It's thundering outside. Deep, constant rumbling thunder, accompanied by the flicker-flash of lightning. And not just in-the-distance heat lightning, but a good, ground-soaking, weather-cooling storm. I've been delightedly listening to the rain pounding on the ground outside for the better part of 2 hours now, and I couldn't be happier. And it's still coming. I'm considering going to bed, just so I can go to bed listening to the thunder.

What a weirdo I am.

Brandon and I walked at the mall today. An interesting experience I have to say. We took our knitting too, and on our breaks we knitted in public. We stopped in a couple stores ... Bath & Bodyworks and Yankee Candle, and Hot Topic, where I picked up my equivalent of a little black dress ... a t-shirt with a screen printed image of Jack Sparrow on it and the words 'Captain's Wench' over that. It's perfect, and I will fit into it sometime soon.

Knitting Content:
My Booga Bag is finished but for the i-cord strap, and the felting. I will post pictures tomorrow, after I've slept. I want to go sleep to the rumbling thunder now.

Saturday Sky

Didn't have a very fun Sky morning, sadly. We got a hell of a storm lastnight ... one thunderclap was so loud it shook the house, and I buried myself under the covers with Isis. But the storm seems to be cooling off the high temps for next week, so I'm not going to complain. Not to mention, the plants really can use the water. One of my clematis might be dead, it's been so damned hot. I'm hoping it'll bounce back, but not holding my breath.

For some reason, this picture isn't showing how bright it actually is outside. It's not so dark, really.

See?!

I took this shot because a plane was going overhead. See? Top center of the shot .. it's a plane!

Some Stash

This is 6 skeins of some Tahki New Tweed I picked up cheap in Asheville my last time through there. (Before SOSKAL started.)

Isn't it just lovely and pretty and .. no, I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. A scarf of some sort, yes, but I don't know what kind at all.


This is the yarn for the second hooded baby towel I need to make. Of course, before I can do that I need to rework the pattern, because the last one was, though cute, terribly wonky.

I just adore the colors in this one.

This is my lone skein of actual sock yarn. I do lurve the colors though, and eventually, I'll get around to knitting them.

Dinner, pink scarf and Booga!

I've been slacking again. I'm actually way behind in reading blogs too, which is something I'm trying to slowly slog through this afternoon. This morning and lastnight my 'net was having issues .. well, actually, many issues. More like subscriptions. But is seems to have stabilized now, so I'm able to post and such.

I went out on Tuesday with my friend Neely .. the one who won't learn to knit. She's -such- a snob! But I went out with her anyway, and took Brandon along .. the one who I taught to knit, and who loves it and is as much a knit-dork as I am. We went to get pedicures at the nail salon she likes in Charlotte. It was nice too. The little Asian girls were darlings, and didn't seem to talk about us too much. And the pedicure was so relaxing. I knitted on the pink skinny scarf all the way through. And they even do a paraffin dip for your feet .. all for $25! Wahoo, pampering!





After the pedi, we went to lunch at Panera bread, and then to Target for something for Neely .. and I ended up getting Zoo Tycoon 2: African Adventure. Yay! Yes, I am also a computer game dork. I already had the Endangered Species expansion, so I had to get this one! And after some annoyance with the installation, I finally got it installed and running, and I've already played it some. I'm still trying to get through all the campaign games ... they're tough!!

After the trip to Target though we went to Hoby Lobby to pick up some yarn for Brandon to make dishcloths for some friends of his and for Neely to pick out yarn for her own. She wants some that match her bathroom. And good friends that we are, we offered to make some for her. But they only had the right color in chenille (sp?) so I snapped off a small amount from the skein and I'm going to find some in a cotton or something more durable to make her some. And I'll likely be paying it out of my own pocket. And I'm used to that.

