Yarn!

Yesterday, all the yarn from Knit Picks arrived! That's not totally true. The post office delivered it on Tuesday, but because of the apartment building I live in, I couldn't pick it up until Wednesday. There are things I love about this place, but that's not one of them.

Anyway, I picked up a box full of about $100 worth of yarn! Absolutely free! Well, I've agreed to do a lot of work with it, but it won't cost any actual money.

I had requested Wool of the Andes in either Baltic Heather or Marine Tweed, and gave them a choice which they sent. I was secretly hoping to get the tweed, but they sent Baltic Heather.

Here's the Marine Tweed:

When I went to look for what the Marine Tweed looks like, I realized that they're discontinuing the color and it's on sale! That's probably why I didn't get it. So, if you're looking for something like this, Knit Picks is the place to look. There are some other colors of Wool of the Andes Tweed that are on sale. Check it out.

Isn't it pretty, though?

Anyway, the Baltic Heather yarn is just beautiful! If you look at it closely, you can see so many colors in it, but from a distance, it looks more like a tonal color. I'm really pleased with it. . .

It's every bit as beautiful as the photo shows it to be. In real life, it's even more beautiful.

That's the yarn for the scarf.

The shawl is going to be knit in City Tweed DK, in Porpoise.

It's hard to decide to call this blue or grey, but it's truly beautiful. The Wool of the Andes feels good, but this stuff feels more like an angora rabbit!

I'm really looking forward to knitting with this stuff! It's true luxury fiber!

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the Wool of the Andes. It's knitting up so nice. I finished the first short section of the scarf, and have finished most of the section for the woven knot and will try what I think will be an easier way to weave it. I'll be on to the long straight stretch to the second knot later on this evening.

I've been bored to death with all the Spring TV shows that have finished up last week and left a wasteland in their wake.

Tonight, however, I have pizza, some good stuff on TV, and a scarf that is an easy knit, but looks so great that it's a real joy to knit! I'm planning to kick back and just enjoy the whole thing! I'm going to try to rest my elbow at least several times during the evening.

I wish you an evening as fun as mine is going to be!

Post-Birthday Report

I got the best birthday present EVER yesterday! The exact camera I really, really, REALLY wanted turned up in the mail yesterday, a present from Lynn!

It's a Canon PowerShot A1100IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD!

Lynn really hit the jackpot on this one. It's an excellent camera! It takes AA batteries, which makes it just a smidge bigger than I'd like, but means that if the batteries in it die and I don't have any recharged batteries with me, I can get batteries for it anywhere. Pretty much every 7-11 or gas station I've ever been in has them! It also has a real viewfinder, which most digital cameras don't seem to have these days, and I find a viewfinder much better for action. It has a longer zoom than most small cameras, and the zoom is very easy to get to the precise point you want it to be.

Well, I immediately put batteries in it, and attached the hand strap, and called Lynn to thank her. She was out getting groceries (I learned from her voice mail), so I went straight out to play with my new toy, which is why I missed her return call.

Here's the pond behind the building I live in from the covered bridge:

When I got to the other side of the bridge, I took this one of the bridge, itself:

And here are some of the buildings on my side of the pond (taken from the other side):

You're probably getting tired of seeing the same place over and over again, but the wading bird that lives back there didn't show up. I was disappointed in that, but it seems to have a sixth sense, and never shows up when I have an actual camera with me. Either that, or I walk right up to it without noticing that it's there, scare it half to death, and it flies away before I have a chance to pull out my camera.

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Since yesterday, I've discovered that some other well known people have the same birthday I do, notably Julie Newmar and Bjo Trimble! Oooops! When I looked up Bjo, it turns out her birthday is the day before mine. On Facebook, it looked like it was on the 16th, but no, it's actually on the 15th. Still, there are a lot of people born in August!

I loved Julie Newmar in Oblivion! If you haven't seen it, and liked Tim Curry in Rocky Horror Picture Show, check it out. Musetta Vander plays a female version of him, but with a whip in this movie!

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I got my newest copy of Knit Picks catalog in the mail yesterday, and they not only have a new cashmere blend yarn, they also have brand new colors in so many of their existing yarns! I've been drooling all over the catalog ever since it arrived! My special favorite at the moment is the double knit weight in City Tweed. I've been wanting to try it for a while, and I'm going to have to break down and get some soon.

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It looks like Tuesday has turned into the good night to watch TV! There are new episodes of Warehouse 13, White Collar, Covert Affairs and Memphis Beat on tonight. Enjoy it while you can, because most of the summer shows will finish their seasons this or next week.

Last night, I got a fabulous birthday present in the form of an episode of The Big Bang Theory! 

Years ago, as a tech illustrator, I worked on a project for an aviation toilet. There I was in a room with about eight guys, all working on illustrations and maintenance diagrams, etc., of a toilet for a new military plane.

There were spaces of five to ten minutes of silence, interspersed with jokes about what we were working on. First of all, I wouldn't have thought the topic could be so genuinely funny, and I never would have believed that it could continue to be funny for more than two hours straight, but it was! This particular sentiment was echoed by Sheldon in last night's episode, where they try to fix a design flaw in a toilet for a space station.

The Big Bang Theory is always up there among the top 10 shows I've ever seen for how funny it is, but last night's episode was a gem! It has to be seen to be believed!

I've got to go or I'll never get this post up! Have a great evening and enjoy all the terrific shows while you can!