Progress on the pincushion

I've decided not to do anything to the chain stitching on the pincushion, because--I AM A DITZ--it's a different gold thread than the one I am using for the lacing. I used the gilt special tambour thread for the lacing and gold passing for the chain stitch, and they are different colors. I had completely forgotten I did that, until I looked at the thing really closely. That's just embarrassing. Sigh.

Anyway, here is the lacing almost done. I need to make one more pass around the edge, put in the silver four-sided interlacing in the middle, and then I can take the pincushion off the stretcher bars and get the thing framed. Yay!

In other news, I think I finally have the hang of the bagpipe blowing/squeezing cycle, or at least enough of a handle on it that I can actually finish a song without running out of breath. It's great fun and scares the cat!

In work news, I am writing yet another NSF grant while STILL waiting for news on the one I submitted last May. Usually NSF says a six-month turnaround but this is nuts, to keep us waiting so long. The new call is out for this year's program and we haven't gotten a decision on last year's!

Now the serious stuff: if you have spare prayers please remember my best friend who is having open heart surgery on Wednesday.