the bus that hit me
Holy crap, you guys, the past couple weeks have been CRAZY!!!!
Mom’s visit was a whirlwind of walking and shopping and eating and more shopping. Mom can shop like a champion and - and here’s the kicker - not buy much.
Boggles my mind. Oh don’t get me wrong - she did buy stuff. LOTS of stuff. HEAVY stuff, which required her to actually ship a big box to herself AND check her suitcase on the flight home. But her ration of buying: shopping is SHOCKINGLY LOW. AND she can spend a whole day at a mall and not get bored or tired. IT’S HER SUPERPOWER.
Feeling extra charitable, I took her to Knitch and told her to pick a yarn, ANY YARN, and I would make a shawl for her. The not having a pattern before hand kind of threw her, but she gravitated to the mohair almost immediately (groan…mohair…the velcro of yarns) and settled on kidsilk haze.
sort of a dark blue-gray
And because she’s my mom, allowed me to pick something for myself for my trouble:
mmmmm…raveny…
I had her look through lace patterns on ravelry, and nothing seemed to really peak her interest, so with great reluctance, I dragged out Victorian Lace Today, which, of course, SHE LOVED. Picked out 6 stole patterns, and then finally settled on one that I GENTLY guided her towards - Myrtle Leaf Shawl (rav link - here’s a flickr search with pictures of other’s work). Guided her there because a single leaf lace motif with a border will be relatively easy for me (HAHAHA FAMOUS LAST WORDS, LOSER!) and I should haven’t to do much crying over attempting to rip back mistakes in MOHAIR (yes yes, in the freezer, I’ve heard).
We spent allll day saturday at the dogwood festival, which was lovely and sunny (I got the burn to prove it). Mom picked herself up some nice things, including a ring which apparently Dad will be giving her for mother’s day (it’s just easier that way). I picked up some adorable earrings
And also discovered the art of a HILARIOUS watercolor artist named Greg Stones. I dare you to look through his stuff and not giggle. I bought two prints:
“Goodbye Sheep” and “Penguin vs. Reaper”
Interesting note: I uploaded those pics into flickr and tagged them with his name. Shortly after, I got an email saying that he added me as a friend on flickr. I held my breath…and…nothing. No CEASE AND DESIST or TAKEDOWN IMMEDIATELY - Greg, you are awesome and now I shall promote you like crazy.
Mom left Tuesday morning, and I was left with sore feet, aching calves, and physical exhaustion. But I didn’t have time to recover, because come thursday, our home was invaded YET AGAIN…only this time…by knitters
God help me…
Sylvana on 
Claudia on 
Knit Witch on 
The Chickengoddess on 
grace (36 comments)
trillian42 (16 comments)
Softballdude
Heh, there is no help for you. You invited us in. Kind of like vampires. Yarny vampires.
What? No picture of Mom?! Stitches was a blast. Happy digging out from it all…
Those pictures are hilarious!!!!!
I made the Muir shawl for Knitty with the Kid Silk Haze and it’s really nice to knit with. I think you will enjoy it too.
I wish I had seen the watercolors at the festival! Thanks for the link.
Hmmmm… Grace invaded you? You make it sound like Germany and Poland… I can’t imagine…
And yes, where is a picture of Mom with the shopping superpower? I wish I had that kinda power. It was good seeing you - even tho’ it was only for 2 nano seconds Saturday night. Maybe I can make it these days to Knitch on a Thursday and we can catch up.
Why do I look so weird in that picture? Cease and desist! Take that shit down immediately!
My mom has gotten that way too as she gets older. We shop, I buy. She looks.
Hope you have a less hectic week!