Progress Report

So, if you haven't moseyed over to Jumbo Jibbles you are missing a TON of non-mopey posts.  I'm doing great in San Jose and have some mini-art up at a gallery next week.  Ok, not actually "up", but there's a once-a-month thing where artists submit tiny pieces of drawing, painting, whatnot that people can buy for $2.  But who cares- I'm up!

I'm updating about five days a week, so come on!

Oh! Whoa! I'm back!

Well, lucky for me, this move has been pretty awesome. So awesome, I haven't updated in over two months. I've met people, gotten scads of volunteering time in AND made some cool-ass stuff. The "trailing" angst is pretty much gone since I'm in it, and it feels a lot different when you're not just fretting about it.

A unicorn and Hyperbole and a Half

I'm going to start doing some major craft stuff in the next few weeks, and attempt to keep better track so I can do tutorials (I hear you, Heidi).  But-- I am moving my blog to Wordpress, in order to change the URL and because Google can suck my yarn balls.  Very soon, you will be able to read/see my stuff at Jumbo Jibbles.  That is, if anyone still reads this.

MUST CRAFT - Cranes and Pinwheels

We've been in the new apartment for two full weeks now with none of our stuff. Other than getting tired of wearing the same pair of shoes every day, this hasn't been bad at all.  It's clean and open, and we don't have to mess with tidying much.  But the one thing that has been driving me nuts is having no access to my craft supplies.

Instead of being impatient and wasting money buying things that would soon arrive, I bought a pack of 50mm origami sheets in Japantown (one of the three surviving in the country) and learned how to make paper cranes.  I got pretty ok at it, but it just wasn't enough.  

I've been keeping a list of fun craft projects to decorate the house with, and they are mostly paper crafts like lanterns and pom-poms.  I was really inspired this week by a tip from Hands Occupied on how some crafters are repurposing wedding or shower decorations.  That's all and well for when the moving truck finally arrives (tomorrow!) but what do I do now, when my need is so great?  Oh, hello pinwheels!

Defined by your job?

Eileen at Dissertation Under Construction wrote a piece yesterday called Visibility and Women's Work that really struck a chord for me:

J has worked at a summer theater every summer since I moved to Overcast three and a half years ago, and usually it's great.  Long hours, but the people he works with are mostly fun and reasonably acquainted with the fact that graduate school is work, since some of them are thinking about grad school themselves.  Except for a few people, mostly straight men, who seem to think that intellectual work, especially done by a woman, is not work at all.  I'm aware that I'm extraordinarily privileged, in that my university gave me a funding package which allows me to solely work on my dissertation during the summers.  I don't have to pick up a second job or teach unless I choose to, so when we meet people for drinks after work or whatever, my answer to "what did you do today" is usually "read another book" and not "rigged 500 pounds of lights/built a giant platform for people to dance on." 

She is a grad student, academic and pretty awesome.  But her work isn't seen by some (mainly men) as real.  In my years with J, I've never heard anyone dismiss his work (theoretical physics mainly done from a couch) as fluff.  I couldn't do what she does, and without people like her the breadth and diversity of our knowledge base would dwindle.  Why is it that tasks are deemed less important when you have a woman do it?

I need to realize (and remember, and repeat to myself) that people who think like this are major douchebags, and I don't negotiate with douchebags.  It will still irk me, but I should correct them when I can and move along.

The things I like to do, that really bring me joy, are not what most people would call a career track.  I may never have a career in the sense that J has a career, but that doesn't mean I haven't done something with myself.   Eileen wrote about how what you do for money doesn't have to be what defines you.  It's great if it does, and defines you in a good way, but life isn't always work.

What I need to do is strengthen my non-"work" skills, so the after-work sphere of my life grows larger and more important.  People may not respect the things I like to do (sewing, sculpting) as real work, but I need to.  And I don't think I've been truly respecting my talents.

It's easier said than done, to not give credit to what others think of you.  But starting this summer, I'm going to try to not care.

Eat it, haters.

Guest Post: Getting a job immediately, regretting it immediately

Fargo Kidder* is a graduate student, crafter, blogger, and dog lover.

Last time I wrote a post for SCOATS, I focused on my desire to take the plunge and become a creative entrepreneur. Two recent posts  by "a" made me realize I have something else the readers of this blog might be interested in: what happened to me after I followed my spouse.

