Last week, DH and I were sitting on the sofa, me knitting, him reading. After a bit, he looked over,
G: *click* *click* *click*. I can hear your clicking.
me: Yes. The needles are bigger than my last project. They make more noise.
Seriously. The US 10 Addi Turbo makes a hollow click sound, vs the US 6 Addi lace needles, which barely make any noise.
The Citron in Baruffa Cashwool Bordeaux is done. That was a lot of stockinette. The finished shawlette is light, warm, and very soft. I got more than the mindless knitting break I was looking for. But it is all in the pass now. It is wrapped up, put away, waiting, to go to its recipient.
I am still working on Citron. It is coming along at a very slow pace. I am hoping the end results will compensate for all the mind numbness. Not much to see there, but I did have a bit of yarny fun this weekend.
Last Saturday, I dragged J to a thrift store. Because I needed spoons. I do not want a set of flatware, just spoons. DH likes to eat yogurt while driving to work. I like to eat cereal in the morning, sometimes also in the afternoon. DH does not remember to bring the spoons back from his car. I get tired of reminding him. This results in spoon shortage, no matter how often I run the dishwasher.
After we finished the required spoon gathering, we wandered the isles. I saw some garish acrylic crochet throws, not garish enough to be kitschy cute. At the back of my mind, I was thinking there will be fun stuff. Mom find fun stuff at garage sales / discount stores / whatnot, maybe I will too. I have a couple of good finds from thrift stores, but not often. The store was nicely color coded. This is very helpful to monochromatic me (not so helpful for colorful people, like J!). I found a Brooks Brother heather charcoal merino turtleneck (and a black / white embroidered cotton dress). There was also a few very cute, unfortunately colorful, sweaters that I had to pass on.
On second look, before checkout, J spotted a small hole on the bottom part of the sweater. "no worries, I have yarn/thread that may match this color". So I left the store ~$14 lighter, with a dozen spoons, a merino turtleneck, and a cotton dress.
I used J's suggestion of Cascade 200 Superwash Black Heather to fix the hole. DH declared it not noticeable. Woola! This ultra fine gauge sweater is light, warm, not very pilly, just the sort of sweater my Dad prefers. And bonus, it is Made in Hong Kong :) I was very amused that the find + a little effort = end result that put me in a good mood. I even did my 1:2 closet clean up this morning. Next time, I shall spend some time in the Men's section, maybe I will find a gem for Dad.
I finished the gloves and ended up only slightly cross eyed. That was a lot of cable crossing and a bit of frogging. The Cascade 200 Superwash made warm and slightly bulky gloves. The black heather colorway post wash looks like my well loved black clothes, laid back, slightly faded... These cabley gloves took approximately the same amount of time as sock weight plain ss gloves.
Like all Vogue Knitting patterns, it required improvising, which became a few 'features' that I do not like in the leftie (first glove). Since they are for me, I will not be reknitting. I suggest anyone attempting Almeara Gloves to start with the right glove. The instructions are clearer and would made it easier to muddle through the left glove.
Thanks J for the yarn! I am still holding out (barely) from buying yarn for projects that I want to knit. Trying. Not. to. Buy. Yarn. for. Myself. Fortunately, the next project, the 100th project on Ravelry, is a prez.
DH and I used to get lunch and grocery shop on Sundays. (Actually, he used to share house chores on Sundays too.) We cut Sunday lunches when we went on a tight budget. And some time last year, he started golfing or "hitting the balls", then complained that we do not both need to go get groceries ... so now, I split my old Sundays into house chores on Sundays and grocery shopping on weekdays ( "less crowded" oh yea, I've fell into that routine, being unemployed.). I also side step the DH complain that he is done, ready to go home, no more stores.
Today, I was generally frustrated and not happy with the job search. I took a break and went grocering, after getting kibbles from generic-strip-mall-pet-store, I went next door to Trader Joe's. Why, yes, I've been going to that pet store for 10+ years but have only managed to stop at TJs a handful of times (see DH's no more stores). I got a few things and then wander over to the wine isles for no good reason. I was just browsing ... then I saw it - Black Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon "Fat Cat". I smiled. I grabbed a bottle ... ah. It has been many life times since I had this wine. I just hope it is as good as I remember it.
So, to honor this reunion, I named the project I started today, with Baruffa Cashwool, in Bordeaux Burgundy color "Fat Cat" (ravelry link).
