November knitting

That's it.  I finished the afghan for my dad.  Of course, the next day I found some ends I'd missed weaving in.  I'll fix it soon.  In the meantime, I have a new obsession.

But first, my dad's afghan.  I started it in mid-September.  I bought the light blue yarn over 2 years ago.  When I promised my dad this afghan, I thought there would be enough of it.  Wrong. 

(Remember this... it's a apparently a new theme for me.)

Upon using up the first of my two skeins, I had to go buy more yarn otherwise my dad would have a lap runner instead of a lap blanket.

The second yarn is the same brand, same weight, but clearly not the same.  My dad's bedroom is these colors, so at least it'll go.  I would have preferred a beige, brown, or grey yarn that was heathered like the blue yarn but it wasn't meant to be.  I'm just going to pretend I meant it to have a border.

I knew when I decided to make an afghan with this yarn for my dad that it had to be a lattice weave pattern.  I just made it up as I went along and lattice really isn't hard.  The hardest part was figuring out the counting so that it came out right.  Well, mostly right, anyway.

The middle section is quite a bit larger than it appears.  The finished blanket size is fairly large and will easily cover an adult from the waist down with length to spare.

Do you know how many cables there are in this thing? Thousands!  Every single right-side (RS) row had 14 cables, except for the rows where the lattice crosses. With each lattice having about 30 RS rows, that's 400+ cable stitches per pattern repeat.  I think that there are roughly 62,000 stitches in it.  All told it took about 6 weeks of constant work to complete.  It wasn't hard but it did get pretty boring.

For those of you who aren't knitters or crafters, please lavish praise upon the person who gives you a hand-made item even if you don't like it. There's so much effort put into something like this that only someone who thinks you're pretty special would go to the trouble.

Suffice it to say that I don't want to cable another dang thing for a long time.  I'm d.o.n.e.  DONE.

It's Mira-approved.  Mira is a good knitting companion.  She likes to touch the yarn but generally doesn't play with it, even when it's draped all over her face.


Next up, my new obsession.

G-man bought 3 skeins of this yarn for me in Portland.  It's a baby alpaca/silk blend.  It's so soft and luxurious.

See how shiny it is?  That's the silk in it.

I'm making my first lace with it.  Here's how it looked as of Friday night.  These aren't blocked but you can start to see the pattern.

Can't wait to finish it!  The pattern, which can be found on http://www.ravelry.com/, is called Liliaceae and is by Angelika Luidl.

On Saturday I knitted up a silk storm, only to discover mid-afternoon that I'd screwed up somewhere along the line.  This former French major frogged futilely to find the f-up.  Eight rows dutifully tinked (tink = knit backwards), I'm back on track.  I learned some important lessons about counting, paying attention, how to read a pattern... and patience.  If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well.  I can't knit up $60 of yarn and have glaring mistakes.

Now I have another problem.  I realized that I don't have enough yarn.  I called the knitting store in Portland and - hallelujah - they had more skeins of my dyelot. 

I know I'm going to hold my breath when I show it to my knitting muse, Margaret, for a quality check. She's an incredibly talented and prolific knitter whose work is gorgeous.  I want her to like it!

A whirlwind day in Portland

Last weekend's trip to Portland was a charmed one.  It just seemed like everything went right.  We did, however, have to cut the trip short by a day because Hubbie's work had told him he had to go in on Sunday.  They later changed their minds but didn't communicate it to him. 

Nerds!

We made the most of our abbreviated vacation and I have to say that we did a damn fine job of it.  Saturday started with our favorite restaurant in Portland, Mother's Bar.  Someone told us about this place a few visits ago and now we make a point to go every chance we get.

We walked from our hotel and arrived at 8:45, though the restaurant didn't open until 9.  There was already a line to get in.  They seated us at 8:50.  Every single seat behind G-man was filled within 15 minutes.  Every other time we've gone we've had a wait of 30+ minutes, so going first thing is obviously the trick.

They had me at "Eggs Benedict".  Hubbie ordered pumpkin pancakes with housemade sausage.  And we each got a mocha.  Our food was delivered so quickly that it beat our coffees to the table.  I was astounded.

And yes, Hubbie is already digging in.

