Yarn Crawl!

A couple of weeks ago, my buddy Christi sent me a text.

"We need to get together", she said.

After much planning, and coordinating, and shuffling of schedules, and a little bit of nail biting finally the day came.  We weren't sure for a bit if Christi could make it, because her mother was in the hospital.  She sent me a text, though, saying, "My mother is making me." And she was able to come. 

We met up at our usual haunt, Hank of Yarn in Southaven.



There was Amy



And Christi

 

And me, but I was holding the camera, so you won't see me.  But you can see the yarn I bought.  This is JoJoLand Fantasia. 



And some undyed yarn.



I said, "Boy, I need a nap."  Hank said, "You need a nap?  Are you going to die?"

"No," I said.  "I'm tired, but I don't think I'm going to die."

And Hank gave me The look and said, "Are you going to DYE the yarn?"

Oh.....Yes, I'm going to dye the yarn.  All that stuff I have growing on the trellis in my back yard is called bindweed.  Someone posted a link to instructions on dying it.  Said it makes a lovely buttery yellow, so I'm going to try it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  I got there first, and almost as soon as I walked in, Christi was right behind me.  Soon Amy arrived and the party was on!

We knit, and we talked, and we laughed



And we petted yarns

 

And Christi said, "This is MINE!!!"



And we knit, and we talked, and we laughed some more, and Christi said, "Let's go eat, already!" 



She's a bossy one, that Christi.

And we ate some really, really good hamburgers.

Then we came back to Hank's, and we knit and we talked, and we laughed, and we petted yarn, and we tossed balls of yarn into the air and said, "Whee!" and blamed sleep deprivation.

 

And we showed each other dog and cow pictures, and talked about ex-husbands-- except for Amy because she doesn't have one.

And we talked, and we laughed, and we petted more yarns



Oh, look!  There I am.



And there is Hank, on the right, helping another customer.



When I got there, I was the only one in the store.  By the time we left, it was pretty crowded.  Hank's is the happening place, it is.

All too soon, it was time to come home.  And we hugged, and we clung to each other, and many bitter tears were shed at our parting.

Well, OK, not so much on that last bit.  But we did have a great time, and I can't wait to do it again.  September 8 is the target date.  

You know, one thing I hate is waiting. Those few minutes when it's not time to leave, but there's not enough time to really do anything. Yeah. So I left a little early. While waiting for Hank's to open, I went to Petco and got Snow a new water bowl that's big enough for her to soak in.

 

And a new hide:

 

The old one is a little small. It looks like a half log, so I"m going to take it out and put it into my flower bed. It will look natural --sort of-- and might attract toads. Maybe not this year, but next year. I hope.

And that was my day off.  This post is already photo heavy,  so I didn't post all the pictures I took.  The rest, including yarn shots, can be found here:

Yarn Crawl

Yarnz!!

OK, yesterday I told you that Christi put the hoo doo on me, and I went on an unplanned trip to Hank of Yarn, in Southaven.

We talked.  We laughed.  We petted yarns.  We shopped competitively.  Christi won, but only because she bought more yarn after I left.  The little stinker....

My White & Nerdy hoodie was a big hit, though, so that makes me the ultimate winner. 

So there.

But now I know you're all chomping at the bit to see what I bought.  And here it is.

Blankie yarns,

which have already been knit into the blankie.

This is World Circus yarn by Regia.  I think this colorway is called Americana.  The name isn't on the ball band, but they had a poster up by the display with all the names of the colorways.  And you know what my memory is worth these days.

I'd been looking at it every time I went in there, and this time, I finally got it.  Same with this:

This is JoJoLand Fantasia.  Every time I go in there, I pick it up and fondle it.  Then I put it back.  Well not this time.  I bought it, and a pattern.

Somebody is going to get this hat for Christmas.    Pretty much everybody is going to get a hat for Christmas. 

And just to refresh your memory:



He he he...

Here We Are!

The Three Musketeers!

Or the Three Stooges, take your pick.  That's Amy, Kat, and me at Hank of Yarn in Southaven.

My first stop, as always, was at Wal-mart.  The one here has stopped carrying the conditioner and gel I use for my hair, so every time I go up there, I pick up a few bottles.  I won't show you photos of my hair products, but while I was in the store, I did pick up these on clearance.

The trick will be to actually remember to wear them next year.  I was going to let Charlotte model them for you, but alas, she has no ears and I didn't feel quite right about just stabbing them into the side of her head.  So, sorry, but you just have to live without that image.

Then it was on to Hank's.  Kat was there first, and when I got there, we talked, and we visited, and we petted yarns.  Then Amy got there, and we knit, and we talked, and we visited, and we petted more yarns.  And we laughed and we felt like we'd known each other forever.

Before we knew it, my stomach was growling, and Kat was saying, "I'm getting kind of hungry" and it was 1:30 and time to go.  And we hugged, and we clung to each other, and many bitter tears were shed at our parting...OK, just kidding on that last bit.

And we told each other to be safe driving home, and Hank asked, "Where are y'all from, except Arkansas and LSU?"  And we said, "That's pretty much it."  And Kat bought yarn to make a Woo pig hat, and Amy and I didn't say anything...

Yeah, they won.  There wasn't much we could say.

All too soon, the day was over, and we were headed home--except for me.  I was looking for work shoes.  I didn't find any.  I take that back.  I found a pair of Timberlake boots that I really liked, but I wasn't going to pay $100 for shoes that would end up getting ruined in a factory.

