So last week A got the truck of her dreams. She has wanted this thing the entire time I have known her. She has suffered cheerfully through not one, but two, efficient subcompact Toyotas which seem to never die (which is good, unless you want to replace them with the vehicle of your dreams.)
She is in love. I am surprised she doesn’t sleep in it.
But being the wonderful person she is, while she was getting this, she got ME the car I have long been wanting! Of course there is no photo of me in my beautiful new Prius, but trust me, it is gorgeous, a nice deep blue.
That is right, we bought two new vehicles last weekend. It is a bit alarming. We always knew we would get these two, but I did not think we would get them both at once! But the deal on my Prius was too good to resist (apparently when gas prices go down, so do Prius sales, so incentives go up) 0% financing AND cash back! That, combined with the fact that we had saved up a good deal of money toward the truck made it possible to make this crazy move.
So now we have to behave ourselves financially for the next, oh, five years, but at least we have fun cars to drive during that time!
Other bits of life –
This past weekend was busy – errands, of course, on Saturday, followed by knitting in the afternoon. Sunday, niece B came over for a visit, to do some laundry and get the suitcase she stores at our house. She will be heading for home this weekend, not back for a month. She only has one more semester of school! Oh, how we will miss her when she moves back home for good. She had us open her presents to us, and mine was a new cribbage board, so we played a few games to christen it before she left. She even let me win one of them.
Sunday evening we went to a “real” party – Debbie from Purple Fleece invited us to her holiday gathering, and this pair of introverts went, wanting to go but not sure we would really enjoy it. You know the drill. 🙂 Well, we had a great time! A met some of the knitting ladies, I met some of the husbands about whom I hear so much (all good, of course) and we both met some local people who were loads of fun. On the way home, we both commented how glad we were that we had ventured forth in our good clothes and party manners on a cold almost-winter’s night. 🙂
The Christmas knitting winds down, I did a couple of rows on a shawl for me last night, almost forgot what I was doing with it! Then it was back to gift knitting, I cast on some more of the tiny secret project, and a hat for a young niece. It’s to match the doll hat already knit. I love this particular yarn I spun last summer – I might need to get more, the colors are just so fun!
Had this happen on my spinning – what?
Debbie told me it was OK, that I could wind what I had spun on to a different bobbin and re-glue this one, or ask A to do that for me. So have done that and moved on. 🙂 Except for the equipment malfunction, I am loving this spin. It is merino/silk from Three Waters Farm, planned for my sister – either the yarn will be her gift sometime (not Christmas) or something I knit her from it will be her gift. It is so SMOOTH, and soft! I am using my new spinnerz gauge to try to keep the singles nice and even to get a DK weight – my sister likes heavier yarn to knit with, I know. It’s all good practice and good for learning.
I split the braid in half, but not directly – first, I laid it out and found the pattern to it, then divided it so I got the gold in one half and the purple in the other. I will ply it together as a two ply. I hope the purple and gold won’t muddy each other, but I think it will be fine.
I love grays in this spin. I think I should do a tonal spin soon, like the “you red my mind” one I did last summer – I love to knit with them, I think I would like to spin more of them, too. But all the colors keep calling me. 🙂
Here’s some finished yarn – Cadillac Mountain – isn’t it so pretty? I love it!
And Wood Nymph – a hard spin, but it is done now. Not sure what I will do with 56 yards of bulky… but I know I can get more if I need it. Just am not in a mood to spin it right now – silk feels so much softer!
Hats have been selling! I brought them all to work one day last week, and sold several, plus some earrings and a bracelet, and then one sold on Etsy this weekend (thanks, Renee!) and this morning when I got to work one of the girls across the hall asked if I still had a particular hat she loved. I do. It is hers. This is all VERY good as this money goes straight to fiber stash cash, and what with new vehicles my beloved-wife-the-household-bookkeeper won’t have to make faces when fiber comes in the house, she will know I earned the money for it by selling other fiber stuff. It’s a great circle. And inventory is getting low, so I think I will be knitting more hats after the New Year. They are great to knit during tax training, I can usually do a hat a day that week.
This weekend promises to be busy – I am house/dog sitting for my brother Friday night, as far as I know (he will confirm sometime before then) and there is knitting to go to on Saturday. Sunday is a family gathering with A’s family for a birthday party. A Christmas tree will be procured and set up sometime soon as well (or why bother?).
We are on vacation next week – loads to do to get ready for the big holiday, plus Mom will come spend a night, so she can visit and watch sappy Christmas movies with us. (At her house, all channels seem to lead to sporting events, no matter the season.) We will be registering vehicles and maybe going for a ride or two to look at Christmas lights. Then there are lights and a tree to decorate at our house, cards to make (yes, I am SO FAR BEHIND on these!) that will likely be called holiday cards, not Christmas cards. 😉 I hope not St Valentine’s cards…
Before that can all happen though, there is real work to be done – 2 sessions of tax training this week… a few committee meetings… a few letters to send out, nothing slow and boring about this time of year!
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