I’ve made a May Resolution: Blog more.

I’ll probably end up writing about even more random stuff than I used to (yeah… sorry about that. Sorta.). I’ve recently been diagnosed gluten intolerant, so there is loads of fun to blather about with trying to go gluten free, keep my daughter (also gluten intolerant) gluten free, and still keep my son & husband happy with what they’re eating. Needing to make a lot of food from scratch and working full time makes for an interesting schedule.

Of course I’m still knitting like a fiend. Currently working on a lace shawl…

Of course I’m still reenacting. In fact, we got Crown for a second year. This should be interesting…

Since I’m still reenacting, I’m still sewing! Since it would be boring to just sew for ECS related stuff, I’m also branching out into SteamPunk and (gasp!) every day wear!

So! Hope to see you around more!

So.

Switzerland rocked. Yeah, imagine that? The kids had a blast. The hubby & I had a blast. We hiked or took the train all over the area we were in (the Graubunden, if you want to Google it). Absolutely breathtaking territory – I have over 400 pictures, I’m still trying to decide which ones I should post. My children now understand the difference between pizza in Switzerland vs. pizza in the US – they’re pretty different critters. We’ve all come to the conclusion that we MUST learn German before we go over again.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see my relic bag Apparently, it is owned by a church that keeps their museum off limits to non clergy. I did get to drag the kids to every church in Chur and listen to them whine until Hubby & I took them to a park and let them run wild. Hopefully they appreciated the beauty & history we were looking at, but I think what finally drove them nuts was going through the cathedral that still has an active congregation – there was an awful lot of “Don’t touch that! “Don’t climb on that! “Keep your voice down! “Have some respect for where you are!”

Poor things. I’d’ve gone nuts too!

Since then, I’ve done one major ECS event (Coronation ) and one minor ren faire (Darkwell, sadly, a faire fraught with problems ). I’m watching my “Must Be Done before Vegas Faire” list get longer, and my time to do it in get shorter. At least our term as sovereign is going pretty smoothly (knock on wood).

Work is interesting, as ever. We had another round of layoffs – this time a lot of management went. Kinda creepy. As usual, my work load is “feast or famine.” Right now it’s supposed to be feast but there’s a lot of “email so-and-so and update Document X based on their response.” Not terribly helpful when so-and-so doesn’t get back to you in a timely manner. Ah well. It’s a paycheck, and usually the work is pretty fun.

I have SO MUCH to do before we leave! I mean, really, should my airplane knitting be socks or a shawl? Lace? I probably ought to pick up some good travel clothes and walking shoes, fortunately there’s a shoe store near the yarn shop. Hmmm, a silk lace shawl? Nothing beaded, of course, that would be a nightmare if we hit turbulence. Pi R Square, maybe? I’ve got to pick a pattern and get it copied, probably best to put it in one of those plastic sleeves. Nothing with too big a chart, of course…

I’ve decided to give up on ever doing the German Dress. Oh, there are a number of reasons, but the shortest answer is that I realized that the questions that I want answered before I start on the dress will never be answered without a time machine (or possibly access to the original dress…). So, moving on. Now I have to pick a new dress, and get over my phobia that I’ll screw it up. Oh, I have an idea, of course (Scroll down to “Viola’s Riding Habit�), and I have a pattern that I think will produce pretty much that dress…. I do need to dig up the velvet & jacquard that I bought for the German dress and see if it’s salvageable – I bought it when I was younger and less wise and it’s been stored poorly (folded up in a Rubbermaid tub), and the jacquard may be the wrong type (I think it’s rubber backed…)

Work has picked up – I realized I’ve had four bosses since Dad’s death 5 months ago, which is a little disturbing, but the company has gone through some shakeups due to the economy – I’m quite relieved to be working. My new(est) boss has taken it as his personal mission to ensure that I am kept quite busy, and I find it hard to complain . It has cut down on my time to play on Ravelry and the Knittyboard .

Actual content update? Maybe Monday….

My usual Morning Requirements are a good, hot shower, and hugs from my kids. I hate going to work on days that they’re out of school (or worse: away!) – mornings seem a bit less cheery.

As for breakfast… well, I have a tough time eating breakfast, so I usually just feel good if I remember to grab some instant oatmeal in a paper cup at my desk at work. Weekends however, usually involve going out to breakfast with the family. Our latest foray was to IHoP, and they have what could be the bestest breakfast ever. Nutella Crepes. That’s right, crepes with nutella spread, bananas, and nuts. Oh, and whipped cream and powdered sugar, because everything at IHoP has whipped cream and powdered sugar.

As for the news… I’M GONNA BE AN AUNTIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh my gosh, what am I gonna knit? There are SO MANY choices! I gotta go to the yarn shop!

The box contained three things: two books that a friend was getting rid of that Hubby and Miss Daughter would be interested in, and – the real gem here – a signed copy of Neil Gaiman’s Stardust for me

Thank you, my very dear friend, for shipping is those books. I am absolutely floored by the autographed Stardust.

Years later, Grandma was gone and I was pregnant with my first baby. And dammit, there was going to be a baby blanket, knit by mom, for the sprog. By the time I muddled through teaching myself to knit, the sprog had been born and her little brother was on the way and they’d both gotten crocheted blankets . I knit then-hubby a sweater, without a pattern (thank you Elizabeth Zimmerman!) and even (gasp) STEEKED the sleeves (for non-knitters: this means I cut my knitting in order to sew the sleeves in. It probably doesn’t sound like a scary thing to you, but it is.)

I still knit frantically for various reasons: a nice sweater that is EXACTLY what I want, something to do with my hands, the pride of seeing someone love a gift that was made just for them, absolutely a one-of-a-kind.

So… Americans, didja vote? I did – I got there before the polls opened (yawn) because I was convinced there would be a huge line. Yeah… not so much. I got out of there 15 minutes after the polls opened, and that included time to deal with technical difficulties with two voting machines.