From Mother's we walked to Powell's Books.  Powell's is a mecca for any bibliophile.  My undergrad was in French, so it's a given that I have to make a beeline for the Red Room.  This enormous aisle contains everything a francophile's heart could desire: dictionaries, pronunciation guides, children's books, young adult fiction (yes, Twilight was there in French), classic literature, poetry, and contemporary fiction.

I would have liked to spend another hour or so but the man was getting restless.  I grabbed 3 books in French, plus a couple more in English as gifts, and we continued our day.

On our way back toward the car, we stumbled across this funky little event space called "The Cleaners".  There were a ton of people in there and we decided to check it out.  We discovered that it was a handmade art sale.  There were gorgeous cards, scarfs, and beautiful various and sundry other items that cost way too much money.  It was fun to look.

G-man wanted to go to an electric car symposium.  I wanted to go to the Nordstrom Rack.  We went our separate ways and agreed to meet later.

I have been searching for a pair of colorful, comfy flats for over a year.  Black, brown, and grey are easy to find.  Teal and orange are not.  Born is a fantastic brand of shoes and about a year ago I saw a pair of orange flats that I liked a lot, but they were $90 + tax (9.2% where we live).  I held off.

Well, guess what I found at The Rack.  I was giddy with excitement and texted unenthusiastic friends: I found my orange flats I've been wanting and for $50 off!  I like them, dammit, and they're comfortable.  Since getting them, I've worn them 3 days in a row.  One of my coworkers admitted that they are growing on her.

Next I spent too much money on 2 products at Aveda.  Whew.  That's where Hubbie caught up with me. 

From there we got the car and sought out Stone Barn Brandyworks upon the recommendation from a friend.  We sampled 5-6 different spirits, including pear brandy, apple brandy, grappa, strawberry liqueur, and a coffee liqueur.  Yeah.  You might be able to go wine tasting to several places, but one distillery and we were done.  G-man bought some pear brandy to share with a friend.  As we left, Hubbie said to me, "I can only do that once.  Whoa."  He was right: that was a lot of booze for one stop... hic!

(photo from Stone Barn Brandyworks)

A fellow conference attendee had recommended that I go to a yarn store called Close Knit.  It's a nice little shop filled to the gills with gorgeous yarns.  I got my mitts on some baby alpaca-silk yarn and can't wait to use it.  I'll show you when I start that project.  Until then I'm going to fondle the heck out of that gloriously soft fiber.

(photo from Close Knit's facebook page)

A staff member at Close Knit recommended the Danner Factory Story to G-man, who was seeking new work boots.  We had planned on going to a little shop called "Hank's Work Boot Supply" but the Danner outlet was close to other stores we wanted to visit.

As we're driving along we were talking about Rejuvenation, which makes reproduction hardware and light fixtures.  I get their catalogs every quarter and redecorate the house with brand new fixtures in my imagination.  G-man jokingly said that we should go there... and then there was!  This place is a treasure trove of brand new items, furniture, and salvaged hardware.   Here are some of their salvaged doors:

Their clearance section of brand new light fixtures that still cost $200+:

And a hidden gem of a cafe, complete with a fantastic mosaic floor.  That little girl's dad bought her a chocolate crinkle cookie, which got sugar all over her face.  We shared a reuben sandwhich that was to die for.

After lunch in the lighting store (yeah, weird, I know), we got on our way to the Danner Store.  Suddenly, there's that Hank's store!  [screeech]  We pulled over and went in.  This place hasn't been updated in a long time and looked a bit run down.  Hubbie looked at the display and didn't see what he wanted.  I encouraged him to check out the clearance, just in case.  There, we found a pair of boots in his oddball size.  He tried them on and later told me that those boots are the most comfortable pair of shoes he's ever tried on.

New boots in hand, we got back into the car and were again headed toward the Danner Store.  Once there, Hubbie zeroed in on a pair of shoes only to find out that the store has just 2 more pairs in stock... one of which was his size.  The showroom looks onto the factory floor.

The shoes fit and Hubbie bought those, too.  I'm telling you, it was a good day for shoe karma.

From there our trip got less exciting.  G-man wanted some toys for his Droid and I just wanted to check out the Ross and a houseware store.  I took a tagine for a walk around the store and ultimely decided not to purchase it.  There will be another time for one.  G-man found his phone accessories, I got a large supply of my favorite orange-ginger  hand lotion, and the weather turned sour.

