Knotty Mouse

Its a very “Random Monday” here at Casa de Mousie Mouse - and I’m offering up pictures of fiber love to combat the absolute suckage of my weekend. The tire was taken care of this morning and my car DID make it to the clinic where Munchkin survived what appears to be his LAST vaccination for “the series”.. I think that means we’re free from clinic hell for a while.
To the left is 3 skeins of handpainted laceweight yarn from www.handpaintedyarn.com that FINALLY came in on Saturday. I’m having a hard time trying to figure out what to say about this company since I’ve heard good things prior to my experience.. but I ordered this (all marked “In stock” ) on September 22nd and just recieved it. Seems as though some part of my order was backordered TWICE… but the customer service dept. did email me to inform me that my package was in limbo. The red yarn on the left is their new laceweight merino (for Hockeymom- hence the colors..) and the two others are 850 yds each of ‘laceweight wool’, one in “Saphire Magenta” and the other in “something something Loro” - the merino is by far softer than the ‘wool’. The colors are ‘off’ from the website but since I generally feel that ordering yarn online (especially handpainted yarn) is hit or miss I am happy anyway, the colors are very rich and beautiful. I’m contemplating a lace shawl or stole with them.. but otherwise no plans have been made.
Next up are the things that are keeping me happy during all of this “lets cosmically crap on Mouse” week.. I ordered Barbara Walkers ‘Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns’ and I’m absolutely in awe of the fact that the book is chocked full of 700 different stitches. I’ll be ordering the rest of the series between now and Christmas before they decide to become ‘out of print’ again. I bought this book with the part of my birthday money that isn’t going to replace husband’s stolen tools (insert nasty swear words, curses upon the thieves, and evil eye glaring..) and I’m definitely happy with shelling out $30.00 for it. The new VK is out.. and I’m loving the scarf on the cover - even if its knit with numerous strands of 90 inch i-cord. (um yeah.. I’m not quite that bored yet.. thanks) The rest of the magazine is remarkably more ‘wearable’ then some of their previous issues and I love the Asian influence section. Edited to add: Yeah.. I totally forgot to mention the Coffee Mate creamer- its the new seasonal flavors “Pumpkin Spice” and “Peppermint Mocha” (the Gingerbread one didn’t thrill me last year so I left it at the supermarket)which both just thrill me to bits when I saw them at Publix. I’ve gotten away from coffee in the last few years but I really enjoy a cup of flavored hot coffee when its cold and raining outside. I totally admit that I don’t have a life and new coffee creamer flavors make me excited.
I’ve been doing a lot of spinning lately and decided to dig into the fiber stash and find something new to play with. This is the hand-dyed Corriedale that I picked up in August at Plying the Arts in Athens GA… and its absolutely gorgeous. Its overcast here and I’m having trouble getting accurate photos.. but its a very soft mix of purples, wines, greens and blues that reminds me of the colors that oil makes in water. I’m spinning it as a sportweight single (about 13 wpi for the spinners out there) and am not planning on plying this so that I don’t “muddy” the colors too much. In the spirit of full disclosure.. I’m not spinning this on my Louet S-10 — but on the Ashford Traditional that Hockey Mom left here during her completely random visit last Friday. She came through town and dropped off her Ashford Trad for me to take for a spin (har har har) and see if I liked it.. since its for sale. Right now, I’m really having a good time with the wheel.. we’ll see.