And a Good Time Was Had By All ...

She did great.

I was asked, nay instructed, to provide pictures. The link is the best I can do for now as I am still computerly challenged. The originals are residing on Mike's machine until I 1. learn how to navigate my new Linux partition or 2. get new windows disks. We are waiting for friends and relative to email stuff to us and, of course, for the professional photos.

There were no major mishaps, only minor, easily fixed ones. Like getting two blocks from home and realizing that she was wearing the wrong earrings. As I said, minor and easily fixed.

As far as I can tell, Squidette did not make a single mistake in her torah or haftorah portions and, despite the fact that she was shaking like a leaf while waiting her turn, she looked calm and poised while chanting.

The girls danced in the socks we provided -- cute anklets secured at K Mart -- and despite her fears and worries about not knowing what to do at a party, Squidette had a great time.

We are now in recovery mode and I'm heading down to do the laundry. Back to real life ...

Which One?

Once again, I appeal to my readers to help solve a conundrum. Which necklace should Squidette wear next week?Both have sentimental value. The one on top is mine and depicts a lion and lamb laying together. It was given to me by Mike and was designed by a good friend of ours. The one on the bottom is a locket that my mother-in-law used to wear frequently and carries a huge amount of sentiment for Squidette. That said, we are not sure that either is appropriate and are not sure that we've found the right "look." (The earrings were also her grandmother's but we never saw them worn. After trying on a dozen pair, we finally hit on just the right ones. Poor kid's ears are sore now.)
No, I have not even started figuring out my own jewelery beyond my rings (standard wedding and engagement and for sentiment's sake, my grandmother's) Yes, in the grand scheme of things, this means nothing but since I am not fussing about a party, this gives me something to do.)

Icarus

After carefully examining the suggested patterns, I decided to go with Icarus, as suggested by Cookie. It is reasonably solid and hence chaste enough to do what I need it to do in synagogue. I'll secure it with a hair stick, most likely so I am not futzing with it during services. One of the drawbacks of being the parent of the Bat Mitzvah girl is that I have to sit facing the congregation -- so everyone will see if I fidget.It is a small rendition of Icarus, only 36 inches on the diagonal and about 32 inches from center back to tip. Yarn is Artyarns Regal Silk, roughly a DK weight, in color 131. I bought 8 skeins and used 3 and a smidge. It took me a month to complete -- mainly because I had to rip it out from a much bigger place and then messed up picking up the stitches ... so I had to go back to the very beginning and restart.

Now I'm debating returning or weaving the rest. If I weave it at 8 epi then I can easily get a 20 inch wide shawl that is 5 feet long ... tempting. But first I have to hide the ends on and block Squidette's shrug. That'll occupy my loom space for a day or two.

Let Them Eat Cake

The prototype ...

This, naturally, left us with a whole lot of cake. What to do? What to do?

First we hit all of the neighbors on our floor. Then we took the top layer to the lobby and sat for an hour and gave out cake.
It was fun. We made lots of people happy and now only have the two 9 inch layers to "dispose" of. (The remaining top layer is going to another family on our floor as soon as they get home.)

Now ... I think I need some cake ...

Ready ...

It's still 4 weeks away but we are getting ready. I may be in charge of the knit goods but that all pales in comparisson to what Mike is in charge of ...

the baked goods. This is the start of the trial run.

(That's a 16 inch cake next to two nines and an eight.)

Of Tallit and Tomatoes

Dave asked for a close up of the weave structure of the tallit.

It is a basic tabby cloth -- the easiest to weave on my rigid heddle loom. I can do other weaves and have a second heddle and heddle blocks but decided (after experimentation) that one heddle was plenty for me. Eventually I will get a larger loom with more variation but, for now, my Kromski Harp does exactly what I want to do.

On the gardening front, I made my second "major" tomato harvest. (The first harvest was last week and was served up barely cooked with some yummy cured meat and pasta.)

The big one is a Patio, the yellows are yellow plums and the smaller red ones are Tiny Tims. Below, one of the tinier Tiny Tims.
Yes, it is sitting on a quarter. And would have fit on a dime. It was delicious!

Finished! Some Weaving ...

Squidette's Tallit

Started: June 14, 2008
Finished: July 30: 2008

10 epi, 3/2 Pearl Cotton and Pearl Silk

Atarah (neckband) purchased already finished

Tzitzit (fringes on corner) hand tied on the tallit by your's truly, following instructions found online

Regular fringe made of the loom "waste" and knotted over the course of 3 days.

One end had to be rehemmed because I hemmed it in the wrong direction. (Both hems are double folded to hide the raw edges.)

TdF: Final Intermediate Sprint

"Hills like this were never really to my liking." (Paul Sherwin whenever asked about a mountain stage by Phil Liggett)

A few days ago I realized that I was not enjoying the pressure of "having" to finish my TdF project. So, with that in mind, I took out my wheel yesterday and went for a nice long spin. Then I balled up the first skein of Tilli Thomas Rock Star Bridgetown Brown (100% spun silk with glass beads) and started in on this shrug for Squidette.Her Bat Mitzvah dress is less modest then it should be so this shrug, designed to cover a halter top, is just what is needed. I've been resisting starting it, knowing that I have to finish my socks, but last night I just dug in and started.

During the Tour I also finished these socks for my only sockless sibling -- but they were "purse" knitting and don't count as interfering in the TdF sock progress.The real hindrance to knitting was the fact that life just took over during the daylight hours and with Little Squid in camp for 1.5 hours less then last year, and with us riding our bikes there most days, there was just less time.

Last, I was working on another project, which will be finished and revealed in all of it's glory tomorrow. parts of it have been worked on in secret from the recipient so no peaks until they see it first.
The second sock. Oh, and did I mention that I lost my squid graph and have to reconstruct it from the first sock ...

And so, I concede the race. no green jersey for me. Oh well, there is always next year.

Woven or Knit?

This is the dress.

It needs a shawl (for synagogue).

Now add the yarn (ArtYarns silk)...

Woven (plain weave) or knit? And if knit, what pattern? (Should be fairly solid)

I have 8 skeins -- about 1300 yds