I'm still a day younger, I think.

So, it's 4:30 in the morning and now it's really Wednesday.  I think.  this is like Groundhog Day; I keep reliving Wed, only Wed didn't happen yesterday.  It's today.  AAAAAACK!

itsJUSTme - That's just what it felt like. So now it is actually Wednesday, and I'm not confused any more.  
Kitten With a Whiplash - Mostly it's brought me real sleepiness.  Given that I got about 4 hours of sleep last night and didn't take a nap, I'm really out of it.  But if you're good, and do your chores, and your homework without complaining, and practice your musical instrument without me having to yell at you, then you can have all the toys you want.

I'm a day younger.

Ruth's Fountain of Youth

And how did I manage to accomplish that?  Easy.  When I got up today, I was convinced that it was Wednesday.  Why I thought so it beyond me, but for the entire morning I thought I had somehow mucked up the days and lost an entire day of work.  Surprise!  This drove me so crazy that I finally had to resort to the Web to find out the day and date.  So, I'm so happy to report that instead of being a day older, I'm now a day younger.

It gets even sillier.  Monday is usually a dyeing day.  I'm always at my best at the beginning of the week.  The energy flows, the body wants to move, the ambition is there.  So yesterday I dyed and planned to mail out the lace yarns today.  Now here is a woman who thinks it's a day later, but the yarns to be mailed are not mailed; they're on the drying rack.  And the envelope to pay my nice cleaning lady, who comes on Tues, is on the kitchen counter.  I saw the envelope; I saw the yarn; I knew I had not mailed it off.  I mean, there it was happily plopped on the rack in the bathtub.  So how did I lose a day?  Methinks I need a vacation.

Wanna see what I dyed?  No, not the lace yarn.  The skeins are at the post office.  Nope, these are a few skeins that I played with one day last week (and not on a Monday), just for the fun of it.  I seem to be back in pastel land, except for one skein.  Every time I go back to pastels, I remember just how much I love dyeing them.

 Candy Apple

Gum Drops

Sweet Treats

Mint

I'm feverishly working away on my heathery shawlette, and another scarf that I might just turn into yet another triangle.  Finished a pair of socks, and am doing another auto-pilot one in my Basic Ribby pattern.

And that's my story.  And if I'm a day younger, does that mean that my birthday comes a day later?

pencraftco and pendie - It's nice to know that I have company.  If we keep this up, we'll be younger than we were when we were born.

The Janus Scarf!

Janus Scarf

A brand new pattern for you:  Janus Scarf.  So called because Janus was the Roman god of doorways, and looked both ways.  So does this scarf.  Two faces of the same theme.  Intermediate knitting, but not really that difficult.  You just need to be able to read a chart and pay attention.  After you've done a bit, it will become almost auto-pilot knitting. 

Scarf uses a skein of fingering, sock, or sport weight yarn.  Or you could use heavier yarn or even lace yarn.  You can vary the pattern in many ways, e.g. make it much wider and it becomes a shawl. With two patterns to use, you can make the scarf using only one of them, or do as I did, and work half in one pattern and the other half in the other pattern.  Or work a few repeats of one, and then a few of the other and continue in this manner.

The scarf can be worked in a solid, almost solid or even a variegated yarn.  If you choose to do it in a variegated yarn, make a swatch first to see if the yarn and the pattern work well together, or, just work Pattern Two.  

 

Pendie - Here's another idea about varying this scarf:  Knit the first pattern (the lacier one) in a solid, and then join in a variegated that lives with the solid, and do Pattern Two in that yarn. Wouldn't that be fun?

pendie - Here's another idea.  Work 2 rows in one color, and 2 in the other.  Or work the lacier pattern (Pattern One) mostly with the solid, but put in an occasional stripe of the variegated, and then do the opposite on Pattern Two.  BTW, The pattern on the left up above is Pattern Two, and the one on the right is Pattern One.

