Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Minus Three and Counting

My husband, Dan, is fairly reserved. In his 18+ years working in law enforcement, he has seen the worst in people on a near daily basis and has to deal with the aftermath of a family's worst possible nightmares. As a result, Dan tends to keep his opinions to himself and strongly dislikes turmoil in his home life. In our nearly sixteen years together, he has come to view my fiber obsession as amusing at its best and annoying at its worse. He knows that I have definite stash issues and rarely comments when new yarns, fleeces, books, equipment or software programs make their way into the house. He did raise his eyebrows when I purchased a 48 x 12 foot construction trailer and installed it in the back yard as a studio for my knitting mania. But aside from a gift card to my LYS on my birthday or Christmas, he doesn't contribute to my addiction. And to put it bluntly, he thinks all the sheep plushies I have been given or collected over the past 15 years are just plain silly. So imagine my surprise when I came home Monday night and I discovered this sitting on the television set in the bedroom.

Just when I think I've got him totally figured out, he up and changes the rules of the game. And the sheep is seriously cute.

I am in the process of getting ready to head to Washington State. Kenny and I will leave on June 30th. We will be driving my car and pulling a small U-Haul trailer. Going along with us for the ride are our four Schipperkes and Kenny's Ring necked Parakeet.

Since I found the missing skein of Sublime, I decided a good project to take up with me is the vest I have been working on. I now have enough yarn to complete the bands for the arms and neck. This is the front of the vest in its pre-blocked state.

And this is the back. I hope to have them blocked tonight so I can post the "before" and "after" pictures for a comparison. It never ceases to amaze me the difference blocking makes.

My final play toy is the new software for my sewing and embroidery machine. I like to embroider designs onto knits, particularly children's clothing. I haven't installed it yet but if the reality is only fifty percent of the hype it should make digitizing patterns much easier.

7 comments:

Yarnhog said...

It's such a shock when they change the rules. Mine gave me a ball-winder and swift for Christmas last year. It was my favorite gift ever, mostly just because he actually got me a knitting gift. Have a great trip!

knottykitty said...

What a sweet husband! He must really love ewe! (teehee) Yes, that sheep is very cute, indeed!

Now, I finally have a way to justify my oversized yarn stash to my husband----"But honey, I don't have a trailer in the backyard yet.." :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your support on my blog. It means a lot when people care enough to comment. x

Sharon said...

what a guy! That little sheepie is truly a gift of love.

you've done a beautiful stitching job on the vest. I agree with you about blocking--it's like magic (almost).

sophanne said...

That vest looks great. Thanks for the "west coast help" on my blog. I was able to appear quite informed yesterday.

Traveling with birds. There's something in my imagination that has them on some sort of a "bird leash" where they can "fly along" if they want to or just rest on the U-Haul. How do they feel about that travel?

Danielle said...

The vest looks great.

My mom has a viking embroidery machine. She has made some gorgeous things. Enjoy the new software. It sounds great!

Anonymous said...

Isn't it funny how you think you have them all figured out and then they do something wonderfully unexpected. Dan's a keeper. Have a great trip.