Now, I should explain something about Neely. Neely is selfish. Extremely and often uncomfortably so. I love her. She's a wonderful friend. But I don't spend a lot of time with her because of this. Neely isn't the type to do something out of the goodness of her heart. She has a motive, always. We tolerate this in her right now, because she's had some life changes .. though they are her own doing. She left her husband of 3 years for a fling relationship with a guy she met online through Adult Friend Finder, then started a relationship with the man she's renting part of a house from. She doesn't make the best decicions. But I love her, and think she tries as best as she knows how to be a good friend.

So it doesn't surprise me when I have to buy yarn for this for her. Even though I'd really rather not buy it, because she's snooty enough that I can't just pick up some everyday cotton. She wants it to be soft. But, that's the price of friendship .. at least in this case.


Anyway, we left from there to drop her off at her and Keith's house, and made plans to meet her at a restaurant local to us for dinner with she and Brandon and Jason and myself. Keith wouldn't come because Keith is a chef and is too snobby about food to eat anywhere like *gasp* Applebees. Even though we're all on Weight Watchers (Jason, Brandon and I) and that's one of few places we can go to eat and not have to worry if we have enough points. And when he cooks, he doesn't think about such things, and honestly, his food is often too 'cuisine' for me to enjoy. He overdoes everything .. he can't just make a simple meal when we go over for dinners, and it frustrates me because every time, I get sick with stomach problems. You'd think he'd get the hint.

So we get to Jason's work, and he's busy. And we're early to boot. So we sit in the car and knit. No big deal! I worked more on the scarf while we waited .. and we thought 'Hey, we should call Neely and let her know we might be late." So we call. She hasn't even left yet .. she's watching TV. *ahems* Did I mention she's a little self-centered? It didn't dawn on her we might be waiting for her.

Anyway, dinner was had, and it was nice, and we chatted and we did our duty as friends, and we went home and were content. Oh, and at dinner I finished the scarf. It's as long as I am tall .. think that'll be enough for a little 5-year-old? I love it to pieces, the feel of it is perfect. If only it weren't pink.






Lastnight I spent watching tv with Jason and Brandon, and I started my Booga bag finally. I'm not using Noro (I know, gasp away. But I'm on a yarn diet this summer, and have all this wool I can use instead.) And though the whole picking up stitches along the edge thing was wierd, I finally got through it, and I have now gotten through a good ten rounds of the sides. And if I do say so myself, the fuscia looks really good with the grey-brown handspun I'm pairing it with.

Wal*Mart, and other Frights

So, I know, I've not been posting much about knitting. I'll get back to it, I promise. I have actually been knitting, in fact. Just lots of otherness has been invading my time and space.

But I was reading this morning (thank the blog-gods for Bloglines!) and discovered several people have issues with going to their local Wal*Mart. Kate does, and so does Annie. And I find this odd. Well, not entirely odd. I hate the Wal*Mart in the town I'm in now. The prices are higher, and the people are bitchier than the one I actually go to. But the one I actually go to is just as close, even though it's all the way in York, SC. I live on that edge of town, see. And they're nice there. And their prices are better, and I can actually find stuff. And it's a Super Wal*Mart, which means I can get everything .. well, almost everything, I need there.

But I can't really get yarn. Sure, I could pick up some Bernat baby acrylic .. which I do on occasion when I have a baby to knit for. And I could choose from one of their six colors of Peaches and Cream. Or get some Lion Homespun (which is what I learned to knit on by the way. How crazy am I??). Or the scratchy as stubble Wal*Mart brand acrylic. But why would I, when I can get the same stuff, less expensive mind you, at Hobby Lobby?

And the huge array of colors in the Lily far outweighs the convenince of picking up a ball or two every time I make a trip to Wal*mart. Kate said she can only get pastel colors in the Lily, so I guess I don't blame her for making the horrible trip to Wal*Mart to get something fun to knit with. Psst. Kate. There are Hobby Lobbys in Minnesota .. dunno how close to you though.

Anyway.