Scrabblequeen - I decided years ago to knit primarily for me.  I'm much happier that way.  ;-) 

Stuff and more stuff!

1.  Did I ever tell you that you all raised $250 for NAMI?

2.  The Hubbo had a cataract operation very early this morning, and he's doing very well.  I remember the grim old days, when my grandfather had to lay in bed without moving and sandbags around his head.  Now, you have an operation, and you're zippy zippy practically immediately.

3.   I might be catching a cold from you-know-who.  She brought it with her, and I might have it.  Piffle.

4.  I have a new scarf blocking on the guest room floor.  Pics tomorrow or whenever it's dry.  And I have to write up the pattern.  Very cute scarf, too.  I'm calling it the Janus scarf, since it looks both ways.

5.  Take a peak at my new yarn, which needs a name.  I'm thinking of calling it Lili yarn after Little Lili, the wonder toddler.  The cost will be $20/skein.  100%  merino, but HANDWASH!  It's worth handwashing, too. 

This is what it looks like when dyed with a darker color and more contrast between the darker ply and the lighter ones.  It works up and looks like ragg!

Here's what it looks like with less contrast between the darker ply and the lighter ones, and also this one has variegation but in the same general family.  It knits up as a heathery yarn.

This is 100% merino, but 2 of the plies are not superwash, so it's handwashing for this yarn.  The effect is so cool, that it's really worth a couple of minutes of soaking, and gently squeezing, and drying flat.

I'm not ready to sell it yet; I dyed up only 4 skeins, gave my sister one with reds and pins.  This one looks like the red and white string that is used by bakeries.  But it's soft, cozy wool and delightful against the skin.

However, here is a bit of a dye-up.  All are Gina SW merino/silk in heavier fingering wt and approx 400+ yards.  This is the most gorgeous yarn.  It has all the good properties of wool with that soft sheen of silk.  Each skein is $25 ( costs me lots more than the usual yarn) + the normal shipping for wherever you live.
Email me at fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com if you want.  Otherwise, they will gradually make their way to Etsy.

Delight Silk

 Happiness Silk

 Rosebud Silk

 Silver and Silk

And that's what's new today.

Scrabblequeen - This is the thinking knitter's or crocheter's yarn.  You really need to do a swatch to see what will look good in it.  It's a very unusual yarn.  When I get around to selling it, I'll need to include some pics of what it can do in the ads.

How did I get to be the mom of a 40 year old woman?

Elder DD turned 40 yesterday!  My baby!  My sister wants to know how I, who she says am only 30, could have a 40 year old daughter.  I told her I had DD pre-utero.

Wasn't she just born?  Didn't she just begin to crawl and walk?  I don't know where the time went, but I can tell you that she's a wonderful woman and daughter! 

The weird thing for me is that it's easy to realize that I've been a Grammie for a few years, but having a 40 year old daugher boggles my mind.

We did a lot of eating and laughing this weekend.  Poor Birthday girl had a rotten cold, and took some med that upset her tummy.  So her supper at the Persian restaurant we took her to consisted of a glass of Coke.  She slept off the crummy stomach, and she'll get a rain check on the restaurant.

Knitting news:  I'm playing around with this wonderful new yarn that I bought.  One ply is superwash, and 2 plies are not.  That means that the SW ply will just grab the dye, while the reg plies won't.  I'll have pics of what I'm knitting with it in a day or two.  I've been doing a lot of swatching and frogging and so far, here's what I can tell you.  The skein dyed with deep teal, with a lot of contrast between the SW ply and the others, works up to a ragg look.  Very sporty, and great for guy socks as well as girl socks.  The skein with lighter colors, and therefore less variation between the plies, works up to a heathery look.  Amazing what one yarn can produce.  It's a lovely yarn, soft, 100% merino, and I think I'm going to like it a lot.

Brrrrr. It's chilly.

