Not much to write about today. The better part of the afternoon was spent cleaning the old garage so we could fit a car in it. Not an everyday car - just a summer car that needs to be stored.

Garages....the accumulation of car parts, sporting goods, garden equipment, and tools is astounding. Not to mention dust, dirt, leaves, and cobwebs. I'd like to have ONE nice day, and a giant sucking machine...

DH and I went to the movies last night. I was just in a movie mood, and watching one at home wasn't going to cut it. So we saw Mystic River. I was looking forward to it - you know how some days you really want some engrossing drama? But I gotta say I was unimpressed.

Spoilers follow, so if you haven't seen the movie you may want to stop reading here!

I know, I know, so many have raved about the dark plot, the fabulous acting, and the human condition portrayed by Eastwood. But as for me, well, I found the characters not believable. Most of all, Kevin Bacon's cop (Sean) was a weenie. I expected a tough cop with a past, struggling to do the right thing. But he knows Jimmy (Sean Penn) murdered their childhood friend and he just shrugs it off to an old pal? An absent wife who calls him on the phone and says nothing? So he does a monologue for each call? What was the point of that? Let me tell you, I wouldn't go to Kevin Bacon's character if I needed my shoes tied. Like I said, what a weenie. Maybe if Sean had displayed some strengths in other areas, he would have been a better character. But he just came off as weak, weak, weak.

Sean Penn (Jimmy) and Tim Robbins (Dave) were better characters. Jimmy's flaws seemed excusable and believable in light of his grief. His small-time tough guy could be of the most dangerous sort. Tim Robbins child-molested character seemed at times to struggle through layers of thick wool to express himself, but it was believable.

Plot-wise, the whodunit part was no mystery. DH guessed it before the movie was half over. So, all in all, I'd say that if you're interested to watch it, rent the video. Spend your hard earned movie theatre dollars on something else. By the way, if you have a different opinion, drop me a comment. I really don't like to dis a movie - tell me why it worked for you?

Well, time to get my stitching together for the Super Bowl! I've been looking forward to this all day!

Dontcha just love Fridays?
Here's my Five:

You have just won one million dollars:

1. Who do you call first? DH, without a doubt.

2. What is the first thing you buy for yourself? For just me? most of my wants are household and family type things. But for just me...Lasik surgery. And maybe a knock-your-socks off tennis bracelet.

3. What is the first thing you buy for someone else? My family wants and needs a vacation RIGHT NOW. A long luxury cruise would fit the bill. We've also dreamed about a summertime trip to Europe. Ok, it's a big place, and we don't know exactly where we'd go, but we just want to go!

4. Do you give any away? If yes, to whom? I'd give donations to our local St. Vincent DePaul Society. They do great work. Also to the Interfaith Caregivers group in our area.

5. Do you invest any? If so, how? I don't think you can ever have enough saved for retirement...so I'd probably add to those investments.

And I'm sure there'd be some left to frame all the unframed stitching in my closet, and to buy plenty of new stash for fondling!

It's a snow day again today. The kids are home, and all of the school related running that I had looming for the day has been cancelled. Whatever will I do with myself??

Check out my progress on the sampler to the left!

How do you guys keep records of your hours stitching on a project? Especially you rotation stitchers - And you who post pics that say things like "XYZ Sampler after 40 hours", etc. Do you keep a notebook in your stitching bag? Do you roundabout guess? Do you keep it in your DayMinder? I've never really thought about it before, but now I'm curious. Admittedly, I've never been that organized.

Gotta run. Another school delay today, which puts me behind a couple hours. What I wouldn't give for a day or two above freezing....

Done! Finished! Signed, sealed, delivered, and it's not even January 31! As much as I love my columns of numbers, these year-end payroll reconciliations can stress me out. But everyone has their W-2's and sick leave and vacation leave updates, and I'm none the worse for wear. A couple of people whined a little, but I'm learning to expect that every year. After all, who wouldn't want more vacation time?

My sampler is humming along. I decided to put the stitching updates on the sidebar, rather than in each post. If you've ever looked at pictures on the Sampler Cove website and look at the wonderful samplers hanging in her house, well, you'd want as many samplers as possible, too! Her work puts me to shame....They are so much more intricate and detailed than any of my samplers. Well, to be fair, I'd have to say that I've given some of my best work away. My mother is the usual recipient, and she has two of my very best pieces. What can I say? I love giving my parents my best work. And they love getting it, so it's win/win, except it just doesn't hang in my house. I only get to visit them.