Another thing that has prevented me from posting about knitting has been my poor husband. He has had a rash .. in some pretty uncomfortable places. It started a few days ago, and yesterday it migrated to around his eyes and all along one arm. Eeek! So it was off to the doc-in-a-box with us yesterday. I sat and knitted on some pretty eyelash I've been hoping to get used up while we waited. And waited. And waited. Apparently, there were a couple of "traumas" earlier in the day, and things were a bit backed up. (I found out what happened with one of them at least, but more on that later.) I knitted even while he was back there. See!





Isn't it cute and girly!? I figure I'll give this one to my little niece Savannah. She'll love it. I might make the other eyelash into another boa scarf for my other little niece Faith.

Anyway, the "trauma" was apparently a girl, probably in her early 20's, who was a sexual assault victim. I only know this because I couldn't help but overhear when she came out to the waiting room with the trauma counselor, and the woman was speaking to the girl's mother about stuff, and how she needed family support, and the legal system had to do its job now, and how good the girl had done. I hate that she has to go through that, truly.

Hubby's rash, by the way, is most likely contact dermatitis. Brought on by the recent change in laundry detergent. I usually use All Free & Clear, because my skin's insanely sensitive. I had been using Mrs Meyers for a long time. Their lemon verbena scent is just yummylicious. A friend of mine told me she liked the Method brand of stuff she gets at Target, so I got some. I was needing dish detergent and such anyway. And that hasn't seemed to bother him that we can tell. I just wash pots and pans and such in the sink anyway, everything else is dishwasher safe. But I also picked up the laundry detergent. It smelled good, and it is supposed to be gentle. Hah! Poor hubby's rash is clear a sign that it is -not- gentle at all. He's gone in to handle email at work, where he's the internet sales manager for a Pontiac-Buick-GMC dealership, but is then coming home. The doc-in-a-box gave him a prescription for prednisone, which should clear the rash up quickly. And I'm having to re-wash -everything- in the house in All Free and Clear. Including blankets. Sheets. Towels. (Thank goodness we just bought new towels and we've had some to use!)
Everything. Ugh!

Another thing that has kept me busy .. well, kept me busy on Saturday, was the local library's quarterly book sale. They do it once a season, and we actually trekked off to this one. Hardcover and trade paperback books are $1 an inch. Paperbacks are 4 for $1. And mostly you find the usual suspects .. the popular writers, romance and horror and such. But you can occasionally find some gems. And we did!

This one I got just because it's Celebrity Scarves, and I got it for so cheap. Most of the scarves in it are garter or stockinette, but it's neat to see the celebrities that knit!

These two Reader's Digest books are great to have. The 'do-it-yourself' manual my parents had, and I've wanted a copy for so long but never got around to it, cos I didn't want to pay the $20 for it. And the needlework guide actually has great information in it. A fabulous reference book indeed, for so cheap!

For myself, because I've been wanting to reread them, I picked up these three Rama novels. I've read Garden of Rama before, so I figured I'd like them all. Sadly, they didn't have the first in the series, but I'm sure I can find it on Half.com.

This is the pick of the litter. I love this book to death already. It's got such wonderful information in it. I really picked it up kind-of as a gag, but after reading through some of the pearls of wisdom it holds, I'm so keeping it in my library!

Saturday Sky

I forgot to post this, but here's just a few of the pics I took yesterday of our sky.

This picture is soon after I got back from Bringing hubby to work. Must have been before 10am or so, I figure.


The next picture is as the stormclouds rolled in sometime around 5 in the afternoon. I looked out my window and saw suddenly heavy gusts of wind, and knew a storm was coming in. I went outside to take a couple shots, and didn't get many before the rain started.


The following three were taken on my drive to pick hubby up from work, around 7pm. (Yes, I took them as I was driving. Yes, I know I probably shouldn't drive and take pictures at the same time. Yes, I was safe. Yes, I wear my seatbelt.) But aren't they pretty!






I also took some video (not from my car of course) of the storm as seen outside my window. I forgot my camera had a video capture feature. Short clips .. which will be great next time I get a chance to try taking lightning pics. Let's see if this actually works, shall we?