Shopping Trip

Wow - another crazy week just got the better of me. Hopefully this week things will be pretty much back to normal!

So, one day last week, I had a doctor's appointment in the early afternoon. I had to leave the office right after lunch to get there in time, but it was all done by 3:00. I found myself near lots of shops, before dark, without being exhausted. Time to go shopping!

First stop: Michaels!

 These trays were so tempting! The only real problem (ignoring the fact that I DO NOT need another tray) would be picking one!

 Colorful pottery? Yes please! My cabinets are already stocked, especially with bowls. Wonder how that could have happened...

 I spotted this tote bag in the "dollar" section - though they wanted more than $1 for it. I'm kind of picky about handle length and strength, so I didn't have much difficulty saying no. But still! So me!

 This little pouch was also a hit!

As were these note cards!

Next stop: World Market!

Wow. If you were going to turn Marvelous Minnie into a coffee mug, I'm pretty sure this is what it would look like. Seriously! Stripes, polka dots, paisley, and snow flakes? Come on. And in my kitchen color scheme? Dang!

Final Stop: Target!

 I liked these picture frames. Normally I'm not much for gold, and I profess my embarrassment at shopping in the teenager home collection, so I can't believe it myself. But my eye was certainly caught!

And these gnomies? Come on! I don't have a garden, so I couldn't possibly have a need. But they're sure charming!

So, that's an overview of all the stuff I saw that I kind of wanted. And now here's a quick run down of the stuff I didn't leave without - all of it from Target!

I paid not even $5 for this tablet clip board. I use a contraption like this at work every day - this will be the third one. It has a nice pocket on the inside where I can keep stuff. Hooray!

I also scored this fabric table cloth that's the right size for my table without the leaf. Until now, I've only had one cloth in that size. I had previously thought I wouldn't use it very often, though that hasn't turned out to be the case.

Here's a shot of the package photo, so you can get the idea of what it will look like when spread out. Mod-ish flowers? $8.48? Sounds like a winner!

I also got this plastic placement. If you've been around here for any length of time, you've read my ramblings about my "crafting tablecloth" - a vinyl tablecloth that I use instead of newspaper for messy activities like painting. I decided to diversify a little bit and picked up this place mat for smaller projects that won't make such a huge mess. At $0.58, how could I have gone wrong!

I enjoyed my first "spring" season shopping trip. I hope you enjoy yours!

Merry Christmas Mom

Hi guys! I'm back from Duluth and pretty successfully settled back into life! It was a busy, tiring week, but I've got some stuff to share before I get into the wrap up from my trip! 

One of the craft projects I was working on late last year in preparation for the holidays was a hat and scarf set to give to my mom. I actually found two skeins of this yarn on clearance probably a year and a half ago. Maybe two years ago - a really long time. I bought it on a whim, though I knew right away that the color would appeal to my mom. It took me some time to decide exactly what I wanted to do. Ultimately, I decided I would do a hat and scarf set. I also decided that I would start with the hat, and make the scarf with whatever yarn was left.

You guys have read about me knitting hats here and here. I made only tiny modifications to the pattern, which available online for free here. I knew the hat wasn't going to take a ton of yarn - I expected to wind up with more than a skein and a half leftover. It probably would have been more fun to start with the scarf, because knitting a hat with seven needles at once is irritating. But, alas, I did it!

You might remember reading about a week back in November when I had to take a pretty serious break. I would up with an extraordinary pain in my left hand that prevented me from knitting and from even typing to post about other projects here on the blog. After about a week, I was back to posting. AND back to knitting? Sort of. It took a long time to really get back into work on the hat, but, by Christmas, it was done.

In fact, you guys have already seen quite a few of the photos detailing the mad dash towards Christmas, finishing this and other projects. I was disappointed when Christmas morning came and I had to make the decision to put the scarf in the box still on the needle. The scarves Mom has in her collection are generally shorter, and I figured she'd want the same in this instance. The good thing was that we actually had the chance to talk about it on Christmas morning. And she told me she'd like to try a longer one! I'd never have guessed, and I didn't want to ruin the surprise by asking - it worked out just great!

With those as my marching orders, I got back to work. I'd thought that maybe it would take me another week or two to really finish things up. That was very optimistic, since it's now been 2 months. But, I am thrilled to report that the scarf is done!

I knit until it was 64 inches long, and then realized there was just a little bit of yarn left. I kept going and knitting until the yarn was all gone. The result is the same length as my futon!

Here's a slightly closer up view:

I love that self-striping yarn! And I'm so proud that, even though it happened two months late, the scarf is finally done! Hooray!