The Long Dark WIP Wednesday of the Soul

Yesterday was one of those days.  When I decide I don't really like 6th grade all that much.  When I want to remind one of my children in a not very gentle voice that yelling "Calm down!" to his parents will have the opposite effect.  When my knee that I banged falling on the ice back in April is still swollen and painful, and my neck is becoming too painful to ignore.  When I'm convinced that all my work is going completely unappreciated when someone else gets to hand out the EIGHT gold medals on the National Latin Exam and I don't even get a mention.  When I am depressed by the dawning realization that Primigenitus is graduating and going off to college soon and I will be left with only the remaining three, very unfinished, kids.  When I make homemade bread and potato leek soup with shrimp for supper and no one comments other than to ask what's for dessert (and there isn't any because I spent the time on the bread and soup).  So last night, feeling that no good deed ever goes unpunished, I was pretty sure I was not going to be able to get to sleep easily.  One of the curses of middle age for me is insomnia.  So I just stayed up and sewed on Jack's Chain.

After a little more sewing this morning (because Steve didn't let me pull an all-nighter), I now have ALL of the units (wheels and apple cores) needed for a twin-sized quilt.  I had made a lot of progress over the weekend that I reported Monday if you want the details of how it goes together.  The remaining units besides the ones on the wall are in the stack to the right of the iron in this picture.  Now I just need to lay them out, piece them into rows and piece the rows together.  That always takes a lot of stamina, but one more sleepless night would probably do it.

The Framed In quilt is on the machine now, about half done.  I could finish it in an afternoon if I could stick with it for more than 10 minutes.

Here is what I've been knitting and reading.  The Traveling Companion Shawl: I'm just starting the final lace border and the third ball of alpaca yarn.  I'm reading The History of the Ancient World to Steve at bedtime, but of course the disadvantage of reading ancient history at bedtime is that it's very easy to fall asleep and miss an entire chapter.  Of course, last night that disadvantage turned into an advantage, and Steve read to me about the Hittites and 19th Dynasty Egyptians and their marriage alliances and wars until I actually was able to fall asleep.  Don't get me wrong, I love this book!  It makes ancient history come alive.  Just maybe not quite so much after 11:00 p.m.

Oh, and I kind of like the 6th graders again today.  (The 8th graders, now that's another story.)  I'm giving myself the afternoon off - no grocery shopping - so I can rest up and maybe sew a little more before I have to go back to pick up the kids.

Projects:

Jack's Chain Quilt 

Framed In Quilt

Black Roses Stole - I finished the first half!  Now I'm starting the long boring part of the second half.  Not that boring is bad!  I like boring!

Traveling Companion Shawl - about 75% done

knitting cotton bath rug - no progress

knitting argyle-fest - no progress

spinning - working on blue laceweight Wensleydale - 2 bobbins full and probably another 1 or 2 to go (but this has been over several months so far!).  And I let Joyce learn to spin on it last Saturday.  I have a feeling she'll be buying a wheel sometime soon.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and Small Things for the Yarn-Along.