One thing that makes the holiday season hectic is that there are many obligations and traditions associated with the end of the year, and if you are not good at keeping a calendar sometimes an event sneaks up on you.

In our household the traditions includes going to see the Nutcracker Suite, taking in an up-to-date production of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and ferrying my youngest son to and from any and all rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and performances associated with his Christmas concert.

This year we got an early start on the annual festivities when we went to see the Carolina Ballet’s production of Pinocchio.

The production was a delightful spectacle, and I could not help but notice the 12 young puppet dancers. Dressed in orange, yellow, turquoise, and purple, they looked as if they could have stepped out of my go-go granny dress-to-be and onto the stage.

As for the go-go granny dress itself, my progress today was of the necessary, but not entirely flashy sort.

First, I finished piecing together the 30 squares that comprise the front of the dress:

but I did not weave in the ends:

Next, I soaked the entire thing in a tub of warm water and vinegar, after which I squeezed out as much water as I could (careful not to wring the soon-to-be dress), and then removed even more water by rolling it between towels:

I am, for the most part, pleased with the result, but I am mindful that when the sun rises tomorrow, I will have only three days left to the month of November, and I while I would very much like to finish both the go-go-granny dress and the cat runner, there are not enough days left for me to finish both.

Given the cat’s affection for the dress, I will bow to her whim, and do all that I can to finish it before December begins.