Yet another cold, grey, blustery day. After receiving 12 inches of uncleared snow, and the wind blowing like crazy to make huge snowdrifts, it was unfathomable that the kids had school this morning. But our school district in all its wisdom only had a delay. Unbelievable. I would have kept them home, but they, (DS especially) frets over missed homework. He's in an Honors English class and trying to catch up after missing a day is really difficult. I don't know where he gets his school work ethic from. Certainly not from me. I'm pretty sure I had already been caught skipping school at his age. I wasn't really bad, just disinterested. A friend and I would go to a local college campus and sit in the student lounge drinking coffee, playing cards, and smoking cigarettes all day. As if a couple of doofy 15 year olds fit in on a college campus! What idiots we were! And then of course, after skipping one too many times, we were caught. How's this for dumb. We got off the bus at school, and just walked off through the school grounds. Did we think we were invisible?? So of course, my homeroom teacher saw us, called home, and we two hot shots were grounded for-almost-ever.
Oh to be young again! Nope, not for a million bucks!

I can't deal with the grey wetness any more. I'm looking ahead to spring. Hence the heading changes!

Meanwhile, I'm lost in W-2 land. I'll probably be gone for a while.....

As before, my Friday Five:

At this moment, what is your favorite...

1. ...song? I Wanna Know by the Mavericks

2. ...food? Spaghetti

3. ...tv show? CSI Las Vegas

4. ...scent? A pear vanilla candle I received as a Christmas gift

5. ...quote? What you are is God's gift to you. What you become is your gift to God.

That'll do it!

I'm feeling ever-so-much-better today. Life has a way of ironing itself out. People are forgiving, and life goes on. I love the old story about giving away your problems. You know, the one about all the people who get together in a room, write all their problems down on paper, and then put them in a hat to trade. And once they're all traded, it turns out that you want all your own problems back. I know there's no point in hiding from whatever's going on. Just stand up, lift your chin, and face things. The results are so much better than curling up in a ball and ruminating. (Mind you I've come to this understanding after a short curl-up-in-a-ball period, as you can see from yesterday's post. Hey - nobody's perfect. )

None the less, I'm still on a mission for a retreat! My search for stitching getaways online has had some interesting results.

1. Theresa Venette of Shakespeares Peddler runs a getaway in Fargo, North Dakota. She has three scheduled for weekends in June, July, and October. They look fun - not themed and no particular project, but I would imagine that lots of quality stitching and shopping takes place.

2. Last year
Shepherds Bush had a getaway. Nothing has been posted on their site so far this year, but with the recent death of their brother, I'm sure it may have taken a back seat. I'll keep an eye out.

3. There's a company called Stitchers Hideaway that sponsors retreats. Their website had some dates and locations (Florida in March sounds interesting!), but not much other info. More digging is needed.

4."Nordic Needle held a retreat last year. Looks like plans are in the works for 2004, but nothing's on their site yet.

5. Finally, another company called A Stitchers Retreat organizes getaways. These look more local to me - not involving airline flight.

So, that's what I've come up with so far. I've thought of just going to a show (ie. the CATS show), but since I'd be going alone, I like the way that these retreats foster your ability to meet people. Big shows are so overwhelming. People aren't in a "meeting others" kind of mood, I don't think.

Maybe I'll post on a couple of BB's to see if there are any others out there. Stay tuned....

Ouch! One of my favorite blogs seems to have gone to a private blog. It was odd that it happened right after I listed her blog in the sidebar among my favorites. I'm trying to not take it personally. ;) But I'll miss some good reading.

So far, today really bites. A discussion with contractor about opening the house to the addition went ok. It amounted to just taking out a door and a window. Then I sent DH down to review proposed work, and he nixed the whole thing - without talking with me, I'd like to add. Then DH and I argued. Not just a little - a big, shouting mess, right by where the workers were standing. Then DH opened door and shouted at contractor's workers. Ugh, I'm so embarrassed, I could curl up. And now work has stopped.

Honestly, I just want to go hide for a while. It's as if my whole psyche is shouting "Enough, already!"

