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Friday, April 26, 2013

Blogger fail

Well, I've searched & dug through all the photos I've taken lately -- without finding any of the lovely fingerless mitts I made for Miss A.  But it's not all bad news: courtesy of a fellow Raveler, I have 3 more skeins of the Stitch Nation Alpaca Love in Dusk colorway!  Two are one dye lot, and the third is another.  I figure about I can get legwarmers from the matching two, and at least 3 more pairs of mitts from the other. 
I have gone crazy for new yarn; could it be due to Spring finally starting to show up here?  I bought some yarn to make Betty A a scarf, but then decided it was too heavy for her.  So I've ordered from Colourmart, a lovely lace weight silk noil that looks tweedy(!) medium brown.  The flecks are NOT neutral, but all kinds of color.  Can't wait to see it!

I was re-reading the latest post on The Panopticon, and thought about part of my recent trip to Texas.  While in The Yarnivore in San Antonio, I got to see some remarkable artifacts.  The store owner had a silk (?we think) camisole, possibly cut down from a slip, that had some fabulous lace trim & lace straps -- and it looked to be from the early 20th century, likely 90 years old.  Then she reached under the counter and pulled out three darling little caps, one done in tatting, one in bobbin lace, and the third looked to be crocheted.  All very old & somewhat yellowed, and showing some minor damage -- but what lovely work!  I sure do wish the camera hadn't done a big fail that day. 

I bought some more yarn from Knit Picks, and just got an email letting me know it'd been shipped.  So now I've got yarn coming in the mail from three sources -- I really gotta get a grip on the stash acquisition.  I don't know what made me think I could knit the Plaidman a sweater with 10 balls of aran weight yarn; I'll soon have another 10 of the same stuff (different dye lots, I'm sure -- not a prob, I'll alternate rows between the two dye lots).  As to the third source:  I won a giveaway on Yarn On The House!  I'm so tickled!  FREE yarn, what could be better. 

Friday, April 19, 2013

Home life

Yep, I'm back in middle Tennessee, with the Plaid Patrol up to our usual tricks.  How quickly my roomies revert to type; I don't think they cooked or cleaned in the kitchen the ENTIRE week I was gone.  Yesterday was my first day back at work, really hard to get in gear -- and I did not have dinner waiting when I got home.  Sigh!  Even the cats seemed a bit underwhelmed by my return.
After picking me up at the airport, Pup drove to The Olive Garden Restaurant -- one of his "usual" haunts!  Pup doesn't cook for himself, so he's been eating two meals a day at restaurants.  After lunch, we swung by The Yarnivore, just off NW Military Hwy and only about 3 or 4 miles from Pup's house!), and I picked up some  (more) cable needles -- and why did I pack a cabled project without the cable needles?  I did my packing Tuesday evening and was up way past my bedtime getting it done, so I guess I'm lucky I had a toothbrush!  The brain had gotten a bit frazzled by the time I put my head on the pillow... Pup & I then went to his house and relaxed until dinnertime, when he took us to the Black-eyed Pea restaurant.  I ate just the most tender, flavorful pork chop I've ever encountered.  I checked yesterday, and glory glory there's one in Hendersonville!  I can't wait to take Plaidman there; he's crazy about a good chop.
Thursday the two of us cruised over to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, had lunch in their recently refurbished cafe, and strolled around a while.  The orchid enclosure is not to be missed.  I took pictures (of course), but didn't get Pup to take mine as he'd already told me I looked like a Greek orphan.  I guess it was the navy "short pants" and sweater?  Whatever.... We made plans for Friday, Witte Museum in the a.m. followed by lunch, then hitting the road for Austin.  But it didn't quite work that way.  We left for Austin about noon, and stopped for lunch at Jim's (Pup had another pork chop!), arriving at Sis' about 1:30 or so.  Bro-in-law was there to let us in, but Sis & the nieces hadn't gotten home yet.  Pup decided not to stay the night, and left before the ladies got home.  O..K...  Friday was the Princess' birthday, and we were all supposed to help her celebrate.  There was a bit of another hitch:  Miss A was away at a competition, and wouldn't be getting back until about when the Princess should be going to bed, but wanted us to wait on her arrival before we went to dinner.  I think Sis turned the Escalade around 3 times before we got it sorted, and Bro agreed to go pick up Miss A after the rest of were seated.   I think it was worth the trouble.  Miss A's orchestra won the State competition!  and she got a Level 1 (tops!) for her solo!!  So we had lots to celebrate.  There was a lot of laughing, and we all decided the Princess' birthday should just continue all weekend (not quite what my Mom would call a "Polish birthday", but sort of mini-version of such).  More plans were laid: we'd all go to see Jurassic Park 3-D on Saturday!  (Insert maniacal laughter here.)  Nothing's more fun than scaring the snot out of an eight-year-old!  Sis threw popcorn at me; I threw it back--the usual family shenigans.  We wouldn't be our parents' kids otherwise.
During the two days I spent with Pup, he told me quite a few interesting stories, some about his service in the Army Air Corps, some dog stories.  When I get done writing down all I can remember of what he said, I'll have to do some research -- the wartime stories are particularly interesting.
Well, I was hoping to put pics of Miss A's mitts here & on Ravelry, but they're not on my flashdrive...and I'm at the library.  I've gotta go soon; Disco is across the street at the convention ctr, volunteering at the booth shared by Susan G. Komen Foundation & St Thomas Health.  And I haven't had any lunch yet, so I hope some of the vendors are giving away snacks....

