You must eat this NOW.

Immediately, drop whatever you're doing and go straight to the nearest grocery store. You MUST try this flavor of ice cream.



I know it's been out for a while, and I'm late to the party. But it's soooooo gooooooooooood.

Also, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some Ben & Jerry's Coconut Seven Layer Bar ice cream (short of going to a scoop shop), PLEASE let me know!

I'm a thief.

My lovely friend Susan has a recurring feature on her blog of "Probably Something You Would Like". I'm stealing that idea to share some things with you that I like, and hopefully you will too!

I adore Smitten Kitchen's blog. LOADS of wonderful recipes, all very well-written and photographed, and I have yet to find a problem with anything I've cooked. Well, baked, as I usually go for the goodies. I also bought some of her prints to put up in my kitchen. They look lovely, if I say so myself. Well, if you ignore the horrible rental "white" paint and the ugly window.


The artwork found in AmberAlexander's shop is *amazing*. I'm in love, and want to wallpaper my wool room in her prints. I especially like this one of an octopus.

Artwork property of and courtesy of AmberAlexander

Lookit this amazing fiber bowl! It's machine stitched on soluble fabric, and is just astounding to me. ChocolateFrog really is an expert at this most unusual art.

Image courtesy of ChocolateFrog

Not Always Right kills me, every time. Customers say the darndest things!

You've probably seen this before, but I lurve it. The kitty makes me happy.

Well, I think that's it for now. I don't get out much anymore--work, sleep, sometimes on my days off I get to cook or do fibery things. I'll see if I come up with anything interesting for a post next week--if not, maybe this will be an intermittent feature!

Friday Funny

I snagged these from this month's issue of Vegetarian Times.


A couple sits down at a diner. The husband orders a burger, and his wife gets the veggie burger. The waitress yells back to the cook " Two burgers, one regular and one de-calf!"

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Why did the tofu cross the road?






To prove he wasn't chicken!

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A man walks into the doctor's office with carrots in his nose and broccoli in his ears. He says, "Hey doc, I still don't think I'm eating right."

Well, hello there.

I am still here. Things have been, well, a bit topsy-turvy in my head the last couple of months. I'm trying to straighten myself out and settle down. It's slow going, but it is going, at least a little bit.

I've been trying to get used to my new job, and doing some knitting, and some spinning, and lots of nothing too. I might have a finished object to show you, but, well, someone has been holding me up.




That's the inside of the finished back of my Estes Vest. Clio decided it was wonderful and the perfect bed, so it has been naught but a bed for some time now. I've also finished one side and part of another, and will be buying a skein of grey Lamb's Pride to make her her very own bed, so she can stop usurping my knitting.

I'm going to try to post more often. I did hear a good joke recently, so look for a Friday Funny this week. Oh, before I forget--I'm going to Rhinebeck this fall! For those of you who aren't fiber fanatics, Rhinebeck is the informal name for the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival, and it is one of the two biggest on the East Coast, if not in the country. I'm considering it research, as I'd really love to make a living traveling to different markets with my yarns, and selling online and wholesale in between festivals.

Till next time, keep knitting, spinning, spending time with your loved ones--whatever it is that makes you tick and keeps you happy!

Virtual Cat

Because I forgot to take the camera to the beach this weekend and because I've done nothing but knit, watch Mythbusters on DVD, and that single beach trip, I have nothing to show you (though if the sun stays out, I'll snap some pics of the finished back of my Estes vest). However, I figured we could all use some time with a snoozing kitty, who is ever-so-happy to have me home all day. You might be able to hear her tiny little snores. If not, she's still calming and cute. Hope it brightens your day even a little.

Friday Funnies

A three year old walked over to a pregnant lady while waiting with his mother in the doctors office.

He inquisitively ask the lady, "Why is your stomach so big?"
She replied, "I'm having a baby."

With big eyes, he asked, "Is the baby in your stomach?"
She said, "He sure is."

Then the little boy, with a puzzled look, asked, "Is it a good baby?"
She said, "Oh, yes. It's a real good baby."

With an even more surprised and shocked look, he asked...
"Then why did you eat him?"