I've never been to one of those stitching retreats, but I'm telling you, I think it's about time. I've always found a reason to decide not to go. DH will pout. Kids need me. Too much work at this (fill in the blank) time of year. But now I wonder what the heck I've been waiting for? Till I have the perfectly ordered and easy life so that I can get away without guilt or fuss or muss? Jeez, if I had that life, I wouldn't NEED to go away. But the way I feel today, I may never come back....

OK, pity party over. I'm going to do a little surfing for some get-aways. Now. Right now!

It's been one cold, wet weekend. I stitched a little on the PH sampler yesterday, but so far not at all today. Because I umm...I hrrrr...had to spend the afternoon taking the Christmas tree down. I'll bet I'm the last one of the needlework bloggers to clean up their tree. I know I was the last one on my street. And there I was feeling smug and superior in knowing that my neighbors (nice, but sloppy) still had their tree up. Then yesterday morning I drove by their house and horrors! Their tree was bare and looked to be headed out the door any minute. They beat me! No way...not Mr. and Mrs. Nice but Sloppy! So I hung my head in shame and now my tree is down.

I just hate saying goodbye to the tree. But I'm not that fond of it that I'd have a tree up all year. Our postmaster has one up all year, decorated according to the season or holiday. I don't think I'd do that, but "never say never", right?

This summer when my Australian pen pal visited, one of the things she noticed was that we Americans decorate so much. We put wreaths on our doors, flags on our decks, and we change for most every season. I know that I even have stitchery that comes out in the fall, in the spring, and in the winter. It hangs for a few months, then it all goes into a drawer and everything switches around. We wondered if it was because we have so many seasonal changes, and Australia doesn't. While I think the change of seasons is a factor, I think it's not the complete answer. We get marketed pretty heavily by gift manufacturers, and I think they're pretty darn good at it.

You know what really gets my seasonal decorating spirit moving? Did you ever go to one of those Calendar Parties? It's a banquet or meal where each dining table is decorated according to a month/holiday/season (depending on how many tables the organization can get together). Those ladies - and I don't mean to exclude men, I've just never seen men hosting these affairs - are un-doggone-believable at decorating. I've done tables twice. The first time my table was pitiful, but my guests were really kind and didn't even act put off that my paper plates (hey - they had fall leaves on them) didn't come close to the lovely Christmas china and silver at the next table. Or the adorable blue spatter ware and red bandanas decorating the Southwest table at the table on the other side of us. Needless to say, my next try at putting together a table was much different. I wish I could dig up the pictures someone took......but there are boxes of Christmas bulbs and ornaments to put away.

Well, after yesterday's "heavy" post, I think I'll keep today's a bit lighter. I don't have any stitching news. My fabric and thread are gathering dust at the moment, as I've worked late for the past couple of days. If I don't get started before 9PM, I'm toast when it comes to stitching.

Since it's Friday, I'll do my Friday Five!

1. What does it say in the signature line of your emails?
Nothing!

2. Did you have a senior quote in your high school yearbook? What was it? If you haven't graduated yet, what would you like your quote to be?
Oh my gosh, no!

3. If you had vanity plates on your car, what would they read? If you already have them, what do they say?
I don't have vanity plates - I think they're silly.

4. Have you received any gifts with messages engraved upon them? What did the inscription say?
Once again - oh my gosh, no!

5. What would you like your epitaph to be?
Lee: Man oh man was she boring!

Folks, I've never felt so character-less in my life! This was depressing, in a funny sort of way. Maybe it was my Lutheran upbringing....

But let's get back to keeping it light.

Maybe you'd like to know what's for dinner tonight? I'm making a hearty Beef and Vegetable Soup. The original recipe from Allrecipes.com calls for barley, but my family likes noodles. Here's my recipe:

3 pounds beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Bay leaf

Season chuck roast as you like, then put in a slow cooker on high for 4-5 hours. Add the bay leaf during the last hour of cooking. When done, remove meat and chop into bite size pieces. Discard bay leaf. Set the beef and beef juices aside. I like ot put it in the freezer for a little while so the fat rises and solidifies and then I can easily skim it off.

