So I decided to go with the entirely sewn dress – of course – because I don’t want them to think that I use knitting as a crutch.
I wanted to see how quickly I could get the dress finished, so I timed myself. I started yesterday morning, cut, sewed, basted and gathered while watching the MOST amusing white house press conference. 
Then I got word that the books I’ve ordered from a local printer were ready EARLY (hooray) so I scooted over to Minneapolis and picked up my print order. I’m so thrilled with the quality of this new printer! It’s very good, and the price is pretty much what I’d been paying. I was prompted to look for a new printer because my old printer raised their rates over 30%. This was bad enough, but there have been continual quality problems with that printer, so my new printer that I love is Bookmobile in Minneapolis.
Extra bonus; my CSR is a cute hippy dude – Hannah’d be in heaven – I should take her over the next time I pick up books.
But obviously that cut into my sewing time… I had other errands to run (I know folks here complain about traffic, but driving around here is a pure joy to me!) and got home around 3:00.
I spent the evening sewing, got up this morning and put another few hours into finishing, and now the dress is done. Voila!
The skirt and back are a sheer woven stripe (I think it’s a poly/rayon blend, it pulls more than I thought it would…) and the bust area is dupioni silk, which I bought yesterday down the street*. I did a bit of crocheted edging to do some criss-crossing and binding. I pleated the back along the stripes, and gathered the front just below the bust.
Off Time
I don’t know how I did it, but I’d convinced myself I had to leave TODAY for an engagement this weekend. Well, I don’t. So I have another day here – another day to get stuff arranged for Gerry before I go.
More than his back pain, now I worry about his boredom. He’s getting sad, he’s in pain, he doesn’t have a lot to do – and he doesn’t have knitting. Damn. I’ve tried to teach him in the past, maybe I’ll have more success now? Or maybe it will make him feel like an invalid?
He’s at that point in bad health when you think you’ll NEVER get better, and just getting out of bed seems like a huge deal. I’m glad he’s resting, though – it’s VERY good for his back to just let it relax – he tends to do too much when he’s up.
I wish I could conjure up a good friend for him and Hannah. Max seems to be taking care of himself in that regard with a bus-stop friend who has been over a few times, and the son of a very nice woman I met at Caribou Coffee my first Sunday here. That was a very nice and lucky meeting, as I feel that our whole family made a friend that day! Being out of commission in a new town is really rough – I can tell that Gerry misses his family, too.
Portfolio
I’d ordered a few photo books from Lulu, but I’m not thrilled with them. I am debating going to kinkos and getting nice sized color printouts to put in my portfolio – but the expense is troubling. We don’t have a good color printer (I actually don’t have my printer hooked up yet…) At any rate, I have time to think about it, and I have several of these photo books which will do in a pinch.
I’m trying to figure what the best thing to wear would be. I don’t have much knitted stuff I’ve made that I wear myself, but I do have that nice vest from Men Who Knit (the grey one) I’m thinking about wearing a black skirt, a white shirt, and that vest. Simple.
Walking
I’ve been trying to get out every morning – taking the dog out. Since he just got a haircut I’ve been sweatering him up (although today it’s supposed to get to 50 degrees – SPRING!) He really likes the sweater, I think – he gets excited when I pull it off the shelf!
*While at the fabric shop I overheard conversation about knitting. One woman, who pooh-poohed the idea of doing a gauge swatch, was irate that a yarn shop had sold her yarn and told her it would be fine for a certain sweater, but when she it was done she found it was so huge it would fit no one she knew. There are SO many things she could have done to help herself, starting with a gauge swatch, continuing on to measuring the sweater as she knit it. But she was really irritated with the shop that sold her the yarn, she felt it was their fault. Yarn shop owners, I feel your pain.