Good idea...bad idea

As I'd planned, there was Big Love, knitting, and baking this weekend. Also a little apartment hunting, a big headache, and some cleaning up.

Fortunately, only one of those things was bad in and of itself. But all the rest, combined with the return of the summer sun (and, consequently, the heat) have left me...well...plum tuckered. So, a quick rundown:

- I got one repeat of the Forest Canopy done. I'm forgiving myself the one I didn't get through, since I accomplished so much else, and it is growing pretty rapidly.
- We did some more planning for an autumn move. Right now, our challenge is finding a place that will allow us to reduce our rent without too many compromises, most importantly in neighborhood safety and kitchen space. We're batting about .500 at the moment, but there's more on the horizon.
- Significant baking did indeed go on today, with more - plus further documentation - soon to come. There is Old-Fashioned Coca-Cola Cake and a whack of oatmeal cranberry cookies ready for my co-workers to devour on Tuesday. Tomorrow, I'll stir up a moist yellow layer cake with strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting.

The second cake may put my next post off to Tuesday, but you'll get to see final results on all the baked goods...and perhaps a step-by-step on the oatmeal cookies. I do continue to question my own sanity, what with all this baking in mid-July...but so far, it would seem that the results are worth it:



I think Bryan and I both are going to have fits trying to keep our hands off that cake. The cookies have already been gently assaulted, and it would seem that cranberries and pecans work just as well as chocolate chips.

So for now, a quick hello to any new readers that might be out there, and hasta luego, before I collapse on my keyboard.

To clarify, plus: weekend, etc.

Thanks for all the good wishes! I'm quite OK now, but indeed, I was driving down the tree-lined River Oaks section of San Felipe when the errant Sub appeared in front of me, in the same lane. This morning, it even occurred to me that he might have been playing chicken...in hindsight, it didn't seem all that accidental, and the driving was pretty steady, if a bit, you know, EFFING MISPLACED.

*shakes it off*

Enough of that, then. I'm presently enjoying the hell out of Paula's Party on Food Network (Paula Deen, large blocks of cheese, handsome young Army officers in tuxedoes...what's for a Southern f*t girl not to love?) and gearing up to plow through a couple of rows on the Forest Canopy.

Further to the FC, I turned in a couple of Netflix and may be receiving the first two discs of Big Love tomorrow. If they arrive, it's occurred to me that it's perfect knitting wallpaper. I'm aiming to complete at least two more repeats this weekend...guess we'll talk about that on Sunday evening!

I've been greatly looking forward to the end of this particular week. I'm kind of tired and am experiencing some work burnout, though we're not yet insanely busy again. Soon, though...soon.

Hence why I have scheduled myself a nice FIVE-DAY weekend at the end of the month. No mistake, I still adore my job - but I really need a break to get my groove back before flying headlong into the Big-Ass All-Consuming Trade Show Craziness in August and September. There are no grand plans for now, except for continuing the home progress of the last few weeks and knitting a whole hell of a lot. Paradise Found, if you ask me.

My plans continue to build here as well. Kelly has graciously agreed to give me a hand with reworking the site, and as I go, I'll be making good on my promise of diversifying the content, as I'd originally planned. Coming next week:

- I'm reading two different fiction books at once and have at least three more in the wings. So I'll give you a quick list and a few extra details.
- Because I volunteered to make departmental birthday desserts for July, I'll be doing practice baking this weekend. Step-by-step photos ahoy!

Speaking of photos...here's one for the road: Pablo (aka The Buddy), caressing his dearest love.

Still more progress, and going All In

(Nope, no new photos...all my photo mojo went to eBay last night.)

I'm now a full repeat past the original body chart on the Forest Canopy. With a couple of hands from Sharron at SnB tonight, I determined that the blocked wingspan would be approximately 40". Only 25" to go! (My personal wingspan is about 68", and I figure a couple of inches less is OK.)

So tonight, mad props go out to:

- Sharron, for the aforementioned handiness;
- Laura, for showing me in short, unpanicked, profanity-free fashion how to fix my profanity-laden eff-up (I'd missed a YO...it was the easiest fix ever);
- And Amy, temporarily to be re-nicknamed Panic Disabler Amy, for talking me down from a near panic attack incurred when I was - no exaggeration - nearly hit head-on by a Suburban on my way home from SnB.

No, I'm not kidding...yes, I'm mostly OK (if still a bit shaky even an hour later). I think I may have cashed in a couple of karma chips on this one. (If anybody can tell me how I earned them in the first place, please do, because I think this was pretty close to All In and I might need to restock.)

Anyway, thanks, y'all. Is it any wonder that I live for Thursdays? (Oh, jeez, no pun intended.)