By this point it was nearly 6:30 p.m.  With 140 miles, empty stomachs, and lots of rain standing between us and home, we still had a long way to go.  We arrived home around 10:00 Saturday night and were glad to be there.

It was a fantastic trip.  Portland is hands-down one of my favorite cities in the US.  Don't tell anyone, but I like it better than Seattle.

The Nines Hotel - Portland

The conference I attended last week was held in exactly the type of hotel I like the most: trendy decor, swanky rooms, old building.

The Nines isn't an "old hotel" like Portland's The Benson or The Governor.  It was built in an old department store and opened 2 years ago.  In the heart of downtown Portland, it's close to everything from shopping to the wonderful mass transit.  It tried really really hard to be trendy and cool, which was both trendy and cool... and sorta annoying.

I got there a day early and enjoyed having the massive king-sized bed all to myself.  No husband, no cats, no chickens to get up at 6:00a and let out of their coop, and no dog to walk or escort outside in the wee hours.  I slept sideways and diagonally, trying to take up as much room as possible while I could.

There was a massive TV with - get this - CABLE!  There were so many channels I didn't know what to do.  After surfing for 20 minutes I turned it off and read a book.  It was a good reminder why we got rid of cable last year.

The only problem was that I had to arise at the butt crack of dawn for the conference on Thursday.  Oh well.  I always tell students who want jobs that will require travel that it's a fine line between "get to travel" and "have to travel".

I only have a run of the mill point-and-shoot camera, but wanted to take some pics to show you how pretty the room was.  It had feminine touches in the robin's egg blue accents and crystal lights, but added masculinity in the mocha color that abounds and the big leather headboard.  The website (linked above) has lots of gorgeous pics that really capture the essence of the hotel.

The wallpaper was stunning in person.  It picks up the flash of my camera but was very subtle.

Bathroom to the right, business alcove to the left.

In the bathroom I discovered a new nemesis.  No, not a scale: a lighted magnifying mirror.  I've been wearing makeup and moisturizer ever since.

The gleaming shower with its wonderful shower head had an irritating flaw, which I discovered the hard way.  If water ran down the glass while you're in the shower, you get out to find a massive puddle on the floor.  That said, the steam and cascade of hot water were wonderful.  I want one... but only if it comes with a maid who will clean it daily.

I've seen lots of dual flush toilets but never one in the USA.

Every night someone filled the ice bucket, turned down the bed, set out a robe and slippers, turned on soft jazz, and placed a hazelnut muffin on the pillow.  Impressive!

The minibar had some unorthodox items available.

The "Intimacy Lovekit by Booty Parlor" was $20 and included a single-use vibrating ring.  I was curious but not $20 curious.

As I said above, I liked this hotel very, very much.  The rooms a beautiful and the service is spot-on: all in all, this is a well run hotel that knows how to take care of its guests.  They offer a free service to polish your shoes.  Mine were returned the next morning as shiny as I've ever seen them, all traces of mud removed.  In fact, they're so shiny that I haven't worn them again.  If you go, park in a nearby Smart Park, which runs $11/night versus the $32 hotel valet service (gulp).

There were things I didn't like, however.  Our room overlooked the atrium, which was loud and brightly lit all night long.  Even with ear plugs and the curtains drawn, I still had a hard time sleeping well.  The last night we were there we turned down the temp to more closely match our own bedroom's, and that seemed to help our comfort level quite a bit.  Street-side rooms would have the street noise so I tried to just suck it up as coming with the (in a downtown) territory.  The leaking shower was another annoyance, as was a bed with a long trough on one side of it (apparently every hotel guest sleeps on the side closest to the door). 

Staying in a hotel in downtown has both its advantages and disadvantages.  On the advantage side come convenience, interesting architecture, old school hotel amenities like 24/7 room service and bed turn-down.  Disadvantages are the cost of parking, city noise, and service that requires tips left and right.  I don't know if we'll stay at The Nines again.  Hubbie is of the opinion that a hotel is a place to sleep between days of exploration.  I buy into it as an experience of being pampered and having a place that's luxurious and nothing like home.  We've stayed in chain hotels that were cheaper and quieter, albeit considerably father away, as well as slept at a funky McMenamin's (you've got to try it sometime!). 

The Nines has a restaurant called The Urban Farmer, which is located in the atrium.  We did eat there and I posted a review of it separately.

