Not that I really have that much of an actual life…but what little I do have is missing. And has been missing for approaching 2 weeks. Once the Taphouse at work reopens next week, I hope to regain just a hint of free time. Perhaps I’ll only work 9 or 10 hour days again. Perhaps I’ll knit. Perhaps I’ll feel like doing something other than sleeping when I’m at home. Even my sparse time off from work seems to involve the Taphouse as I have errands to run here, errands to run there. Sunday is a day off but I’ll be driving to Northern VA to shop at Ikea…FOR WORK!

So I’ll be back in 10 days or so. Then I can finish my Wicked sweater. I’ve only touched it once in the last 2 weeks. Sad. Very very very sad.

That’s it for now. If my crappy painting clothes are done drying, I’m heading to sleep. At least I’m getting almost enough of that right now…even if I’m short on time for anything else.

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Perhaps they should have named this color “Dr. Pepper Red”?
Originally uploaded by meliass.

This is my Wicked sweater. Isn’t it pretty? It matches my Dr. Pepper so well. Maybe that’s why I like this shade of red so much.

So I frogged what there was of the sweater. It has been born again. For the third time. I’m almost done with the sleeve increases. It’s being knit in the medium size rather than the large I started it in. It’s also being knit one needle size smaller than the size that got gauge. It’ll probably be too small. Too small is better than too big. I can always give something too small away.

I returned to work today. My cold is gone.

I should go to sleep but I really want to work on that damned Wicked sweater more. I want to work on it despite the fact that it’s evil. Evil for making me start it three times.

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Finished and Fetching
Originally uploaded by meliass.

Knitting Sisters had the second ball of yarn I needed. In the same dyelot as the first ball that I bought in Philadelphia. I wasn’t expecting the same dyelot at all. It made me so happy that I also purchased the needles I needed to start Green Gable or Rusted Root. Funny how one ball of yarn turns into a $40 purchase.

So these took about 1.2 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. Knitting Sisters is trying to find another ball of it for me as it was supposedly in the building. If they find it, I’ll probably make a matching hat. Otherwise I’ll have to come up with something to make with 0.8 of a ball of yarn.

Anyway, they’re done. And it’s still cold enough to think about wearing them…for today. Tomorrow might be another story. Stupid weather.

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God, how could I not know who L.M. Montgomery is?!?!?

Lucy Maud Montgomery. The author of Anne of Green Gables. Anne of freakin’ Green Gables.

This is one I should have known. I read the book many years ago and LOVED the PBS miniseries. Maybe if the quote had said “Lucy Maud” rather than “L.M.”…

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“It’s so easy to be wicked without knowing it, isn’t it?”
Originally uploaded by meliass.

Quote from L.M. Montgomery. Note to self: find out who L.M.Montgomery is.

So, I’ve lost my motivation to work on this Wicked sweater. Only because I know it’s too big AND I don’t have enough yarn to finish despite my expert calculations.

It fits better this time in the neck, shoulder and arm areas. It almost looks good in this picture. However, it is way too wide in the body. Inches and inches and inches too wide. Funny that this was a selection for the Sexy Knitter’s Club Knit-A-Long as it’s not too sexy when it’s 6 or more inches too wide in the torso area.

So it’s time to get out the yarn winder and frog this thing. I suppose that I’ll restart it in the next size down. Logically this size is too small for me. But I like my shirts to fit a little tight rather than a little loose. Maybe it’ll work out fine in the smaller size.

I’m tempted to start a different Zephyr Style sweater instead but I don’t currently have the needle sizes for the other designs. I already have the Green Gable pattern but I’m lusting for Rusted Root right now as well.

Maybe I should just not start another sweater for a few days. Perhaps that lovely Malabrigo I bought in Philadelphia wants to be used?

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These would be a lot more fetching if I had enough yarn to finish them.
Originally uploaded by meliass.

Boo. The pattern stated that one ball of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran would be enough for this project. Yes, there would be less than a yard of yarn left but it would be enough. It wasn’t. I’m 11 rows and a thumb gusset short. I could have finished them in one day had I not run out of yarn.

So, I need more yarn. I know that I can order some from Loop in the same color lot as that’s where I bought it. But that’s in Philadelphia and I’d have to wait days for it to get here. My LYS, Knitting Sisters, does carry this yarn in this color. So I’ll stop in tomorrow to see if the color is a close enough match. I’m not holding out ANY hope that they’d have the same dye lot. That’s just silly. If they do have it, I’ll buy two balls of it and make myself a Fetching hat to match my Fetching mitts. So much for a cheap and quick project. Especially when you throw in the odds that I’ll walk out of the yarn store with ONLY the two balls of Cashmerino I’m going in there to buy.

They are very nice despite this setback.

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Fetching progress
Originally uploaded by meliass.

I’ll probably finish the whole pair tonight. Cold weather, come back! Debbie Bliss Cashmerino is wonderful. All the women in my family might be getting a pair of these mittens for Christmas next year.

Dinner was yummy. Not quite the same as being at a Thai restaurant but it was still scrumptious.