I was a ball of nerves as my husband and I prepared to move for his job. Don't get me wrong, there were things about the job I had at the time that I was psyched to leave behind. I knew I'd miss my friends, but I had the consolation of knowing we were moving just a 5-hour drive from where we used to live. I really can go back and visit any time. Because we moved to a fun city, we've already got almost a dozen friends coming to visit us this summer. It's nice, too, that my husband's new job allows us to live in a bigger, multi-bed and bathroom apartment that can accommodate company, unlike our old 650-square-foot house. After living in our new city for six weeks, I can say I miss my friends, but it's not so bad.

So the house and friends situations are great, but the work situation is not. My husband will start his new job in a few weeks, and I've been working at mine for just over a month. It was a good thing we opted to move in early May, despite his job not starting until July because I hit what some would consider the traveling spouse jackpot (I discussed this a bit in my previous post, but I'll touch on it again). I landed a job that is just like my old job. It's full time, started six days after we moved, and hey, it pays better. Here's the rub. I know taking this job was absolutely the wrong choice. At the time I got the job offer, I had already planned to work an internship part time while taking my remaining courses online. I would have finished my degree in August and have been able to apply for jobs with a couple years of experience from my old job, as well as no real lapse in employment due to working an internship and going to school full time online. 

Not the guest blogger, but the face says it all.

I keep asking myself "what was I thinking" when I'm on a train commuting to my job in an overly privileged, whitewashed suburb. It's to the point that I've started making myself list five positive things about my situation as I walk from my train stop in to work every day. This only leads me to listing twenty things about how pathetic I feel before stress eating the free candy in my ridiculous staff lounge. So what was I thinking when I applied for, interviewed twice for, changed my whole personal grad school plan for, and accepted this job? I was scared, god dammit! This job let me feel, to a certain extent, that I was still in control of my situation. That I wasn't another early twenty-something, unemployed loser. It justified my following my husband. My husband will always make more money than I do. Between getting married (and no one respecting my choice not to change my name), following my husband, and knowing my lifestyle will always be dependent on his paycheck, I think I needed these two months before his new job starts to feel like I could take care of us. Knowing that I was the sole bread winner, even just for a little while, is something I think I'll always be able to cling to when people call me Mrs. Wronglastname instead of Ms. Me. Or when I'm the armequin (silent mannequin on my husband's arm) at some terrible event that we "should" go to, it doesn't matter because I know that I can, and did, take care of us for two months after we moved. 

Interesting. I didn't realize til I wrote these thoughts down that the last two months will mean a lot to me long term. Maybe taking this job was the right choice at the time. I maintain, however, that I will GTFO the burbs asap. I will find a way to be a creative entrepreneur.

Today, I was originally intending to explore how I can leave this job without bruising my professional reputation too much. I've been there six weeks, and I plan on staying through September, for a total of three months. I've been keeping my eye on some job boards since I feel like it will be easier to leave this job if I had the excuse of "well, I wasn't feeling like this was a good fit and I got this other offer." But then I'll be jumping right into ANOTHER job. Honestly, I feel like I need a break. I have been triple-dipping my life in the part-time/online grad school, full time job, and blogging buckets for too long. My personal life suffers. I'm supposed to lose twenty pounds for my health this summer, and I don't know how to do that while working this much. It's hard to trust my perception of how I feel about anything when I'm this swamped. UGH. What to do?

---

*Ha! Still with that terrible pseudonym. I crack me up.

Who cares what people think? The people being crapped on!

My biggest problem I struggle with on this blog is identity.  Now, identity doesn't have to do with anything outside of myself, so my problem is that I personally do tie outside opinion in with how I view myself.  If I didn't, then I'd say "fuck all!" to convention and do my thing.  I just have this niggling desire to change perceptions.

As to the title, it's easy to say, "Just be yourself!" when who you are isn't questioned or judged by society at large.  Fargo Kidder*, from yesterday's guest post, wrote about how wanting to work from home and have a craft business is very tied to women who have children, and include that in their blogging.  It's assumed that a woman with her own business is being supported by a husband, or is doing it while she's taking care of kids.  There is nothing wrong with doing those things, and you don't need to hear it from me.  It's the assumption that galls me.

How is it possible not to stumble under the weight of assumptions?  What would happen if the weight was lifted?

