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…