In which she discovers a new obsession.

Jason bought Brandon and myself a gift certificate to the Local LYS for 1 weaving class and 1-week's rental of an Ashford Knitters Loom. The class, because he of course wanted to learn as well, was scheduled for his day off .. which so happened to be yesterday. Two great things in one week ... I'm spoiled, dontcha know!

So yesterday, after I worked my morning complete with surprise visit from my boss (who said my store looks great and I'm doing a great job) and Jason working the first half of the day (because the salesmen won't stop selling cars, the fools. I mean, what do they think this is, a car dealership or something?) we headed up to Pineville to The Yarn Shop. After some creative 3-point-parallel-parking (so dubbed by Brandon) I headed in, to find my beloved already there, and we got started.

I don't think it counts as cheating on one's yarn diet if one -had- to buy yarn for a class she already had planned, does it? Anyway, we all picked out our yarn, and I got myself some gorgeous Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a heathered forest green (6276 - Woodland Forest), and some Noro Silver Thaw in a beautiful green/purple/pink/grey combination. I used the alpaca, of course, for the warp, being as it's smooth and lends itself to such, and the Noro for the weft. And it's weaving beautifully. Jason picked a black/white combination of beautiful soft alpaca and I believe alpaca/silk, but don't hold me to it. And Brandon's weaving with a pair of Berroco Ultra Alpaca varieties - Light Grey (6206) and Prune Mix (6284). My scarf, being as it has a non-solid yarn, looks wholly different than theirs, but it's a nice difference for me.




So, I got a bit done before we even left the store .. which was three hours later. Brandon actually got to learn how to tie in after refilling the shuttle before we left .. Jason and I hadn't gotten to that point. We also learned how to fold the looms for travelling with them and off we went. We decided to go to dinner at Monsoon, a local Thai place we love, and as usual were not disappointed. After a brief trip to Brandon's momma's house to drop off the deep fryer they gave us which quit working somewhere around the third or fourth use, so she could have it replaced, we headed home for honey to finish his homework and then I stayed up after everyone had gone to bed, weaving. I got quite a bit done .. had to fill the shuttle twice while I watched NCIS.

Don't mind the tv in the background playing Rent. I'm a bit obsessed at the moment.

I forgot to post about my finished Red Scaf Projects scarves!

Fair Warning

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade - the much awaited expansion to the online game I play obsessively - releases today. I'm heading to work here in a little while, and I'll be picking up one copy of the collector's editions and two of the regular edition (for Brandon and Jason).

This will likely eat into some of my knitting time, at least for a little while. I promise not to vanish entirely, but there is much new fun-ness to explore, and I intend on exploring all I can.

I can report that I frogged the new Red Scarf .. the pattern wasn't working for me, and was annoying me. Right now I'm knitting it on the bias with drop stitches and it's going fast .. and I should have enough yarn to make at least one more scarf. Whether I'll have time to is another story, but I'll certain ly give it the old college try!

Non-Knitting Post

It has been raining for the last two days, mostly just for an hour or two then stopping for a bit, but apparently it rained all night long. I should have taken my camera with me when I drove honey to work. There were lawns flooded, roads that looked like rivers, and ever drainage ditch on the side of the road had been transformed into a rushing rapids. These are a couple of pictures showing the rain outside my front window. The middle one shows where even under my birch tree, the water is pooling on the surface.


I've been cleaning my kitchen .. encouraged by a dear friend's own post elsewhere about her cleaning spree and subsequent pictures. Here's mine.


The first is proof that my knitted dishcloths -do- get used. I love them! The other two show the bar we use as a catch all and the counter to the right of the sink, above my dishwasher. The first one is before I straightened the bar just today, the second is after. (Duh!)


The first one here shows my clean sink, complete with dishcloths. Note the messy bar .. obviously, taken before I striaghtened that today. The next is the right side of the stove, where I keep the coffeepot and the toaster, and where my aloe plant continues to live, even after repotting it. Ignore the wine bottles. We're really not alcoholics. (You should have seen it a few weeks ago .. we had 8 bottles up there!) The next picture is the left side of the stove .. note the -immense- amount of counter space we have! This is where the rest of the appliances live .. can opener, Kitchen Aid mixer, coffee grinder, iced-tea maker and crock pot, as well as the knife block and the spinning storage container thingy. On the stove you can see my honey's cast iron grill/griddle. Which we LOVE! And last but not least is a picture of my china cabinet, where you can see my beautiful Blue Garland china. *purrs* I love my china.



A bonus picture .. B and Isis sleeping on the couch. It's been rainy, and they got all snuggly-warm, and this is the result. Note Gracie Hart on TV .. they were watching Miss Congeniality 2: Armed & Fabulous. Ignore the mess in the background. I've not messed with the living room yet.