Catching Up

Ok, first and foremost . . . TA DA!!!! The new home of the stash.





They're cotton closet organizers from Walmart and I used two of the shoe sized ones and one sweater doohickey. Mathboy hung them in an unused corner of our bedroom and I'm quite pleased. It's not completely stocked yet because I was photographing and making notes as I went and it took longer than I anticipated. Of course as with everything else around here I received some unsolicited assistance . . .



That's Noko's tail. Isn't he helpful?


There has been more mail-ey goodness over the last few weeks; Some more birthday stuff . . . Watermelon Bombe roving from The Loopy Ewe and these adorable ball o' yarn earrings from knit picks.

Also from KP was a copy of Elizabeth Zimmermans "Opinionated Knitter" and the five skeins of yarn I needed for the Stripey Stocking Cap from Itty Bitty Hats. I went with all five of the pastel shades from the Swish Bulky line and I'm really pleased with the way it's coming out.

Now, about Mathboy. Sometimes I guess I paint him as a bit of an ogre and that's just not accurate. First of all he hasn't got green trumpet shaped ears he has an incredible amount of patience. Not with everything mind you, just ask anyone who's watched him play a video game, but he puts up with my flakiness and frequent bitchiness with an impressive amount of forbearance. He's never ever called me any names (not even a flaky bitch) or put me down in any way and disagrees with me when I say disparaging things about myself.

Anyways when it comes to finances he's the boss. He knows exactly how much money is in the bank at any given time and what the credit card balance is and I'm lucky if I still have the five bucks that I think I have in my wallet and sometimes "find" my credit card in my wallet and think "ooooh yeah! I have a different credit card now" (I've had it for two years!). The truth is that I need a financial keeper. It's not a gender thing it's just who I am. I am a world class, gold medal spendthrift and always have been. Worse I tend not to think about things before I purchase them and I often end up with a lot of junk. If I ask first it means I think about it "can I justify this purchase? Where will it live? Will I use it frequently?" and if we can't afford it it's a no or, more often "Can it wait?". The upshot of that is that I ask before I make a purchase greater than $10 and we continue to have enough money for frivolities like the mortgage, car payments, and dog food. It doesn't work for everyone and that's fine . . . as long as it works for us. < / end rant >

About a Wheel

The Friday before last I was on a hunt for Kumquat Pie to take with us for our weekly card night on Saturday (we're such party animals!). I parked my car on the edges of Hysterical Downtown Dade City (more antique shops than people) and headed for a shop that was rumoured to sell the creamy treats. It was about 20 minutes past five and as I approached I saw a woman collecting a sandwich board from the sidewalk. Since the board was in front of the store where I was going I assumed that the lady with the board would be able to assist me with my quest. Well, I was right . . . but not the way I'd thought. It turned out that the first store was actually closed and Penny, the sandwich board lady, was the proprietor of the antique shop next door. She told me where I could go for kumquat pie and, as I had to go past her store to get back to my car, I asked if, by any strange chance, she might have any spinning wheels in stock. Of course she did and I went in to take a look at it. The wheel was tucked away in a corner (evidently it's far too tempting for patrons children for it to be left in easy reach) and when I flipped the price tag I was shocked to see it was only $85. I guess my surprise showed because she hastily said "that price isn't firm". I smiled and said that I needed to think about it.
Upon my arrival home, I told Mathboy what I'd found, how much it was, that the price was negotiable, and made a point of saying how very crazy cheap it was even without bargaining. On Saturday, I mentioned it again and made Mathboy drive past the shop just so I could oh so very casually point it out. I'm sure I was about as subtle as a cast iron frying pan to the face.
Monday I was home sick (otherwise he would have been home before I finished work) and when Mathboy was on his way home he called and told me that he'd done some shopping and asked if I was feeling up to giving him a hand with his purchases. I was and when I heard him pull in I went outside. He popped the trunk on the car and went to grab the mail and when I lifted the trunk lid, there she was! He's a sneaky critter!
The wheel's going to need a fair amount of work before I can start spinning. At the very least I need to find a drive band and the whole wheel has got to be cleaned and oiled/polished. It's possible that the treadle requires replacing as there appears to be a crack or split along the length of the left side. There may or may not be other parts that I need to find as well so I think I'm going to wander down to Palm Harbor soonish and visit Uncommon Threads with the wheel and get some advice.