Portland Dining - The Urban Farmer

(All photos from The Urban Farmer gallery)

The Urban Farmer is the restaurant at The Nines Hotel in Portland.  Five of us went there after a 10-hour day spent at a conference in the same hotel.  It was nice to go back to our room to relax for a few minutes before meeting everyone for dinner.

We sat at this very table, right under those screens of local bridges.

The decor is contemporary eco-chic: wood salvaged from barns, canning jars of real food (we checked!), river rock, and cow hide.

Our waitress was fun, quirky, and did not hurry us.  She had ideas and was friendly without being overbearing.  This is what wait staff should aspire to.  She walked a really nice line between being chummy with strangers and friendly with hotel guests.  I liked her a lot.

Much of the food is sourced locally so the menu changes seasonally.  We didn't know it but the restaurant is a steak house, so 80% of the menu is beef.  Expensive beef.  Had I known, I probably would have gone elsewhere.  It's hard to be hungry when the menu lists steaks that range from $29-80.  Side dishes are extra.  Eep!

My pet peeve about a la carte restaurants: Sometimes I'm in the mood to select a side but most often I prefer that a chef create a meal in its entirety.  Pick a flavor that will go well with that main dish and use it to highlight and complement that centerpiece.

We started off with a charcuterie plate ($21), which had pate and various cold cuts.  The pickled vegetables - cornichons, green beans, and onions - were a wonder, and my friend and I ate every last one of them.  I loved the beef liver pate.  I wish the staff had included another piece of bread since there were 5 of us and it only came with 4 slices.

The heavily laden cheese cart was making its rounds and we didn't order anything, though the guys drooled over the cute cheese girl.

I ordered a pork chop and G-man got their entry level steak.  You know, the one that cost $29.  My pork chop ($25) came with "caramel apples", fried cheese curds, and a sauteed green of some sort.  There was a maple-dijon mustard glaze on it that was very good.  The candy apples were so sweet that I couldn't eat them.  The piece of meat had a wide rind of fat on it so the pork chop would up being smaller than it originally appeared.

G-man's steak, which I didn't taste, must have been good because he ate all of it.  We shared a twice-baked fingerling potato tart ($9) that came in a little cast iron post.  Since I love potatoes in any form, I was happy.

Our dining companions ordered scallops ($28), another steak, and something I can't remember.  Jill, who got the scallops, said that they were perfectly seared.  They shared a couple of sides, including a beet salad.

As we left the restaurant, we made a pit stop in the "canning room".  I'd been able to see into it all night and eyeballed those jars the entire time.  I was dying to see if they were real.

Guess what: they are!  Some of the jars have seals that have popped, some have hand-written notes on what the contents are or the date they were canned.  I was very surprised.  We picked up several jars trying to determine their contents and found a variety of whole apples, jams, tomato sauces, and green beans.  As you can see, they're quite a colorful decoration (though no longer edible).

My impression of this restaurant is that it, like its host hotel, tries very hard - too hard, perhaps - to be trendy.  The decorations are subdued but a bit on the precious side of things.  It's very pretty to look at but you do so at a high price.  The food is good but not moan-like-it's-sex good.  The next time I spend that much on dinner, it won't be at The Urban Farmer. 

The happy hour menu looks very promising, and with much more accessible prices.  We didn't have the chance to go for happy hour but I'd recommend trying it.  The hotel gives all guests a coupon for a free slider ("Welcome to Portland, here's your free baby hamburger!") but we ran out of time.  Maybe on our next visit to Portland.

Portland Dining - The Screen Door

Last weekend I headed south of the (Washington) border for this conference on sustainability.  I co-organize a similar academic conference so attending was as much to learn good practices about such events as it was to absorb the content.  It's a work thing, so I won't discuss it here but if you're interested in what sustainability means on a massive scale, check out what Portland & the State of Oregon are doing.  Their efforts are really inspiring.

Hubbie joined me in Portland to extend my 2-day trip by another day.  We had a spectacular time.  Everything went right, from the weather to meals to shopping.  It made me love Portland all that much more and by the end of the trip, Hubbie and I were talking about where we'd live.  Not that we want to move but it's fun to dream.  I have a feeling that life in Portland is every bit as expensive as it is here in Tacoma. 

(Oof, an internet search just confirmed that the cost-of-living is 5% higher & salaries are 2% lower...)

