No post yesterday because a dentist's appointment took longer than expected and I ended up just taking the whole day off work. Plus, Monday's post was so long, I figure it counts for two days worth. Tell the truth, you didn't even miss me.

The dentist was actually good. A few months back I'd tried a new dentist to see about a broken tooth I have, and been extremely disappointed. The examination area was set up like a Jiffy Lube, with little cubicles rather than individual rooms, so you were there in a line of six or seven chairs, hearing all the noise and drills of other patients. The hygenist did a horrible job with my X-rays - I have a very strong gag reflex - leaving me in tears. The dentist spoke quickly and had a strong accent, so was difficult to understand, and said something about early stages - pre-symptoms - of a gum disease that "this video" would explain. He then popped a video in and left, leaving me to discover via television that I was taking my life into my own hands, because if this condition wasn't treated immediately, it would lead to stroke and heart attack. He then came back, said they could help me, and shuffled me off to another room, where a receptionist printed out a contract and informed me that if I sold my car I could afford the five extremely painful treatments, provided I also gave up eating forever.

I do not care for scare tactics.

I called the dentist who had seen me while I was growing up for a second opinion. I ended up being seen an hour late (but had knitting in my purse, so I hardly noticed) but they took new X-rays (no gagging, no tears, thank you very much) and explained that the broken tooth would likely need a root canal if it was left untreated, but at this point, it could go either way, so he recommended treatment sooner rather than later. He also said I had mild gingivitis, which could be taken care of with a good cleaning. He didn't pressure me to use him for treatment, he didn't tell me I was going to die if I didn't do something immediately, he just told me matter-of-factly what was going on in the inner recesses of my mouth.

I got up and immediately scheduled the cleaning and work that was needed. And they didn't even charge me, saying I could settle up when I came back in.

Dr. Tatum rocks.


In fiber news, I finally finished the alpaca. Here is the 250+ yards of sport weight natural white suri alpaca, playing among the citrus trees in my kitchen.


I also noticed something a little odd about Aslan-the-sock, while I was working on him at the dentist. Remember how Stephanie had such problems with this yarn pooling?

Take a closer look.

Not only is it not pooling, it's darn near self-striping. Go figure.

This, however, simply must be the most gorgeous thing on the planet. It's the red mystery silk I bought from Jen Saturday (the mystery is the recipient - I know it's really silk)

It spins up so beautifully, and I'm spinning it as fine as I can without stressing at all (I could be more consistant and fine if I wanted, but I want to just take it easy) so after about four hours of spinning I've spun about half an ounce, I think. The scarletts and garnets are amazing, and just the thought of what the finished yarn will look like takes my breath away. It's going to become a simple lacey scarf, probably feather-and-fan.