2 Tablespoons oil
3 chopped carrots
3 stalks of celery chopped
1 onion chopped
1 16oz. package frozen mixed vegetables
1 large can beef broth
29 oz. can stewed tomatoes
salt, pepper and other seasonings to taste (we like 3+Tblsp.worchestire sauce and 2 tsp. basil)
Any noodles that you like, cooked according to their package directions

Heat oil in a large stock pot to a medium high heat. Saute carrots, celery, onion and frozen vegetables till tender. Add water, beef broth, tomatoes, and some black pepper, and the beef and beef juices. Bring it to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer for 10-20 minutes.

Serve it with a crisp salad and some warm rolls. Excellent during these frigid January evenings!

And I want to give credit where credit is due: This recipe was submitted by Margo Collins at

Allrecipes.com

For those of you in the northeast, Stay Warm!

I guess I'll weigh in with my two cents about online friendships...I've been reading some touching blogs lately, and it's a shame to see people so sad. It's not my intention to sound preachy. I only hope to make you feel better, if you're in that position.

At the ripe old age of 45 (well, at least for a couple more months), I think I've learned a thing or two about my friends, including the face to face ones, the ones I know by paper and pen, and the ones I know online.

Face to face friends, (even if you don't see their faces very often) are much more likely to let go of little gaffs (intentional or unintentional) that you make. And you are more likely to be tolerant of them. And over time, we come to realize that the person who is making you spit tacks today may be the person who really comes through for you tomorrow. And vice-versa. Maybe your kid is stuck somewhere and needs a ride and yesterday's idiot becomes today's saving grace. Maybe your husband leaves you and the person you thought was a real jerk comes to your side to comfort you. And to put the shoe on the other foot, maybe the person you've wronged needs help and you just jump in there with a casserole, or offer some heart-felt words when you run in to her at the grocery store. So you see, face to face friends have these chance encounters and opportunities to "make up", so to speak. We have the chances to make small talk at gatherings, and smooth over any rough spots. Because we all live in a community, and we really need and most often can find something to genuinely like about each other. We really want to have friends and be friends to others. Fred Rogers once said something like that if you knew a person's whole "story", you couldn't help but love them and I really believe that's true. And in a face to face friendship, you just have more chances to learn their story.

Oh sure, even in face to face friendships there are people who hold grudges and act weird. But it doesn't seem to last forever. And if you're a normal, socially adept person, I think you take some comfort in behaving politely in the face of that, and eventually the other person will come around and begin to act normal, too.

IMHO, I don't think that pen pal and online friends have those type of opportunities. It's easy to cut someone off and never explain why, because you'll never have to face them again. You'll never see them at a family wedding. You won't serve with them on a PTO committee. You can throw away their letters. You can block their emails, kill file their posts, etc. You can totally eliminate encounters, but it's just not the real world. Chances to be friendly, if not best friends again, are eliminated.

And maybe there are some people out there who can't function socially in the real world, so the online world is where they hang out. And those are the goofy people who just can't relate nicely online, but there are no social consequences to them. And they end up hurting the genuinely nice, socially normal people. So you know what?? Screw-em. They're probably nuts anyway.

Please don't misconstrue what I'm saying about online and paper and pencil friendships! I don't mean to say that finding friends on line and by pen pals is not possible. I'm just saying be careful. Be smart. And if you are one of the nice people, who is genuine and normal and all that, you may run into a social screwball or two and it's just by chance, not by your design. There's no changing other people. But don't fall into a hurtful trap. Examine your actions. If you messed up, apologize. If they don't have the grace to go back to being nice to you online, they probably aren't people you'd hang out with in real life. So let them go, at least for now.

You know, I've learned a lot from older friends. For a few years we had a stitching group here at the lake, and I was the youngest member. These friends would tell stories that could curl your hair, but despite whatever had happened between them and other people, they still remained friends. When I'd ask them HOW they ever got over that, mostly they just shrugged. Like "oh-well, now it seems like it was no big deal." And I've hoped to develop that grace ever since then.

If you are in this sad situation, I hope a word or two I've said here makes you feel better. This is the mind-set that works for me, and I hope it can help you in some small way, too.

No stitching news today!

OK, I went completely nuts for a short time, while I added pics and I fixated on Orlando Bloom for far longer than it was healthy.

It's time to get back to real life.

I finished the top two borders and A B C and D of the Pat Harper sampler. I hope to get another evening at home tomorrow because I feel like I'm on a roll.

Well, I just keep screwing around with this blog. Many thanks to Hazel for helping me with the Frozen Tree template. She's a whiz! Janine has been great, too for color and backround ideas. And for keeping my mood light.

