I have been busy sewing. Losing myself in some small projects. A sundress, a few nightgowns and some pajama bottoms.

I also made a pair of pants for myself, but they turned out HUGE. Enormous! I made the smallest size, and yet they are fully MC Hammer pants. It’s crazy. They took most of the afternoon, so I was disappointed when they finally started to come together an I realized they were 2 legit 2 quit. I made a nightgown for Floria to recover my wits.

I wanted something slightly old fashioned, so I used a very lightweight, pale gray linen for the body any just a bit of poplin for the trim. And I edged it with a bit of eyelet trim.

The B-52’s have always been a favorite of mine…. when we were little this was one of the songs Julie and I would sing along to and try to match our voices to Cindy and Kate. Our Dad was fairly patient with this type of thing on road trips. We were pretty young, junior high, when we were obsessed. So this footage is a bit ahead of my time, but how amazing it must have been to see these guys live in a sleepy college town in Georgia when they were just starting out. I’ve seen them many times in concert, but by the time I saw them they were performing in arenas- already hugely popular with songs like Love Shack. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I would’ve loved to see them in a little club in Athens when they were still cultivating their sound. I truly think there’s no band like them, they were from another time. Both futuristic and retro, certainly ground breaking.

I’m sorry I’ve gone missing. I just don’t seem to have any words these last few weeks. Well… I do, but I don’t know where to begin. Nor do I know that I have the right words or the fortitude to talk about things lately. But, I’m getting there.

A small sweater coat for cool nights and chilly days….. my first knitting pattern is
now available on Ravelry! I tried to keep the pattern straightforward like the kimono and sundress patterns, but it is really a challenge for me to distill knitting into words. Hopefully I was successful and knitters will find the pattern a simple, gratifying knit.

Like my sewing creations, this little coat started as a request from my sister. And as Floria grew, another was requested…. pretty soon the boys each wanted one. And now, the neighbors’ kids want ‘em!

** I updated the pattern size info as well as added a bit more info.

If you are a knitter who would like this pattern, but you’re not on Ravelry, please feel free to email me at afinlarc at yahoo dot com.

Sometimes, when you pin everything on one idea it can pay off in spades. Other times, it can feel reckless and you find yourself saying ‘what a colossal waste of time’. Like maybe you rushed the research, hung your hat on a picture and called it a day. I found myself in the latter camp this weekend, though we managed to salvage the second day. I planned everything, had the maps, had the cabin. The only thing I didn’t factor in was the ‘too good to be true’ scenario, which we were staring down the barrel of from the get go.

Let’s start with the map and directions. They took us to another town. We pulled up in the driveway of a lovely German couple working in their yard, he splitting logs and she pulling weeds. They were terribly charming and the man said “Das the correct address, but dees ist not Sullivan, ist Hancock” and she said (while trying not to laugh) “You need to git ovah dah breege to dah next town”.

Not a good sign.

So we get to the cabin eventually, and let’s just say the photo  you see in this post,  the advertised photo, is missing a few things that really captured the feel of the spot. For instance, the chain link fence between the cabin and the water. Also missing: the giant cottage between us and the water, thus obscuring the “waterfront”. Add to this the 6 rowdy 21-ish neighbors with a dog that did not stop barking for a split second and I think you’re starting to get the picture. And it’s not exactly the picture of peace and quiet. I can also add that it was raining, and it was much colder than the weather report (the cottage was not heated and though I packed for cool weather, MP did not and he therefore got so cold he considered sleeping in the car). Did I also mention MP was sick? And that it was a small bed and he was coughing in my face all night?

We decided to head into Bar Harbor to eat, and while it was certainly not the worst in terms of ‘touristy’, it was not the sleepy Maine town I was picturing. 3 large tour operators arrived while we were eating our lunch.  We just watched the people pouring out of the buses and I imagined how horrifyingly crowded it must be in July and August if May is considered the ‘off season’. On the plus side – dog are allowed everywhere, even in restaurants! As you can imagine, that swings the entire region into bonus points with me.

I wanted to get up and go home the next day (one of the perks of living so close – makes it easy to scrap a plan gone bad), but MP insisted we tour Acadia and make the best of it. I was reluctant, but he was right. So, so worth it. Incredible vistas and scenery so overflowing with shades of green, yellow and blue…. it is still all I can see with my eyes closed. The history of the region was really interesting and we went on an auto-tour that took us along roads that zig zagged through private and park lands. And just when we were about to pull out of town, the rain stopped… the sky cleared… and it turned into a beautiful day.