Knitting can be Funny.

Today I got a pedicure.  My toenails are now a very bright green.  I liked to knit while getting a pedicure, it makes me less self-conscious about my feet.  The women at the pedicure place, all make over my knitting and it does give me a tiny (really) ego boost. 

I was knitting along and doing fine and then, as it often does, calamity ensued.  I dropped a stitch on another pair of the lacy summer socks, I keep in my car for outside knitting.  I knew I would need a crochet hook to fix the mistake, so I packed up my knitting and put it all away.  My pedicurist looked up and said, "Why did you stop?"

I gave her a chagrined look and said, "I can't I dropped a stitch."

She immediately began looking around on the floor, and then before I could stop her she starts splashing around in the foot bath looking for my dropped stitch.  I must admit I laughed out loud when I told her to it was okay.  I explained the stitch was in my sock and not something that fell on the floor.  She smiled at me, but as a non-knitter I don't think she ever got that nothing was actually "dropped."  What she did get was a good tip for being so concerned about my knitting.

What next, flip-flops?

To prove I have indeed fallen into the world of rubber footwear, I exhibit the Crocs Suede Alice (Ruby).  I have been wearing it all day.  So far it has been very comfy and much fussed over.

These are the bad, the Crocs Malindi.  I paid $20 for them and I am unsure if I am going like this expensive version of the 80s Jellies.

The ugly, the Crocs Celeste shoes, I paid a whooping $5 for these homily step-sisters in cotton candy and ruby.  These babies are not the prettiest things I have ever seen, but they are way comfortable.  Judge me if you will, trust me I did all the way out of the mall carrying that big green bag proclaiming "CROCS."   I am sure I will lose diva points everytime I slip a pair of these on.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. I just bought 3 pairs of crocs! What next? Tube tops? (shudder)

Dim Sum or Tasting Chicken Feet

I love good food, and it shows when you see me.  I am not an adventurous eater, but I do like to try new things within limits.  I have always wanted to do dim sum, but with no experience in Chinese cuisine and a complete idiot with languages I had yet to try one of our many wonderful restaurants which serve dim sum. 

Once again the world of string brings me to new frontiers of experience.  One of the women I knit with had put out the call for yarnies and dim sum with the added bonus I got to meet her hubby and her mother.  So with Semperfiona and knitting tribe around me I got to try so many wonderful new things which have names I will never remember or be able to pronounce. Thankfully, the organizer of dim sum and her amazing hubby or very seasoned dim sum eaters.  They directed us to some very yummy stuff..  The pot stickers and sesame dessert balls were not new to me, but the fried shrimp balls were attractive and very  tasty.

I loved how the items came in little steamers which were put on the ubiquitous lazy susan.  I kept having issues with the lazy susan because I would move it just as someone else was trying to get something yummy.  Then I whirled the thing and a plate knocked over one my co-patriots tea.  That is me making a buffoon of myself in front of such nice people. 

My fellow knitter's hubby, who was just awesome at picking the yummiest stuff, kept the food coming.  He even made sure chicken feet were on the lazy susan.  I like chicken and have tried just about every part of the chicken except the head and the feet.  I find all but the gizzard palatable.  And now I can say I am not crazy about the feet because I did try a toe.  It was weirdly chewy and other than the sauce not very tasty.  I am doubtfully I will eat chicken feet again, but I was very happy to have such a wonderful opportunity to be able to come to that conclusion from experience.

Once again I think thank you my tribe of knitters for bringing so many wonderful things to my life.

Sorry No Pictures

I have not blogged for two weeks and I feel bad about that.  I try to blog at least once a week, but lately I have been struggling to find things I want to blog about. I am knitting, but I am in the middle of two projects (one at work, one at home).  Both are progressing at a sloth's pace. I want to be knitting socks, but I need to finish home project before going back to my sock pattern that I am currently obsessed with (lacy summer socks).  So nothing really to blog about there.

My large seven year old computer Penelope is not doing well.  She is not even moving at sloth's pace either.  My fears are that she will go to that great technological landfill at the base of Gasconade Street very soon.  I will be left with my little Penny, a netbook, which I am typing on now.  She is very portable and easy to use, but hard to use for photos and forget about installing MS Word on it, not enough memory.  I am struggle with inertia on this front and wonder, if one day I will come home and find Penelope has walked into the sun to end the misery.

My Mom has taken off to Sturgis SD on the back of one of my Dad's buddies motorcycle.  She has been gone a week, to camp, ride, and experience the things my Dad did on his motorcycle runs.  I can't imagine her camping and spending that much time on a motorcycle, she always hated doing those kind of things.  I will admit I was a little stunned by the plan and tried to talk her out of it.  She stayed strong and said she was going through with the trip.  After all these years my mother still confuses me.  I am left wondering why she never did this trip with my Dad, and why she wants to do it now.  Mothers are mysterious.

I think you can see why I have been so lax lately.  I will work harder to have a more interesting life in the next week.  Wish me luck.

Yarn Crawl or Doing My Part for the Economy

This weekend is the St Louis Area Yarn Store Crawl, where the owners lure the yarn heads in with the promise of free patterns and prizes.  With my debit card in hand, Natalie, Lenora, and a full tank of gas we were off making the loop around St. Louis.  The night before I gave it some thought and came up with a master plan for the trip and a list of things I am looking to purchase.  I packed my bag and I was ready by 11 to start doing some crawling.  I promised myself to space out the purchasing and try to buy something at 5 of the 6 locations.  I played the part of the Garmin.  Natalie was the chauffeur, and Lenora was, let's just say the rock star knitter in the back seat of the Ford Focus wagon.

We started at Hearthstone Knits and immediately I ran into a woman I had not seen in at least a year.  We chatted and caught up a little and before I knew it yarn was purchased and we were off to another location.  Knit and Caboodle in the bustling St Charles historic district was the most expensive stop of the day I fell in love with the drape of some gorgeous sea silk and well had to have it, in green (of course).  I found a lovely one ball knit lace scarf pattern for the very dear yarn.  I blame the evil Ariel at Knit and Caboodle for this purchase, not my own lack of control.

We ended at Knitty Couture in University City.  We got very lucky and were able to park right in front of the store.  I can't tell you how exciting it was to get all 6 spots stamped on my little passport or how awesome it was to get 6 free patterns by 6 designers that I knew. But I think the most exciting thing was that we had the rock star knitter, Lenore with us.  Everywhere we went people knew her and clamoured to talk to her about hardcore knitting issues and yarny gossip.  She knew everyone and I felt like a yarn groupie hanging out with her.    We rocked the yarn stores, and I think more than a few of them were glad when we took our rowdy selves out of their shops.

I came home with haul of magazines, yarn, and accessories, see the picture of haul at the top.  Keep your fingers crossed that one of us wins a prize (that bag at Hearthstone Knits was a stunner) and if we blazed across your trail Saturday I hope it was as much fun for you as it was for us.