A Welcome Diversion

 Yesterday was a very dreary day on so many levels. Happily I had soap boxes to pack so I kept busy.

Not only was it raining but it was also the day after The Mister's 97 year old mom went gently into that good night. It was a shock. No one ever expected her to go anywhere ever. She was a force of nature. She worked into her 80's as a bus aide for special students. She lived at home, on her own up until this last illness that sent her to the hospital last week.  I hope Daughter inherited her genes.

 The Mister had to go take care of all the heartbreaking details with his family so I had plenty of quiet time to myself. If you signed up for the giveaway your box will be on it's way tomorrow.

The curing racks are emptying fast and even though I said there would be no more soap until fall, look at the free samples that came with my last order of oils. Summer soap? Sounds like a plan. I need a diversion.

Lost and Found

 I was taking the dogs out for a walk one morning and wished I had a light sweater. Then I remembered I had the Featherweight in a project bag that needed its ends woven in. Being stripes, it had a lot of ends.

 This was a sweater made from handspun so I was nervous about blocking it. I have had some real disasters with sweater sized garments stretching out of all proportions.

 Not this time. It blocked nicely and dried really quickly.

It even fits and isn't too itchy. It's almost too good to believe. I make a lot of sweaters but I rarely make one I like and I think I really like this one.

End of the Season Giveaway!

 The spring soap is being tested and wrapped. I've got a lot in all shapes and sizes and I need to rehome most of it before it gets too hot to mail so I need your help again.

 Some of the bars have turned into hand soap because of their too strong for me fragrance. Green Clover and Aloe is one of those. Spring Rain is the other.

 I also have lots of little random leftover face bars.

 We were supposed to have a ladies lunch a few weeks ago so I also have lots of mini lotion bars that I made in anticipation-but the event got cancelled. Boo.

 About half of the bars are cured and half have a week or so to go. You can see all of them on previous posts here and here. You know the deal.
Go to Ravelry.
Tell me your three favorite full sizes bars and I will see that you get one of them as soon as it's ready.
Let me know if you want a mini face or mini hand bar.
And don't forget to tell me your mailing info and if you have any allergies or sensitivities.
Don't be shy because the next giveaway probably won't be until it cools down in the fall.

Also let me know what spring holiday you celebrate because there will also be cards involved. That's always my favorite part.

On the Edge

 Getting to the very ends of the table runner has been a challenge.

I am happy to say I met the challenge and all the hand quilting is done. I am also happy to say that the back looks as nice as the front so I am claiming this a win.

 Now on to the binding. I had an itty bit of the fabric I wanted to use leftover from the mini quilt and by some miracle it was enough to go all the way around. Whew.

As soon as I get time to sit down in some good light and hand stitch this all down, this will be a done deal. I am shocked at how fast this went. It's not like me at all.

Districts: Day Two

 We were back at the rink at 7:30 Sunday morning. We should have just slept there.

 I mentioned earlier that before we left for Richmond we were dealing with disaster after disaster with the production team kids. They were dropping like flies all week. Snow White had a concussion from gym class and couldn't skate. One of our coaches had to fill in. One of the elves was in a car accident. He had a concussion too. One of the cartwheeling starfish broke her hand. Another skater on the team misread the schedule and showed up on Saturday. Her mother refused to stay at the hotel or drive back down on Sunday so we were down an octopus. Because I totaled the propmobile back in December, we didn't even have all of our scenery since no one else could fit Snow White's big cottage in any of their vehicles.

 In spite of the drama, Yellow Submarine came in second out of four. Our best showing yet. I'm the second umbrella from the left btw.

Snow White came in third out of three but with so many important skaters missing we were just lucky to have gotten through it. I didn't need any makeup to make me look like an Old Hag by Sunday afternoon I was done in. Way in.

As a team we placed third out of eight teams for points in the competition. Not bad for only our third year ever.

Districts: Day One

 We made it to Richmond safe and sound early Saturday morning. I spent all day keeping the benches warm while Daughter put skaters on the ice. I had nothing to do until Sunday when the production teams compete.

 We had a lot of success with the single and couple skaters. There were a lot of blue ribbons around their necks and plenty of smiles.

We had a team dinner at Capital Ale House when the events were over for the day.

It was one of the Dad's 40th birthday so we had a cake ambush. So far, so good. Fingers crossed for today.

No Joke

 I love that Google Maps gave us an early April Fool's Day treat by turning the world into a Ms Pac Man game yesterday. Speaking of maps, I'm on my way to Richmond today for another competition weekend. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. This is going to be a tough one. I'll tell you about all the drama later.

 Have you ever made a knitting decision at night and then woke up with regrets? I just did. I spliced the yarn when I ran out of the first ball and I just know that it is all going to come apart during blocking. I can't go back now. I can't find it anymore. Boo me.

 At least my my Arrow Mitts have decided to behave.

 They have been such a joy to work on that I went and dug out this old gem. I slowed down on it when I got to the scary part. Time to solider on or turn it into a pillow.

Finally, there are some new faces in the cotton basket. You can't have enough dishcloths. Not when you've always got tons of dishes.