Things are just a wee bit crazy around here these last few days. James had his last day of work, and now he’s home, feeling great about his time off, and getting ready for the move. We have so much to do, we’re using project management software to keep track of it all. Craziness. This week was all about cars. We have to sell both of our current cars and replace them with 4-wheel-drive (or in my case all-wheel-drive) vehicles. I bought a 2002 Subaru Legacy (with heated seats!), and James a 4-wheel drive truck that he can take out into the Alaskan wilderness (I’ll keep my car to the 12 miles of road Cordova has).

Now there are 4 cars in front of our house–not something that totally excites the neighbors. James is in charge of selling the old cars, and he’s been doing paperwork and getting them ready, etc.

I’m also preparing simultaneously for a quick trip to my parents in honor of my dad’s retirement, and a big trip to Columbus, OH on June 5th to teach and exhibit at The National Needle Arts association trade show. Normally, I attend TNNA just to network and take classes. This year, I’m both exhibiting with Stitch Cooperative, and teaching two classes: Caps à la Carte (design your own crocheted hat), and It’s Easy Being Green–a class on understanding the ins and outs of the new green movement that’s taking place in the yarn industry. I’m thrilled to be teaching and exhibiting, I feel like I’m seeing all sides of the industry this year, but there are a million little details involved in getting ready for TNNA too. Some are fun–I got to help design a button we’re giving away (I designed buttons for my own pattern line too)–others are mundane like deciding how many tables and chairs we need for the booth.

On Sunday, while Selma and James were playing parents against kids soccer in the rain (Jay was the ref, whistle and all!), Heidi came over and let me take her picture in all of the garments in my pattern line that didn’t ever have live model photos. The overcast weather was perfect, and we got some nice shots. This one is the Hemp Shawlette, that I’ll be debuting at TNNA–it will be available on my web site after the show.

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About halfway through the photo shoot we realized that Heidi had been looking off in the same direction for every photo, so we started to get a little more creative. We also discovered how much easier it is to look natural when you’re leaning against something.

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(The Antique Lace Shawl).

Here’s an early shot, Heidi’s wearing the Herringbone Mesh Jacket:

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Heidi liked wearing the Half Crazy Sweater:

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Race to the end of the month…