On a tip from Amy, I stopped by Lowe's in Batesville on the way home and bought these. 

These were the last two that they had left, and I'm glad I decided to stop. My first thought was that I would come back another day, because I was tired and just wanted to go home.  If I'd done that, I might have missed out.

I also stopped by Joann's and picked up some more yarn for the blankie.

And some cotton for washcloths.  Mine are getting pretty bedraggled, but hey, they're all 5 years old-- minimum.  It's time for some new ones.

Oh, and I got these at Hank's.  Three balls of Regia "fading" color.  They are for the blankie also. 

Amy picked up one of these balls, and pointed to where it says 4-fadig color (which is something in German that I don't know what it means) and said, "I saw that and thought it said 'fading' color."  Just as I took a big swallow of my Dr. Pepper.  Which is how the Buffalo yarn almost got it's bath.  Glad I was able to catch that.  That buffalo yarn is ex-pen-sive!


Hank had some of these square needles in the shop.  I'd heard a lot about them, and wanted to try them.  Kat said she really liked hers, so I bought a set. 

You know what that means?  Empty sock needles need socks. 

I also bought this.

Every cent of profit from these kits goes towards ovarian cancer research.  Hank even donates her cut, so it all goes towards finding a cure.  My pastor's wife died of this two years ago, and when I saw this kit, it seemed like just a little something I can do to help.  I will not be making the hideous sock pattern that is included.  The little symbol for Venus would be eh, but ultimately ok.  The design of the ovaries and uterus is pushing it a bit, but the design of the woman with her legs splayed while a gynecologist digs around in her stuff is just over the top. 

I won't be knitting that.  I was thinking of maybe finding a simple scarf pattern --maybe a moss stitch-- and giving it to Brother Bob.  I think that would mean more to him than a pair of ugly socks.

When I got back home, I found more surprises waiting for me.  The rest of my Christmas presents are here!  A Miles Austin jersey, though if he doesn't learn to hang on to those passes, this might get returned. 

And a cute little 50th Anniversary bear.

Remember how I recently said I needed to start wearing more jewelry? 

Yeah, that ought to do the trick.

Don't you think? 

.

Road Trip 2

Cody got a skateboard for his birthday a few years ago--like 4 or 5 years ago. He rode it maybe three times, then basically forgot about it. It hid under his bed for a while, then laid around in the yard for awhile, and finally, about a week ago, it vanished altogether. Funny thing that. After years of ignoring the board, as soon as it disappeared, Cody suddenly decided that he had to have a skateboard. Just had to have one.

I sure wasn't going to buy him another one, so he saved his allowance and began looking for a skateboard he could afford. The local Wal-mart didn't have any. Neither did the Wal-mart we went to last week. The local sporting goods store was a little too proud of their skateboards, so Cody began bugging me to head North, toward Memphis, to see if any of the stores up that way had any.

About the same time, I noticed that Monty had outgrown his hide.

And I began to get the urge to head up to Kathy's yarn shop. I hadn't been there in some 6 months, and what with us being off this week (both of us), it seemed like the perfect time to go.

First stop, the yarn shop. As I pulled off the highway into Hernando, I began to wonder if I'd remember how to get there. I knew you had to turn back under the highway, then turn left, then right and there would be the shop. I just couldn't remember where to turn left. "Hmmmm," I thought. "I'll turn here." And I picked out a street that felt right. And sure enough, there was the shop.

As soon as I got there, Kathy called MrsTommie, who'd said she wanted to meet me, being a martial artist and a knitter herself. We had a good visit, and I stayed about an hour. Cody played with the shop dog, Rex, but soon began to get restless. So we left.

While we were there, I was prying into Kathy's knitting projects and discovered a hat she was knitting out of this yarn she had there in the store. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have some. So, on the way out, I grabbed three balls, enough to make a nice scarf.

The yarn is Tonalita, by Trendsetter Yarns, color 2352. No name, just a number. Amazingly enough, I didn't buy any sock yarn. I think Cody slapping my hand every time I picked up a ball might have helped.

We left beautiful downtown Hernando and headed on up to Southaven. First stop was the Petco, to get Monty's new hide. Wouldn't you know it, they didn't have any big enough for him. They did have some baby snakes there--corns and ball pythons, plus a blood python and some red tail boas. I'd forgotten how tiny they were when they are babies. They were sooo cute, but I managed to resist and didn't get any.

Next stop, Walmart, where Cody managed to find a reasonably priced skateboard. Then we went on to a new yarn store that just opened up in Southaven. It's so new, in fact, that they haven't even had their grand opening yet. I picked up some wool there in almost Cowboy colors for another Chemo cap. I can probably get two out of this pretty easily. I'll make one blue with a silver stripe, and one silver with a blue stripe.

Again, I managed to make it out of that store without any sock yarn. Cody making "put it back" gestures every time I picked up a ball had a lot to do with that. I also picked up a new set of size 9 bamboo DPNs. I'm not that thrilled with bamboo needles, but I'm anxious to get my chemo caps cast on. Still, I am determined to finish my toe up socks, which seemed to have hit the neverending stage. They are almost finished, but though I knit furiously, the yarn balls never seem to get any smaller.

I'd say the day was mostly successful. We got everything we set out to get except for Monty's hide. I guess I'll have to order him one online.