First Cross done in awhile

silver cross crocheted Friday

this one is going to a fella whose dad passed on last Spring, but I never did get around to sending a card
the first Father’s Day is the hardest

it has been more than a year since I tried to work a cross, and this task reminded why I had to let it go before
my hands were feeling a bit cramped by the end, even though I took frequent rest time

the center square was pulled out to begin again 4 times
I had 3 arms done, but they did not look quite proper
so I looked again at the instructions and found the *blah-blah* repeat x 3 which I had missed first reading

this finale does have one error in it on the 4th aka long point because I cut and fastened off
when I should have turned and worked the first stitch of the picot edging
otherwise, the cross is fine, worthy of sentiments

then today after breakfast:
the classified ad said there would be a BIG SALE at the church up the street

so with a few coins in my pocket and $dollars in my wallet, I decided to go see what bargains I could find

I arrived just as a man in his mid-20s, same age as my sons, was painting a sign saying

EVERYTHING HALF PRICE!!

which is great because I like doing some looking more than the paying

I found a neat little lap table with a cushion behind it, which I have been thinking about buying one for the time when the Concerts on the Quad happen.
It will be easy to carry along with my Yarn bag and folding chair, and I will use it with my peg loom.

onto my pile I added a couple children’s books which I will read myself then pass along to a kid, a pre-school wooden puzzle for the church nursery, a little carrying case where I will store small yarn balls
and a child’s t-shirt, with the idea that I will re-cycle it and sew a t-shirt tote bag as I read about in a tutorial at Frugal Living

I walk over to the table to pay.  It seems that the teenage members of the Youth Group and the Youth Minister (that fella who painted the sign) are in charge of the proceedings.

In the back of my mind is the tally for my goodies will be about $3.00, so paying half price will be easy with just the coins in my pocket.

However, each item price had to be carefully noted in a spiral notebook on different pages, 50% deducted by calculator, that price written beside the first, and also written on a bit of paper, then all the prices from that paper entered into the calculator before I was told that my final total was $1.77.  Which means that one of the 50¢ items did not remember the half price.

I opened my wallet after all, handed over 2 singles and mentioned she could keep the change.  Which seemed to cause a bit of confusion because the Youth Sponsor had to tell her to write the extra 33¢ on the very first page of the notebook under General Fund Donations.

I asked why it had taken so long to make a sale? (while in my head I’m thinking these poor youngsters have no idea how to do arithmetic problems)

He pulled me aside from the check-out table and explained that the kids are working for a trip out of state and each needs to earn a certain amount of money to be able to go, so they brought in the stuff for the sale and get credit for each item.
I nodded, and said I’m a parent, so I understand.

As I was leaving, I was thinking that puts way too much pressure on the kids who have stuff of little value to carry in and sell.
Where was the teamwork? the sense of everybody in the group gets to go?  What about the kid who only brought in a couple t-shirts he had outgrown, yet worked hard and carried all the trash out to the dumpster?

Well, it’s not the church I attend, and I did give a few cents over the requested amount which went into the General Fund.
I just hope the Youth Group has a time to live in memory.

~~love and Huggs, Diane

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