Still Chilly

And dark and damp. I never thought I would miss the hot sunshine so much! I want it back. Preferably before tomorrow when my Spectrum Study Group comes over to finish our books and journals. We were going to do it out on the deck, but we’ll need our woolies and maybe umbrellas if this keeps up. It’s supposed to clear up, but I haven’t seen much signs of that yet.

I’m in the middle of piercing my signatures for my travel journal that I’ve been working on. I glued a loop of copper-coloured paper on the edge of the back cover where it folds over the pages so I can stick in a pen. I also reinforced the areas where the buttons go with the same copper paper. It seems very strong and I hope it holds up to abrasion. We’ll find out. If not, this will just look “distressed” which may not be a bad thing. I’ve got my waxed linen in a dark red-brown and my book-sewing needle ready to go. The piercing cradle works really well, even if I did make a boo-boo on one end where the slot goes over the foot. It was supposed to be 1 ½” in from the edge and I made one side only 1” in. The card could have been heavier too but I used the red mat board that I had. Oh well. It still works ok. Blogger is a little more cooperative today so here’s what it looks like:


Those are my signatures to be pierced too. Colourful huh? The directions for building the cradle are in the book “The Art and Craft of Handmade Books” by the late Shereen LaPlantz. I met the talented and enthusiastic Shereen once about 10 years ago but missed an opportunity to take a class with her. (That was before I got bit by this particular craft bug.) Cancer steals good people, darn it. Now you’ll have to wait to see the whole journal until it’s done. Hah!

I’ve already started to think about packing for our holiday even if it’s still 3 weeks away. I know I’m not the only person who packs craft stuff first. Good thing we don’t travel by air, huh? I don’t think I could sit for long without at least my sock knitting in hand. I’ve also packed my fantasy books. How many do you think I need for 3 weeks? Right now there’s a baker’s dozen in the pile and I need to figure out a book holder for pocket books so I can knit and read. I don’t know how many knitting projects to take either, but some will need concentrating (for quiet times) and some will be mindless (for driving). Luckily we can get quite a lot of stuff in our VW van. Fraulein Blau (Mrs. Blue) has had her oil changed, fuel lines replaced, and is checked and ready to go. So are we.

Further crafty news: I’m halfway down the legs on the ASIL socks. Yes, dark charcoal is hard to see but I mostly don’t look at my sock knitting. It does look very manly however. Still waiting to graft the toes on DIL’s socks. I’m determined to photograph the grafting process but I think I need help for that. Light wouldn’t hurt either.

Gee, do my eyes deceive me or is it brightening up a little outside?