Not much knitting progress has been made in the last week or so. With a lot of my yarn packed away and constantly trying to think of something to pack, I haven’t done much knitting. I’ve gotten into a bad habit of watching tv without pulling my knitting out and knitting just a few rows.

Yesterday, I went and had my bridesmaid’s dress for Bryan’s sister’s wedding altered at Marshall Field’s and I just realized that I haven’t posted a photo of it yet here.

Packing has become a major part of my life. :) I was talking to Brandi just a while ago and I realized that I only have two more weekends to pack. This weekend and Fourth of July weekend, which I’m sure will be major crunch time for Bryan and I. The apartment is available on July 10 and we’re going to move some stuff in that evening. Then Bryan took the 11th off to move some stuff that morning and then we’re going out to Fenton, IL for his sister’s wedding on the 12th. Then on the 14th the movers move my stuff out of my apartment to the new apartment. That will be the first night in the new place! :) I’m off work on the 15th also and I’ll probably be moving more of my stuff to the new apartment - whatever didn’t get moved by the movers. It will probably be all the little things that you never know what box to put it in. Then there are also my plants that need to be moved too.

For some reason, George & Chloe are the least of my moving worries. I just know they won’t be really happy about being in the car for an hour out to the new place and then being locked up in the storage closet for the time that the movers are moving things in. At least the storage closet is big enough to fit a twin bed into, but they may end up in the bathroom too. I just don’t want them to freak out too much through the move. I’m sure George will have plenty to say about the whole thing. Since I’ve been packing, George has been talking to me a lot. There are times I just want him to be quiet, but I think he’s just trying to tell me exactly what he thinks about his apartment being such a mess and things constantly moving. I’m sure it’s disrupted his sleeping habits somewhat, but he’ll figure out new ones quite quickly in the new apartment. I’m just interested to see how they react to living on the first floor. We’ve always lived on the second or higher floor and there are also geese in the pond outside of our apartment. I’m sure they’ll meow at the geese for a while, but I know for a fact a goose could easily beat George or Chloe up, since they don’t have front claws. Chloe is also going to have to get used to not sleeping with me at night. Oh, how I will miss the purring, kneading, slobbering kitty right in my ear and kneading my hair. :)

I’m starting to get back into knitting. I’m moving in about a month, my apartment has been a complete disaster and I don’t want to be home much. I don’t want to knit when I’m home because I’m in such a different mode when I’m at home lately. I don’t feel like I’m there to really relax, it’s more of I’m there because I don’t have anywhere else to be. I’m so looking forward to being moved!

My edgings class at the Cultured Purls Knitting Guild of McHenry County was a great success. I got many nice compliments after the meeting and a few emails that were very positive! :) My first successful teaching experience outside of the store. It was really fun to teach something just for one night - it was a nice change of pace from a regular weekly class.

Thursday, I went to another cooking class with Karla that was Summer breakfast’s. :) The berry crunch parfait is so yummy. It has blueberries, pears and peaches baked with granola on top with maple/vanilla yogurt on top. I’ve had it for breakfast several days this week. Another recipe was granola with ginger mangoes, which was also really really yummy!

I’ve picked out the bridesmaid’s dresses and we’ll probably order them in December. Brandi and Meredith tried them on several weeks ago and I really liked the dress on both of them.

My knitting progress is getting better, but it’s still nowhere what it was before my surgery. It feels so weird to be such a knitting freak before my surgery and now my interest in knitting has gone down. I never thought I would go days where I didn’t knit. Before the surgery, I felt like something was really missing from my day if I didn’t knit and now I feel good just having knit four or six rows every few days. I’m sure that moving and having so much going on has a lot to do with it, plus I wasn’t able to knit for a month and knitting since then hasn’t been comfortable. I’ve lost a lot of my speed, which used to make rows fly. I also have to watch every stitch, it’s hard for me to just knit by feel like I used to. And I just thought of this, the yarns that I’ve been knitting with in the last several months aren’t exactly the easiest yarns to work quickly with - Rowan’s Calmer, Rowan’s Cotton Tape and Rowan’s Linen Drape. Maybe some standard basic wool would help but I don’t have anything on my needles that is basic wool. :) I feel like if I just stick with it I’ll get over this low interest in knitting and I’ll have three really great projects completed. They are all sleeveless summer sweaters so I want to finish them by August, I think I have some time to get them done. :)

Enough about my knitting woes. I’m teaching an edgings workshop at the Cultured Purls Knitting Guild of McHenry County tomorrow night. It’s in the far northwest suburbs of Chicago, but not far from where Bryan lives. I’m teaching about horizontal bands at the bottom of a sweater, ribbed ruffles, a picot knitted-in hem and knitted-in fringe. I think it will go well. It’s my first workshop and depending on how well this one goes, then I’ll be teaching another workshop for them in September. I really hope it goes well.

Last week, I did do some knitting that wasn’t on my projects. I fixed one of Brandi’s sweaters that had a hole where the neck and body meet. Then I fixed a sweater for my teddy bear, Bear, the model from a lot of my photos. :) His sweater had started to unravel probably 10 years ago and I had always just been really careful with it. About a year ago, I decided that I was just going to pull out several rows and bind off around the neck, which is what I did. It looks so much better and Bear looks happier to have his sweater fixed. :)

Progress on my projects: (I know I need to take photos)
12 1/4 inches of first piece of Pagan sweater
2 3/4 inches of second piece of Joy sweater
19 1/4 inches of first piece of Petula sweater

On June 1, I bought my wedding dress!! It’s an ivory strapless dress made out of silk organza and it’s beautiful. If you want to see a photo of me in the sample dress - email me since I don’t want Bryan to see it. :) The wedding plans are getting started. We’ve reserved Danforth Chapel and the Eldridge Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom in Lawrence. Lately, I’ve been looking at photographers around the Lawrence/Kansas City area and I think I’ve found a few that I really like. I like the photojournalistic style mixed in with the normal formal photos. :) I do want to get engagement photos taken sometime this summer or early fall so that we can have those at Christmas time and also for an engagement announcement in the paper.

Today, Bryan and I drove out to Fenton, Illinois for his sister’s wedding shower. I am the bridesmaid so I was there to be a good bridesmaid and take notes of all of the gifts that she received. I also met Bryan’s mom for the first time. The wedding is in mid-July near Fenton.

Not much else to report except my packing and getting ready for the move. I’ve also taken several more cooking classes from Karla at Whole Foods. I’ve gotten some really great recipes. I’m teaching another beginning knitting class this month and on June 10, I’m teaching an edging class at the Cultured Purls Knitting Guild of McHenry County. It will be my first workshop/class outside of the Knitting Workshop. I’m excited but nervous. I’m sure I’ll be fine. :) I pulled out the Petula sweater the other night and I’ve knit about an inch of it. That’s about the only knitting I’ve done besides the little samples that I’m taking to my knitting workshop at the guild.