I caved in.  Every year I try not to put the heat on until Oct. 15.  No good reason, just an attempt to be frugal.  I almost made it this year except that it is 62 deg F in my house and I'm chilly.  So, I just put it up to 65, and I can smell that warm air, and it's getting a bit warmer.  But I came close to that Oct 15 moment.

Yesterday I finished up the bagels.  Well, old bagels get like hockey pucks, at least they're supposed to get that hard, and I didn't want my tasty bagels to get to that point.  So, I sacrificed and ate the last couple of them.  And that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Then I baked some cinnamon bread.  We're about half through it, and it's wonderful!  Mmmmm.

The normal bread pattern plus I added 3 TB of nonfat drymilk powder for extra tastiness and nourishment, and dumped in a bit of Ceylon Cinnamon, and then rolled it out when it finished rising, and spread a little bit of melted butter and sprinkled on some cinnamon/sugar.  We are talking delicious here.

Here's my formula for my everyday bread.  I knead in the bread machine, but you can do it by hand, in the KitchenAid, in the food processor.

1 cup warm water
1 tsp Diamond Kosher salt (less sodium than table salt, and still as good)
3 cups flour, either all-purpose or bread flour, depending on what kind of bread I'm making.            
1 tsp yeast, the kind that goes into a machine.  Nope, you don't need more. 

I add biga, or nonfat dry milk or buttermilk powder, or different flours, herbs, seeds, whatever I want.  I use King Arthur flour almost exclusively.  It's good stuff and employee owned.  White, brown sugar, or honey if I want a sweet dough.  I haven't tried agave syrup, although I should since it's very low on the glycemic index.

I use only one tsp of yeast.  Many, many years ago, I would use a yeast packet, and my bread always tasted too yeasty.  So one day I got brave and went down to a teaspoon.  Bread tastes wonderful, rises well, and I never add any more yeast unless I'm making a very sweet dough, in which case I add maybe 1/8 tsp more.  I buy my yeast in bulk, also from King Arthur.  One pound of Fleischmann's yeast runs me about $7.95, and easily lasts a year.  I keep some of it in a jar in the refrigerator, and the rest in the freezer.  If you bake a lot of bread, buying in a one-pound package is the way to go.



I generally use white flour, but will substitute white whole wheat flour, or rye or semolina or oat or whatever is around.  I don't like whole wheat bread.  Really don't like it at all.  I know, it's good for me.  Piffle.  I eat bread because I love it, not as a form of medicine.  And besides, when I snack, it's not because I'm stomach hungry, but becase I want something in my mouth.  Ergo, I make bread that I love.  Food police: too bad.

So, I mix up my dough, let it rise until it is where I want it to be, knock it down, shape it, cover and let rise about 45 minutes more.  After 30 minutes, I heat the oven to 500 deg. F.  Yes, 500 deg!  When the bread is fully risen, then I slash it, smear something on it or not, put it on a piece of reusible parchment paper, which is on top of a cookie sheet, put it in the oven, shut the door, REDUCE the heat to 425 for regular breads, and 375 for sweet breads and bake it.  When it's done, I give it the "knock" test, i.e. I rap it with my knuckles and if it has that hollow sound, it's done.  Take it out of the oven, put it on a cake rack and let it cool.  The parchement paper comes in sheets and is totally reusible.  I have had my original 100 sheet batch for many years.  I don't bake cookies often, so it really lasts a long time.

Yes, I know all about baking stones, own one in fact.  And I do sometimes spray water to give it that steamy moment.  And I often let the dough or shaped loaf rise in the refrigerator to get that extra taste, but honestly, my parchement over cookie sheet gives me a great crunchy crust, and the bread really does crackle when I take it out of the oven.  I don't like very dark crust; it tastes burnt to me, so I don't bake my bread forever.  In fact, I don't do half the rules about bread baking.  I've been doing this for 35 years, and I think I have it pretty much down pat.  Except for getting real bagels.  That eludes me, but I love my crunchy bagels so much, that it's fine.  I read bread books all the time, and own a few amazing ones.  But the truth is that I never weigh ingredients, or follow formulas except for mine.  However, I do pay a lot of attention to the dough when it is beginning to knead, and add bits of water, or flour as I think the dough requires it.

