that way. I've yet to make anything from either, but I plan to eventually. The only thing I don't like about the books is that they knit everything flat, in pieces.

Clothing Construction Class #2

Last night I attended my 2nd sewing class. I had ordered a rolling piece of luggage to transport my sewing machine from target.com but it hasn’t arrived yet, so I decided not to lug my machine. When I got there, it looked like the desk where I sat last week and one other sewing desk had new Berninas, but all the other desks had kind of decrepit looking machines (also Berninas, but not nearly as new or nice.) Our instructor sat at one of these really crappy machines and had us all gather around to demonstrate the samples that we would need to prepare for next week. This machine sounded like it was on its last leg – like the Little Engine that Could – chug, chug, chug – "I think I can", "I think I can", "I think I can", it was almost saying. So along with about five or six other people who had our machines at home, I decided to leave after the demonstration and do my samples at home.

Anyway, what do we need to prepare for next week? We got a number of handouts that had a picture of a technique, a description of how to do it, and the appropriate pages of our textbook for reference (which referred to a prior edition on at least a few of them, as the pages didn’t match up.) The techniques were pretty easy for this first week.

Here’s what we have to do:

1. a straight seam, pressed open (all of them have to be, for future reference – she showed us how to finger press them with our nails, and she said that was OK for the samples, but hello? I’m using an actual iron. Geez.)

2. a seam with clean finish on both sides

3. a pinked seam finish (done with a pinking shears, which I have but haven’t used yet)

4. a zigzag seam finish

5. a sample that shows the three ways to close a seam –reversing at the beginning and end, sewing in place, and simply tying knots at each end (yikes – never knew THAT was an option)

6. a sample of two kinds of sewn on buttons – normal kind with buttonholes and the type with a shank. I learned a new trick when she demonstrated this - circling the shank with the thread to make the button stand up while strengthening it.

7. a snap sample – I’ve never done these

8. a hook-and-eye closure, which must be invisible on the opposite side - I’ve never done these yet either.

I’ve done everything except for the last two items, so it should be pretty easy. Next week we will be doing different types of zippers, buttonholes, and darts, which will be more challenging. I have to say I like the approach of practicing techniques first before jumping into a garment. This is the type of approach I like when learning something - step by step and methodical.

After our instructor showed us the samples, she then showed us pressing tools and how to use them. I thought this was interesting as I know pressing is an important part of sewing and can make a big difference if done right. Some girl in my class who wasn't there last week actually said (to the instructor) that she wasn't sure if she was going to spend time listening to this part of the demonstration as she wanted to get going with her samples. I'm like, huh?? Why are you here??

Anyway, the first two pressing tools I was familiar with - the seam roll and the dressmaker’s ham. Some I wasn’t familiar with were this gravity-iron in the classroom that is really heavy and presses fabrics really well, and a weird looking (but cool) thing that you can use to press sleeves. It looked like two miniature ironing boards connected with a spring (picture an alligator’s jaws!) that you can put the sleeves into. Loved that thing! I had to tell Jim about that one – he is one of the only people I have ever met who actually ENJOYS ironing (and is great at it).

Besides the completed samples, we also have to choose a commercial purse/tote/backpack pattern and bring it and fabric we’ve chosen for it with us next week to class. I also decided to buy some fabric for the samples as I don’t want to waste my good fabric on them, but I want them to look consistent and nice. I need about a yard of light colored plain fabric for them. I have some muslin at home that I could use, but I want to make them pretty. I figured I was going to the fabric store anyway, so why not. They had a bin in the classroom of donated home décor fabrics that people could use for their samples (as well as their purse, if they wanted it to be some kind of weird patchwork!!) and there were people digging through the bin for their sample fabrics. The fabric that the teacher was using for the samples was kind of like a satin and I wouldn’t want to use something like that for mine – nor some nasty home décor print. No thanks! I can buy a yard of cotton fabric for $1 for these samples, really.

Anyway, here’s the purse patterns I’m considering – I want something that is simple but still stylish with the right fabric. I actually may make these with home décor fabric, as the instructor said it would work well for these (the thicker fabric gives the purse more substance, plus it is probably easy to sew) but I want to choose it myself. I was just kind of grossed out by that “donation bin” of fabrics, can ya tell?

My favorite is the first one:

New Look 6467 – the one the model is holding

New Look 6391 – either the one in the middle on the left or one of the two on the top right

Or New Look 6574 – the one on the upper right

Oh, and one more thing - I was inspired by the sweater someone in my class was wearing. I need to find a pattern like it, or write it myself. Totally goes along with the whole swingy cardigan thing that's going on now. So, Marjorie, I did get inspired by my (younger) classmates. Too funny.

Long Weekend WIPs

I'm Back!!

I got to work on lots of knitting in my multiple hours in the car. I offered to help Jim drive but he declined, letting me knit away. What a guy!

First, on the way there on Friday, I cast on for Zephyr Style's new pattern, Juliet. I finished the top section on the way there and am about to start Row 2 of the lace pattern now.

