Impending Internet Fast

Looks like I’m going to be offline for about three weeks – until the end of November. I haven’t been away from the internet that long since I first discovered it something like eight or nine years ago, and quite frankly, I’m a little worried about the withdrawal symptoms I’m expecting. Presuming I survive said reaction, I should be back at the beginning of December, perhaps a little dazed, but certainly happy to be here again, I’m sure!

Before I disappear, I wanted to share the latest photo of my Way of Life shawl, which is now worked up to date through clue 8, so just one more to go. Thankfully, this clue was back to my normal “quick and easy,” with no tragedies. I still love every inch of this thing, and I absolutely cannot wait to see it off the needles and blocked! It’s almost more than I can resist to keep from spending knitting time moving it over to a really long cable so I can spread it out for the full effect, but they say patience is a virtue… With it now being over two feet wide, I can’t even stretch enough of it to take a horizontal photo anymore, so this week it’s going to be a vertical slice.

Unable to resist, I have also put a total of 6 rows into my Rose Trellis, which I pretend that I’m not working on, since it defies reason that I should even consider the possibility. There was just enough time at the end of my audiobook CD tonight when the Way of Life clue was finished for me to squeeze one row onto it, but the rest of the household was asleep, so I don’t think I was seen. I’ll post pix of  what I’m not working on when it’s big enough to be seen, after I’m back online.

And ’til then, I’ll miss you all, miss being here, and appreciate a prayer here and there if I happen to cross your mind. Take care – and I’ll see you next month!

Look What the Stork Brought!

Yep! There’s a new baby at my house, and it’s been a very long anticipated event – actually two and a half years in the waiting, to be exact!

It all started back in April of 2006 when I had the opportunity to attend a Bleuette Retreat in Kansas City, MO. It was my first opportunity to see a wide variety of Bleuettes and kin in person, and I was quickly able to build a small wishlist of favorite artists by seeing their work first hand. The three I wanted to collect the most were dolls by Barbi Kantor-Goldenberg, Ann Ghist, and Thu Tam Freeman, plus there was a one of a kind Rosette that Barbara Hilliker had there that weekend. Thu Tam brought Bambinos, and though I was torn between them and one of her Bleue girls, I’d never seen a Bambino I loved more than the ones she had painted. I could have very happily gone home with one of her little fellows and Barbara’s Rosette. However, this was just a small part of a 3-week roadtrip, so the budget wasn’t flush, and event transpired to make it even skimpier, much to my dismay. Under these circumstances, it just wasn’t wise to arrange for an immediate adoption, so I just kept going back and looking at the Bambinos and sighing…

Since Bleues tend to find me when I least expect it, it is in turn more difficult for me to instrument planned adoptions, as the opportunists are quite adept at commandeering the dolly dollars I have available. I’ve managed to adopt sweet Mae Lei from Barbi and Celeste from Ann Ghist, both pre-arranged, but I was still waiting for my Bambino… and waiting… and waiting… However, a few weeks ago, a special trip that I’d planned with a friend fell through, and I found myself sitting with my entire deposit refunded, nursing more than a little bit of disappointment. Needless to say, it didn’t take me long to come up with the perfect salve for my wounded expectations, and oddly enough, within minutes of making my decision, Thu Tam’s business card, which I didn’t even know I had, showed up quite surprisingly in a very strange location – and unavoidably right in front of my face. Of course, this was undoubtedly pure coincidence… assuming you don’t believe the Flock (my Bleuette family) had anything to do with it… A few quick phone calls, and our new baby was on his way home!

Officially adopted November 5, 2008, I’m pleased to introduce Jean-Paul, a bouncing baby Bambino, 10 inches long and named in honor of my maternal grandfather, a man I sadly never had the opportunity to know.

He arrived in this adorable little outfit with his own little teddy bear, Orson, and is as precious as can be. The girls are hoping to get an outfit knitted for him very soon, but beings as they are Bleuettes, they aren’t able to knit as fast as they would like.

He has beautiful blue eyes and a teeny identifying freckle as a birthmark, but the odd light spot you see on the side of his head is (not surprisingly) a bit of yarn fiber that found my camera lens, apparently having migrated there while I was taking stash pix just before doing his portrait. That seems to be a common problem around here for some reason…

So, I was going to ask, “Isn’t he sweet?” but figured that was a little bit silly, as I know he is, and I’m quite sure you agree with me – and if you didn’t, you’d never be rude enough to say as much. If I had to lose out on the trip, at least there’s been a bit of a silver lining, so I’m not pouting now – or at least not nearly so much. ;o)