Sha-a-zam!

Those of you who know me, know that I am a planner and cheap. (parsimonious, penny pinching, tight). After all I furnished a one bedroom apt for less than $400 including a new full-size mattress = cheap. The 3 areas I spend money? TAO/house, electronic gadgets (but only after driving TAO crazy talking about it) and yarn.

Several of you also know that this year has been filled with changes, most of which will cascade into other changes. Including a 30K pay cut. Yes, that sentence makes me feel dizzy.

So I did what any good American should do in these times of economic uncertainty. I broke into the cash.

Took a crazed weekend drive to MA.
Armed with a list of things to see, fondle, flip through, etc.



There was a mini trunk showing of "New England Knits" which persuaded me to a) buy the book, b) invest in 3 skeins of Canopy Fingering weight (baby alpaca, merino, bamboo) to make a cheaper version of the cute whale beret. I say cheaper because the book version requires more colours- at $13.00 a skein. So NO! But it will be a lovely noggin warmer nonetheless.

Despite the fact that the scale hasn't budged, I have apparently re distributed enough of the weight that I could try on the store samples. Which...as Elizabeth, the goddess of WEBS store samples will tell you...were ALOT. It was very educational. Several that I would have bought the pattern for had I not tried them on in front of the mirror and been disappointed when I finished and they looked awful. There were also some that I went in thinking "I'll try them just for kicks, but that won't look good'. And a couple of those really surprised me. Including the WEBS Circles yoke pullover, that I loved so much I bought in Exactly the store sample colours. Made of Sheffield- a blend of merino, silk, and angora.

Oh,, and let me tell you about an ongoing conversation with TAO regarding the IPad. It went back and forth for 3 months. And remember when he was going to have one waiting for me when my laptop committed electric death? It ramped up after that. He received several RSS feed posts of WendyKnits because several of her posts have featured hers lurking in the corner of photos. One thread of the conversation culminated in a pet analogy; it's not just the purchase, it's the care and feeding afterwards. It's like a pet...His response? A pet that doesn't poop on the carpet.

So this post is brought to you via my new pet...there was one of the few stores in America with the Ipad I wanted in stock, on the way to MA. So I invested in it and the wireless keyboard. But didn't open it for a whole 28 hours, while I searched my soul for any guilt that would pop up over it. Yeah, none. So I ordered it's vaccination (ZaggSkin) and pet bed (carrying case), downloaded Plants vs Zombies, a PDF reader for my knitting pattern and am learning it's workings. Between my new puppy and the supersoft yarn...I am set for hours of winter entertainment.