Gratuitous Fiber Shots

Okay, now I finally get to do some of the gratuitous fiber porn shots that are the basis of knitting blogs.

On Wednesday, I got to spend the day with the Trendy One from Anchorage. She just started knitting, so I thought it would be fun to take her to a yarn shop and treat her to something fun. So we headed to a local shop I had not yet explored. It's a great little shop. And Kathy, the owner, is lovely. (Kathy is actually the sister-in-law of someone I used to work with, and I had been meaning to check her shop out since she opened.) She's got yarn for every price range. And, best of all, she has a lending library of books. As a librarian, even though this represents competition (especially considering she's just across the street from the local library), this made my heart go pitty-pat. What a great service to offer her customers!

Anyway, the Trendy One picked up some Encore, which I assured her would be great "practice" yarn, and also some Crystal Palace Taos. Later in the day, we camped out at Borders with some icy drinks and knit. The Trendy One purled. She hadn't been able to figure it out on her own, so I spent some time teaching her. She caught on pretty quick too, although her actual response was "Why would I want to do this?" So, I grabbed a bunch of knitting books off the shelf with really cool patterns and said, here's why.

I'm supposed to be on a self-imposed yarn diet, but I found Kathy's sale bin and had to get me some of this
That's Berroco Denim Silk (pardon the cruddy table...we're in the process of fixing up our porch and haven't refinished the captain's table yet, but it's the best lit place around the house). It was half price. And the Trendy One helped me decide that the two colors would look nice striped. It's for yet another Picovoli. Okay, I lied when I said I didn't like to knit the same thing twice. I fear I am becoming the January One of Picovoli (do we need a support group for people who become addicted to Grumperina patterns). This will be my third Picovoli. I made one with some Cascade Sierra Quatro. When I tried it on, I loved the way it fit, so I immediately cast on another using Noro Lily (which is still on the needles, and the colors are doing some weird pooly-thing). Last week I was wearing the first one when I stopped by my folks' house and my mom went nuts over it. Then she asked if I had lost weight. I guess it's a very flattering style for me. So, Picovoli #3 is in the future projects pile now.

Also in the new projects pile
My Lean to Spin kit from The Bellweather. The booklet is very well written. I haven't had a chance to practice yet, since it's been too stinkin' hot to play with wool. But, since the weather broke and it's now down to the upper-80s, I think I may play around with it tonight.

With the break in the weather I can knit and watch movies again. Since I had to pop into work for an hour this morning, I picked up two movies, Howl's Moving Castle and The Matador. And we still have Good Night and Good Luck from Netflix. Decisions, decisions...

Now for the Beer

It's too hot to use the oven in our lovely, but un-air-conditioned house (we do have window units in the bedrooms). So, we're eating out a lot, because it's even too hot to eat. So, last night, it was a trip to our favorite local brewpub. They're having the "Summer of Weiss--Wheat, Drink and Be Merry"--good for Geek Boy who loves wheat beers. Bad for Bookwoman who doesn't. The chocolate cherry stout was kicked, but I had had it before, and it was okay but nothing great. However, they did have a wonderful Nut Brown on tap, just the right blend of hops and malt. Yumm-O. And we made a respectable showing at Quizzo...we at least got all the state capital questions right.

And, as if I don't spend enough already on yarn, two blogs got me interested in this, which arrived yesterday.

Tomorrow, it's around and about with my best friend, in from Anchorage, Alaska. She's just learning to knit. If she doesn't melt in the heat, I'll take her to some fun local stores and try to teach her to purl.