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Three guys are driving in a pickup, two in the cab and one in the bed. Suddenly, a deer jumps into the road, so the driver swerves to avoid it and drives down an embankment into the river. He and the other guy in the cab swim out as the truck sinks. To their horror, as they reach the riverbank, they realize the third guy is nowhere to be found. They’re just about to dive into the river to save him when the third guy final pops up and swims to the shore. “Sorry,” he says. “I couldn’t get the tailgate open.”

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What do you call two men sitting on a window sill?







Kurt and Rod.

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Three fonts walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and say "Shove off! We don't serve your type in here!"

what, you want I should update?

So, it's Thursday. Time has gotten away from me, moreso than usual. I do have a few pictures (however terrible) for you, and I will post them now. Let's see, how to begin...

I went to Stitches West. It was really great. I want to be a vendor next year. I think that makes me insane (especially since I just looked at the prices for vending this year, eep!). I nearly forgot to take photos, and the ones I took are sort of blurry. Believe me, these two are the best of the bunch. Sorry, but if you squint you'll see it clearly!

Yes, it was crowded. Yes, it was weird being one of the attendees after working so many other types of conventions. However, as it was a crowd of women, I could see over almost everyone!

Standing on a chair near one of the back corners. This was a relatively *open* area--it was PACKED in some of those booths!

I think this was The Bagsmith booth--those are US50 wooden needles. She could've killed someone with them. The rug to her left was knit with roving and those needles.

What's that? You want to know what I bought? Why? Oh, living vicariously, ok. I had set aside some of my tax refund to take to Stitches, and boy am I glad I did! I used almost every last penny of my budget for the trip, but I paid for all my gas, food, and of course yarn with it. I've got some captions on the photo (click on it to "embiggen" so you can actually read it). Also, please try not to be distracted by the colors of my bedspread. Nowhere else was big enough and light enough to take the photo!

click to make it big enough to read the captions!

• I have no idea just yet what the Malabrigo is for, though there is enough of the Brillante for a vest (I think) and enough of the Melilla for a short-sleeved sweater (I think--maybe even elbow length). I simply could NOT resist those colors. Yes, I know it's a softly spun single, and yes I know it will pill. I don't much care though, and I'll shave them as necessary!

• The Knitting Notions should be plenty for a cabled vest, I believe. Hand-dyed--there are gorgeous tonal variations you can't quite see in the photo.

• There's another enormous skein of Eco-Wool for Big Man's sweater, but that was being swatched from and therefore in another room (did I tell you I want to make him a hoodie? And that he wants it baggy? Thankfully he likes the looser/bigger needle swatch!).

• The sequin thread will be plied with some plain black thick/thin (like these yarns) and I think I can get two skeins out of it, and the two green wool/stainless Habu cones are to (eventually when paired with two cones I already have) make myself a Sea Tangles sweater.

• The ultra-fine stainless--I can't wait to try that! I want to spin a textured single of...maybe merino/bamboo, and let that thinner-than-a-hair wire wrap around it as I spin it back the other way. It'll be sooooo coooooooool. I have to find the perfect fiber, though...ooh, maybe I'll corespin and then let the wire wrap! So many decisions.

Not much else is going on right now, honestly, I'm applying for jobs, freezing myself because I feel like not using the heat (but leaving the silly windows open) is a great money-saving measure for some reason, and deciding if I should make my own bread every day (is it more cost-effective? Doing the math today). ETA: I just called my local warehouse store, and a 25lb bag of all-purpose flour is $6.29. That is roughly $0.26 flour cost PER LOAF of sandwich bread. Guess who's never *buying* sandwich bread again! Off to try making a loaf right now to ensure I'm good enough at it that this would be a worthwhile purchase.
I've been doing loads of knitting on my Estes Vest, and have nearly the whole back done. I know it's faster than if I were doing it with finer yarn, but even using the Lamb's Pride Bulky and US10.5 needles, all the tiny cables in the honeycomb are slowing me down. It's such a cool pattern, though, that it's worth it. Plus, it's going to be a REALLY warm vest--I'm excited.

And because I know you've missed her, here's another shot of Her Furry Highness. It's from yesterday, and she was resting hard. Doesn't she look tired from all her exertions?