Yea for Sales!

There's nothing I love more than a good sale -- especially when it's yarn that's on sale. So yesterday, while Chandra and I were sipping coffee at our new favorite cafe (any place that has a thing called a Strawberry Cheesecake Mocha is just fine by me) and doing a little knitting (I finished the first of many ribbed hats from One-Skein Wonders), I remembered that Hobby Lobby was having a sale on its Yarn Bee yarn -- everything was 50% off. That, of course, meant that, after finishing our yummy drinks, we had to run right over to Hobby Lobby.

I was especially excited about the sale because of Chandra's baby sweater. When Chandra first found out that she had a little bun in the oven, she started working on a baby sweater in a soft, gorgeous yarn in a soft gray-ish color. It's beautiful -- and I've been drooling over the yarn ever since. This yarn, it turns out, is a Yarn Bee yarn -- Soft Delights Baby, I believe it's called -- so I was excited to run out and buy some for myself. And I was even more excited to run out and buy some for myself at 50% off!

The only problem was choosing a color. Chandra and I stood there (trying to avoid the people who were, for some reason, doing inventory in the middle of the day...in the middle of the yarn aisles...in the middle of a big sale) for ages, trying to decide. Eventually, she went with a pretty minty greenish (though she left really frustrated that she won't find out if she's having a boy or a girl for a few more weeks -- and she decided against my "just get one for each" suggestion), and I went with a stunning deep purpley-blue. Since the yarn has an incredible 377 yards per skein (!!), we figured three skeins would do just fine for a sweater -- and that put us back a whole $8. Could I pass that up? Heck no! In fact, there's a chance that I may run out and get more before the sale ends (especially since you can make a baby sweater out of one skein -- with a ton left over).

While I was dreaming about my new yarn last night, I decided on a pattern. I may need to finagle a bit to get the right gauge, but I'm hoping it'll work. Sure, I have no idea when I'll actually get around to starting it (considering I already have another sweater on the needles, as well as another one that I'm thinking about), but I'm excited to work with the yarn. It's like buttah.

Hold On...

...Has another whole week really gone by?

Over the past week, I've been playing a little much-needed catch-up. My stack of DVDs to review is shrinking, and that's a start -- even though my stack of books to review is growing. I keep trying to clean off my desk, but things just keep piling up again. Isn't it amazing how that happens?

It's been a good week, though. Mom and Dad's visit was wonderful. We stayed up late, slept in, drank lots of coffee, ate bad food, and went shopping (my poor husband worries about leaving on business trips -- because my parents are such a bad influence... ;) ). Mom and I ran out to get some yarn -- because she wanted to make herself a lapghan -- and we ended up spending much of the weekend knitting and watching TV. The day after they left, I finished my latest sweater -- my big, bulky movie-going sweater. I'm working on doing a little gentle blocking right now, but I'll have pictures soon.

My knitting funk has given way to a serious case of Knitting ADD. I can't seem to work on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. After finishing the sweater, I started another one -- this time, a drapey spring cardi that I swatched to death before starting. But then I decided that I didn't feel like working on another sweater, so I started a hat. I finished that hat -- and, after felting it a bit by hand and stretching it too much width-wise, decided I didn't really like it after all. So I made a few new dish scrubbies for Mom. And then I started another hat. But what I really want to do is start a blanket of my own. I just need to decide what it's going to look like (though I really liked the blanket that Mom and I saw at Pottery Barn during our shopping spree last weekend) -- and what color(s) I'm going to use. And I'm still trying to decide on a pattern for another lace shawl (this time...a triangle). Oh, and I did I mention I've been working on a lacy scarf, too? I started it when Mom and Dad were here -- out of some fun Christmasy sock yarn that I got from some of the Knitastics for Christmas. I also have a baby sweater in the works -- but after knitting the body (and before starting the sleeves), I decided that I hate baby sweaters, so I set it aside.

My goal of the week: to work on something long enough to actually finish it. Fortunately, most of the projects are small. Maybe I'll finish my scarf today while I'm knitting with the girlies. Or maybe I'll work on that hat.

Or, more likely, I'll work on both, in between fixing the scarves of random young knitters. Or at least, that's usually how it goes on Monday: I'll sit there for a couple of hours, do very little of my own knitting, and fix numerous holes and dropped stitches and various imaginary problems. Then I'll come home saying things like "Build a bridge and get over it" and babbling on about how cute those Littlest Pet Shop toys are (and if I find one of the monkeys or the gecko, so help me, I'm buying myself one). It usually takes me the rest of the week to grow up again...

Back Soon (Woohoo!)

Last night's Central Ohio Film Critics Association dinner, to announce our annual awards, marked the official End of the Insanity. Now that all the screenings and nominations and things are behind us, and now that I've survived the annual Post-Christmas Sickness, things can get back to normal again. Finally!

Currently, Mom and Dad are on their way for a weekend visit -- but I should be back to my old self again next week.

On the knitting front, I've been in a bit of a funk lately, since I haven't really had a lot of knitting time. I am, however, almost finished with a big slouchy cardi (perfect for screenings at freezing cold theaters). And there have been baby sweaters galore. But more on that later.

Have a great weekend!