Psyched.

I own four lovely Pottery Barn dining chairs, given to me by my fairy god-mother-in-law. She has excellent taste, and sometimes when things aren't just to her liking, and the relief and good karma of passing them on to her appreciative daughter-in-law beckons, she frees herself to find things that suit her better by passing the other ones down to me.

I absolutely adore this arrangement.

We've had these chairs two years. We know that once you wash the high-end, Italian cream-colored linen slipcovers, even if you use cold water, they shrink. They no longer fit. I've called Pottery Barn and had them replaced once (for free, thank goodness) and never washed the replacements. I survived by using our upholstery attachment, and a lint roller.

The thing is, after two years of use (and cats) the cream is subsiding to brownish. Some are a little frayed in places where Pete has decided they would serve to sharpen his claws. In short, with Thanksgiving on the horizon, they need replacing.

Charlie Brown's Antiques, my favorite enormous junk shop, yielded a bag of cream-colored linen curtains, with crocheted cotton lace, for $4 on Tuesday. Tonight, I saddled up my dressmaker's shears, and summoned the very best of my pattern-making abilities, and got this far:

Pottery Barn slipcover, right; Kristina's own signature slipcover, left. I didn't want to complete a slipcover and try it on and realize it didn't fit, so this is as far as I came, and if it wasn't already 10:30 I'd sew that pretty lace around the bottom tonight.

That I will save for another day. I'm excited. I just hope I can finish all four before Thanksgiving!