February Blues (and greens and pinks, etc.)

Well, February is flying by, which is nice – I want it to be spring!  But I also want it to rain a lot so we don’t get on water restriction, which it looks like we will. Wah. Though I am just one person, so I don’t think there will be too much to worry about, especially since my hot water heater does not support 45 minute showers (SADNESS) and I only have to do two or three loads of laundry a week.

Anyway, here is a meme courtesy of Jennifer, who gave me the letter S:

10 Favorite S Things
(if you want to play, comment and I’ll give you a letter!)

STITCHES WEST: I am super excited about the yearly fiber convention – I even took a vacation day at work to go on the first day!  While I never take any of the classes, I love the market floor.  This year, the usual suspects will be there (Webs, Blue Moon, etc.) but the booth I’m looking forward to the most is one I don’t believe has been there before: Malabrigo! My plans this year re: acquisition are as follows: I hope to score a couple of the Berroco booklets (+ Norah Gaughan #4) and some sparkly Berroco sock yarn at Webs, plus if they have their Franklin sock yarn, I really liked working with that, so it would be nice to pick some more of that up.  I am mostly in the market for sock yarn, in yellow, orange, blood red, and true blue. You’d think, looking at my yarn wall, that I’m set, but you would be wrong.

SUPERNATURAL: This is my favorite TV show right now.  I love Sam and Dean and their adventures.  Season 4 has had its problems, but it’s been pretty solid so far.  Too bad there are no new eps until March! *sob*

SAVIGNON BLANC: I’m sure I’ve had this wine before, but I’ve never bought it before, and thanks to the Valentine’s Day sale at Safeway, I scored a rather expensive (for me) bottle for a mere $6.  And, not being a wine conniouseur [sic] I can tell you that it is pretty tasty stuff.

SACRAMENTO: My favorite California city. Probably because it has copious yarn, beads, and friends! And is close to Placerville.

SAN ANTONIO: My favorite Texas city.  I mean, I did live there for five years for a reason, and that is because it is awesome. 

SOUP: I love soup.  I love potato soup, chicken noodle, vegetable, tortilla, lentil, tomato, whatever.  I eat soup almost every day.

STARBUCKS: While I’ve cut out about 90% of my Starbucks purchases since I bought the house (it really is a redonk expense), I do still love it, particularly the white chocolate mochas.  Thanks to Starbucks I learned the deliciousness of honey lattes, and now make my own, which leads me to…

SYRUP, TORANI: The Honey Vanilla Torani Syrup is a great add-on to your daily coffee.  If you have time, you can froth your own milk, but I don’t have time, so a bit of Coffee Mate and regular coffee brewed fresh along with about a tablespoon of the Honey Vanilla syrup (in lieu of any other sugar you might add) is a great way to start off your day – or end it.  I’ve enjoyed many cups of coffee late in the day with the honey vanilla in it and it’s soothing in that hot-chocolate kind of way. 

SOCKS: You guys know that my favorite thing to knit is socks. I currently have, like, four pairs on the needles right now.  This year, while I don’t have any particular plans (besides “knit copious socks, and also the second sock of the pair”) I do have plans to try out some of the new and wondrous yarn in my sweet, sweet stash, like Malabrigo Sock, Fleece Artist Trail… stuff I haven’t tried before. 

SCARVES: I actually really like wearing scarves, though I hate knitting them because they are boring. Also I have run into the problem of realizing that I really only like to knit with tiny little yarn (fingering weight and such).  Since I moved I lost a critical part of my knitting machine and was really peeved about it until Tuesday, when I opened one of the built-in cupboards in my craft room and there it was, where I suddenly remembered stashing it weeks ago.  I am my own worst enemy.  Anyway, so I had this brainwave where I knit the two ends of the scarf in a cool pointy lace pattern from Knitting On the Edge or Victorian Lace Today or something, and then hang it on the knitting machine and whip out the boring long part.  Now that I’ve found the knitting machine part (the part that, you know, moves along the machine putting the yarn on the hooks, hah!) I can make my dream of a lacy scarf (before Stitches of course) come true!

In related meme news:

You Should Be a Mechanic

You are logical, calm, and detail oriented. You’re rational when things are chaotic, and for you, reason always prevails. And while you are guided by logic, you aren’t a slave to it. You’re flexible when it counts. You are always open to being wrong.You do best when you: – Work with your hands – Can use tools, machines, or equipment You would also be a good architect or carpenter.