The Knitting Queen's Excellent Adventure

I've done it again

It actually wasn't that excellent. It was fine. But indeed I have been on a 24 hour escape from the tedium that is my summer.

Yesterday at noon I dropped the boys off at Mike's sister's house for a sleepover. I need to emphasize this: this was completely 100% Tiffany's idea. I of course needed no convincing, but I do have to set the record straight that in no way did I foist these beings upon her.

The boys adore that baby, Blake, and Blake is mighty fond of them as well. There was much squealing involved when they greeted each other. And then there was some squealing of my own as I drove away at record speed.

My plan was this: 2 yarn shops, the bead store, the paint store, dinner with my husband before he went off to his 2nd job, and then hours upon hours of time to knit. I'm not sure where all those extra hours were going to come from, but that was the plan.

The first yarn shop, Village Yarn and Tea in Lake Forest Park, is a favorite. I oo-ed and ah-ed for a bit and really did intend to buy something fun, but of course since I actually had the time and some money, nothing jumped out at me. I then went to Acorn Street Yarn in the U District. I have not been to Acorn Street in quite some time and I always forget just how crazy that shop is. Crazy good. Crazy-floor-to-ceiling-shelves-of-yarn-and-a-library-ladder kind of crazy. Crazy as in they apparently carry every single solitary brand of yarn, do-dad, gadget and book one would ever need for knitting. Ever. All packed into this tiny crooked hexigonical shaped corner building.

And that is where I found Louet Gems Fingering Weight. The exact yarn needed for the Snowbird mittens. Because I'm disturbed and want to knit them. And I almost almost bought the pink and brown Lorna's Laces for the Sonata mittens. It was in my hands (because, again, this shop is amazing and they had SHELVES of Lorna's Laces sock yarn) and I walked around with it for a bit. See, a few days ago I (gasp) ripped out the Sonata mitten I had been making with the Cascade Heritage. I love Heritage and really wanted to make it work. But it wasn't working. On size 2's my stitches were uneven and on size 1's the mitten was too small. And I knew I would never make that 2nd pink and brown mitten. So I almost bought the correct yarn to give it another go. But I didn't. Couldn't pull the trigger. I think I may be over those mittens for the time being. But I did escape with my Louet Gems and I am itching to get started on those Snowbird mittens. Itching, I tell you.

I then went to the bead store, which was rather uneventful, and then went next door to Bellevue Paint to get a big pile of paint samples. See, I have 2 unpainted bathrooms and a 6 year old's bedroom that apparently needs to be any color other than the yellow we picked out for that room 10 years ago before he was even a sparkle in my eye. And I haven't been painting these rooms because destitute unemployed people don't throw good money around on paint. However, marginally destitute employed people with steady paychecks can throw good money around on a can of paint. So I'm beginning that process. Then, after traveling all over kingdom come, I went home to knit before meeting my husband.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Aunt Tiffany was unable to put Blake down for a nap because he didn't want to miss one iota of the party going on in his house, and my boys, who discovered her supply of Goldfish, kept telling her they were hungry, and naive new mom that she is, Tiffany kept feeding them said Goldfish to the point that, come dinner, they weren't hungry (to be fair, they also ate cupcakes).

I then met Mike at Jimmy Mac's Roadhouse where I had a great big ol' margarita and threw my peanut shells all over the floor, sent him off on his merry little way, and went back home for an evening of solitude.

Blake, ornery little stinker that he is, apparently didn't sleep most of the night because, again, the party (even though my boys were zonked out by 9). The boys then had donuts for breakfast, played some more Wii, and then I came to rain on their parade by taking them back home where they belong.

But of course, why go straight home when you can stop by Fred Meyer to look at their shoe sale and deals on school supplies? Which is great if you are Ryan and they have the exact pair of Sketchers that you have always wanted your whole life. And it sucks if you are Eric and they have several suitable pairs of Sketchers Z Straps and Super Z Straps and whatever the hell they are called but no Luminators which is apparently the shoe of his dreams. So it's a good thing I chose to go shoe shopping on the way home from a sleepover, because that left Eric with no coping skills with which to process the concept of going to a different Fred Meyer on a different day to look for these magical shoes.

We then drove through McDonalds and Eric was accidentally given 2 straws (2 STRAWS!), which is apparently worse than being given no straws, or even leaving the shoe store with no shoes. He complained about my choice of music the entire way home, and is currently in the living room, watching Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas and plotting my demise.

And people, this is why my shopping cart at Fred Meyer contained not only a pair of shoes, some bargain school supplies, but also a nice big juicy bottle of wine.