On the needles:  My 2 latest projects.  The little blue scarf that I showed you yesterday.  I would have more done, but I needed a nap.

And the Janus Scarf, which is motoring along very speedily.  And it lives in this adorable sock bag that I got from ZigZag Stitches.  Cute, huh?

And now the house is warmer and I'm a happy camper.

Scrabblequeen - I am so sick and tired of "eat this; it will let you live 100 years more".  I want my food to be healthy and tasty, but I'm not going to eat 1/4 cup of something I don't like to live longer.  Enough already with the food scare of the week.

itsJUSTme - You just wish.  There are never any leftovers.  

What I did yesterday.

 I made bagels.  1 doz bagels from a recipe for a 1.5 lb loaf.  Guess how many were left when I got up this morning!   Three.  We went through almost an entire loaf of bread, i.e. we ate 9 bagels.  And I wonder why I'm putting on weight.  But they are so good.  I tend to make crunchy bagels rather than chewy ones.  And when you split them and toast them, oh my, they are better than potato chips.  And just as addictive.  Actually, I think I'm better with a bag of chips than my bagels.  Oh, and I'm almost finished eating that bagel.  Do I need to make more?  I think I'll make a regular loaf of bread instead; at least that lasts a couple of days.

Bagel recipe:  just a normal bread recipe:  flour, water, salt, yeast, and I added tons of caraway seeds.  Mmmm.

I cleaned the kitchen counters.  When we bought the house, we knew we had to do a total kitchen makeover.  We decided not to bump out walls or add anything to the original footprint.  And that was fine, except that we are serious slobby pack rats, and my baking area became a holding spot for junk.  I'm talking 2 huge piles of cookbooks, Cooking Light magazines, assorted bank statements from 2 years ago, scraps of knitting patterns, graph paper with those patterns graphed out, ancient sales receipts, etc, etc.  So yesterday, I cleaned it all off.  Whoo hoo.  I now have an area to work on.  I can actually use the baking center as a baking center.  I can mix, knead, whatever.  I wonder how long it will take before it's a mess again.

And I started a new project.  I was working on this shawl from hell, and finally got smart enough to frog the entire thing.  So, here's what's now on the needles.  I hope you are impressed.

This little gem took me forever.  I wanted to play with a different shaping, and for some reason, it wouldn't come together in my brain.  I finally took out the graph paper, and played with it all, and ta da!  I did it.  Of course I frogged it 4 times for very stupid reasons.  But now it's fine.  And then I spent also forever working out the chart.  I like the pattern that I came up with for the previous incarnation of this shawl.  So I recharted it, and now I have to decide when to begin it.  This is fun knitting.  This is a nice workout for my brain.  No auto-pilot here. 

And of course I photographed yarn, edited the pics, blogged, washed the endless laundry, and watched The Biggest Loser.  And ate bagels while watching The Biggest Loser.

Scrabblequeen - mmm.  Tasty and delicious! I"m now down to one bagel, which I'll force myself to consume in a little bit. And in the oven is a cinnamon bread, done in about 8 minutes.  I think I could live on bread alone.
itsJUSTme - I'm a good bread baker, and a lousy house keeper.  

Mwahahahahaha! Oooooooooo! Creepy, Scary!

  BOO!

Guess what I dyed yesterday?  Creepy, disgusting yarn.  Not the colors; the names.  Well, the annual craziness is coming up, and what better way to anticipate ghosties and ghoolies and goblins than with tasty, delicious yarn.