I want to smash that assumption. I want to rend the connotations from the things I want to do that genders them female, that presupposes I can't do things on my own, that says they are less valuable than things a man does, that assumes working from home means you don't have a real job**.  I want to stand as an example of being just as independent, industrious and fucking awesome as men are assumed to be by default.  I want to live my live as a person, not a marked other. 

Problem is, one can't live her live a monolith, especially if no one's looking.  And all this shit I don't like isn't going to change in my lifetime, so I should probably do a little of what I wanna do and not care about what people think.  When I first started reading about feminism, I was so angry (as well a person should be) but it took me a while to  learn to temper my anger with the wrongs of the world with happiness of what's right, and that was a painful time.  You can only fight against bad stuff for so long if you don't take time for some good stuff.  You'll burn out.

I only have one life, and I need two.  One to smash through the glass ceiling, and another to enjoy the fresh air above it.

*I'm still gagging at how bad that pseudonym is. Never let me make them up for you.

**Why is everything we do have to be tied with being mothers?  Even if it has nothing to do with children? 

Guest Post: Did I mention..?

Fargo Kidder* is a graduate student, crafter, blogger, and dog lover.

Let me start off by saying that I am a very lucky woman. In the past year, I've gotten married, moved to a huge city, my husband has landed a high-paying job, and I, the following spouse, even landed a job that started before my husband's. The job is even one I'm uniquely qualified for - literally, it's my old job, but in a new environment. The thing is, I wasn't happy doing my old job. I was good at it, but unhappy. I thought moving to a new organization while still doing something I enjoyed would alleviate this unfulfilled feeling I'm experiencing. I am starting to think that the organization wasn't the problem.

In theory, I should be psyched that my husband completing his graduate coursework (he's ABD at this point) dovetailed with the start date of his new job and now, my new job. Not psyched, ecstatic! And I'm not. I tend to spread myself too thin, which I've been trying to work on. Sometimes that doesn't always work out...

Did I mention I'm also working on MY master's degree? Luckily my program is flexible and most courses can be taken online. We found out in December we'd be moving this summer, so I secured a summer internship for credit. When I landed my full time job a few months later, I opted to do the internship in addition to working 40 hours a week. I figured it would be easier and more fun to work six days a week than work 5 plus take an online class. I've done that before just fine, but the internship sounds more interesting and practical.

Not the author, but close enough. Pic from Ashleeappendicitus

Did I mention I also have a blog? I won't linky link because I'm guesting anonymously today, but it's about crafts. I've been blogging there for coming up on a year, and it's become one of my favorite things to work on. I didn't realize until making hundreds of crafts for my wedding that crafting is what I really love to do. It's not just an outlet for anxiety for me like it once was. I find myself feeling so strongly about my work that I regularly forgo sleep to work on it, as well as my blog. The longer I'm blogging, the more I'm realizing that I want to dedicate more time to it. But I can't commute to a full time job and make that happen. I feel like I'm missing opportunities with crafting every second at work, and then I'll sneak a second or two to post something or approve comments, and I feel like I'm letting my paid job down.

Did I mention how lucky my husband and I are? My husband somehow landed a job in finance, with all of the perks (money, insurance, etc.) therein. We don't want kids, plus we can already afford for me not to work at all. So why am I so worried about all of this? I simultaneously feel like the small window that has opened for me to develop a business is only going to be open for a short while. If I don't do this now when the conditions are right, then will I ever? My husband is supportive. He knows, probably better than I do, that I can make myself work 40 hours a week from home.

Kids and crafts. A lot of people I know who craft for a living appear to be able to justify it because they're also stay-at-home-moms. Half of their blog posts are about the hat they made their kids, how their kids are napping so they had time to post, how great their kids' contributions are to their work. I don't want kids, and I think it's impressive that these women can run a business plus to do the kids thing at the same time. Now I'm not saying I feel like getting knocked up will justify my craft business, but I think it would be easier for me to say to people, "I am a mom, but I also make a living through my Etsy shop."

The realistic plan I can envision in my head. I finish my master's degree in December. Leading up to that, I can look for part-time employment. With any luck, I'd like to be able to leave my current job in December, work a lower stress part time job, and run my business part time. That way, I can feel my safety net, but still have time to devote to the pursuit I want to eventually do full time.

But what if I'm wrong... 
_________________________________________


*Name changed to protect the innocent-- and unfortunately she let me pick the pseudonym.


