Too Tired To Title

Before I show you my latest finished beadwork which you've already seen in progress so it's not as though any of it is mind-shatteringly exciting and new but I like it all the same, let me just say that Things Have Changed Since My Day.

I took my son to his chosen school's "Summer Welcome" which is really just student orientation with parent activities thrown in for the terminally Unable To Process Information. I think he had a great time, got a bit familiar with the campus, met a bunch of incoming freshman, all that good stuff, but as far as I'm concerned, I could have done without the bulk of what I wet through.

I'm a big fan of good communication, good organization of information, that sort of thing, and Thursday was an excellent counter-example. They were very well-orgainized in terms of herding us from one session to another, and I am glad that I got to see the campus, but if they had sent out a well-written, well-organized document with the information that we (as parents) need, I could have read it in about fifteen minutes and not had to endure the schleppage. It was really hot too.

The first session we went to was all about money essentially, and how students can accrue expenses, and how you (the parent) can pay for them. It was a little like an SNL sketch, where they say "If A, then B, but if C then D" and the parent asks "So if A then D?", and "B means C, right?" and my jaw actually dropped at the inability to listen and process for which the rest of use had to suffer.

Holy crap.

I'm happy to have taken my son to orientation. I'm happy to have received information that they did not otherwise send out to the parents. I'm happy to have walked around the campus and seen the student union and a dining hall and dorms, but I'm decidedly not happy about having been herded around and had doled out odds and ends of information piecemeal.

One plus is that I finished a sock and made significant progress on a shrug which looks to me like an excellent way of using that single skein of handpainted cotton that I was (a) unable to resist even though (b) I didn't think it could be used in any attractive or useful way (as a single skein) since I don't do scarves or scarflets or shawlets or capelets (though you need more than one skein for these ridiculous - and not in a good way - bastardizations of legitimate garments) or little bags. Gloves, mittens and hats are not good matches for cotton.

I ought to take a picture once it's finished, but the plan is that you cast on for the neck and work paired raglan increases for the back of the sleeve and single increases for the front of the sleeve: there is no front of the shrug. Once you reach the underarm, work a couple of inches of sleeve (if you like) and then work ribbing to finish the sleeve and around the circumference of the shrug, corresponding more or less to the back neck, front neck and back/bottom edge.

One hundred-gram skein of dk-weight is enough for the non-ribbing parts, and I'll use a solid colour for the ribbing.

On to beadwork.

I finished the necklace I was working on earlier this week.

I've been having a hard time finding brass clasps, so I made one.

I'm not the keenest wire-worker in the world, but sometimes you just have to. Solid brass findings are hard to come by, and they're often fancier or more floral or vintage-inspired than I care for, and almost always way more expensive than I think they should be, so making my own very simple findings is a good solution. It doesn't even take that long.

Now I need to stock up on 16-gauge wire in copper and sterling.

I also made matching earrings.

I also made the ear wires.

I'll probably put the necklace and earrings in my Etsy shop eventually. I like them, like the colours, but don't lust after them and desire possession, so I made a necklace to match the earrings in my last post for me.

Sludge. Yum.