LAFA

That stands for Lake Area Fiber Artists. I spend a lovely three hours or so with the group yesterday. The meeting was at the Janice Mason Art Museum in Cadiz - about 70 miles from here. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the drive, except for the bridges over Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. Those bridges are narrow. They are widening the road, so I think they will be building new bridges in the next few years.

I was part of LAFA (the group didn't have a name then) for the first couple of years I was in western Kentucky, but had to drop out when I went to work full-time. Now that I'm retired, I'm back in it, but have missed many of the meetings for various reasons. It's an informal group that usually meets in people's homes. There were about a dozen of us yesterday. We were all working on various fiber projects; I was knitting, of course, but others were quilting, doing bobbin lace, or other things. And of course we talked about all sorts of things, fiber related or not.

Happy Birthday, Renee!

I spent the weekend with my siblings. The baby of the family turned 60 on Friday, and she and her daughter had an open house party at the condo's party room to celebrate. I drove to Louisville on Thursday and my brother and other sister, and their spouses, flew in from Florida that day as well.

On Friday we all went to Cynthiana to visit our aunt Edna. She is our only relative in Kentucky - most of them are in Minnesota and points west. She's a lovely lady, and we all enjoyed our visit with her. One thing she told us that none of us had known was that when we visited her and Uncle Raymond (Daddy's brother) in 1951, they did not know we were coming. I had not realized it, but Pauline said Mother liked to surprise people. Can you imagine a surprise visit from a family of six (children aged 3, 6 1/2, 10 1/2 and almost 13) plus a mid-sized dog? Perhaps I shouldn't count the dog as an imposition since it actually belonged to Raymond; he had left it with us a few years before when he went to the Pacific Northwest to school.

Renee's birthday was actually on Friday, but the party was on Saturday. She had made signs with numbers adding to sixty, and had them hanging around the room. Her daughter Autumn, who turned thirty last month, thought it appropriate for them both to be photographed with this sign. I agree.

The invitations said 'no gifts' but there were a few, plus many cards. The large 'book' you see in the lower left of the picture is a scrapbook Autumn put together with pictures from our family, with the largest part being of Renee's life. She did a great job!

On Sunday, we all went to Renee's church. I love the windows in the sanctuary. I should have taken pictures of the banners hanging there, also, because Renee made them. She said that they've told her she's the official banner-maker for life.

P B & J

doesn't only stand for peanut butter and jelly, which is what I had for lunch. It also means Paducah Bone & Joint; I smile every time I pass that place.

Medical

I went to the oncologist today for my regular monthly visit. Nothing has changed significantly, so I continue on the same treatment, but with slight tweaking of the coumadin dosage.

Knitting

I'm working on a shawl that I thought might go to the prayer shawl ministry being started at my church, but that might not be a good idea for this one. I think there's been more cussing the cat than prayer while I've worked on it. The cat will be gone, one way or another, within a week. I told Alyssa this morning that if it is still here next Thursday morning when I leave for Louisville for the weekend, I'll put it outside and I don't care what happens to it.

Weaving

I warpped the loom Tuesday so my friend Jo can weave on it at the Renaissance Faire on Saturday while I spin on a drop spindle. She may want to kill me before the day is over. I've heard that linen is a bear to warp with, but I thought a small stripe near each edge of a 16 inch runner wouldn't be too bad. And it wasn't during the winding on and threading. Then I wove about an inch, and the linen caused me some problems. It's hairy and the reed rubs some of that hair down with each beat, so I wound up with clumps of hair in the cloth. Oh well, too late to change it now. Not really I guess, but I'm not going to change it.

I can't find my sleying hook, so I had to use a crochet hook to thread the heddles and sley the reed. The crochet hook is much shorter than the sleying hook, so I had to sit right against the breast beam to work. Last night as I was lying in bed reading, I touched my breastbone and it felt bruised (but there's not discoloration). It took me a minute or two to figure out why - from leaning against the beam on the loom for so long.

It had been two years since I last warpped the loom, so I had to pull a book off the shelf to refresh my memory on a couple of things.

Special Olympics scarves

I've knit three scarves for the Special Olympics. I'm pleased with the way they turned out. The yarn - brand and colors - was specified, but knitters and crocheters can use any pattern they like.

The first one I made was garter stitch mitered squares. I like the way I turned the squares so the center stitch, where I did double decreases, zig-zags up the scarf.

The second one is all in double seed stitch, with large sections of white and four sections with blue stripes. The striped sections alternate two rows of blue and two rows of white. I like the effect that gives.

The third one is mainly garter stitch, but with a slip-stitch pattern every eighth and ninth row. It has a right side and a wrong side, but I like the way both sides look.

I did all of these pretty fast - bought the yarn on Tuesday, finished them on Saturday. Since I'm retired and I'm too lazy to do much housework or yardwork (besides, a wheel fell off the lawnmower and I need help to get it to the repair shop), I spend a lot of time knitting.

The owner of the yarn shop in Paducah is going to collect the scarves and ship them.

Medical:

My blood was a little thick when they checked it Thursday, so we changed the Coumadin dosage slightly again. I go back next week for my regular monthly visit with the doctor, and they'll check it again.