He he he!  Ya ready?  Here we go:

Great Green Globs:

Gopher Guts: 

Mutilated Monkey Meat:

Concentrated Turkey Feet:

Creeping Crud:

Malted Blood:

Fried Innards:

Ectoplasm: 

Scream:

Ghost:

Nice yarns, strange names, and lots of fun.  Gradually appearing in my Etsy shop:  http://fritzl.etsy.com

You know the drill:  if you want before I list, email me at fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com.

Today's yarn is Great Green Globs.

Mwahahahahaha!  Whoooooooooooo.   Nasty cackle.  Moans, groans.  Antacid.

Fried Innards is spoken for.  He he he! 
Scream is grabbed.  S c r e a m........


Henya - All that delightful disgustingness is now reserved for you in your Henya pile.

Tiny post.

Congratulations to DragonYady!  She has a lovely sock now published on Ravelry.  Go check it out!

Just listed on Etsy:  Sleepy Meadow Karen mcn yarn.  This reminds me of mountain dew, kind of faded and soft and very pretty. 

And that's it for the moment.  Back to sleep.

The Yarnarian Was Weak.

I caved.  I swore I was not buying any clothing this fall/winter, except maybe a pair of skinny jeans to wear inside boots.  Uh huh.  Famous last swears.  There is a nice little outdoors mall about 30 minutes from us, and the drive there is very, very pretty.  So what's a girl to do when the weather is glorious, the leaves are starting to change, and the Hubbo wants a field trip?  Yep, go to that dangerous mall.  The one with J. Jill and Coldwater Creek.  That one.

And even more temptation:  both stores, unbeknown to the Yarnarian, were have 25% sales off already marked-down items.  Items that she wanted.  As in jeans and cords.  As in her size.  As in great fits.  So what's that girl to do but sneakily buy 5 prs of pants, and one cute knit top.  2 pairs of cords, one boot-leg jeans, one skinny jeans to tuck into boots, and a desperately needed dressy pair of black slacks.

Now she has her bottom covered, but there is one tiny little issue left:  she needs the boots for the skinny jeans.  Yep, she has the Uggs, but those are for freezing weather.  So now, what's a girl to do?  Sigh.  Now she needs to find boots on sale so she can tuck the skinny jeans into them.  And what makes in more interesting, is that she doesn't like to wear boots.  BUT she needs to be a fashion statement.  So she's going to have to find boots that are tolerable so she can look cool.  At her age.  As if anyone is going to notice.  The Hubbo is clueless about the boots/skinny jeans business, but she does have her self-respect to consider.  So, the hunt for nice, comfy boots that don't make her feel like her legs are strangled with leather.  It's tough being an elderly fashionista.  Snort.  Giggle.

Yarny news:  The yarn sale has ended; I now have more room in the shop, and can happily go back to dyeing.  Here's what I just listed on Etsy:  Summer's Last Rose.

Biga!

It's bread baking time again!  I love baking bread and have been doing it for 35 years.  This summer was too hot to put on the oven, so I baked the bread in the bread machine.  Not bad, but not great, either. (I use the bread machine to knead the dough; it does a much better job that I ever can, plus it doesn't hurt my cranky wrist.)   I missed handling the dough and shaping it and slashing it and all that other good doughy stuff.  But now that it's chilly again, I love having the oven on, and I'm back to baking with a vengeance.

I just put up a biga, which is an Italian starter.  I mix it in the machine for about 10 minutes, stop the machine and let it hang out there for 5-6 hours until it has done a lovely rise.  Then it gets stored in the refrigerator and I use it as I want to.  It lasts about 7-10 days, and each time I use it, it is more fermented than the last time.  Mmmm, fermented dough.  What a nice flavor it adds to the bread, and I don't have to futz around with sourdough.  Then, when it's either died, or used up, I just make another batch.  Since I bake bread 3-4 times/week, my kitchen is alive with lots of yeasty organisms, and all that, plus the biga, makes for a tasty loaf.

This is the biga 10 minutes ago.  A nice round ball, somewhat kneaded and about to happily rise. 

