cue the music

Regardless of what the calendar says, I know summer’s been here for a week already. Last week, my local grocery stores had Grainger County tomatoes and Vidalia onions for sale! And if that ain’t proof enough for ya, I got eat up by a hateful skeeter this morning.

Ironic that today was also Wax Day at the dermatology clinic where I work, in which we employees enjoy the perk of having our eyebrows done for free by one of our aestheticians. So I now have welts over my eyes to match the skeeter bite bumps on my elbow, wrist, and knee. Yeah, this was the state in which I returned home from the skin clinic. Ya just gotta laugh.

Speaking of work, I’m still digging the coding and my coworkers there, and the recent overtime for us two coders still continues. That proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is getting nearer, in that I predict we’ll be all caught up really soon.

But the extra work has already put my spinning wheel savings over the goal, and it’s time to finally get my wheel and bring her home! But alas, the Loopy Ewe, where I was going to order from , won’t have any more in stock for a long time. And the Coppermoose, which I’m delighted to have found, would have some in by today, according to the phone call a few days ago. But they can’t mail it to me before this weekend, which is when I’m determined to have it. This is a three-day-weekend coming up, and what better way to do this? You know I’m gonna want several days to indulge in my new toy, and having it arrive in the mail on a busy week day would just be a cruel turn of fate.

So no. I want it in time to spin with it during this long weekend! And I’ve found one close enough to drive to it on Saturday morning. R&M Yarns, a little over an hour’s drive south of here, carries my coveted Ladybug wheels. I spoke to Phyllis on the phone, and she said her UPS tracking has them arriving in her store Friday. I shall be there early Saturday morning waiting for her to unlock the store and sell one to me! She’s getting two, with one already spoken for. I got the official dibs on the other one.

By my reckonings, I shall be spinning my brains out by 12:30pm that day.

In the meantime, my fellow Fertile Turtle yarnies, my favorite LYS, my spinning books, my drop spindle with the alpaca, and my actual knitting have kept me occupied enough so that my head hasn’t yet exploded from anticipation. Check out Sandy’s blog for a recap of the Pajama Party – I’m the one in braids.

Speaking of the Yarn Haven, their latest charity drive is knitting prosthetics for those who’ve had a mastectomy. It’s called the Knoxville Knockers Club – for real! The pattern is actually what Mary Beth adapted to make my blue-footed booby.






That and a couple of raids with my WoW guild, The Legends of Azeroth. Festergut still hasn’t fallen yet, but we’ve got Saurfang’s butt thoroughly whooped. This weekend, we’re buddy-ing up with a similar guild to form a 25-man team for Ice Crown Citadel. I can’t think of much else that would tear me away from my wheel, and it probably wouldn’t if I hadn’t already had a day with it by then. That is, if all goes according to plan (cue the ominous music right about here).

I gotta confess to a bit of mixed feelings about our ultimate goal of killing Arthas the Lich King. Yeah, by all lore accounts, he’s got to be killed. But, he’s kinda hot – I’m just sayin’ . . .





I’ve spent the past couple of weeks culling my knitting magazines and doing some more de-stashing, both in the spirit of spring cleaning and in preparation for our Yarn Swap. That ended up being a two-weekend event, just to be sure everyone got a chance to de-stash and pick up some goodies. What’s in this photo is only a fraction of what all was up for grabs.

Our beloved Oliver picked up some freebie needles and yarn, and found some how-to videos online, and has at least learned to cast on. We’ve yet to see him do it, so I dunno . . . That was two weeks ago, when the espresso machine was out of order, ‘causing me to whine just a little.

The leftovers, you know, the stuff that nobody took, is going to the charity, Knit & Crochet for TN Flood Victims, courtesy of Luna who made those arrangements.

This photo shows what all I brought home with me from the swap. No worries; I definitely de-stashed more than I picked up. My trunk was full of yarn and magazines, and I drive an old Cadillac Deville!






I nearly brought these Moon Beams skeins home too, just because of their name!











We did manage to get some knitting done, and on the second swap weekend, the espresso machine was in full swing too. Check out Pam’s latest pair of Rainbow Ripples, poised on her finished baby Sail Boat blanket. Ssshh! She had a birthday last week!

And if ya missed it, ya missed hearing Barb serenade us with her rendition of Pants on the Ground.

You also missed seeing Raeus' alpaca and silk jacket all finished up! But I’m sure when cooler weather returns, we’ll see her in it plenty.

I recently finished knitting the little scarflett on the cover of Knitscene Easy 2010. Need to block it still, before snapping a photo. And ear candy for my home knitting has been the audio book version of Charlaine Harris’ latest Dead in the Family.

On my way home from work today, I stopped and picked up a copy of The Yarn Lover’s Guide to Hand Dyeing and the blu-ray of Beowulf & Grendel. This weekend I shall not only spin, but I’ll do so with high def Viking men in my den. Don’t bother peeking; I’ll have the blinds closed.