For most posts like this, see The Scale of Opportunity and Guest Post: Freeze Dried.  If you'd like a platform to talk about your experience moving with a significant other, please contact me.

Softie Bananas

Yesterday I went to make a smoothie...

but there was something different about one of the bananas.

It had gone soft!

Voila!  After months saying how I was going to fabricate a banana, I've done it.

This is just a prototype.

These are tracings of an actual banana.  Feel free to print it out and make your own banana.

Happy Birthday Dr. J!

J's birthday was last Tuesday, but because life is weird and sometimes irritating, he had to give an exam and then help grade hundreds of physics tests.  On his birthday. Until almost midnight.  We're still winding down from dissertation time, and our celebrating of his birthday has melted in the post-diss lazy reading time.  That's all he wants to do.  We've gotten almost 400 pages into Game of Thrones*.

Tree decorations

J outside the porch, under home-made bunting and stars

Decorations during the party

I LOVE the way the decorations came out, but I'll admit they were created from a mind too lazy to drive to the store for streamers.  Years ago I bought a giant pad of rainbow-colored construction paper, and I've done several party themes with it.  Construction paper, string, tape, that's all I need when I'm really driven to do something.  I like the little flag buntings I've seen on Etsy**, and it really was very simple.  I'd like to try one made of fabric, too.

I've made a few of these Mother's Day Brooches from Holidash, but so far they haven't come out as nicely as the creator's.  I've been felting instead of gluing, and my beginner felting skills may have something to do with that.  It's definitely good practice.  I'm making the one above for my mother-in-law, but I'm working on a blue one for my mom.  I've decided to do a variation on the one above, using rounded petals and a few sequins peaking out at the base of each petal.  We'll see.  I don't see her until tomorrow, so I have a little time to experiment.

If it works, I'll post a little tutorial here.  Of course, all my thanks goes to Holidash for doin' it first.  I found a lovely wildflower in my yard yesterday (isn't it weird when you find one you've never ever seen before?) but it's not open yet, so I'll use this one as a model:

The white part at the base will be ice blue sequins from this project.

*Forgive me linking to a review of the show.  I just figure if you don't read fantasy, watching an episode of the show is more likely to start your engine for reading this book.  I'm hopefully obtuse when it comes to fantasy, and I usually need to be tricked into reading it.

**Miko Designs is a really fun blog.  This lady has the best parties ever for her daughters.

"Where the Red Delicious Rolls"

Back in the fall when I started sketching ideas for my little sculptures, the most complicated one was of a small hill topped with a pea trellis, and a little slope where the fallen peas were rolling.  At the bottom of the little path was a little cave going into the hill, with a soft light coming from it.  That's where the peas were going.  I made a lot of little mini pea-pods, with the peas about the size of the head on a glass pin.  I still haven't figured out how to make the trellises, or leaves that tiny.  What about an apple tree? I'm going to spend some time making prototypes before diving in, which will solve my problem of skillfully-made sculptures.  I've had modeling clay lying around forever, and I've had a ball working with it today.

"Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"

All photography was done by Chris Clanton, but the sass and cuteness is all mine.  I'll finally be delivering this hat to its rightful owner in a few days.

If anyone's interested, I do custom orders.

Cactus Hat: Part 3

J models the cactus.  Moments later, it pops off of his giant head.

Paper pulp and toothpicks

Barrel Cactus!

Close up on spines

Things are going well with the hat.  Tonight, the paper pulp will dry, and tomorrow I'll do one last layer of newspaper and paper mache to reinforce the needle globs (not sure what else to call them).  Then it's time for a lot of painstaking painting.

Cactus Hat: Part 2

Many thanks to J, who has been acting as my cactus flower consultant.  He think I'm not being realistic enough, but I'm just happy to see him interested in one of my projects.  We are taking some time out re-watching Battlestar Galactica*, which is a delightful distraction while felting and entering grades (him, not me). 

Also: a lot of people who have the fancy phones are playing Angry Birds**.  This game, well, it kind of makes you angry.  J found me an alternative to all those bloodthirsty birds, namely Tiny Wings.  He bought it on his iPhone, and lets me steal it anytime I want to play the game.  The sole point of the game is to move forward, there's no killing, no dying, and the soundtrack is so cute!  It was a well-spent dollar.