Breakthrough!

Evidently wonders will never cease. Last night on our way home from the home of some friends Mathboy said "If they're open, next week when we're up here, let's check out Mystic Fibers"

SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! What?? Wait! Who are you and where is my husband?

It turns out that my theory has been right all along. Mathboy has been reluctant to agree to any sort of major investment in the knitting thing and it's because Mother of Mathboy is an enthusiastic crafter. In her crafting life, she's done ceramics, plastic canvas, bunka, quilting, cross stitch, stained glass work, knitting, crochet and a host of other things. She's been very enthusiastic about each activity and, as a result, has a home that somewhat resembles a small, very well stocked, Michaels. Mathboy was afraid that I would show the same enthusiasm for knitting as his mother had for each of her hobbies but then, like his mother after gathering every tool ever thought of, move on to the next shiny thing. Evidently though, in the two and a half to three years that I've been knitting, I've proven my devotion, particularly through some trying times in the last month or two that really made me rethink this passion of mine, and he's realised that I am a Knitter and it's not going away any time soon. Woot! Onward and upward.

P.S. If you haven't already, go HERE and sign up for some squares. There's a little boy out there who could really use our thoughts, prayers, and some wooly love.

Somebody Loves Me

ETA: Go read Miss Scarlett's post here and if you can spare some yarn, kick in a square or two won't you?

Valentine's day yesterday was nice in spite of Mathboy being at school until fairly late. He received his traditional pear jelly beans, peanut butter cup and assortment of cards secreted in various locations, and I found this little guy waiting outside for me when I stepped out to get the mail.

In other mail related news, I purchased some Rowan Soft Baby from Christine of Three Dog Knits (she's still got some destashing to do and her prices are really really reasonable. Go Here) and it came on Wednesday. The yarn is a (sadly) discontinued single ply wool/cotton blend and it's softer than teddy bear fur. I can't wait to make a Baby Surprise Jacket from it (I think that's what it wants to be) and since the stuff is handwash only (good thinking there Rowan) I guess I'll be forced to put it in my own hope chest* rather than inflicting the handwash only madness on some poor unsuspecting new mom.

















*it's a hope chest because we're not actually trying yet. Just sayin'

Mathboy has read the blog and he is not amused. Evidently, it's just not right that I have not explained his blog name. So . . . here goes.

My husband is highly intelligent. The man has a mind like a well oiled steel trap (unlike my mind, which is more of a rusty steel trap. Facts go in never to be seen again). Anyways, his all time favourite mental pastime is playing with numbers. He's constantly running formulas and calculations in his mind. Again, this makes him my complete opposite, because I've always joked that I wear toe socks so that I don't have to take my shoes and socks off in order to count past ten. Because I am mathematically challenged, whenever I hit a calculation that is beyond my ken, I turn to him. You can see an example of his mathiness in the comments section of this entry of Kristy's. This is why he is Mathboy.

Now for some Yarn Porn:

That's Wooly Wonka's BFL sock yarn in the River colorway and the pattern behind it? That's Mim's Boudica Sock pattern. They were shipped on May first, and I've had 'em for a while, but I've been too busy fondling the yarn and working on the Crush sock of doom to focus much on posting them. Today I wound the yarn into two separate and equal balls. . . not that I can do anything but fondle it until I'm done with the C.s.o.d. *sigh*
Oh, and while I'm talking about those C.s.o.d. beasts, I've turned the heel on the first one and can officially count myself as being on the home stretch. Woot!