But then I punked out and went back to my original template. And in the meantime I found not just one but TWO Orlando Bloom blogskins, and my, my, my what eye candy. If I was only 20 years younger....and single....and a movie star....

I think I'll just settle for a little tweaking here and there. (I'm talking about tweaking my blog - not tweaking Mr. Bloom, altho giving him a tweak sounds like fun to me)

Sheesh, will I ever stitch again? This is way too involving and habit forming!

Blog envy

In between work, kids, home, and stitching, I've discovered blogskins.com. There are such cool templates and things. But for the life of me I can't make it work for my blog, being that I'm html ignorant and worried that I'll lose most of my info.

I wish there was a site that would hold my hand thru making template changes, but I can't find one. Maybe if you read this and know of a good site, you could email me and let me know?

I've started the PH sampler. Well....maybe that's overstating my progress. I've pulled the threads, and found 32ct. belfast in my stash, which I've cut to size, and I've ironed out the folds. But I haven't exactly put needle to fabric yet.

This has been the first morning back to work for me and to school for DD and DS. It feels, if not good, at least productive. My goal today is to finish work and get the final stitches in my trees.

I think I've picked the sampler that I want to work on. Forever I've had the Needlewoman's Sampler by Pat Harper Designs. I mean I've had it since the 80's....and it's made me smile every time I look at it, so why have I stashed it away all these years? Maybe because my tastes ran differently for a while. I hunted for difficulty - lots of drawn thread, hardanger, and specialty stitches. Well, I guess I've come full circle and now I'm happy with simple again. And this is the perfect piece. Sizable, yet simple.

I can't find Pat Harper Designs anywhere online, so I've scanned the cover page and put it on my webshots cross stitch page so that you can see it.
Back to work!

Nothing much has been on my mind this week, except thinking all week that the holidays have passed me in a haze. Having the flu took longer to recover from than I would have thought. No fever, but my energy levels almost nonexistent.

We went to see LOTR Return of the King Monday at Loew's theater in Pittsburgh. We even sprang for the good seats - the leather semi-recliners with lots of leg room. It was a good choice, what with the movie being so long. Anyway, what an excellent movie! I'd like to see it again though. It seems like when I watch movies, I get tied up in the plot. Then the second time I see something, I can watch the character development and appreciate the acting more. I don't do this with most movies - I have to care enough about it to want to see it again.

We also watched Pirates of the Caribbean on NYEve. Another wonderful movie! And another one that I enjoyed watching twice. Johhny Depp was great as Jack Sparrow.

We continue with construction. And (gasp) the contractor is here today, on a Saturday! This has never happened before....I feel faint!

Well, DS went to a formal dance last night. A girl from another high school that he met at a cross-country meet asked him to go to this dance. Now, they never see each other at school, or on "dates", as neither one of them drives. But they are on the phone or on line all the time. I just don't get it. Anyways, DS was invited by this girl, and one of his friends had been invited by her sister, so we all met at the girls' house for pictures. The kids all looked so grown up. The girls were stunning, and the boys were handsome in their suits. He hasn't come back yet - there was an after-dance party, and then he was spending the night at this other fellow's house and coming home this morning. I can't wait to hear about it - even though I know I'll get one and two word descriptions!

I continue to work on the lovely scarf. I'm hoping my tension is right...the yarn feels so nice, but it's also very slippery. I feel like sometimes I'm holding it too tightly, and other times it's slipping thru my fingers like water.

I've also almost finished the trees. DD looked at it and really liked it, so it'll be hers. By the way, the designer is Jean Farnum of Country and Colonial Stitches. I was surprised to see it online because it was such an old chart. But it was a pleasant surprise!

Okay, time for the Friday Five, then I'm outta here:

What one thing are you most looking forward to . . .

1. ...today? Hearing about the dance from DS

2. ...over the next week? Getting back to a regular work schedule so I can feel more on track and less like I'm just putting out fires as they come up.

3. ...this year? Finishing this !#$%^& construction

4. ...over the next five years? Watching and helping my kids through their years in high school. Watching them grow into the people they are meant to be.

5. ...for the rest of your life? Retirement with my DH!

Okay, I've thought long enough about this week's Friday Five, and I'm still only coming up with lame answers, but be that as it may....

