first week of summer vacation

my first week of vacation has been great! i've been trying really hard to get out of bed early and get lots of stuff done so that i make the most of my time off and so far it has been working out well. i'm getting back into the routine of taking noah to the dog park everyday for a little run around, spending more time in the studio, and getting ratgirl business stuff done. last night i was up until 2:30 am working on gettting my etsy.com shop up and running. i still have a bunch of things to do (uh, like upload some stuff for people to buy) but i got the registration stuff done. trust me, that's a big step for a habitual procrastinator like me. i'm hoping to get a lot of work done on it this weekend. but for now you can take a peek at what i've got done here. (check out that banner...i did that on photoshop last night!!) WOOT!

i also started on my one skein wonder last night. i hit a stumbling block a couple of days ago because i got the wrong length of circulars. i exchanged them yesterday afternoon and worked for about an hour last night. i was a little frantic though because when i actually looked at the pattern, i realized i didn't know how to do most of the skills required! luckily, a quick trip over to stitchguide taught me how to k1fb with the handy-dandy videos they have there. (i think i watched the video about 8 times with needles in hand, before i knew what i was doing.)

anyhow, here's how much i got done last night

i'm excited to work on it some more today, but i'm a little concerned that i have NO CLUE what is meant by "pick up stitches". i guess i'll cross that bridge when i get to it...

we watched a fantastic documentary last night called a touch of greatness. it's about a teacher from the 1950's and 1960's who made learning exciting for his elementary students primarily through his teaching of shakespere. it was just amazing!! paul and i both work with kids in our day jobs, so lately we've been all about these documentaries about inspiring teachers. a couple of weeks ago we watched etre et avoir, which is another documentary about a great teacher. both of these were such inspiring stories. highly recommended, even if you aren't a teacher.

i can't wait to go to the toronto outdoor art exhibition this weekend! it's a massive (free) art show in the square at city hall. every year paul and i come away from it so inspired! our friend, frederica will be there again, so we're going to visit her and look around. if you're in the city, you really should go!

have a fabulous weekend, everybody!
xo krissy