A Floral Harper Cardigan

I sewed yesterday, for the first time in probably a month. I am teaching a Harper Cardigan class on Wednesday and I needed to go through the pattern again and make notes. The easiest way to do that was to run up another one. I like cardigans, and this pattern fits particularly well. It also goes together quickly.

I adore this fabric. I don’t care if I look like I am wearing curtains. This “reads” as a color I can wear (blue), but incorporates colors I can’t (yellow). The fabric is a rayon sweater knit from the Walmart remnant rack in Spokane—one of the few chunks of fabric I found there two weeks ago when I was teaching.

Looking at my closet these days gives me great pleasure. I see lots of bright colors and very few muddy earth tones.

I also cut out a Lark Tee to make up a class sample for the store in Missoula. That fabric was another Walmart remnant rack find. It’s a creamy rayon slub knit—not a color I would wear—and I think it will do nicely.

This has been a difficult couple of days. People in my life tend to use me as their “answer person” and expect that I will know things. Every so often, I get a stretch of days when it seems like every person in my contact list needs something from me. Of course, none of them knows that five other people also have texted me for help in the last two hours. And just for fun, we had an audit of our work comp policy this week by the State of Montana, which required me to pull together a bunch of numbers and documentation.

Elysian took over a task for me at the pie social scheduled for this afternoon. She’s going to host the information table. She worked as a recruiter for many years and is exceptionally good at engaging people. I am going to serve pulled pork sandwiches. That is a low-stress job that doesn’t require me to talk to anyone, and right now, I am peopled out.

I am sure someone will write in the comments that I should just ignore my phone. Yes. For certain things, I should, and I try to. A few of the questions I get, though, are important and time-sensitive, like the ones having to do with our pastor search process. Making myself less available is a process, and I am working on it. Enforcing boundaries is exhausting.

[Here, carry this device with you that enables people to have instant access to you, but don’t allow people to have instant access to you. Okay.]

The next couple of weeks are clear except for teaching a couple of classes and prepping for the co-op sale, and I am going to do my level best to keep them that way. We had our co-op meeting Thursday afternoon and I think this year’s sale is going to be another winner.

I am just about ready to reveal the secret project. I am waiting for a time when my attention is not scattered in fifteen different directions, though, because I know that despite my attempts to dot all i’s and cross all t’s, I will have missed something.

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Despite rain not being in the forecast, it has rained almost every afternoon this week. Every time I think things have dried out enough in the garden, it rains again. Last night, the husband and I were watching YouTube videos and all of a sudden, there was a huge boom out of nowhere that made me jump in my chair. I thought someone had run a car into the side of the garage. It was thunder.

I may have to bring things into the greenhouse and let them dry out there. I’m glad we’re getting the rain, but I would have preferred it in July and August.