it's monday already? seriously?

the weekend went by way too fast! it was a 'lil hectic, though, for a bit...so, as i enjoy my breakfast of my farmer's market poundcake and a diet coke, let's recap!

friday night, i couldn't sleep worth anything; i ended up going to be about 3 am or so, to be woken up by the loud, crinkling sound:



6 am and yup... that's a hole in the bag. my cats (particularly griffin) are very good at finding food to eat. i think he's a little upset that the vet told us last sunday that they had to go on a diet. (i should also be included on that diet.) nonetheless, he found a little shopping bag with some samples of food that my sister had gotten for us at a street fair recently... sneaky, sneaky!

so, at that point, i'm up, and decide that i'll head on over to the farmer's market. just the usual stuff:

baked goods

honeycrisp apples. yay!

and a treat for myself (as if all the yarn i've bought recently *isn't* enough):

pink flowers

so i actually was *productive* for the rest of the morning; i cleaned up my kitchen (i mean, *really* cleaned...i even polished my stainless steel stuff!), but then right before i was about to jump in the shower, i noticed griffin laying on my bed, acting weird. and then he got up to use the litterbox, and he was straining. i called the vet's office, and they told me they had walk-in appointments from 2:00 to 3:30...so i jumped in and took a quick shower, packed griffin up, and by the time we signed onto the walk-in clipboard, it was 2:13. not too bad, considering that a.) it was raining, and b.) i could hardly find parking. so we sat. and we sat. and eventually, i let griffin out of his kennel because he was crying so much. but he just sat next to me on the bench. and i got a whole lot of knitting done. so much so, that i ran out of yarn. (i didn't think that i was going to have to wait *that* long. but that's okay.)



yes, that's the french girl scarf. again. i'm determined to finish it this time.

anyways, back to griffin. the urinalysis came back showing crystals. uh-oh. i was sent home with special food and antibiotics. my sister called me on sunday morning, and was asking me about the food (because she knows i only feed my cats the really good, human-grade foods from the specialty pet store), and so i was reading her the ingredients off of the back of the can...and then i noticed:



oops. i bought the *dog* kind! and to think that i had just fed them a spoonful the evening before, and they *ate it up*! (go figure!)

so that began my errands for sunday: a.) go to this yarn store in the city that i haven't been to before so i could buy a #10 16" circular needle; b.) go to exchange the *dog* food for *cat* and c.) go to pick up my mom's prescription. easy-schmeasy.

about this yarn store: i went there once, and i will probably *never* go back there *again*. *again!* so yes...they have a pretty large, organized selection of reasonably-priced yarns. they have patterns there that i've not seen before. but their staff? (well, the one little punk-rocky girl that was working there, with presumably, the owner?) forget it. first, we got into it about this yarn that, the gauge given was #3.5 stitches per inch on a #10 needle. right or wrong, she *insisted*...i mean *insisted* that it was a worsted weight. (and i mean, worsted weight. not like heavy worsted. just worsted weight.) to me, that gauge and needle size suggest to me a chunky weight. or maybe even a heavy worsted. but definitely *not* a worsted weight. who knows; i could be wrong. i probably am. but i've never knit up a true worsted weight on a #10 needle. so whatever. and then so i'm finally done looking around, and after she's done ringing me out, she proceeds to tell me just how much she hates using the needles i was buying (bryspun). umm...honey. you try doing a p3tog with a pair of brittany birch. sure, it'll happen, but the points on the bryspun just make it so much easier. whatever!

despite the drama, though, i was able to pick up a skein of unlabeled farmhouse yarn on sale and started to knit up my chunky cabled beanie (which i will make longer, into a hat) during the last half of desperate housewives last night:



it's a bit 'masculine', the color, it is - but i really liked how they had that hint of bluey-green in the mix. it's a bit rough to knit with on my #10.5 circ, but i'm sure it'll prove to be a warm-warm-warm hat this winter. (that is, if i *finish* it.)

speaking of somewhat (99%) finished projects, here is my basic cable hat from stitch 'n bitch nation:



it's knit out of lorna's laces shepherd worsted in the colorway child's play - and it's probably one of the softest and easiest to knit with yarns that i've come across so far. and the hat looks weird because well, it's only 99% finished. i still have to attach the pompom to the top and then weave in my bottom edge. (i don't know why this last 1% is taking me so long!)

anyways...let me go and be a little productive before i head into work...

ffffuuuuuudddddddggggggeeeee.

i can't believe it. i really can't believe it. i was just talking about it, and i forgot about it. what am i talking about? grey's anatomy, of course!

i waited the entire summer for the season premiere episode. i even watched the last few episodes again on sunday in preparation! and then...

i totally forgot.

what can i say? i was just so excited about my discovery of bi-o-kleen laundry detergent at the new sunflower market on clybourn, doing laundry, and my general 'i-don't-watch-tv-anyways' that i just totally forgot. forgot! oh well. i'm sure *somebody* taped it...