*I saved this for a footnote, because no one likes the dork who starts yelling BATTLESTAR GALACTICA IS THE GREATEST SHOW THAT HAS EVER BEEN INSIDE OF A TELEVISION AND IT WILL MAKE YOU CRY AND WANT TO BE IN SPACE AND YEAH IT IS A FEMINIST POST 9/11 SCIFI SPACE OPERA DID I MENTION YOU NEED TO WATCH IT.  

**I have friends who would likely have advanced degrees by now if not for this game.   Yeah, I know you're reading this.

Cactus Hat: Take One

I dug myself out of the dumps yesterday afternoon and made some goo for paper mache.  As soon as it started to thicken on the stove, my mood change was instantaneous.  I grabbed a few balloons from my stash (oddly, always kept with the flashlights) and blew one up a little bigger than a basketball.  It's hard to judge how big to make it (1) because I've never made a barrel cactus, (2) I can't try it on my head if it's still a sphere and (3) I don't know how big this person's head it.  My head is on the small side, so I have to keep that in mind.  J has a very large head, so he can't be a model either.  Just hope!

My moveable studio

My paper mache recipe is just heat water on the stove, add salt, and slowly add flour until it starts to get thick. Ta-da!  I'm a fan of brushing the glue on the form, adding strips of newsprint, more glue, more newsprint.  I put about three layers on today, so I'll let it dry overnight and add 3 more tomorrow.  I'm thinking that'll do the job.

I haven't made paper pulp since I was in junior high, but Instructables has a bevy of information on paper mache.  I intend to use the paper pulp to make little knobbles (like the cups on an octopus, maybe?) to go up the sides of the cactus.  I'll stick the "spines" into these as they are drying.  I think this will be the most involved part.  All I need are a few colors of paint, and I am on my way.

You don't know how small my hands are! That could be the size of a grapefruit for all you strangers know.

As for making it stay on a person's head, I think I may try to sew a simple cap and have it on the inside, with earflaps to hold it on.  If all goes well, it will resemble a green, spiky beehive hairdo.   And bonus! My first attempt at making a cactus flower.  I am using a little artistic license.  This one is felted, thanks to FirstStitch's teachings.  Who thinks it's a good idea to see what these would look like shellacked?

Me and the DMV: A taste of what's to come

Today is a university holiday, so I have it off.  I've spent today buying replacement lightbulbs and paying bills, sitting at the DMV trying to smile in order to make myself feel happier.  But it is just not working.  I keep looking at this dreary day and hoping that's not what's making me feel so low.  If it is, Seattle may not be so great for me.  I never noticed how often the sky was just pure, cloudless blue until I started reading about the weather in the Pacific Northwest.  I understand why they have vampires.

J has a short phone interview today with a Google representative.  It is not the big scary one, but it's his first phone interview for a job.  I have promised to be out of the house.  I am feeling his nervousness.  Afterwards I am taking him out for a meal.  I have yet to eat more than a small bowl of oatmeal today.

When I am sad or confused, I can't eat.  I forget how to make food or just get really bogged down in making decisions. I am currently staring at some frozen samosas that I do not want to unfreeze or eat.  A friend tells me I am disassociating from my current situation because it is too much.  I don't want to believe that, because this is just a taste of all the change and stress we'll go through.  All this time hoping and  complaining about moving on, and I freak out the second we start to go forward.  I've  cancelled plans with friends twice and backed out of a creative project just in the past day.  I'll admit I felt a lot better afterwards, but I really hate to disappoint people.

The highlight of my day will be starting a project for a commissioned Halloween hat.  My patron (who purchased my cherry hat previously and wants to collect more of my work ;)) pretty much let me decide what it would be, and I chose a barrel cactus.  I took a stack of newspapers from the DMV and will start making the form today.

Now, I really should eat before I decide to take a nap and waste the day.

Finished: Trumpet skirt

I look like a sloppy cheerleader, but overall I think this worked out.  But NEVER AGAIN am I working with lining fabric when it isn't directly attached at all edges to the garment.  Ugh. Even with my hemmer foot, that part turned out super shitty.  Pictures!!

I'm learning an important lesson about palettes.  I love this color, but I don't have anything to wear with it (without looking like a cheerleader).  I should have picked a color that was more muted, so it would play nice with others.

Here's a shot of the inside, which I'm more proud of than the outside:

This was a good learning experience, definitely. I finally used some of the foot attachments my mom gave me, to some success.  I'll definitely be using a hemmer foot again.  But hemming lining fabric? Screw that. Not fun, not fun at all.