The pattern gave a choice of using bulky weight yarn or using worsted weight yarn double-stranded. I used Lamb's Pride bulky from my stash, and although I love the color, I'm not sure I like the texture. It feels really kind of solid, more like a jacket than anything else. I think Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece double-stranded would have a lot more drape. We'll see- I'm going to finish the first lace repeat and see how it looks - maybe it is just the garter stitch that looks too bulky to me. I decided to start the lace right after finishing the garter stitch instead of continuing the garter stitch for longer. I'm going to make the cropped version, as that's a good look for me. I hope the lace part looks less bulky!

Next up, I finished the back and one front of the Karolyn vest.

Here's the back:

And the front with one side done:

I hate knitting both sides of a V-neck at the same time, b/c of the yarn entanglement factor, so I always make really careful row by row notes to do the same thing on each side. However, I had tried adjusting this to make the V a little deeper, and ran into some issues. It's a good thing I only made one side as I only have part of that to rip now.

I also went with the 35" size instead of the 33" b/c I'm going to wear this with a shirt under it and am not sure I like it. I probably should have gone with the 33", but it will look fine with a shirt. It just looks big to me. I haven't put it on waste yarn to try it on yet, as I figured it didn't need to be ultra-fitted anyway. I don't usually make vests, but I like this one in these colors.

Project #3 - Chantal

I just separated the sleeves. It's a little hard to see b/c of the dark olive green wool, but I tried it on and it fits well. There will be an edging added to it also. The 32" had only 10" upper arm circumference, so I ended up making the 35" so it didn't look too tight. I'll see what this looks like when I finish more of it. If it's not good, I'll just rip it as I have another project potentially in mind.

Project #4 - Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke raglan - started this one on the car ride home, and don't have very much done yet.

I'm doing it in the round to the armholes instead of flat, but now realized after reading someone else's post that I should have eliminated 2 extra edge stitches on each side. The smallest size is already on the bigger side for me (35") so I'm not sure I want that extra room in the bust- although if I make it as long as it is pictured, I may want the extra room for the hips as I'm not symmetrical. Probably what I'll do is work in some extra decreases throughout...or rip...it's not like I have so much done!

Project #5 - Indigo Ripples Skirt - didn't work on it in the car, but did work on it yesterday. I am about 3/4 done with the hip increases. I'm doing the same number but am doing them more frequently so that they hit me higher up as I'm shorter than average between my waist and hip. I'm really happy with it so far.

Project #6 - Spicy Fitted Tee - no progress or new pics!

In summary - lots of projects going on, but I'm not overly committed to any of them! Kinda feeling wait-and-see about them all.

In sewing news, I got my new sewing machine up and running yesterday and it sews great! I have class tonight again already and will give you the complete update after tonight. I have to find a good purse pattern for our first project. We won't be starting for a few more weeks, as we'll be doing technique samples for a while, but I want to find something really cool but not that hard to do.

The weekend was a lot of fun, but I have no pics as I forgot my camera. My husband's aunt Vicki took pics and so once I get them from her and load them out on Flickr, I will have an update on that then!

My in-laws loved their Golden Anniversary book for 1957 and my sister-in-law had their 8mm wedding video put onto a VHS tape a while back and showed it to us. I hadn't seen it before, so it was really interesting. Kind of sad, as my husband's aunt (MIL's sister) pointed out - she couldn't watch it and went outside as, the way she put it "Almost everyone on that video is dead now." Yikes. She's usually very upbeat but that sort of sombered some of us up.

Earlier that day (Saturday) we hung out a little "in town" in Lake Tomahawk with Jim's cousin Anna and her MIL Blanche (FIL's SIL - got a chart?) and Jim bought some beef jerky ($20 a pound!! but he says it's the best anywhere) and we went to this goofy flea market (which was really more like a multi-participant garage sale!), looked at some antiques and bought some kettle corn from this lady who was making it on the side of the road in a huge kettle. Really interesting...a whole other world. Some leaves on the trees were turning up there already - they're really about a month and a half ahead of Chicago with that.

I also became fascinated with this brochure I saw for cruises around the Apostle Islands, which are in Lake Superior, just northwest of there, between Minnesota and Wisconsin. I found out that we could fly in to Duluth, Minnesota if we wanted to go to those islands (I read in the brochure that there are a lot of sheep there, and WOOL - "handcrafted yarns" in the brochure - for sale!!) so we may try to make a trip back next spring after "break up" (of ice....yeah - hmm) and maybe even stay on one of the islands, Madeline Island. It is on the list of "1000 places to visit before you die" in the book of the same name, and the pictures look great in the brochures. If we went, we could then go see my in-laws and fly back. It's about 2.5 hours (connecting through Minneapolis) to fly to Duluth from O'Hare, or we could drive to Milwaukee and take Midwest Airlines either up to Rhinelander (where Jim's mom and dad live) or over to Duluth. Flying is going to be the way to go in the future, I think - it's just too long of a drive for a weekend trip.

Anyhow, that was my weekend! Sorry I don't have pictures. I really need to get one of those cameras with Wi-Fi so I can email them while on the go - I think that is part of the reason I don't always remember to bring the camera with me - as I know I can't do anything with the pics until I get home anyway!

Back to my routine, after my crazy week - thought I'd never look forward to that as much as I am! I just got through most of my email, and haven't read blogs in ages - but I'm back! Finally!