Shalom

All kinds of stuff has been going on in my blogging absense the past week or so including taking one of my 7 architecture exams, progressing in becoming an interpreter for Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House, and knitting up this cardigan, among other things. It's a popular pattern and I can see why, I knit it up in roughly a week an a half. Bulky yarn and no seaming make this project quick and satisfyingly easy. The pattern is free on the blog Involving the Senses. I have yet to take pictures wearing it, but I wore it first thing Monday after finishing it up Sunday night. And I've been tempted to wear it again, I imagine it will be the focus of another outfit before the week is through and I'll have more pictures up soon.

Other than that, I think we're finally enjoying something like spring here in Chicago...for a few days last week I thought we might be, it was sunny, but I remained skeptical. You see, it's been very sunny for a day or two and then back to cold, windy, wintery weather. So went it got really warm and sunny recently, it seemed like it might make sense that it was spring, but who knows. This is our first year here. Winter might roll right into summer. But though it's actually gotten kinda of rainy again the past few days, I think it seems warm enough to call it spring....almost.

Well, I don't have another test scheduled at the moment, so I don't expect to disappear anytime soon. But, I'm working on trying to figure out when my next one will be, so we'll just see. Thinking that it will be end of May, or early to mid June.

Crafty Cat Defenses

Our couch has a tag on it that says we should keep the arms protected with endcaps. We hadn't been doing that, though we were keeping the thing completly covered with all sorts of blankets...not very attractive. So since we got the couch we've been trying to sort out how to protect it attractively. (In the meantime, I think Lucy has become less and less interested in scratching it, but better safe than sorry.) Then one day I realized I had this Ikea fabric (which is actually supposed to have been a tablecloth or something, it already had sort of finished edges) that was pretty much the exact length it needs to be to cover the length of the couch with fabric leftover for endcaps. So this weekend I finally had time to play with it. Right now the endcaps are almost finished. I have a kinda bad habit of taking photos before things are finished, like all the loose ends tied and cut off, or in knitting woven in. I just wanted to see how things all looked, and I tend to feel like a photo give a sort of second opinion on the matter.

So anyway, the current coverage plans are the endcaps paired with a third piece of this fabric that runs the length of the couch. That piece is going to cover the frame, covering the fabric behind the cushions, and it may or may not continue under the cushions to protect the fabric at the front below the cushions (it's still a debate.) Which either way will leave the cushions themselves unprotected from kitty claws...That too is a concern since she loves to make herself comfortable there. But there was really no way to cover the cushions without having it look pretty strange. I think we will still protect the cushions with a blanket but it will have more of a place now, and not have the task of protecting every single part of the couch and hiding it. I'm thinking the blanket will be more transient in nature, we can tug it off the back when we're cold (and know the cat's not clawing at the couch.) And I might be on the lookout for something blue or yellow that coordinates with ikea fabric...or I might knit something eventually. Projects beget more projects....

I'm starting to feel a bit more confident about sewing, and I was pretty fearless about this project. I think it helped that this Ikea fabric was on sale and was super cheap, though it's a neat fabric and I don't think they have it anymore. But I just went with it, cut right into the fabric and just thought of it as an experiment. And it pretty much worked! I learned some stuff, and if I did it again I would probably do it better, but I'm pretty happy with the results. I feel excited to try more sewing projects when I get a chance...maybe actually tackle a piece of clothing soon? We'll see.

Oh, and Happy Easter. We're off for a day at the botanic garden with my parents! I'm sure there will pics up on my flickr by this evening.

Curious Mess

The EtsyTwitter Team shop of the week this week is curiousmess (great shop name, no?) and I have to say I'm pretty taken with these lovely brooches. Also notice in the background the fabric bowls, which are also handcrafted and avaliable in the shop. The ones decorated with citrus and cherry blossoms really have me anxious for warmer spring weather to finally arrive.
Curiousmess is offering free worldwide shipping through Sunday the 12th for anyone who mentions "etsytwitter" in their message to seller.

Explanation of Busy

The list of things preventing me from blogging much lately is pretty long the last week or so. Foremost of which is the fact that I started training to be a volunteer for Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House. If all goes well I'll be giving tours with in the next month. Of course to keep us informed enough to answer all sorts of questions, this has meant a lot of training sessions, both on weeknights and all day last Saturday, repeatedly taking to tour and hearing lots of interesting lectures about the building and its history. It's pretty great, but I am also tired from all the effort getting over there and back. Tonight is the last night before we start scheduling sessions to practice the tour ourselves & determine our readiness for the real thing. I'm excited, but I've still got a lot of work to do to prepare myself.

Not to mention I have a licensing exam sneaking up on me soon...at the end of the month. Also I completed a project that I was pretty happy with last weekend, but I will wait a little bit before posting it anywhere public since it's going to be a gift. For now it's on my facebook profile for those of you that may know me there.