Gone AWOL

Sorry about that gang, but a little bit of allergies (strike that---ALOT of allergies) knocked me down on Tuesday and I didn't get back up again until sometime on Wednesday. Supposedly it's a bad year for it here in Central Indiana, and I've done some silly things to make it worse, like leaving the windows open during the day and letting that pesky pollen stuff come and get me. And I spend my days right next to a large (probably 100ft tall) tree in full bloom with pollen danglies (a technical term, I'm sure). A wicked sinus headache and a new prescription later, I'm back in the saddle again. Thanks for missing me (you missed me, right Sandy? Probably not..........).

It's third Thursday again, so you will have food pictures for vicarious eating sometime tomorrow or shortly thereafter. This month's theme is Sephardic, or the foods of the Jews of Southern Spain, Northern Africa, and the Mediterranean. We're having a very unique menu, and I've never made a single thing like this before, so it's going to be a fun afternoon of cooking. Matt's at the grocery store right now, followed quickly by a run to our local Middle Eastern market for some za'atar, pita, sumac powder, and other tasty stuff. And we're loading up on aubergines, lentils, fish, and beef. Oh, and I can't wait to make Morroccan Cigares later--a sweet cookie-like rollup dipped in honey, ground almonds, and more. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. If you leave now, you can make dinner at 7 p.m. EST. HURRY!

This is what brought me out of my slump yesterday evening, around 5:45 p.m. EST (well, this and Allegra). Behold the healing power of Koigu

About half of the shipment		The other half

Of course, we got more in, but it's already set aside for special order folks like Denise, who has 20 skeins of a custom-dye-job waiting for her,TheresaW, who I was fortunate enough to spend about an hour with on the phone last night (THANKS!), and other fun folks. I've started to send out the e-mails about what came in now that we have the inventory taken and compared it to the packing slip. What you see is the majority of a shipment of 36 POUNDS of Koigu. Yummmmmmmmmm. Given that it's been ordered since January, I was beginning to wonder. But the beauty of that table, all lined up with yarn, is worth every second of the wait (even if I did get fussy and impatient a couple weeks ago).

It will be online at our site in the next few days, as Matt has alot on his plate right now, but he's motivated. The spinning wheels are coming in soon and he wants to be able to start spinning on his new wheel instead of the drop spindle, which means the website should be updated ASAP.

A Little Diversion

You didn't think I only knitted to felt it, did you? (Hush Daphne, I do knit other things. Here's proof....)

Behold the wacky Cascade Fixation sock (ya gotta love that much color!)

Knitted yesterday (Sunday) from about 1 p.m. on, with the toe grafted earlier today

And something else....a new pattern just in on Friday

a Mountain Colors' Fascine Braid Sock, in Granite Peak

I like the pattern ALOT, and the colors are amazing (the picture doesn't do it justice--there's teals and purples along with the caramel shades you see here). The pattern is a simple four-round repeat, over eight stitches, and two rounds being P1K6P1. And the resulting knitted fabric is smashing with the texture and the elasticity from the K6P2 rib effect. I knitted this much on Saturday, between booths and walking and viewing fun things at the Fleece Fair. It was smaller than I expected, but very much fun anyway. We got some great things for Matt to spin with, took a Schacht wheel for a test drive, and decided on what type of wheels we'll start carrying in the very near future. Plus, I got to put my hands deep in a bag of Cotswold fleece---pure heaven! Creamy white, packed with lanolin, and just amazing crimps and curls and locks of wool. ME WANT.........ME WANT LOTS. But for now, we'll stick with the things we can order and have shipped in, but I'm going to pursue this one vendor for the fleece they handle. And get some Cotswold for my own cleaning, carding, and spinning.

Sunday brought a most pleasant afternoon of spinning on the back deck of our friend Susan's home. The weather was most pleasant, the company was perfect, and Matt was utterly obsessed again with his drop spindle. If we don't get the wheels in soon, he'll just implode on himself. So I'm ordering from the Ashford distributor tomorrow and we'll have things next week. And we'll never see Matt again--he'll be lost in fleece, roving, and an orifice hook.

Tonight is our monthly sock group meeting, where we meet to make socks, socialize, and decide what we'll work on the following month. That's why I made the socks above--our group is very tactile and loves to see how a pattern and/or yarn works up, so I had to provide a couple examples of suggestions for next month. They also bring in ideas and patterns they like, and the group as a whole (without my intervention) decides on the next project. So tonight, I offer up the above as ideas. And we see what they decide on. I love making socks, and this is a great bunch of folks. Second Mondays are always a treat!