The Joyful Ferocity has a mind and spirit of its own!  It is the jacket commissioned by my dear
friend, Joyce (hence the name) – more months ago than I would like to
admit.  It is decidedly the most spirited
piece I have ever made – playful, mischievous, a bit willful.  Like a character in a Frances Hodgson Burnett
novel.

The back skirt did a 180- degree flip. 

The yarn for the sleeve lace and gussets disappeared from
every yarn shop and vendor we encountered – and then finally popped up at the
Oregon coast (ironically, the lower sleeve gussets refused to let themselves be
worked upon at the Oregon coast, though they emerged from my needles quite
obediently once we were home again). 

The top sleeve gussets and back triangle played
hide-and-seek – that is, we were laying out the pieces to block and sew
together when we discovered triangles of emptiness and realized that there were
no gussets where the gussets should be!

The right sleeve has been leading Sarah a merry chase for
weeks!  She has had to rip it back 5
times – sometimes it is the lace pattern playing games, sometimes it is the
break for the lower sleeve gusset being persnickety.  We have sat over that sleeve and sighed
deeply more than once.

And, of course, like the parents of a particularly charming
and naughty child, we ADORE the Joyful Ferocity and can hardly wait to see how
it looks when it finally (in its own sweet time) comes together.

(I suddenly recall that most of the Burnett characters were
orphans…)