Comfort Slippers for Japan

A fellow Raveler, Reiko Arato, is selling a lovely pattern, with all proceeds going to the Japanese Red Cross for earthquake/tsunami relief efforts. According to her blog, so far she has raised over ¥80,000 (approx $900 CDN) - how fantastic! Every little bit counts.


I have purchased the pattern and look forward to casting on! Here is a photo from Reiko's pattern page:

My New Office

My yarn collection and associated crafty objects were beginning to make our spare room look like something out of Hoarders so W & I finally took it upon ourselves to give it all a proper home! It took a few hours to clear the room out but here's the before:

And after:

Excuse the crappy photos. I'm not a photographer and I haven't the slightest idea on how to edit photos.


The wall colour is a much brighter aqua than the pictures depict. In the daylight it's like a robin's egg or Tiffany blue. It's bright and cheerful and I love it. HUGE thanks to Omz and Blair for their painting expertise!!


My cutting/blocking table with yarn swift and ball winder:

I would have liked a larger table but this one works just fine. It's from the Ikea Vika series. My blocking board is 51 x 33 and fits fine, it just hangs over the edge a little.


Billy bookcases for my yarn, fabric, and notions:

The doors make an otherwise cheap-looking bookcase look so much nicer! Plus, it protects my yarn from dust, curious cats, etc.


And finally, my computer/pressing/sewing area:

It looks cramped but it works for me. The press is an Elnapress Alizé. It's fairly new so I haven't had the chance to develop a strong opinion about it, but so far I'm enjoying its ease of use.

Yes, it's Ikea city in here but the stuff is just so practical and affordable. More $$$ for yarn!

Now I'm on the search for a chair and items to adorn the walls. It's cliché but I'd like an inspiration board over the workspace.

As for the chairs - I would like something different than the usual task chair. It also needs to be a fun colour; I think chartreuse would really pop and break up the monotony of the white furniture. I have it narrowed down to the Eames Molded Plastic Side Chair and Vitra Panton Chair.

Both come in the green I'm looking for. I love these midcentury chairs. W prefers the Eames but I'm leaning towards the Panton - something about its futuristic, yet classic look really draws me in.

Wollmeise!

I just scored two skeins of Wollmeise Sock from my favourite online shop, The Loopy Ewe. I first heard about this yarn in 2008 when I became serious about knitting and signed up for Ravelry. I loved it for its deep, saturated, vibrant colours. I coveted it so badly but could never get a hold of it! As soon as it was posted for sale on any yarn site, it was sold out within minutes. I could never figure out how people were able to be in the right place at the right time. All I could imagine were hordes of weary-looking knitters sitting at their computers constantly refreshing theloopyewe.com until - lo and behold - the Wollmeise unicorn. One time I happened to be browsing the new items at TLE and there it was... but by the time I decided on a colour, everything was sold out. Not that I was dilly-dallying either; I probably took about 30 seconds before clicking 'Add to Cart' but it was too late. I suppose I could always purchase from ebay if I want to pay exorbitant amounts of money for yarn. There is a skein of laceweight with a current bid of $81 USD and almost two days remaining.

And then I figured it out - Twitter! TLE tweeted that they just added Wollmeise so I checked it out and there it was! My heart began to race. My palms were sweaty. Publisher's Clearing House could be at my door with 10 million dollars but they would have to wait until I got my Wollmeise. I found two shades of blue that looked pretty in the 2 seconds I allowed myself to linger so I added them to my cart and quickly checked out.  And right after that - sold out! Now I can add myself to the elite few who have fallen prey to simple supply/demand marketing. Am I a sucker? Who cares, look at this:

Wollmeise Sock in Aquarius

Wollmeise Sock in Sabrina

(Photos courtesy of theloopyewe.com)

As you can probably tell, I love teal.

It seems like I'm making a big fuss over a minor purchase but this is a huge deal for me. I'm the type of person who researches the crap out of everything. Normally a yarn purchase involves extensive reading of reviews, analysis of photos (both of the yarn and of projects knitted up with the yarn), and price-comparison amongst yarn shops. I have pored over websites and blogs until cross-eyed trying to make a decision on which city bike I would get (and I still don't know but at least it's narrowed down to less than a handful). I recently had refractive eye surgery but it took me 3 years to research it and make a decision on who the surgeon would be, which formulation of natural tears I would use afterwards, etc. I will research a pack of gum before purchasing it. So for me to look at the yarn, add it to the cart, and purchase it all within 10 seconds - that's effing huge.

In other news, W is in Saskatoon. I am home in Calgary. We are both having bad food luck. He went to some bubble tea cafe and found the take-out menus. Tried to take one of said take-out menus so that he could peruse it and perhaps, crazily, take out some food later. Cafe Guy told him not to take a take-out menu. W asked how he is supposed to order without a menu. CG told him that people just phone with their order. W said he wouldn't know what to phone for without a menu. CG repeated that people just phone.  Conversation seems to have continued in this circular manner until W decided to leave - with the menu. Why have a stack of take-out menus if you don't want people to take them out?

Meanwhile, my dinner was supposed to be orecchiette with fresh tomato, basil, and bocconcini from a restaurant with multiple locations in Calgary. I had this dish a few weeks ago at the same restaurant, different location, and it was delicious. So I ordered it to go from another location today and was sorely disappointed.  About the only thing right was the orecchiette. Yes, there was fresh tomato but huge chunks of it - some pieces were almost a quarter of a tomato! And it was pretty much all parmesan cheese. I'm not even sure there was bocconcini. And instead of basil - cilantro! wtf. I love cilantro more than most people probably do, but in the appropriate cuisine. And when I'm expecting it. Cilantro is not a nice surprise when you're expecting basil. It's like drinking what you expect to be Coke but it's iced tea instead. Or steak but it's clenbuterol.  Although I'm a pescetarian so I must be clean.

I'm not a food snob but I think that was a fail on their part. I considered letting them know what I thought of the meal but I've decided to be apathetic instead. Wollmeise saved the day!