I've been baking all sorts of bread, from my caraway rye to crispy bagels to tejes kolacs (a Hungarian babka).  The bagels are little guys, very very crispy with very little doughiness inside, not like store-bought bagels at all.  They are beyond addictive, even better than potato chips, and I adore chips.  Next time I make them, I'll show you pics.  I think I should change their name to crispels, rather than bagels.

I ended up making a boule of rosemary bread.  Tossed in about 1/4 cup of biga into my regular dough, added lots of rosemary, and now I'm consuming it nonstop.

Here's what I toss in for my regular bread:  water, salt, flour (bread or all-purpose if I'm doing a sweet bread), yeast.  That's it.  Then I add whatever I'm in the mood for, in this case it was rosemary.  Sometimes I substitute with other flours, as in caraway rye bread, where I use some rye and tons of caraway seeds.

And now that I have biga, it will get put into everything I bake.  Just before the biga is all used up, I'll pull off about a walnut size piece and add that to the new biga.

Me - Yep, I did that all last year.  This year I seem to be back into biga and other modes.  Isn't making bread fun?

Ruth's Basic Ribby Socks

Ruth's Basic Ribby Socks

No fancy, schmancy socks for me.  I'm into ribbed socks in a big way.  Right now I'm into showcasing the dyeing, not the patterning, so ribs work very well for me.  And, I know they fit perfectly.  This is true auto-pilot knitting, perfect for TV moments.  Complicated stuff gets done in the afternoon when it's quiet and no one is around to distract me.

This is yarn from my stash, bought way before I started dyeing.  It's a skinny something or other (the label went missing), and I love the way it flashes.  Sometimes you just have to go with what the yarn wants to do, and not try to impose complexity on a forceful colorway.  I tried it every which way in crochet, and it was a disaster, but here, on ribby socks, it's rather pretty.

My basic rib pattern:  k5, p2.  That's it.  I make a 56 stitch sock, use 2 circs, and 4 repeats on each needle works perfectly. 

Here's the basic pattern for you.

Ruth’s Basic Ribby Socks

Auto-pilot knitting at its best!

Size: Small, for medium – large sizes, add pattern repeats and/or use a larger needle.

Style:  Cuff to toe

Gauge:  7.75 sts over stockinette

Needles: size 2.50mm (size 1.5); 2 circulars, or whatever you’re comfortable with

Yarn:  350-400 yds of sock weight yarn

Pattern repeat:  7 stitches  

Cast On:

Cast on 56 stitches loosely.  Divide your sts up as follows:  28 on needle one, and 28 on needle two. 

Work pattern until leg is as long as you wish.

Heel: 

Heel flap is worked on 28 sts on needle two. 

At the end of needle two, turn work so that the wrong side is facing you. 

           

Row 1.  Sl 1 purlwise, purl to end of row.

Row 2.  *Sl I purlwise, k1*.  Repeat from * to end.

Repeat these two rows until 27 rows are completed.  You are now on the right side of the heel flap.

Turn heel:

Note:  Sl 1 = sl 1 purlwise

                Row 1:  (Right side) K 15, ssk, k1. Turn

                Row 2:  Sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 3:  Sl 1, k4, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 4:  Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 5:  Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 6:  Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 7:  Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 8:  Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 9:  Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 10:  Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

Row 11:  Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 12:  Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1.  Turn.  You will have 16 sts on your needle.

Heel Gusset:

Work across the heel flap sts on Needle two.  With the tip of Needle two, pick up 14 sts along the side of the heel.  Pick up a stitch from the row below the first instep stitch to prevent a hole:  15 stitches picked up.

Needle one:  Work across the 28 instep stitches in pattern.  From now on, the instep only will be worked in pattern.  The sole will be worked in stockinette.  You will have 28 sts on needle one and 28 sts on needle two.

With the point of needle two, pick up a stitch from the row below the first heel st to prevent a hole.