This week I'm going to talk about some of the restaurants in Portland.  I tried three different places, one of them twice!  Oh, and none of these restaurants we visited did anything other than serve me a meal for which I paid.

The Screen Door

(photo from The Fire Wire)

Trip 1
My friends from work and I went based upon a recommendation.  The restaurant is nothing special to look at but it's clearly popular: on a Wednesday night it was packed with people from all walks of life: hipsters, young parents with children, retirees, dating couples, etc.  I felt like we'd found a hidden gem that locals want to keep to themselves, and with good reason.

(photo from Flickr)

The wall that goes to the kitchen is lined with shelves filled with canned goods, giving the decor a warm, homey feeling.

(photo from this blog, who says provided by The Screen Door)

Like most restaurants, there are daily specials but where it diverges from the norm is the local side dish menu.  The local menu is updated daily to reflect what's available on that day.  I asked if I could keep a copy so that I could tell you about it. 

Here it is, laboriously retyped for your vicarious pleasure:

Rainbow Carrots & Celery Root

sauteed with leeks in parsley butter

Green Bean Casserole

green pole beans baked in a rich wild mushroom cream sauce topped w/ crispy fried onions

Savory Butternut Squash Bread Pudding

w/ caramelized onions, roasted sweet potato & Gruyere topped with winter herb leek cream and Parmesan

Roasted Beet Salad

w/ red leaf, avocado, oranges, grapefruit, goat cheese, and toasted pistachios, in creamy red wine vinaigrette

Shaved Honey Crisp Apple & Black Mission Fig Salad

w/ mixed greens, spiced pecans, toasted pumpkin seeds & Teleme cheese, in a creamy mint-tarragon dressing

Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, & Stewed Kale Gratin

sweet potato & butternut squash layered with stewed kale baked w/ cream & gratineed w/ herbed bread crumbs

My friends had the pulled pork and a pork special, every crumb of which disappeared.  I'd had a big sandwich for lunch so chose the option to have three of the daily sides as an entree, selecting the apple/fig salad, butternut squash bread pudding, and rainbow carrots and celery with leeks.

It was delicious.  I never would have thought to make a savory bread pudding with squash as the main flavor.  I never use celery root, though I should, so will try to think about adding it to my culinary repertoire.

The wait staff hustles.  They were johnny on the spot but never hovering.  That earned the waiter a bigger tip from me.  This really scrumptious meal came with a price... a low one.  Each of us ordered a drink with dinner and our bills, including tip, were just $22 each. 

Trip 2
The second time I went it was date night with Hubbie.  He loved it every bit as much as I had and I suspect it'll become regular destination.

We both ordered the night's specials, G-man getting the ling cod with heritage squash flan and chanterelle mushrooms with leeks, and me deciding to take a leap of faith on the pecan rice-stuffed quail with butternut spoonbread and roasted Brussels sprouts (not typically my thing).

Let me tell ya, both dishes were impressive.  G-man's plate was filled with unexpected delights, from the savory flan to the tasty mushrooms.  The cod came in a brightly flavored lemon sauce that was divine.  My quail had been boned - thank you, Screen Door chefs! - and laid atop a bed of dark brown gravy.  The salty-sweet spoonbread, which I'd never had before, was a subtle accompaniment to the teensy and delicate quail.  The Brussels sprouts, which I've never liked, were roasted to perfection and offset the rest of the meal by lending a slightly bitter tang.  Marvelous.

After dinner, we decided to splurge on dessert.  This was, after all, our belated anniversary trip.  The dessert menu, like the sides menu, features produce and flavors that are locally sourced and seasonally available.  Gene decided upon an apple dessert, which came with 2 ginger-molasses cookie sandwiches and a small scoop of ice cream.  I was delighted with the presentation of the dessert: it was an honest-to-god caramel apple with toasted pecans on a stick!  The kitchen wisely included a steak knife.

Both visits to The Screen Door were great, and for many different reasons.  The food, the easy-going atmosphere, the staff, and the prices make this a great place to go.  The next time you're in Portland, check it out.

Portland, Oregon

Portland is one of my favorite cities to visit.  The city is clean and easy-to-navigate, and offers a reprieve from the Washington sales tax that's quickly approaching 10%.

Hubbie and I have made multiple forays south over the years for wine-tasting trips, his first marathon, a business trip, and an ancient Egyptian art exhibit.  I'm headed down soon for a conference, after which Hubbie will join me for the weekend.

