The humid weather continues today. As long as you sit still and there's a fan running, it's ok. We don't have central a/c and have managed not to put in the window units yet. The longer we can hold out, the easier it is to pay the electric bills! It's been cooling down enough at night so the window fans bring in the cool outdoor air. I plan to put something in the crock pot for dinner and put on the fan and spin or knit most of the day. I have a mild migraine so it'll be best to aim for simple.

I picked up my cousin yesterday and we started on a project for my aunt. It was her daughter who died in April and I've wanted to do something but didn't know what (other than make her some colorful socks). When Alana (my cousin' s daughter who's 11) called I offered her a crafty afternoon and she jumped on it.

I have a friend at work who recently showed me a quilt top she made from her old t-shirts. It was clever and beautiful. And then I remembered Bezzie making one out of old sports team shirts and had a light bulb moment. My cousin Joan liked t shirts and probably had a ton of them. I told Alana to go through them and find the ones she liked best and to bring them with her on Saturday. She found several good ones and we set to cutting them into useable squares and strips.

This is our center square. Sorry for the dark photo but the sun has not made much of an appearance and the flash just looked worse. It's the Tazmanian Devil (Warner Bros version). He was Joanie's favorite and we built our quilt around him. There are squares for the San Francisco 49'ers, her favorite football team, as well. We got all the squares cut and placed and started to sew the strips. I had hoped to get further but since this was our first day, I decided not to overdo it and we'll finish the top another day. Next time, we'll shop for a sheet to use as the back and some batting and I have some colored thread to tie it with. It will be a tied and not a sewn quilt and I'm going to teach Alana to do the tie part because it's easier and I really want this to be her project. She did most of the cutting and piecing. Some of the squares are not so square but we'll work around that.

She loved using the sewing machine and I liked bringing another soul into the craft fold. It was a successful day. We went out for pizza and water ice and got her home at a reasonable hour.

I have settled on the Queen Anne's lace shawl and I'm using this yarn to make it. I bought it a while ago and decided I might not like it so I put it away. The pattern is shown in white with beads. The pattern is not really representative of the flower (one of my favorite wild flowers, they're everywhere here) so the color isn't really important to the pattern. I like the pattern but not the beads so I'll substitute small nups. The yarn is alpaca laceweight and is soft with just a bit of halo. Nice to work with. And the color will fit in with my clothes so I have a better chance of wearing it.

I raised my children to believe that "fair does not always mean equal". So, when I made Em a sweater, neither of my other daughters complained. I, however, think that this time fairness demands that they each get a sweater. Elanor is trying to choose a pattern she likes. She is not a knitter and I'm going to try to steer her towards a simple project. Kate knows better and I can't wait to see what she'll choose. And then I need to make myself a new everyday cardigan to replace the one my brother brought us from Ireland which is my winter around-the-house sweater and has been repaired often. It's well loved. I do not feel the sweater love and I think I must be a masochist to even think about it.

Pk is off to go 'rust hunting' (looking for old tools to rehab) at the farmers market . When he gets back we'll have brunch and then it's a quiet day.

Happy Sunday.

Oh, and the tumor they took out of Emily? It weighed over 5 pounds. If 1/4 pound is 100 grahams then I think it's about 2000 grams. Is that 2 kilograms? ( When I was in high school, there was a push for us to learn the metric system and get in line with the rest of the world but by that point it was too late for me. I was already sure of my ounces and pounds. ) It floored me when Em told me how much that sucker weighed. And now the saga of Laslow is coming to a close. She had a job interview and got the job so when she goes back to work, (except for two weeks) she'll have something new to do. And our conversations are about everyday things and less of the "how do you feel" variety. It's nice.