This also taught me that I would LOOOOOVVVVE a serger.  Finishing all the seams with bias tape looked good, but not every garment wants that much extra weight on the inside.  I also need a serger so I can turn these tissue paper cut-outs into fabric curtains:

Cut-outs by a friend, originally party decorations.

Imagine trying to hem THAT.

Warm weather coming and the need to be adorable

I am not a clothes horse, but I am always in search of the illusive piece of clothing that makes me feel wonderful. I have already found a few of them, and learned how to recreate another.  After my first success, I had dreams of a spring filled with handmade dresses and me always feeling wonderful, but my choices of patterned fabric in town are really sparse.  Nothing looks good enough to wear a whole dress of.  The only online fabric store I know about is Reprodepot, and they appear to be on hiatus. Sadface.

To the internet!  I found a handful of online shops that have great stuff, and if you know of others, please let me know in the comments.

SUPER BUZZY

Unfortunately the last one didn't have a cute logo I could link to (damn flash) but it is dern cute.

Trumpet skirt project

I couldn't find any fabric I liked for my next Louisa dress, so I decided to remake a skirt I've had for a decade: 

Doesn't look like much from the photo, but it's a beautifully put-together piece that fits me perfectly and looks good when I spin.  I thought it was called a tulip skirt.

It's 10 panels in cotton with a more vibrant lining and a zipper on the side. Since I don't want to take the original skirt apart, I am going to have to experiment with how the inner belt and lining work, but looks like the lining is just an identical version of the skirt.  So far it looks a little cheerleader-y, but when I iron it out I bet it'll look better.  Bright blue will be my color for spring/summer.  I am looking forward to storing my grey and black winter wardrobe.

One of the millions of seams.

Since there are 20 big seams to finish, I was feeling adrift without a serger.  I didn't want to make any more stitch lines on the right side of the fabric, and I also don't want ratty seams.  Someone suggested Dritz Fray-no-more, but I didn't want any sharp edges or weight added.  I ended up trimming the seam allowance to 1/2" and using bias tape to finish.  Yeah, it added weight, but it looks super professional (from my perspective).  Why didn't I take a picture??

Lovely lining fabric.

I don't mind the finished seam stitches showing on the right side of the lining, since no one will see it. This will definitely get done over the weekend, then I have a few days off for Spring Break!  I promise I will actually finish a project from a real pattern.  I don't know why I'm so hesitant. I HATE reading directions, that's why.

[Update: I just found a Simplicity pattern for a trumpet skirt that looks SOOOOOOO much simpler than this 10-panel one.  Urgh. Thank you internet for giving me a sign.]

Lazy Sunday

I made a lot of plans today, and cancelled them all. No guilt.  I finished a pillow project, and it doesn't look too bad, just a little lumpy:

This isn't exactly what I was going for when I set out for Joann.  I love to sit up and read, but I hate sliding and having to scoot back up every few minutes.  A "boyfriend" pillow would be great, but they are ugly and I don't want to buy a pillow.  Ideally, I would purchase a chaise or a fainting couch (one day, oh one day.)

My friend Anca helped me sketch out the pattern, since I can't seem to think twice about something before cutting a big gash in it. Lo and behold, she took her eyes off of me and I made the inner pillow larger than the fabric for the case.  I pretended I did it on purpose so I could make little ribbon ties.

Detail on ribbon

I'm also not sure where I will put this, since our bedspread is red.  All that matters is that I actually accomplished something.

Yesterday I made the Mother's Day Corsage from Holidash.com.  I took a tip from the comments to felt the petals into shape INSTEAD of using glue.  The tutorial said that the gluing took a while to set, and I don't think felting really took that long.  I ended up not using any glue.  Mine did not turn out as beautiful, but I'm sure that wasn't her first try either:

Next on the list is a replica of a skirt I've had for literally 10 years.  I bought some blue cotton similar to the color above, and some lovely lining (which no one will see).  I'll try sketching out the pattern today, but probably won't have much time during the week to work on it.  Spring Break is coming up, which shouldn't mean much to a working stiff like me, but my workplace is CLOSING for a few days for maintenance.  Once more, the freest of all free time.  And warm, too.

Bonus lazy pics:

She's just yawning.

Tiny dill pickle!