Just keep knitting, knitting, knitting

Sunday is such a bittersweet day. For me it's the "pre-work" day, so I don't like to have any big plans that eat up the day. As it comes to an end, every minute before bed is precious. I have a bad habit of staying up late, just to hold on to those last few hours of freedom. Speaking of freedom, my new fantasy is to have a microbrewery and yarn shop. I've even thought of a few beer names: "Stitches Brew" and "Knitter's Bitter". Everyone I tell this to laughs, but I think it would be cool. I could have Stitch-n-Bitch Happy Hour every night! OK, back to reality.

I completely freaked myself out this evening. I was reading an e-mail from PayPal that appeared in my G-mail. In the past, they have filtered out some bogus PayPal stuff as Spam, so I was thinking that it must be legit. It said something about someone changing my security information in September (no specific date) and directed me to click on a link to their security control site if I wasn't the one who did it. I must have been in "duh" mode, because I clicked on the link. Nothing came up. Then I looked at the address, which had nothing to do with PayPal, but did have the word "python" in it. Sounds dreadful doesn't it? For all I know, I just downloaded some horrific virus or trojan horse. How stupid!! I reported it to PayPal and G-Mail right away. Mr. Strange reminded me that I don't have a Pay Pal account, or do I? I've ordered from companies that use PayPal, but I've never set up an account of my own. Hmm. Anyway, if for some reason you don't hear from me for several days, it may be because my computer died.

As I mentioned in a prior post, the quilting group I belong to is hosting the annual Fall "Area 1" meeting, at which members of the local chapters of the state guild in the Southern Maine Area meet for an evening to eat, socialize and show-n-tell. The committee has asked members to donate handmade gifts to give as door prizes. Since I started this felted pumpkin last year (Knitty pattern here), I thought that I would just finish and donate it. Ha ha. Following the instructions very carefully, I stuffed the pumpkin with plastic bags and then tied string on the seam lines to create the sections. Looked great. I threw it in the wash in my trusty nylon net bag and an old towel. No biggie. I've done it many times. After about 10 minutes I lifted the washer lid and found plastic bags everywhere and a misshapen orange blob! YIKES! Some of the strings had come off and it was felting unevenly! I restuffed and re-tied it and threw it back in, this time without the net bag. After checking a second time, I saw that the bags were coming out again so I safety pinned the top. This is what it looks like after 6 cycles:

It definitely needs a shave, there's blue towel lint all over it! I have it on an upside-down colander to dry, which I'm betting will take at least 3 days. Guess I won't be bringing it to my meeting tomorrow night. Mr. Strange is quite amused by the stem. What is it about men and phallic shaped objects? OK, it is a little suggestive looking.

In between trips to the basement to check the pumpkin, I managed to sew 2 bow-tie quilt blocks that will be donated to American Patchwork & Quilting and sewn into a quilt to be auctioned online for the benefit of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Our chapter hosted a "Quilt Pink Day" workshop on Saturday, but I didn't attend because I went to the Cornish Apple Festival with my friend Lori. After devouring a sausage sub and an apple crisp with rich, creamy vanilla ice-cream, we found some other irresistible goodies. We both loved everything made by a local jewelry artist, Marsha Rowe (here's her website, Beaded Bliss). Her work was the best there and her prices were very reasonable. I bought this necklace made from dyed mother-of-pearl, glass beads and sterling for $30. We were able to resist buying handspun alpaca and some poorly spun wool, but I lost my self-restraint when we visited the local yarn store. I did really well until I found the wool room. I lost all self control when I found a yarn that I had never seen before: Lang Yarns "Mille Colori". A 50/50 wool and acrylic (!!!) single ply yarn that is so soft, so pretty, and so much like Noro. It even has a slight sheen to it like some expensive silk yarns (Tillie Thomas). Get this though: the manufacturer calls this yarn a "bulky" at 15 sts/4 inches on US size 6 to 7. I'm sorry, but that's just whacked.

Oh yeah, I was jonesing big time. I was trying to figure out what I could make with 2 skeins (other than the obvious) when I remembered seeing some berets for sale at the fair. Wouldn't you know it, they were designed by the shop owner! The yarn was a perfect substitution - she used Noro Kureyon. I would have bypassed the pattern all together if she hadn't offered to show me the store model. Something about the word "Tam" didn't appeal to me, even if it was "titillating". Any bets on how many days I can hold off before starting it?

In other knitting news, I worked on Ivy for several days, but have just switched to Olive. It's all just a diversion right now. Friday evening, I found a large, firm mass about the size of a small hard boiled egg in my cat Chloe's abdomen. It doesn't seem to be connected to any organs or bone and is in the soft fat that hangs from her underbelly that we affectionately call her "ponge". Needless to say, I am quite freaked out about it. When I called the vet Saturday morning, they said that I could bring her in Tuesday afternoon, unless she stops eating and drinking and going to the bathroom. So far she seems "normal" - being a cranky 14+ year old gal. So, until we know more, I am trying my best not to think about it. Yeah. Right. If Dory in Finding Nemo had been a knitter, she would have sung: "Just keep knitting, knitting, knitting" to keep from being afraid, but then it would have been about knitters and not about fish. Oh, you know what I mean.