“Workin’ it, baby, workin’ it!”
Both Jeanne and I had rough days at work yesterday, so we met to knit at a wine bar instead of our usual coffee shop. Really, who were we kidding? We were there to talk and drink some wine and laugh at old knitting books and the current issue of Knitter’s. Everyone knows that it’s too dark to knit in a wine bar – although I did pick up 13 stitches, then knit across those 13 plus 8 more stitches. At that point, I decided to rest on my laurels and not try to pick up the other 13 stitches for the heel.
Anyway, we each tried a tasting flight: Jeanne tried the shiraz/syrah flight and I tried the pinot noir flight. It was quite fun to sip our little glasses of wine, make notes on our flight sheets, and toss off pseudo-oenophilic jargon, describing one wine as “delightfully undistinguished” and another as having “deep fruity overtones.” (Well, we thought we were funny at the time…)
Yum.
Chaos? Hey, Chaos, can you come out of your “hiding” place and wish Peeve a happy birthday? And maybe send get well wishes to Mrs Pao’s husband, Pao, who had surgery today?
“How did you know where I was?!”
Both Mouse and Jane had this fun game on their sites. I thought this was particularly apt:
Yesterday I actually found a few fun things at my local thrift store:
That first book (Knit Knacks for the Whole Family) is a particular gem. It has patterns for leotards. It has pattern for bonnets that will put “Oswald Owl,” “Klotilde Kat,” or “Lionel Lion” on the back of your head (can fit all sizes!). Cabled argyle socks. A sequined hood. Both a French shrug and an English shrug (the French shrug is frilly, while the English shrug is no nonsense). Interestingly shaped tanks tops/vests called “popovers.” A fringed pixie hat. And more…
Jeanne’s blog entry yesterday has some completely hysterical pictures in it and a Chaos connection – check it out! Plus a lovely picture of more Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk than I’ve seen anywhere outside a store…
Several people asked whether I purchased anything at Coldwater Collaborative on Sunday. Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I did… (Oh, come on – no one’s surprised about that.)
A skein of Meilenweit ColorTweed (it looks a lot like Trekking to me) and a skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot.
If you’re wondering whether I ever actually knit, I’m working on a pair of socks for myself right now. They definitely have the Project Spectrum colors in them. The pattern is Dublin Bay (links to a pdf) and the yarn is from ebay seller lotusblossom in color RoseGarden2.
Yesterday, Jeanne and I journeyed west from Minneapolis to the 318 Cafe in Excelsior, Minnesota. There we met up with knitbloggers Amy, Deb, and Lisa D for coffee, lunch, knitting, and lots of laughter. Deb’s putting together a local knitblogger networking event in April – stay tuned for more details.
If Excelsior sounds somehow familiar to you, it might be from the Betsy Devonshire mysteries by Monica Ferris. While Betsy’s store Crewel World is entirely fictional, Excelsior does have a really cool yarn store – Coldwater Collaborative. (I posted some pictures from Coldwater Collaborative about two months ago.) The cozy 318 Cafe is handily located across the street from Coldwater Collaborative. And Deb works at Coldwater, so Jeanne and I got to see the mystical and fabulous storage area “next door.” Let’s just say if you stop by the store and don’t see a color you want, you should definitely ask about it.
From left to right: Jeanne, me, Amy, Deb, and LisaD
And LisaD brought me these super cute little stitchmarkers. Thanks, LisaD – that was so sweet!
A few weeks ago, I tried out a small knitting group that met at Caffetto Cafe and Gallery in my neighborhood. They were nice enough, but, as Bookish Wendy noted so eloquently, the group was “not one I clicked with on a deeper level.”
However, I did snap some Project Spectrumesque photos of this very cool crocheted tapestry hanging on the wall of the coffeehouse:
Furry Friend who loves to play Fetch.
F is also for Feeding station, which is a Favorite location for house panthers to hang.
And F is for Fur, so soft and so dark…
…which becomes Fluff drifting by on the Floor.
Something very fun arrived in the mail yesterday from Cucumber Patch in the UK:
Random Wednesday is the brainchild of mamacate and has propagated far and wide. A simple yet brilliant idea for the oh-so-rough middle of the week when I, at least, am beginning to feel more than slightly scattered… “She jumped onto her horse and rode madly off in all directions.”
Plus, I’m simply quite fond of randomness. A long time ago, I had a Siamese kitten I named Random (after Random of Amber – when I was little, I so wanted to be a Prince of Amber… the Princesses were a sorry lot overall, but the Princes had it made. I suppose that’s true of a lot of stories, now that I think of it.). Anyway. He was sweet, but not very bright, so he became Ran-Dumb-Dumb.
Do you have any weird abilities? I do – I’m a Finder. Wondering where you left something? If I’ve been in your house longer than 15 minutes, I probably know. I used to live with a guy who really came to rely on this Finding ability (and in fact gave me the nickname). He said it took him many months after I had moved out to get over the urge to call me when he couldn’t find it. Tragically, this gift is only useful for other people. I can’t find my own stuff or SRM for Chaos… yes, he’s lost again… Hmph.
Maeve alerted me to this nifty pattern for black cat socks. Thanks, Maeve! Cricket, Chaos says “Mraow, baby.”
Speaking of socks, check out these biking sheep socks – ok, ok, they’re already knitted, but they are cool.
Sounds like another snowstorm is heading toward the Twin Cities – perhaps another 4 to 7 inches of snow on top of the 8+ inches we got Monday. Well, the upside is I’ve been mightily inspired to go get new tires after work. I’ve been meaning to do that for months… All this snow could be completely melted by the middle of next week as we return to our unseasonably mild winter. (Heh, we Minnesotans can and do talk about the weather at the slightest provocation.)
Yay! I’ve had fun reading other bloggers’ lists of 100 things about themselves. I’m way behind in bloglines today (darn work, being busy and all that), but so far I’ve really enjoyed lists from the Knit Wit, Peeve, and Jennifer. Looking forward to reading more!
Well, ok, not so much secrets of the universe (because everyone knows that answer is 42) as my secret project. Marina was correct – I was making socks. More specifically, birthday socks for my SIL, who was gifted with them Saturday night. She loves her some handknit socks, so she will have an eternal supply. So sayeth I and it will be good.
*blink blink*
Ok, moving right along… These were, roughly, the Thuja socks from knitty, except I did them toe-up and switched to 3×1 rib at the top to maintain the pattern throughout the sock. The yarn was Opal Handpaint and I definitely have enough left for another pair (for someone with much smaller feet than myself). This was stash yarn, purchased a year or so ago.
