Sunday, November 20, 2005

The perfect day...

Yesterday was just about as close to perfect as it gets. It started out with a large decaf soy mocha from the lovely new coffee shop around the corner, delivered with a smile by my darling husband. Fueled by chocolate, I pinned out a bunch of swatches to block and sketched up some new design ideas. Despite my inability to draw, they actually turned out pretty good (at least by my standards)!

I checked my e-mail and saw that the new yarn store in my part of town (which was previously LYS-free) was FINALLY open, so I booked it over there. The shop is named Close Knit and it is lovely. Sally, the owner, has fantastic taste in yarn and it's stocked full of Rowan, Art Yarns, Lorna's Laces, Manos, Noro, Debbie Bliss...the list goes on and on! And it was packed with people who have been as anxious as I have for her to open. In fact, the first person I saw when I walked through the door was my friend Brittney. We had to laugh when we saw each other because we keep running into each other at yarn stores. She's as addicted as I am!

And since I want to support my local yarn-related business, I bought these lovely little hanks of Cascade 220 (the better to make felted clogs with, my dear).


As I was checking out, Sally came over to admire my scarf (the one that will be in the February Mag Knits). I blushed and told her it was my own design and my first to be published. She was delighted and asked if I'd thought about selling patterns through shops. I was too flustered to jump on that like I should've, but I'll be back in her store and will be better prepared to take her up on it next time!

After grabbing up my shopping bag full of yarn, I high-tailed it over to a little Cuban place called Pambiche to meet some mommy friends for lunch. The food was heavenly (I had a Cubano sandwich, which made Bill extremely jealous since it's one of his all-time favorites - pork, cheese and pickles all toasted together in french bread...yummy!), and I ended the meal with another mocha.

We then piled in my van and drove to Oregon Center Stage to see Pride & Prejudice. It was incredible! They did the entire play without any props but chairs and parasols. And the costumes! Mr. Darcy wore this buttery full-length trench coat (or are trench coats always belted? This was not belted and was very fitted on top with a flared bottom.) through much of the 2nd half which was just to-die-for. I haven't been to the theatre in ages and this was one of the best productions I've seen in a long time.

I arrived home to a big pile of mail. One was something I'd ordered:


(the new Knitty calendar and the "Breastfeeding In Public Is Not A Crime" sticker I've been coveting)

And one was not!


Erica RAK'd me! Thanks so much, doll - I love it all! Check out that yarn! It's Twinkletoes sock yarn in the Autumn colorway. Love it, love it, love it! I'm thinking I'll make the next sock we do in the On The Road knit-along with this (looks like it's going to be the Traveler's Stockings, which will be great with this yarn since they don't have too much crazy stitch detail). As if that wasn't enough, she threw in some yummy hand cream, aromatherapy crystals and a sticker (hmm, think she knows about my sticker obsession?). Erica, you rock! Thank you!!! And if you haven't visited her blog lately, she has been making this. How cute is that? I'm waiting impatiently for pictures of the FO.

After all this, I still had energy to work on the sock I started in the morning.


It's Friday Harbor from Knitting On The Road, knitted in Mountain Colors Bearfoot. They're worked on 50 stitches, so they're cruising! Somebody stop me - I can't help myself. I NEED to make socks. I also have the Yukon Leaves socks which are coming along nicely, but they're trapped upstairs with a sleeping baby so no pics of those for you.

Before too long, my knitting ADD kicked in and I wound up the Cascade 220 and started on my first felted clog.


They are going to be a fun knit, and so much faster than socks! Of course, now I'm totally paranoid that Sydney's teacher's aide won't like pink... I just can't win, can I?

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That does sound like a perfect day...and a new LYS, how wonderful!

10:53 AM  
Blogger chris said...

What an awesome day!! I'm so happy for you! Just having the DH bring home soy mocha alone would have been enough to qualify it as the perfect day. ;-) But throw in a new LYS, some awesome new yarn, FOOD that you didn't need to cook yourself (I'm all over this one- almost more than the yarn!) and great mail (look at that beautiful yarn from Erica!) and that pretty much defies the senses. Friday Harbor's lookin' good and I love the color on the clogs. She will, too! ;-) How do yo manage to get all this done? Are you sure they didn't slip you some non-decaf mocha?

11:25 AM  
Blogger Karen said...

What a great day!! Woo hoo. That's awesome news about being able to sell patterns through the new store, your designing career is really taking off. The RAK gift is wonderful - so much fun getting secret gifts in the mail. I'm not sure having a LYS so L to you is good - all that easy access to great yarn . . . start scouting out hidng places now so Bill doesn't put your credit card on ice. ;)

12:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You're very welcome! I'm so happy that you like it all! I'm proud to contribute to your perfect day. You know, I had the same idea about using a Knitting on the Road pattern with Twinkletoes yarn. I'm sure they'll be great! Oh, I forgot to mention the yardage, approx 500. You might need to know that. I had a pretty big ball leftover from my socks. Maybe I'll pack-rat it away and make a pair with all my leftovers some day.
Your FH sock looks awesome!

2:41 PM  
Blogger Brianne said...

I wouldn't worry about her not liking pink. It's a wonderful homemade gift that she'll definitely use... much better than the earrings that look like big christmas lights that she'll only wear once!

2:50 PM  
Blogger Sonya said...

What a great day! The Friday Harbor socks look great. I love the colorway. And the value of a good LYS can not be measured. Sounds like it could be a great avenue for selling your designs.

2:53 PM  
Blogger Jillio said...

I *heart* that sock yarn. so pretty :)
jeez, with you and karen getting yarn in the mail, i am paralyzed by all the yarn porn. PA-RA-LYZED.
and a new yarn store? it's almost unfair.

4:46 PM  
Blogger Acornbud said...

New yarn store? Lucky you! I gotta get me some Cascade 220 to try. So much wonderful yarn, so little of it here where I live!!!

6:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey there glad you are getting some use from the pattern! I finally broke out my pattern too and started on pair this weekend I have one finished and the other started. They are so quick!

~SP6~

PS- Your reveal package will be in the mail this week!

6:13 AM  

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