The secret is making sure to add in the leap year days.

Today was quite possibly the slowest workday I've ever had in my life. One would think that I would use all that free time to catch up on work things, but alas, I lacked the motivation to accomplish much. I took care of a couple of things, then sat and perused the 2004 World Almanac someone left there.

Almanac's are fascinating things to read, even three year old ones. How else would I have found out that I'm going to be 10,000 days old on May 4th 2009, or that Nancy Reagan's real name isn't Nancy, or that the next solar eclipse will occur on August 1, 2008, but will only be visible from a small area in the middle of the Arctic Ocean?

All terribly useful things to know, if you ask me.

As for tonight, I'm eschewing a house show in favor of staying home, watching movies, and making bread. I've been wanting to try the Rustic Loaf recipe from America's Test Kitchen, but wasn't able to do it until today due to lack of a baking stone (my mom had mine). The only variation I think I'm going to make is changing it to cheese bread by adding the tiniest bit of cheddar to the dough, then more cheddar on top to get all bubbly and yummy while it bakes. Then again, I've never made bread before, only cookies and biscuits and the occasional muffin. Maybe I shouldn't go off-book just yet.

Oh my god, she did what?

As one might expect, there's not a lot of info online about felting cashmere, because how often does one really do it? Heck, I was expecting the gods of fiber, or atleast my local yarn store, to strike me down when I stuck it in the washer and set the dial.

As it turns out, cashmere doesn't felt quite the same as other fibers. In fact, it turns more fuzzy than felt-y. After two go-rounds in the washer, it seems to have felted enough to hold a shape when I cut it, but I can still see a bit of stitch definition when I stretch it slightly. I think I may throw it in the washer again, but save a scrap as a sample of the two-cycle felt.

The plan? I'm starting with a simple snap-closure cuff with some needle-felted details (and maybe button embellishments!) and then we'll see where it goes.

...though it might go nowhere if I can't figure out how to make these stupid snaps fit in properly. Dammit.

Atleast I found the right wig for my Halloween costume, along with this tutorial for a tutu. Let's just say I'm going to be totally outrageous.