just gotta cast on

I started a new shawl.  I figured I should cast on now while I'm excited about my last finish.  I picked the pattern called Duchess of Devonshire by Kay F Jones of the Bakery Bears podcast.  So far, so good!

Yesterday, Jan, Mya and I drove up to Bend to go shopping.  I wanted to check out the new Hobby Lobby.  I've been to that store before in other states but it's new to Oregon so hasn't been here very long.  It was definitely everything I remembered it to be and I came out a happy camper!  I bought this Strawberry Shortcake fabric there with the intention of making a new project bag.  

I've had this zipper for awhile, waiting for the right project and this was it!  I tried out a boxy pouch that is lined and I like it!  It's pretty roomy and I remembered to add a handle for easy carrying.

I added some beads and a cute cupcake charm for a zipper pull.

Okay, so let's talk yarn for a few.  Since I couldn't wait to start a new shawl I picked yarn from my stash.  Which is a good thing!  The only issue is that I usually am buying sock yarn that I just buy one skein at a time because it's plenty for socks with leftovers.  But, the shawl is like 600 yards and most of the skeins I have top out at 490.  So I didn't let it stop me, I picked this Misti alpaca in the colorway Bird of Paradise.  I love it!  The colors are so interesting as it works up.  So, while at Hobby Lobby in the yarn section I found these two skeins of lace weight for clearance!  I figured one of them might look nice as the edged border.  The more I look at them I think the dark pink one will be good.  It looks really red in the picture but it matches really closely to the pink in the variegated yarn.

it's the piggies fault

I visited my Mom last weekend in Chico.  And she gave me gift cards to the quilt fabric store and yarn store.  And, I may have spent well over the gift card amounts both places and at a few others as well!!!!  Tee. hee.  But it was great fun!  Wanna see?

So, it doesn't look like much in the bag but it is stuffed full of 1/2 yard cuts. And yarn.

The quilt store was super fun, especially with Mom who was happy to share the fun with me!  So, I took a slow lap around the store seeing what collections they had before I started grabbing bolts.  There was a display table next to the cutting table and there was a fat quarter bundle of this Heather Ross print of piggies!  Oh those piggies just crack me up!  There are 3 colorways of pigs and then  coordinating prints.

And once I decided I had to have the piggies it was like I want this and this and this and and and.......

I've seen almost all of these prints online and have admired them on other people's blogs and in quilts. Which I know I should not covet but we don't have a quilt shop here that stocks anything close to such cute stuff.  The gal in the store was also fun, I'd pick something up and she'd be like "oh I didn't see that, that's cute.  Is there another one?"  I can tell I would not be able to work there unless I just worked for fabric!

After that we drove over to Heartstrings which is a cute little yarn shop.  They have a great selection of yarn and needles.  Since I had kind of gone way overboard at the fabric store I was quite restrained at the yarn shop.  I went in planning to buy circular needles so that I can attempt to do two at a time socks.  I also found some nice sock yarns to try.  The middle yarn was actually in the gift bag from my Mom that she found at a thrift store!  It's Opal yarn which I've been wanting to try as I've heard it's nice and holds up well.  I really like the colorway.

One of the places I love to go shopping at in Chico is the library!  The library has a book sale on Saturday mornings in the conference room.  The entire room is full of long tables covered in boxes FULL of books.  I used to go specifically to look for books on tape for Scott.  He had a love of books on tape or cd so I'd go there and scoop up some great deals!  It became something I liked as well so now I just like to go check it out.  I came away with a shopping bag full of books and one book on cd, which I think is a success.

Saturday night I met my best friend Jeannette to watch a Christmas music light show, which was really nice, fun and free!  

I have to say it was a really nice trip.  I grew up in Chico but have never wanted to move back "home".  Mostly because it never felt like home to me.  Usually when I visit I'm annoyed at the people and the traffic and the weather and and and.  This time though it was just nice to see Mom, we had fun shopping, and see Jeannette.  It was nice to get home to my puppy dogs who were sooooo happy for me to pick them up from the vet's office where I board them.

So Christmas is right around the corner!  I didn't end up putting up a tree.  I guess at this late in the game I won't.  Maybe I'll knit and sew up some ornaments and shoot for next year.

Okay, so this past weekend I went to visit my Mom and it was very cool. We had a great visit and also found some great sales! We of course started out Saturday with a couple of thrift stores. I always love to poke around in the Discovery Shop, it's downtown and a really teeny little place. It was chock full of customers!!! Nothing too exciting there but I did find a cute blue sweater - the brand is Koret. I was cracking up when I pulled it off the rack because I am always attracted to an "older" style of clothing and I could just hear my friend Jan telling me to put it back! But since she was not around to chastise me I bought it and I love it :) Okay, so then we went to the GIANT thrift store that is also a tad scary. It's in an old grocery store, so it is really huge, and was also full of customers! I thought I had found the mother lode of cute pants, all in my size and Liz Claiborne and like new. I guess it's actually a good thing, they were too big! I did find a full sized sheet that is pink with a floral pattern on it that I am going to make pj's out of ala Jen. So that will be a fun project! Okay, so. Since there were a ton of ppl in there it was starting to freak me out a little so I needed to scootch outta there. I was in the long line and just looking around trying to focus on anything else but freaking out, and my eyes rested on - wait for it - a whole rack FULL of beads!!!! Okay, so I love beads. My love of beads really started with the Disney Cinderella where the fat mouse Gus Gus spies the beads and just knows they will be the perfect thing to set off the dress! And then he tries and tries to get his treasured find back to the room... ah, just love that. Anyways, I didn't want to get out of line because it was huge but also could not pass up the beads. My Mom was one lady behind me so she offered to save my spot. I picked out 4 strands of different fabulous beads. I will try and post a pic later.




We then trekked to the "Sally" across town. I found a cloche with a hideous flower under the glass and I snapped it right up. I thought it could possibly have some potential. I was thinking about the post that I had just read on Friday from Shara about the cloche that she had found. But, the thing is, the price was just too high for me. And, when it came right down to it I really would have no use for it. I try to keep things in perspective when I'm thrifting because I don't want to end up with piles of junk that I don't use because it "could" have potential. I know, I know - that's no fun. But it keeps me a little sane. A little. I also put back a Holly Hobbie canister for the same reason - what in the world would I do with it and where in the world would I put it??? Although I may kick myself later because I truly do love Holly Hobbie. I have a couple of plates and a few chotchkes (sp?) of Holly Hobbie.



After that I think we went to a parking lot sale that was a stinker! And on we went to the mall. What a wonderful thing. We don't have a mall per se in the town I live in. We have Gottshalks, Ross, Fred Meyer and Walmart. And a few other little shops, but really it's like nada. Which is kind of good for the pocketbook, but not good if you need new clothes. JC Penney and Sears were having a super fabulous sales! All clearance was like 75% off! I found a ton of cute stuff that will be good to layer for Fall and Winter! Whew - what a relief. On the way out of town I always like to stop at this one Safeway because they have good sandwiches and local goods. Finally the pickles I love love love were available. They are called Dave's Dazzling Dills, grown locally and they are superb. Very potent and spicy! Last year there were none to be had because the cucumber crop was a bummer, so I was waiting and waiting this year. And, I always pick up some Maisie Jane almonds for Jan because she does atkins and that's a good snack for her. Plus they are so yummy :)
So, sorry this is such a rambling post! I guess I felt like writing a little?