Pick up 14 sts along the right side of the heel: 15 sts picked up.  Place a marker half way across the foot sts.  This will help you count your decreases accurately.

Work across the foot sts and the instep sts.  You are now ready to begin decreasing for the gusset.

Shape Gusset:

Dec. round:  At beginning of needle two (foot sts), k1, ssk, work to 3 sts before the end of needle two, k2tog, k1.

Work the instep in pattern.  Do not decrease here.

Work the next round without decreases on the sole.

Continue to decrease on alternate rounds on the foot sts.  Work until 28 sts on the sole remain.

Foot:

Needle one:  instep

Needle two:  bottom of foot.

Continue working in rounds in until the sock is about 1.5 inches from the end.  Decrease one stitch on instep at the end so that you have 28 sts on each needle.

Shape Toe:

Round 1: On needle one, k1, ssk, knit until 3 sts before the end of the needle, k2tog, k1.  Repeat on needle two.

Work the next round plain.

Work these 2 rounds until a total of 20 sts, remain.  10 stitches on each needle.

Finishing:

Holding needles one and two together, graft sts on them together using the Kitchener st.

Weave in ends on inside of sock.

Work the second sock.

Henya - Yep, it's my kind of knitting these days.  Pretty, simple and fun.

DJNL - This one is even more mindless than the k3, p2 one.  More knitting, I guess.  Can't wait to see one of those browns turned into socks!

SALE - SALE - SALE!

 SALE!

Yep, it's October which means that it's time for my annual Anniversary Sale!  I started my little business 3 years ago!  Who ever would have thought that I'd still be going?  And I'm so pleased about it!

So, because you all keep me in business, it's time to give you a SALE on all yarns listed, including sock yarns, lace yarns, and even some luxury sock yarns!  Yes!  Yippee!  Go forth and buy it all, and then I'll show you some new goodies.

WHERE?  http://fritzl.etsy.com

WHAT?  $2 off each yarn!

WHO?  me, of course, you local friendly Yarnarian, aka ruth

WHY?  Why not?  3 years in this crummy economy is pretty nice, so why shouldn't you share in my happiness.

YES, I mail out internationally!

  SALE - SALE - SALE

nornspinner  - I wonder if it will ever happen again?
Scrabblequeen - Well, of course you had to.  It's a good deal, and the colorway is soooo pretty.
itsJUSTme   - There are some real beauties there!

The Yarnarian chits and chats.

Those Autumn Pine Needles!

 What a great 3 days I just had!  Fri, I went to a S&B group, where I got my knitting jollies on.  It's so pleasant to knit with other folks, and I so rarely do it.  Then BFF and her Hubs and the 2 of us went back to that amazing Persian restaurant, and had yet another incredible dinner.  Sat, the Hubbo and I took a very long field trip to Harney's in Millerton, NY.  I bought one tea, Eight at the Fort, which was fine.  We were all over the area, from Millbrook, where we always have lunch at the diner, to a little festival in Copake, and then home, 9 hours after we set out.  And then good TV.  Yesterday, we went into Brooklyn and saw the kids and the grands.  Little Lili is a master at saying NO, and she is beyond adorable.  And the Benster!  What can I say?  I adore kids from 5-12, and he is almost 5 and a pistol.  He makes me giggle, he is so cute.

Friday we had a huge windy rain storm, and the combo did a fascinating number on the pine needles in the driveway.  Take a look at how it all swirled those needles around.

Isn't that pretty?

And I'm off to dye some creepy, scary, howlie colors!  Mwahahahaha!

Big News tomorrow! 

itsJUSTme   - Isn't it amazing?  Almost 1/2 of the driveway covered in these swirly pine needles.  All this because water accumulates at the top of the driveway, and then we have to pump it down the driveway.  So the needles just swirl as the water moves?  I don't know.  I've never seen this before, but I think it's so cool!
busybusybeejay - I wonder what the odds are of this ever happening again.