but anyways. about sunflower market. clybourn's been a nightmare these past few months, with them digging it up and construction and all, so, i've had plenty of time to sit there and see that they were building it. so, on my way home from work today, and after i visited arcadia knitting (photos to follow), i decided to pop in. what a cool place! i *totally* like it better than trader joe's or whole foods. not to mention that they have a *very nice, perfectly-sized selection* of "healthier" junk food! (how about that for an oxymoron?)

as for knitting news, i finished up my cabled hat from stitch 'n bitch, and am currently re-knitting my french girl scarf (again). i bought some 'donegal tweed' yarn today to knit up another cabled hat, and am currently looking for other cabled hat (ahem...chloe's cabled hat) projects to start.... i'm obsessed! :)

photos coming soon!

stash enhancement

i *heart* sundays. for some reason, i'm usually pretty productive (relatively speaking). but, when i woke up this morning, it was so dreary out. cold, dark, gloomy and rainy. so, i started doing my weekly chores, and as i was doing laundry, i realized that it'd be a good idea to go and visit one of my local yarn stores that i haven't been to yet. i received a bunch of coupons and flyers in my goodie bag from stitch 'n pitch a few weeks back, and one of those was for my sister's knits, so, after a quick google search to make sure they were open, i hopped in the car and headed over to beverly. i swear, i spent almost as much time *getting there* (dan ryan traffic? on sunday afternoon? apparently, it's not unheard of) as i did in the shop, but, it definitely was worth it. the shop is filled with just *fabulous* yarns, some which i've never seen previously, and the owner, carol, is super-sweet (as are her two dogs) and helpful!

i actually went on my yarn shop mission today with a few projects in mind (much unlike my usual lys trips), so, i was able to purchase yarn that is actually *useful* to me, instead of just drool-over gorgeous... :) but now for the best part: the photos!

'rustic' by filatura di crosa, from the sale bin. i just couldn't pass it up. can we say fabulous cabled scarf with this one?

'ritratto' by s. charles. also from the sale bin, and hence not 'passable'. for a fabulous evening shawl of some sort.

'prism' by colinette, color #84, cinnamon. utterly fabulous. i'm planning on a scarf and hat for this one. or maybe just a scarf.

'henna' by manos del uruguay, color #26, variegated purples. intended for the falling leaves scarf for my boyfriend's mom's christmas present.

'multicolor' by filatura di crosa, color 4053. absolutely gorgeous with a slight shimmer. intended for the 'misty garden' scarf from scarf style.

'magic ball' by be sweet. made by a group of women in south africa. absolutely *flippin'* gorgeous. i couldn't resist. the colors are just *so* me. this will knit up to a scarf, on #35 needles.

and for my most indulgent purchase of the day:

'kid silk haze' by rowan, color #590, pearl. intended for the 'daphne shawl' from french girl.

the overall verdict of my sister's knits? an *absolute* go-to. this store will definitely be on my list of favorite local yarn stores. yay!

(by the way, one of these days, i'll have to figure out how to do one of those flickr (is that how you spell it?) accounts that everyone has on their sidebars... that way, i can admire my stash slideshow-style!)

can someone teach me how to crochet so i can make these, please?



are these not the *cutest* things that you've ever seen? i *need* to have a pair.

not too much to report this time around; we made a very last-minute emergency trip up to the dells over the labor day weekend, and i was able to get a bunch of progress what actually is a *lace* (yikes!) scarf - the one that i mentioned in a previous post, that i didn't realize was actually a *lace* pattern! let me tell you, i've found out that lace projects are *not* commuter-friendly at all, although this one only has an 8-row repeat, so it's not that bad. my problem is, is that i just keep on losing my place! one of my repeats has two extra rows; i haven't the slightest what i did... but, i didn't discover it until i was another 12 rows into it that there was a mistake - and, because it's really not *that* noticeable, (although i notice it *a lot*), i decided against ripping it out. after all, it took me *four* days to un-knit and figure out what i messed up at the end of the stitch 'n pitch game! (why does un-knitting take so much longer than just knitting?)

so...after stitches midwest, i really vowed that i wasn't going to buy any more yarn for a while...but, it's been about three weeks now, and, while i'm definitely not buying tons more, i'm not truly adhering to what i had said! i bought a few skeins of yarn while out in oak park last saturday morning, to knit up that cabley-looking scarf in stitch 'n bitch nation and i bought some bulky yarn to knit up something, but who knows what that was... (isn't it awful?) i also managed to purchase this scarf kit off of ebay, but, that isn't making any progress as i can't really follow the weirdo stitch combination (well, not all that weird, i just can't figure it out) of a yarn over-slip one as to purl-knit one combo. ah, one of these days...

other than that, not too much has been going on with me... i signed up for the second round of the knitters tea swap (which i had *so* much fun with last time around) as well as secret pal 9. i'm eagerly awaiting my matches so the fun can begin! yay! i'm so excited! i can't wait! :)