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Friday, October 29, 2004

I'm going to try very hard not to spew unpleasantries in a fit of "people-suck-iness" that I'm feeling today (caused by an unpleasant e-mail exchange with a total stranger that left me feeling as though I'd been accused of being a stupid, lazy American because four days before a major election I'm more concerned with American politics than with New Zealand history,
You NongStupid
living in a city which chose rush hour on a major highway to shut down three of four lanes of that road to do construction on the shoulder,
Backhoe
and a co-worker that has opted to shave while walking around the station talking to people, and is having some sort of hot flash phenomenon that makes him insist that the thermostat of the station be set at literally 63 degrees
Too Cold
or he spends hours whining about how hot he is
Sweating 2
and mopping himself with paper towels and leaving them all over the station).

But I'm not going to talk about that.

I will instead focus on the yummy yarn I bought last night (what? I needed it - I DID!!!) for my swatches for the Knitters Review Retreat. I have long had a theory of treating myself well for classes. If you take many knitting classes, you see many people knitting with yarn they wouldn't normally knit with - scraps, acryllic, cheap stuff, because they didn't want to waste the good stuff on swatches that will never be seen again. Me, I'm a pampered little princess.
Princess
I'm in classes with the best stuff money can buy - silk and cashmere and having the time of my life...

Why?

Well, there's no way I can afford all of that for a full sweater, often not even for a scarf or hat... but I can usually squeak out a skein of the good stuff. And so there I am in class, with some GORGEOUS yarn, knitting with the good stuff, having a blast.
Too Happy 1
And so when I started on my swatches for the retreat, I found one ball of lovely alpaca (yeah, I was surprised to find alpaca in my house too)
Winky
and decided to do some color work with that, and then I also needed another swatch of smooth, solid colored yarn for the other homework. So I went to Cloverhill, my friendly neighborhood LYS, and wandered around, touching all the solid colors I could find. Every single thing I picked up was alpaca. But I wanted to push myself, so I forced myself to put it back, and find something else... So I felt around some more... and picked up more alpaca. Finally I found something I didn't like as much, but thought I'd consider it. 100% cashmere. And it was $32 for 45 yards. I didn't like it as much as the alpaca. Push myself, my ass, alpaca wins again. So I tossed back and forth between some super bulky alpaca that was $12 for 110 yards, but decided that it wasn't quite smooth enough - it was bulky enough that the plies were very exaggerated. So I went with a rich natural colored charcoal grey alpaca, $22. For 665 yards. Which I liked better than the cashmere that was nearly a dollar a yard. While I was there, I also picked up the latest Spin Off (I thought I had a subscription, but I guess not) and a hank of laceweight merino. 1375 yards for $13.25. Less than a penny a yard. And lovely, sinful stuff, too... I'm thinking of plying it with some silk I got, dyed by Interlacements. I ordered it online, and was pretty disappointed with the color, because it was called "Reds Plus" and was pretty heavy on the Plus and light on the Reds. More undyed spots than actual red, and more pink and purple than anything else. So I'll see how the red Merino looks next to it, and maybe ply them together to bring out the red a bit more. Carolyn suggested I contact them to make the complaint and see if they'll correct the problem, and I might do that.

So my evening was spent playing with sinfully soft fibers that were just a joy, and I'm going to defrost after work tonight by playing with them some more, and hopefully my husband will be home, so that should make things better, too....
Sparkling Love Heart

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Edited to add:
Great, now I can't ever take Trevor to Brazil

Packers

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dang - you really ARE a moron magnet!! Hang in there...in a few days you'll be surrounded by sisters (and a brother - I'm picking KnitDad up at the airport)

1:21 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, I think every office has someone with multiple issues like yours (or worse, more than one person, but each with a different problem behavior), but it's always so funny to read about what other people have to endure. I have to say, I have a huge problem with nail clipping in public and cannot count the number of times I've had to watch and/or listen to someone clip their finger (and sometimes toe!) nails. I expect that might occur after the public shaving. Boundaries are a *good* thing!

Just reading your post makes me want to go out and get some cashmere or alpaca wool, just to touch it. Have a good weekend!

Susan
http://labmom.typepad.com/labradorable
labmom1996@earthlink.net

2:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dahlink, Put a padlock on the thermostat and hide the key! Tell Mr. Thermal Event to take a pill or sit his tush in the freezer. Men are not permitted to have such events, especially when they shave in public!

I adore alpaca and llama! To knit, spin or just grope!

Thanks for creating the Ring!
Melissa from WebHeads

4:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok, that legislation in Brazil is bordering on the Stupidest Thing I've ever heard! My pets would be out, too.

So, what the heck are you supposed to name your pets? Lemme think ... Bush? Oh, no, that's someone's name. Sky? Well, no. That someone's name, too. River? nope, taken. Jewel? ditto. Mercedes? taken. Blossom? double ditto ...

Let's see. How about ... Toilet? Floor? Rug? Trash? Germ? Grape? Zinfandel? Stupid???????

Ok. I'm done. :-D

You know, when I was in Commercial Real Estate, we DID put locking covers over the tstats. It was the only way to make sure the entire building's HVAC functioned correctly. They were set at 68, and people just had to make adjustments ~ short sleeves or sweaters. Maybe your boss would do that ...

But then, you'd probably end up with a Shirtless Coworker. That might be worse than layering up.

Ah. I feel for you.

See you in a couple of days, girl!

xxoo

Jen
http://thespirittrail.blogspot.com
http://www.spirit-trail.net

9:24 AM  

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