What a time to be low on cash

So I stopped by Blue Moon, that I might continue to stalk look out for Sock Candy (cotton sock yarn). I still did not achieve a non-kit Sock Candy sighting...

...but I did find this.

Be still, my lace-shawl-knitting heart. It would seem that I need to step up the pace on creating the Plum Texan colorway.

Enjoy the holiday, y'all!

Yarn pr0n and shameless promotion

It took me a while to catch on to the Sea Silk craze. I started out as a blanket knitter and got used to thinking of sportweight as "ridiculously thin" yarn. Sure, I quickly tired of Boye circulars and moved on to Addi Turbos...and then to KnitPicks Options, but at one point you would have had to pry my Lion Brand Homespun from my cold, dead fingers.

I still believe that Homespun (not to mention Sugar 'n' Cream) has its place. But at some point in my three-ish-year career of knitting large, flat objects – when I'd decided that maybe my skills *were* enough to manage it, and was in desperate want of a garment that I could actually wear in Houston – I decided I wanted to try lace knitting.

So after several false starts, including purchasing Folk Shawls, failing at the Knitting Olympics, and developing a serious infatuation with Sea Silk at Yarntopia, I thoroughly mined all of HandMaiden's online stockists and settled on Knitty-Noddy.com. It's a clean, easy-on-the-eyes site with great navigation, not to mention specials and information everywhere. Owner Evelyn has an impressive list of brands from mid-range to luxury, and impressive stock to boot. Best of all, she takes fantastic product shots and makes thumbnails of every colorway; click, and you get a much larger picture; double-click, and a new window with a *still larger* picture opens.

Amy the Yarn Enabler was over at my place New Year's Eve, and helped me choose (after a loooooong decision process) the Amethyst colorway (as seen in the previous post for the IP Forest Canopy). This was just before midnight on December 31...and by 10 am on January 1, Evelyn had personally e-mailed me to let me know she'd send it out the next day. And lo, on January 5, I came home to the trifecta of Excellent Online Retailing:

- A lovely, sturdy package, neither too large or too small for the...
- Perfectly packed purchase, wrapped gently in plastic and nestled in tissue paper, and...
- Shipped by inexpensive, efficient Priority Mail.

Even more, there was a personal, handwritten note from Evelyn, a touch that will put any purchase over the top for me. I e-mailed my thanks and undying loyalty, and she replied warmly. An unbelievably great experience all around...no small thing when you're spending more than $30 a skein on *any* yarn.

I soon discovered that the expense was more than worth it. Just one repeat of the Forest Canopy, and I was head over heels in love – both with lace and with the Sea Silk. I acquired the two skeins of Berry at the lovely Yarntopia, but even this left me wanting more.

Then, on April 1, Evelyn announced HandMaiden's happy error of the 150g skeins (previously mentioned here). I wondered if it was an April Fool's joke, but she kindly disabused me of the notion. This made it impossible to resist, so I didn't: that's when the Ocean, Vintage, and Sea Storm (below) found new homes (i.e. mine). Evelyn showed incredible patience with my selection process, and gave me the same lovely, speedy service she had before.


What's more, we exchanged several e-mails, which included some discussion of my fiber sensitivities and, ergo, why Sea Silk was practically the perfect product for me. Evelyn mentioned that she'd requested a second shipment, which finally came through in mid-May.



Once again, I failed to resist the Sea Siren...hence, the Sangria. A special-edition Storm Water Stole, reworked from the original scarf pattern, came along for only $1.50. And yet a third time, Evelyn came through with the best service around. What more could you ask for? (Aside from more cash for more yarn, of course.)

Here's what, for all you HandMaiden/Fleece Artist fans and sheep-free types like me. In addition to the Sea Silk, there's the new Flaxen, plus Silken, Lace Silk, and much more. Colorways you don't see just everywhere. The ability to special order *any* HM/FA yarn in nearly *any* colorway on the cards.

For the sheepless and sheep-full, Knitty-Noddy.com also carries woolly Fleece Artist stuff, Claudia Handpaints, Lantern Moon, Fiber Trends, Interweave, and tons of other yarn, accessories, and patterns...all this, plus the distinct advantage of personal service from a small business owner who really knows her stuff - and her customers.

In short, stop by Knitty-Noddy.com the next time you want handpainted yarn wonderment. Evelyn – who completely deserves your business – is an absolute yarn wonder her darned self. And when you're buying even a single skein this fancy, you deserve a wondrous experience.

*****

Further to the Forest Canopy shawl, I have completed yet another repeat, plus two rows. This brings me within 4 rows of the original body pattern. Much as I'd love to tack on the edging and call it a day, the shawl is still a bit wee. In the next couple of days, I'm going to pin it out for measuring and determine how much further I want/need to go. And still my enthusiasm has not waned!

Three posts in seven days...has the world gone mad?!