A Shirt

I've been trying to upgrade my shirt collection lately. I bought one new pattern on sale a Jo-Ann's, and dug out some of my tried-and-true patterns.

Cute pattern, but not exactly what I was feeling at the moment.

I've made this one-turned out nicely, except I made it out of velour and I found myself constantly tugging and adjusting.


So I went with this one-probably bought in the 90's or earlier, but I think it will work fine. I'll just eliminate the shoulder pads. It's a big shirt and will be nice to wear by itself or with a tank top underneath.

Now what fabric-the one I bought in Billings a couple of weeks ago:

Or this one from my stash:

Turns out, that without some creative laying and pinning the green piece wasn't enough for the big top. Being in a hurry, which is normal for sewing for myself, I opted for the larger teal print. It's all cut out, but I had to get thread, and I still don't have buttons for it-why don't they make buttons that match the fabric that they manufacture? They could get together on this and make more money, I think!

I'm home from church with a bug, or I'd be sewing right now. I read about these bloggers that sew or knit when they're sick, but all I'm capable of is sitting in my recliner with the remote, moaning and blowing my nose!

I managed to get a job interview the other day. This would be a receptionist for an insurance agent. They have a ton of applications, given the economy, so I'm not holding my breath. But at least I know I have enough qualifications that someone wants to meet me.

Oh yeah, and the youngest grandkid started Kindergarten this week!

He was ready and rarin' to go-no shyness here!

Well, back to my recliner!

Trees

I spent some time on my deck this afternoon. It hasn't been too hot, so a late afternoon iced coffee and knitting session is a lovely experience. I'm almost finished with Gram's socks. Just finishing the ribbing on one, then I just have to turn the heel and knit up the leg on the other.

I did finally sew buttons on a baby sweater, though. This is a pattern I downloaded from Ravelry. No special goal-it went in to my gift stash for future babies.

The buttons aren't a perfect match-better than the picture-but not bad. I used the gray from the trim to sew them on to direct attention away from the not-quite-perfect color. I scoured Bozeman and these are the closest I could come.

I think this sweater will be one I make often. It's done in a bulky yarn so it goes pretty fast and it turns out pretty cute if I say so myself!

I love sitting under the trees. The birds serenade me nonstop and I love the shadows the sun shining through the leaves makes.

Add my own homemade mocha blended coffee and it was a perfect afternoon. Too short, but perfect.

Birthday Boy

Our youngest grandchild is five today! He's so excited about going to kindergarten-such a big boy now!

He's a cutie pie, too! And crazy about tires. He wants to own a tire shop when he grows up.

Another Road Trip

This time we met up with our son and DIL's church group, Imagine, and spent some time in Virginia City, MT. This is an old mining town that has been lovingly restored and is visited by thousands of tourists each year. They have two theater groups, The Brewery Follies-a bawdy, laugh filled musical revue that plays in the old brewery, and The Virginia City Players, a group that performs period plays from long ago, plus having a variety act. The Players are rated G, the Follies are PG, so since this was a church group with kids along we opted for the Players.

The Players have been holding plays in an old livery barn since the early 1950's-started by director Larry Barsness. Down through the years they have lovingly tried to stick with the original model and quite successfully, I might add. Stan's family started coming in the very beginning, even when money was tight. They would budget enough to get there at least once in the summer. I talked with the present director and he was tickled to know that there were three generations of people present who had kept the tradition alive. If Gram had been there it would have been four, but she was visiting my brother-in-law for the weekend.

About an hour's drive, so enough time for some knitting. I'm making a pair of socks for Grandma for Christmas. I decided, since it's the self-striping yarn, I would more or less work them together so the stripes would match. I got all the way up to the gusset by the time we got home.

Noses pressed to the window. Fascinating stuff for 5 & 6 year olds.

Pastor Randy checking out the weathered buildings. Some of these buildings were slapped up quickly to take advantage of the gold mining boom.

Isaac checking out the "Ye Olde Photo Shoppe."

As we left the Playhouse, we were treated to a bride and groom being carried around in a horse and buggy. We saw two weddings there-this must be something new, but quite a good moneymaker.

And finally and MOST importantly, homemade ice cream-made by a girl in pioneer dress with an old fashioned ice cream freezer.