Baba's Sweater (for Tess)

Wool Ease Dress
Originally uploaded by CreativeExile.

I'm going to spare you a picture of the now-too-tight neckline on Tess's Pink Fluffy Cloud sweater, and share this with you instead. My MIL made this sweater for Tess. Probably from memory, again. She has really taken to knitting, and frankly, I'm glad. Tess, however, is lukewarm on this one. Not quite pink (or purple) enough. But, Baba made it, so she'll love it. Eventually. Looks like Wool-Ease, so I should be able to wash it in case she suddenly wants to wear Only This. It happens.

Today was my Artist Date day. Haven't had one of those in forever. E's home from work for the week, so he took over parenting duties and I took off for Lansing. Country Stitches benefitted greatly from E's Xmas gift of a sewing machine to me. Thread Bear Fiber Arts Studio benefitted from my promise to make Tracey, an ex-coworker friend of mine, a shawl for her wedding dress.

She is getting married in Cancun in early March, then coming back (and wearing the same strapless dress) to Michigan (where it will most likely still be winter) later that week for her reception.

Her dress is white, shot through with gold thread (but still, she assures me, thoroughly white-looking), so I have been on the lookout for likely fiber(s) ever since I promised her The Shawl back in early September.

Walking into Thread Bear, I had an experience similar to Robin William's Russian defector character in Moscow on the Hudson. You know that scene? Where he walks down the coffee aisle, and faints at the selection? Yeah, Thread Bear is like that. Holy cow. The store just kept going, and going, and GOING. Lorna's Laces sock yarn, in University of Michigan colors! Lorna's Laces sock yarn in every conceivable color known to man!! Every yarn known to man in every conceivable color known to man (or woman, sorry)!!! I thought I was going to have a fainting fit of ecstasy right then and there.

I picked up two more skeins of Summer Tweed for The Stole (which I insist on calling The Afghan). They even had 5 skeins of the background color I need, 514/"Reed," but I resisted. $70 in (mostly) sale fabric at Country Stitches, $70 at ThreadBear already, I needed to stop. But oh, it was hard...