Here's where we're staying.

Check out this bar, called The Urban Farmer!  My brother laughed at me and said that only I would get excited about a hotel that uses jars of food as decorations.  Somehow I doubt that assertion.

No trip to Portland would be complete without a pilgrimage to Powell's Bookstore.  The place is a giant warehouse that's so huge you can get maps.  Every time I go I hotfoot it to the French section, as theirs is the best foreign language selection I've ever found in the States.  If we have time I'd like to go check out their location that only carries home & garden books.

A couple of visits ago we discovered Mother's Bar & Bistro.  Hubbie asked me yesterday if we could have breakfast there.  Ummm, heck yeah!  Everything we've ever had there has been nothing short of spectacular.  It doesn't hurt that they keep a giant slushie-type machine filled with adult beverages.

We're looking for new ideas for our time in Portland.  Do you have suggestions?  If not Portland, what's your ideal weekend getaway and what would you do with it?

Handmade Christmas gifts

I misplaced the cable cord & battery charger for the camera so until I find or replace them, there won't be any pics on the blog.  That'll teach me to take such things to work.  Listen here, work: get a camera for the office!  It's not my camera, either: it's the one I bought for Hubbie a few years ago.

I'm nearly done with the afghan I'm making for my dad for Christmas.  Two years ago I spent countless hours knitting gifts for my parents and brother.  My dad received a pair of handmade socks, Mom got a hat and matching mittens, and my brother got fingerless gloves.

If you don't knit, you don't realize how much work that is.  Each item I made was something I stretched my abilities and knowledge to create.  My mom's hat (not pictured) contained my first cables, and my brother's and father's gifts were the first (and, to date, only) gloves and socks I'd ever made.

That Christmas Eve I found myself wracked with self-doubt: what if my hand-made gifts weren't good enough?  What if they thought I cheaped out?  What if the things I'd labored over for hours were received with disdain, or worse... apathy?

In a fit of pique, I dug through my yarn stash and made up a card for each of my family members.  In each card I taped a sample of a yarn and an offer to make an item of that person's choice. 

My brother selected a hat, which I completed by his birthday 3 weeks later.

My dad kinda shrugged and did the Dad-thing where he goes, "whatever you want to do".

Mom pointed out a pattern in a knitting book and said she wanted that one.

A couple of months later I pulled out the knitting book and started making sample swatches of my mom's afghan.  The pattern she had picked drove me nuts but I finally got the hang of it and knitted up a whole bunch of squares.

Then I looked at them all together.  My guage varied so widely that the swatches didn't look like they were done by the same person, much less were the same stitch.  In frustration, I put the yarn away and have tried to ignore it, despite the telltale-heart murmurs it has made all this time. 

In the past two years, however, there's been a tremendous baby boom both at (my former) work and among my friends.  Every time I made a set of booties or a sweater, I did so with extreme guilt, condemning myself for not finishing the afghans I'd promised my parents.  It got to the point that I didn't tell my mom about my knitting projects for friends' babies because of my imagined reproach.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do for my dad's afghan, I just never got around to it.  I wanted to do a cabled lattice like this one (note: not mine... see aforementioned lost camera parts):

About a month ago I started it in earnest.  It looked great, I was knitting, all was good!

As I finished up the first skein, I realized that the 2 skeins I had purchased were not going to make a lap blanket.  A lap runner, perhaps, but nothing that would approach the warm snuggliness I had envisioned. 

I headed out to the craft store to see if they still carried that particular yarn.  Turns out that they carry the brand but not that color.  Crap!  I wound up purchasing a complementary color scheme and decided to do the middle of the afghan in blues and beiges, whereas the ends will be blue and white.  C'est la vie, non?

I'm nearly done with my dad's afghan, having switched back to the original color for the last foot or so last weekend.  I'm going to give it to him next month for Christmas, unapologetic for its homespun nature.  It's beautiful, cozy, and resident feline-tested.  It contains about a mile of yarn, hundreds of cables, and approximately 63,000 stitches.  I can't wait to be done with it.

I can't wait to be done with it because last week I bought myself 3 skeins of a gorgeous eggplant colored alpaca and merino wool yarn.  Last winter I lost my favorite orange hat and pink gloves and it's time I got a replacement set.

Still no real idea what I'm going to do for my mom's afghan... not that I'd post about it (hi, Mom!).