New Store!!!

Well, it is new, and it is new to me as well. This weekend I visited Amazing Threads and it was wonderful! I wandered through the store lusting after wonderful fibers. I picked up some Koigu and Mountain Colors. Then I spotted Opal Brasil and the perfect Silky Wool for Branching Out. Of course, I also needed some new circulars because the dreadful, cheap ones I was using were like fingernails on chalkboard every time the tips touched. They also had Elizabeth Zimmerman's The Opinionated Knitter as well as the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. How could I pass those up????

It was an expensive, but extremely gratifying trip. It's a good thing that I won't get back often!

It Just Gets Better

I was so excited to get my Matrix Madness off the needles. Finally! Then I started weaving in the ends. Argh!!!!! The shawl/scarf is loosely knit so the extra layer of weaving shows everywhere but at the ends. I'm also concerned that this stuff will unweave itself. Luckily, I have until the 10th of July to figure it out. One way or another I will get the best of this project before it gets the best of me!

Happily, my Petticoat Socks are coming along nicely. I turned the heel on the first sock today at lunch and will start picking up around the gusset after Young Man goes to bed tonight. There are two projects in the queue for the next few weeks. I think the skein of Rodeo needs to become a pair of socks for my mother. The other project is the infamous Branching Out. I have some gorgeous Silky Wool waiting impatiently for me.

That quick trip to the Opal site to get the link gave me a pleasant surprise. They have previews of the new Opal yarns coming this year. The rainforest yarns are gorgeous! They even have a new Tiger!!! Oh, this could be an expensive fall. It's for a good cause, right?

I Knew It, I Just Knew It.....

Thank you, Femiknit Mafia.

You're The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy!
by Douglas Adams
Considered by many to be one of the funniest people around, you are quite an entertainer. You've also traveled to the far reaches of what you deem possible, often confused and unsure of yourself. Life continues to jostle you around like a marble, but it's shown you so much of the world that you don't care. Wacky adventures continue to lie ahead. Your favorite number is 42.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

One dreamcoat, ready for action. 

Technicolor Dreaming

Knitting has taken a backseat over the past week or so. I have been making progress on the Matrix Madness. I knitted my way all the way through one ball and am about a third of the way through the second ball. Fortunately, it has been getting easier. Unfortunately, I think I will need a third ball. For fun I started my first Opal socks in Petticoat. They are delicious! I'm not usually a pastel person, but these are lovely (if I do say so myself).

However, most of my time of late has been spent at the sewing machine. Today was the big end of year program at my son's school and they performed Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The kids were fantastic. It was so nice to see a program that highlighted the talents of the children and their commitment to hard work yet didn't involve endless poetry recitations. This was wonderful. My very small part in the event was to volunteer to make the dreamcoat. I took on this task just before the Memorial Day holiday weekend. A trip to a local discount fabric store scored me several yards of wonderful fabric woven with multicolor metallic threads. A date with my colored pencils gave me a concept to follow. Several hours of modifying a wizard coat pattern netted me a usable dreamcoat pattern. Finally, a few days and nights with my Pfaff and trusty needles resulted in a really special coat. It was a lot of work for only a few minutes of stage time, but I think it was worth it. The music teacher was stunned. She hadn't dared ask for specifics with the short timeframe, so she was holding her breath. The other teachers surprised her with it at a dress rehearsal. She was pleasantly shocked and gushed that it was exactly what she had imagined, but for which she had not dared to hope.

The pictures capture some of the sparkle. It really did come off well and was bright enough to fit the role.

Now, school is over for the summer, Young Man is deservedly calling himself a third grader, and we can all relax until the Thanksgiving program.

Quizzy Time

Thanks to Sheelzebub for this one.

You scored as Materialist. Materialism stresses the essence of fundamental particles. Everything that exists is purely physical matter and there is no special force that holds life together. You believe that anything can be explained by breaking it up into its pieces. i.e. the big picture can be understood by its smaller elements. Materialist 94% Existentialist 81% Modernist 63% Postmodernist 63% Cultural Creative 56% Romanticist 38% Idealist 13% Fundamentalist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com