The Agony and the Ecstasy...

What a beautiful Friday afternoon for a jaunt into Spokompton to see the fabled Paradise Fibers!  The morning started off rough with snow snow snow snow snow... And was still snowing when I left work at 9:30am.  Yes, I do work early in the mornings, but thats neither here nor there at this point.

So when my ex wanted to drop off my daughter at 11 am, and we had the rest of the day to goof off and dawdle around, I proposed a question to her:  "Would you like to go to a huge yarn store in Spokane with me?"  And after hemming and hawing, my daughter said "Ok".  It may have taken some bribing of buying her own yarn.  She knows how to work the system already!

So I looked up the directions on Mapquest (BTW, never use mapquest for Paradise Fibers!  It puts  you at an adult warehouse in the skeezy part of town :-/ even using the actual address...) and after driving for too long trying to find the place, my hubs called wanting to go to lunch since we were in Spokane.  So we went to his work, found the CORRECT place on Google Maps, had lunch, and went to the fabled yarn store!

Now where the agony part comes in:

We were there all of maybe 2 minutes when I noticed a familiar sight.  The shelves upon shelves upon shelves of yarn were stored upon BORDERS bookshelves!  Granted, the shelves were turned around backwards so they could be labeled easier, but still... Stab right through the heart.  Headed back towards the front counting as I went... about 90% of the store is outfitted with former Borders fixtures.  Tables, shelves, the CD waterfalls, pylons, even slat walls!  Some of them still had the bright orange SOLD stickers on them.  For goodness sakes, their CHECK OUT counter was the former Border's Customer Service Table!  Still had the music ID panels on it!  At least our Borders took those off long before going out of business LOL!  But I did discover quite quickly, the pain of the realization was next to nothing... Was more of a "OH MY GAWD!!! They're going to fantastic use for my second favorite thing!!!"  Kind of like how it took 6 months for me to get my reading mojo back... It hurts less the longer you've taken to get away from the pain.

But the Ecstasy!  Oh the ecstasy of yarn!  Yaaarrrrn!!  Ok, I may just be a yarn zombie in disguise, but yarn is so much fun!  They have more yarn packed onto one floor than I have ever seen before!  And all sorts of brands.  Elspeth Lavold, Frog Tree, Colinette Jitterbug, Kollage, Louet, Cascade, and lots lots lots lots more.  They even had an upstairs for the spinning wheels and spinning supplies.  And Oh. My. Gawd.  So much stuff to look at!  It did help me narrow down my desired spinning wheels though.  Seeing them in person helped me visually because the size is not really comprehensive when you're shopping on the internet.  The pictures make them all look the same size, when in reality, one is super tiny and the other is not.

So now the Hubs has decided I need to take a spinning course (that Paradise Fibers happens to offer) which familiarizes you with the wheels and parts, and should help me decide which one I want to find myself using frequently.  I don't know if Hubs is thinking this through.  I think he's thinking if I make my own yarn that I won't have to buy more yarn.  But then I have to build up my spinning fiber stash so I can make all the pretty yarns to use... And that in itself is just as expensive as buying all the pretty yarns...

And so, my shopping excursion ended with buying some more sock yarn for myself, and a skein of worsted weight PINK yarn for K.  I avoided spending more money on needles I don't need, but the desire was great.  Almost made it home with some Addi Turbo Lace needles in sock sizes.  Almost made it home with Sox Stix.  But in the end, my rational mind won the battle of the "You don't need this, you already have plenty at home" argument.  Amazing!

And so, I conclude, that Paradise Fibers is a dangerous place for a yarn and spending diet, and that I must leave in order to be at work on time this morning!  Everyone have a wonderful weekend!

Oh for the love of yarn!

I hate falling in love with yarn I can't afford.  Its like wanting the car that has all the upgrades until you look at the price sticker and have a heart attack.

I have fallen in love with the Hazel Knits Club exclusive color ways.  Which, BTW, you can purchase if you're enrolled in the upcoming clubs.  The hard part is deciding which one I just can't live without.  I want them all! ALL I SAY!!  Because they are that awesome!  I just wish I had two hundred or so dollars to spare for said yarn.  I can save up... That's a moot point.  But it doesn't flow with the "have it now" mentality we all have.  And besides, now we're needing to save up for other upcoming items.  Like a new, bigger car for me, or say... new baby clothes.

We've told the grandparents involved, and now we tell the world... Hubs and I decided to add a third child to the mix.  Nothing YET, but its in the plans to start trying in the near future!  One child is super excited, the other... well... he says that he's the baby, and no having more unless its a robot.  Well guess who will have his heart broken when its not a robot :(  But he has been asking why our cat isn't having kittens.  And why we can't just put her parts back in so he can have a kitten from her.  And how are kittens made?  And how do they come out of her tummy?... Oh the joys of having a curious 5 year old!  But in order to satisfy his baby wants, he wants a baby cat.  A good healthy way to satisfy the baby rabies.  

On crafting fronts, I finished another pair of socks!  Don't know if I will try to sell them, or give them to K who is begging for them.  We shall see!!!!

 And its hilarious, there is a reflection along the top of the sock blockers of the corner of the ceiling!  I spent almost an hour gazing at it trying to figure out what the reflection was!  They were fun to make, but I did get bored towards the end, so I made them a small size so they would be done quicker.  Fits child size 4 to women's size 6-7!  Now on to 2 more sets of socks I am making.  Another "just to challenge myself" and one for a friend who requested hand knit socks.


As far as gardening news, I just received my last shipment of seed packets for the year.  I want a million bajillion tomato plants!  Ok, not really.  I just want to try out new breeds to see what I like and what I don't.  I also want to try canning my own tomato sauce and maybe making spaghetti sauce this year!  Save money... Or try to anyway.  We are such spaghetti fiends here that we're going to need a lot!  Which reminds me, instead of buying yarn, I should be saving up to buy the canning pot to use on our stove, since we need a specific one.  Oh the joys of being American.  Want want want...  Time for me to get my priorities in order!


Ok, off to get my priorities straight.  Maybe just my house straightened.  Either way, I'm off to save the house from itself!  Have a wonderful week!