Aprons
I noticed that Tie One On has a gallery of aprons up to see every month or so. This month she did smocks. I think one of the prettiest smocks I’ve ever seen is that long white one Emma Thompson wears in Sense and Sensibility. It’s the one she puts on in the doorway with the breeze blowing through behind her. It looks so cool, and I like the way it fastens in the back–up high with no sashes to worry about.
I think aprons are fun, and I’ve made a lot in my time, but they all seem to have left home for other people’s kitchens. I did manage to hang onto one of those I’ve made. So I’ll show it to you.
This is the bib of the apron. The bib has a ruffle all around it, and there’s a neck strap for it. The bottom of the apron is just a gathered skirt with sashes stitched onto a waistband. It’s machine appliqued, and some free motion machine embroidery is done for the wisps of straw, etc., surrounding the hen and her chicks.
On the pocket below are a few more chicks coming out of their shells.
Knitting the Flirty
I’m still knitting the Flirty. I have the edging almost up to where I ripped it out to join the new yarn I bought. It is going well, and I’m curious to see how this edging looks on this shawl when I’m done.
I’m trying to decide whether I’ll make the Mystery Stole 2006. Melanie is doing another one. I made her Leda’s Dream last year, although I’ve never dressed it. It was fun and interesting, and I joined her group to get the pattern and possibly work along. I do need to finish the Flirty first, though. If I start something else, I’m sure I’ll have Flirty back in the UFO stack. The Mystery Stole 2006 begins on July 7, so you still have time to sign up if you’re interested in joining.
Father’s Day
Today is Father’s Day, and since our daughter left home, here at home it’s up to the cats to tell “Daddy” how much they love him. I’m afraid that my husband’s day didn’t start off well. I didn’t hear the alarm, so he was up and gone before I woke up. He, then, got attacked by the felines for breakfast. He wound up feeding all three cats by himself even today. That’s quite a chore. Then Lucky, ever one for the unexpected, presented him with a hairball on the carpet to clean up. (Hey, it was a gift from near the heart!)
He had said that he wanted me to make him an apple pie for today, so I made it for him yesterday. Well, I tried anyway. Everything I did yesterday went sideways, backwards, fell, or otherwise came apart. First, John needed a casserole to take to a meeting yesterday, so I made a tomato soup casserole that has rice in it. It turned out that three people brought rice dishes for the meal! Luckily, mine was not just rice, and that helped some. Getting back to the pie, though, for some reason the crust recipe that seldom ever fails me, flopped. I think the shortening got too warm in the cabinet. Then when I was baking it, I managed to take it out of the oven before the apples were quite done. I didn’t realize this until after John had eaten a piece of it. (It appeared that the pie was baking way too fast, so I turned the heat down a little and forgot to add a bit more time.) I don’t know why I had such a time with that pie. I usually have great luck with pies. I’ll have to make another sometime to make up for this debacle.
None of this has anything to do with how grateful I am that John is the father of my child. He has been a wonderful, strong father for her, and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. What’s more, he’s also a good father for all the cats–and even me at times!