Friday, April 12, 2013

from foreign lands

Dearhearts,
I have been visiting with the family in South Texas, and I'm having a terrific time.  Wednesday was arrival in San Antonio, which is a lovely town.  Dear Ol' Pup carried me to a shop called The Yarnivore, only a few miles from his house.  The folks there were lovely, and I really wanted to take some pictures of them.  I took out the camera, and it opened the lens, but then the batteries went dead.  So no pictures -- and I have their business card with the names of all their folk, but it's in another room.  Thursday Pup & I strolled through the San Antonio Botanical Garden, gorgeousness everywhere we looked.  I have pictures, and will be uploading them tomorrow.  But TODAY is the Princess' birthday!  and we're going out to celebrate in about 10 minutes!  She's eight today, and so much more mature than the last time I saw her, and so wonderful.  Happy Birthday, Princess Peerless!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Fly Girl

My Darlings,
If you do not hear from me for a few days, do not despair!  For on the morrow, I depart for the wilds of South Texas (Behar County, y'all) to reside in the bosom of my family, or what's left of it.  I have handknit gifts for the Princess, Miss A, and Sis.  I'll carry along Pup's Steelers socks, so he can see what progress I've made; also I expect there will be plenty of knitting time for me this week so I might actually get thru the  &*%$$^ heel -- which is all black with black reinforcing nylon.  It's enough to make my dry eyes really tired.  But I'm hoping there will be lots of daylight to knit by, always very helpful when knitting tiny dark stitches. 
Miss A's gift hasn't been photographed yet.  I used the Elegant Alpaca Fingerless Gloves pattern, but only worked three repeats of the lace -- I wasn't sure how far my partial skein of Debbie Stoller's Stitch Nation Alpaca Love (Dusk colorway -- deep purple!) would go.  As it turns out, I probably could have worked one more repeat on each glove -- but oh well!  I have found some more of this yarn online, and expect delivery soon (likely while I'm gone to Texas), which I'd like to use for leg warmers for Miss A. 
While I'm visiting San Antonio (love that town!  and they love Volunteers, too: the Alamo is right downtown) I'm going to check out the Yarnivore yarn shop, which is on (near?) NW Military Dr.  I've read some good reviews of this shop, in Ravelry, and would like to visit & review myself.  Of course, I'll see the Riverwalk again, and maybe a museum or two.  Should be fun.  Then it's off to Austin, to see the gals there & deliver their gifts in person (be still, my heart!).  I may even make it there on the Princess' birthday!  Woot!