So Philadelphia was okay. The city seemed fine. But we weren’t fine. I woke up with a severe cold and/or flu on my last day of work before vacation. If the hotel and King Tut tickets hadn’t already been paid for, I may have skipped the trip. Yes, I felt that icky.

The first day was fine. I was sick but better than I’d been the day before. We drove around the city a little, went to Ikea, and then spent many hours at a bar called Eulogy two blocks from the hotel. It was a Belgian pub with hundreds of kinds of beer. They had Framboise on tap so I was happy. I had a couple of those but then switched to a Hoegaarden and Framboise mix called a Dirty Ho. Hee, hee. It was wonderful. We then headed back to the hotel and went to sleep early.

The next morning, we got up early, ate breakfast at a diner at The Reading Terminal Market (which was a pretty awesome place!) and went to The Franklin Institute for the King Tut exhibit. By this point, I felt ill again and Patrick’s back was killing him. Add the one zillion screaming children at the Franklin Insitute and we both felt nauseous (and not because we’d had a little to drink the night before). After a break in the car in the parking garage, we went back to the museum for the Tut exhibit. That was cool. And mostly quiet.

After Tut, Patrick wanted a nap and I went yarn shopping. After getting my yarn at Loop, I went shopping for other things but felt so miserable I went back to the hotel for a nap as well. We both felt like crap but dragged ourselves out for a nice dinner at a place called Paradigm. The restaurant is known for it’s clear glass bathroom doors that fog up when the door is locked. We went there as it was close to the hotel. The food was pretty good…and Patrick’s dessert choice was awesome. Profiteroles filled with vanilla ice cream and served IN chocolate and vanilla custard/pudding. It was so good and it was a very unusual presentation for a classic dessert item. My tiramisu was fine…but I honestly like the stuff that comes frozen in a box from Costco much better. I honestly like it better than most restaurant tiramisu. The only thing it lacks is liquor. It’s otherwise perfect!

We went to bed really early again…and got up later on the third day…just in time to check out of the hotel. We went to the Reading Terminal Market again for lunch and decided to attempt the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It wasn’t overrun with children but we left after an hour or so because Patrick could barely walk.

So we got in the car and headed south. We had a room reserved in Baltimore as we originally planned to go to the aquarium. We checked into the hotel, ate McDonald’s for dinner and got up at the butt crack of dawn to drive back. That’s how miserable we felt. We’ll go back to visit the aquarium sometime this year…perhaps right before summer vacation begins or ends for small children.

The moral of the story is that I shouldn’t take trips with the flu. And Patrick shouldn’t take trips without painkillers. At least we got along well on our first trip beyond Richmond together.

Oh, and while at Ikea, I bought a new coffee table. It’s the same as my old one. I’m silly. But I liked the old one…and the only reason I don’t have it anymore is that Kristal had dinged it up a fair amount and bought it from me.

I realized today that I’m usually sick when I go on trips. Patrick thinks it must be psychosomatic. Maybe it is. I think a big part of it is that I’m allergic to city pollution.

I’ve written enough for today. Back to knitting.

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Additions to my yarn stash from my trip to Philadelphia
Originally uploaded by meliass.

When I first learned to knit, I didn’t imagine that trips to new places would mean trips to new yarn stores. But it does. I can’t imagine going anyplace without finding out where their LYS is.

All of this yarn was bought at Loop in Philadelphia. Loop was a beautiful store full of beautiful yarn. Some of which my LYS carries, some of which it doesn’t. My LYS (Knitting Sisters) doesn’t carry Malabrigo. I wish they did. The Malabrigo colorways are gorgeous and then some. I’m surprised I only walked away with one hank of it. It’s the lovely red one. Now to decide what to do with it.

The green is the moss color in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. It is already being used for the Fetching mitts from Knitty. It’s very soft. Too bad it probably won’t be cold enough for me to use them this year.

The Noro Iro is color #41. It was on sale for 30 or 40% off. I tried to resist it but I couldn’t. Noro on sale is a problem for me. I can’t turn it down.

I went out of my way twice to find Loop. It was worth it. I also stopped at another yarn store (Sophie’s Yarns) that was fairly close to our hotel. It was smaller and had very little selection. I could’ve just skipped it. Having a good LYS has spoiled me…which reminds me…Knitting Sisters has started selling online as well!

I’m waiting for dinner to be made and figured I’d post an update. Dinner tonight is Thai food. Patrick’s currently marinating beef for a slight variation of Num Tok (spelling?). It’s a yummy grilled beef salad with red and green onions and lots of spice and lime. Mmmm….. Then we’re having pork pad thai with rice noodles and peanuts for the entree. I’ve never actually had pad thai so we’ll see how that goes.

Then for dessert, there will be Girl Scout Cookies. I’d forgotten about wanting them already but they were standing in front of Ukrop’s and I couldn’t resist. I only bought two boxes…Tagalongs and Samoas. I didn’t like Samoas when I was actually a Girl Scout. I don’t know why…what’s not to love about them?

So the trip to Philadelphia was fine. Not great. More details on that soon…maybe after dinner?

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