1. What was your biggest accomplishment this year?
On the needlework front, I was proud to make a flannel quilt from start to finish. No more having all that bought flannel staring at me and making me feel guilty! On a personal front, I guess it was getting through a year with a teenaged son with amazingly few blow-ups. I have to give DS some credit for this, also. It takes two to combust...

2. What was your biggest disappointment?
Someone whom I admired greatly really let me down.

3. What do you hope the new year brings?
Continued good relationships with DS and DD. If you have teens, I hope you understand where I'm coming from! I also hope that it gives me motivation to have good fitness habits. I've turned into a pudding-butted-slug lately.

4. Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? If yes, what will they be?
Yep - better fitness! And more time to stitch and quilt. And watching what I say....avoiding speaking what's on my mind just because it happens to be sitting there. I need to learn to temper my comments.

5. What are your plans for New Year's Eve?
A quiet evening with some friends, where we'll play some games, eat some yummy foods, and watch the ball drop

OK, there's my Five!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Not so merry for me... the flu has had me down since the 23rd. But today I think I've turned the corner. Or else it's just the Advil talking.

Still, it was lovely. I'm blessed with a kind and loving family. Best husband in the world and two wonderful kids. What more could I want?

DH gave me beautiful jewelry, binoculars, and a snowman. DS gave me a cool calendar. And DD gave me a snow woman. And they were all happy with their gifts, too. It was a perfect morning.

I stitched a bit while they went to a rels for dinner. Not too much though, as the medicine makes me sleepy, and without it my head throbs. Looked at my knitting. That's it....just looked at it.

Maybe I'll try the Friday five tomorrow.

Time for the Friday Five! I should be working, but naaaah.

1. List your five favorite beverages.
In no particular order: Coffee with cream and sugar; Pepsi; Chateau St. Michele Riesling; Water; Bigelow Raspberry herbal tea.

2. List your five favorite websites.
Shakespeare's Peddler (mail order needlework)
Rec.crafts.textiles.needlework
The Floating Needle
IMDB
Amazon.com

3. List your five favorite snack foods.
Popcorn; Chocolate covered pretzels; Lays potato chips; Philadelphia street vendor soft pretzels; Sour patch kids.

4. List your five favorite board and/or card games.
Tripoly; Spoons; Pinochle; Hearts; Spit

5. List your five favorite computer and/or game system games.
Snood, and one or two on MSN that are basically word games, but I don't play often enough to remember their names.

There are days that I'm so thankful for the friends that stitching has brought into my life. I mean, I have lots of non-stitching friends, and they're appreciated as well. But there are people who I've met just through stitching or quilting, and with some that's all we have in common, and with others - well, it's an amazing friendship that develops.

My stitching pen pal from Germany called today to wish us happy holidays and to catch up. We've written for years, and now we don't write as much, but ony because we're both so busy. Kids, work, etc. She and her husband came for a brief visit 8 years ago (I can't believe it was that long ago...) and we hit it off right away. Now she calls me once or twice a year and I'm always so glad to talk with her. Such a kind, warm person. Our two daughters are the same age, and they've been writing for a couple of years now, too. My best news from her call is that they may come to visit in late summer or October this year. I can't tell you how excited that makes me!

This summer I had the good fortune to meet another quilting/stitching pen pal, who, luckily for me, was swinging through this area because her daughter was in Ohio. Honestly, it was the highlight of my summer. I think it's because I felt like our getting together was a remarkable twist of fate. Neither of us had any expectations that we would meet when we started writing. (She lives in Australia.) So we were both amazed by the possibility that we could get together, and then when we did, and when we realized that this friendship was more than just words on a paper....Well, it was incredible. When she left it felt like a hole was left in my heart. I had to come to terms that I would most likely never see her again. Well, we shed a few tears and said goodbye. I'll always remember her visit fondly.

Not much stitching going on here. We've been painting the new room. Looks excellent. And I zipped thru two books this week. GREAT reads - The Good Children, by Kate Wilhelm, and Falling Angels by Tracie Chevaulier.

I've started yet another scarf. The yarn is to die for - it feels like velvet, and looks like velvet. It's a pleasure to work with. I don't think I'll ever progress past scarves. I just like the repetition. And as long as these kids keep outgrowing coats, well, I'll just have to keep making scarves to match their new ones!