The Shopping Gene

So, here I am sitting at work feeling quite inadequate at being a girl. I just crammed in a bunch of knitting to a boring night of nothing. Thank goodness because my projects unfortunately won't knit themselves. I ran out of yarn (more at home) to finish the sleeve of a sweater that I have been working on for far too long. Long enough that the sweater has it's own To Do list....It's that bad. I am still hoping that I will be able to finish it and the crocheted edging (did I mention I don't really know how to crochet) before I come to Oregon, in just a couple short weeks.

I am hoping to wear it to a graduation ceremony (and that's if it fits at all....yikes!) on June 16th along with a skirt and heels that I don't own.... I am not sure when I will find the time to go shopping, but I have no choice. I am backed into a corner with no where to go. My closet holds nothing worth wearing and those things that are "wearable" I have owned since college. Considering my last birthday catapulted me into my thirties and I graduated at the 22, it's a pretty sorry state of affairs. Aimee (a born shopper) would agree with me when I say, I completely lack the shopping gene. It's as though it is passed down through generations and it completely skipped over me.

You see, my mom is quite the shopper- a Bargain shopper to be exact. Too many Christmas holidays have involved me opening a present with a crinkled up expression on my face as my mother exclaims "Isn't it great. It was only $7.00!" Finally after the 10th Christmas in a row of yet another gift not even worth returning for the dinero, I am to the point of saying "I can see why."

I can't stand it really- shopping that is. I haven't bought clothes for myself since January of 2005 (that is NOT a typo). Oh wait, I had the 10 minute "shopping spree in Old Navy in April in which I purchased 2 t-shirts for $15 because I needed something to wear while visiting friends and didn't bring along the right clothing, but I don't think that can count. I spent less than it costs to fill my econo car with a tank of gas and I literally spent less time in the store than you do standing by the pump filling said tank of gas.

Some people have a shopping addiction. Maybe some could say the shopping gene is linked to the addiction. I on the other hand, completely lack the gene, thus have no chance of being addicted. Well maybe for yarn but not for clothing for myself, unless it's clothing I have to make on my own...Sure I am addicted to sugar. I have a quadruple dose of that gene, but not the one that allows me to go out and buy clothes that I will only like for a few months, that is if I can find anything I like to fit my 5'1" frame. It would be one thing if I was a 5'1" Eva Longoria body double, but alas I come from good German peasant stock...you can make your own deduction. Tread lightly please.

I digress. Why can't clothes that work great with those you knit suddenly appear in your closet? I don't even mind paying for them, I just can't get my self together enough to go in and out of stale dressing rooms. I have too many memories of my mother attempting to get into the dressing room where I am wearing ill fitted jeans and crying my eyes out.

Please keep the pity at bay. I am sure not everyone loves shopping. I can't be the only one. Straight men don't typically like shopping for clothes, unless they are metrosexual...So maybe I am a man trapped in a woman's body who likes to knit and is in love with a wonderful manly man. Would that make me a gay man? I guess I would have to be a non-stereotypical gay man because of the whole shopping thing....Is there such a thing?

Waiting to felt

I have three bags ready to felt. Why the wait? I don't know. I just haven't gotten to it. Between work, bronchitis, and trying to find Rich a place to live in Portland, I haven't had time. Hopefully Tuesday morning will lead to felting time. Meanwhile I have decorated a few pairs of thongs. Here are two:



If you wear a size 8 and like black, let me know. A pair may be yours! Off to knit and cuddle.

Neurotic

Two weeks ago, I decided I would make a baby hat for a co-worker who is having a baby. I was convinced that a baby hat would be plenty and that it would be fine, just to give a hat. Then the day BEFORE the baby shower, I changed my mind. I became convinced that I needed to give something more. So, without any knowledge of the pattern, I pulled out a top-down baby cardigan pattern that my Aunt Sandy gave me and started knitting. It all began friday morning and was done by noon on Saturday. The buttons weren't put on until a week later because I thought the baby shower started at 4pm and it started at 1:30pm. So, it isn't perfect, but turned out pretty well. I used some left over balls of Rowan Calmer that I had for a shawl that I made.

And of course, I decided that the pattern wasn't quite what I wanted, so I changed a few things. The original pattern had a 1x1 rib on the bottom and a hoody. But I really wanted it to be with a rolled edge on the bottom, so I followed that through with the rest of it. I actually like the results and so does the recipient. YAY! A success.

Hope all is well and your needles are happy!

The Lamb Shoppe Denver CO

Yesterday was a lovely day in the Denver Metro area. After some morning studying, my friend Jinger and I chose to venture out into the great unknown....After hearing rumors of a fabulous new yarn store opening, we decided we had to see for ourselves what The Lamb Shoppe was all about. Just as a little background Jinger and I met at another to be nameless yarn shop where she is still employed and I am not (for various personal reasons).

In The Lamb Shoppe (www.thelambshoppe.com), we found a haven. It is situated on a quite street in a residential neighborhood in downtown Denver near the University of Colorado Health Sciences University. Dangerous territory for me as I will soon be a student at that very school in the near future.

Once inside the store, we laughed at ourselves when we walked in to see 5 people knitting. We both exclaimed in loud voices "there are people knitting here!" You see, where we worked together, it wasn't exactly encouraged to linger and knit. I don't know why, I never understood it. It just wasn't the most gracious environment, for lack of a better way of saying it. Further, unlike the other yarn store, food and drink are encouraged in this one, especially since it is also a coffee shop. They sell all kinds of coffee drinks of your liking, all in "sken" and "hank" sizes. Also, in a week or so, they will have their permit to sell food.

And the yarns is wonderful. They have a great selection of Debbie Bliss, Noro, Alpaca with a Twist (new to me), Cherry Hills sock yarn which rival Koigu, Mountain Colors sock yarn, Lambs Pride, and I am forgetting many others. If this place had a bookstore attached it would be what I pictured as Aimee's dream business. When you come to visit you can tell me if I am close at all. The hours are fantastic-open until 9pm many days as well as open on Sundays.

The trip would not be complete without my spending money. I found a great spring sock yarn from Cherry hills that I will make the Pomatomus socks from Knitty.com and two skeins of Alpaca with a Twist Fino (lace weight yarn), that is on display in the store as the most beautiful shawl. I have to return sometime in the next week or so to get the pattern from Alpaca with a Twist. Oh darn, I have to go back!

I will post more photos later, of the actual yarn I purchased. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well.