Excited, Giddy and Giggly
Well, it's been quite a weekend. No, not very much I've been doing that's exciting, but things I've run into, or that've happened. Entirely due to other people, too, so you're not going to be hearing about what I've done. Yes folks, it's yet another link post with some babbling thrown in! Heh. But really, you're gonna thank me.
The first thing that got me going, as I told folks in chat today, was reading Stephanie's post about her appearance in Boston. Which had me in total hysterics, and hoping like hell that someone puts up a video. Oh man...! ::waves hand vaguely, signaling a brief wait while your scribe suffers another helpless spasm of laughter:: If you are not a knitter, you can stop reading at the first photo with a baby in it. But to that point? Go. Read. Enjoy the pix. Whether you knit or not. Do not be drinking anything, because I ain't gonna be responsible for computer damage. And no, I am not going to give you clue one. You'll just have to trust me. (Yes, I realize that's a scary thought, but do it anyway. Please. You'll thank me.)
So that started out the weekend on a...er, somewhat giggly note. (To put it mildly. I thought I was going to bust something important.)
Then along comes something I was awaiting eagerly, knowing what a wonderful job this blogger did last time she went to a Harlot event. That being the report from the Boston audience's POV, by CCR in MA.
My faith was completely justified. (I'll refrain from the margin joke. Oh. That almost was a margin joke, wasn't it? Sorry. I did say giddy, didn't I? You were warned.)
CCR's report was, again, wonderful. Not only all the great pix (especially the one of Stephanie during the-- Well, during what you'll have read about if you did like you were supposed to, and visited Steph's blog.) -- but the reporting. The sentence about knitters waiting had me in danger again. And the noting of special prep by the bookstore. And her conversation with Stephanie. And the entire thing. The best report about Boston I've read yet, and lots and lots of photos! CCR does not disappoint, whether she's writing about knitting, cats, gardening or just life in general. Thank you, CCR!
After chat, while I was waiting for something Momentous For Me, I swung on over to Bobbie at Tiggywinkle Knits, and was completely gobsmacked by the tour de force she and her DH, Tool Man, managed to create from a day at the Appreciate Hillsboro street festival. (It's a good thing I had somewhat recovered from Stephanie and CCR. Really. And you know that keyboard damage warning? Consider the full metal jacket version on this one.)
Folks, if you don't go over there, I shall do you serious injury forcing you to visit, somehow. Once I can make it up off the floor. 'Cause man, I was laughing so hard I could hardly see for the tears! I mean literally. Bent over, fistful of kleenex, wiping my eyes while howling, and barely catching my breath to do it all over again. Ok, ok, so admittedly I could've been somewhat primed and in the mood to be amused by the apparent comedic theme of the weekend? ::ponders a moment:: No. No, this is one of the funniest posts I have ever seen on a blog in my life. It's partly the build-up...partly the whole idea...partly the other participants...partly the little touches...and wholly the fault of Bobbie and her DH, who I now consider to be positively evil people who are out to attack us with innocuous-seeming comedy that catches you unprepared.
You won't be prepared either. Go get ambushed. Enjoy. And have that kleenex ready.
::tries, but can't wipe totally idiotic silly grin off face::
Man, I feel like I saw the best bits from a comedy festival. Oh, gawd. My ribs. My diaphragm. I'm whacked from laughing.
But wait, there's more!
No, not links to funny posts. ;) Just Good Stuff Happening.
Firstly, in comments Bobbie had offered me some books her DH had finished, and when I said I probably wouldn't make it to the event where she could've just handed 'em over, she and Aimee (another PDX knit blogger) put their heads together - and I got a personal delivery of said books by Aimee! ::hugs to both Bobbie and Aimee:: Bobbie dropped them off at Aimee's office, and Aimee said she had to go up to the Humane Society in my sort-of-general-area (widely speaking) anyway this weekend, so no problem. They were like a well-oiled machine. I was defenseless. Thus now I'm rejoicing in two sacks full of lovely paperbacks, nice thick ones, murder mysteries plus a couple of fantasy ones. All which I've never seen, and mostly new authors to me, too! Plus a couple favorites.
Naturally, I am in transports of joy. I mean, new books! You guys know I'm an addict, and could quite easily spend my entire discretionary budget on books if it weren't for the fact that, you know, I'm sort of obligated to do things like eat and pay the bills on occasion. And like to buy yarn and jewelry-making supplies and such every so often. ;) But ohh, my; I am in possession of Books. You know what I'm going to spend the next several days doing, don't you? Yes you do. Barely coming up for air. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thanks, you two! {{{{{Bobbie & Aimee}}}}}
Of course, while I was downstairs picking up books (and meeting Aimee, and her mom, and her cute daughter), I checked the mailbox. And good grief, there was something more than junk mail in it! A nice, squashy little package - and Jo, abide in patience, I should get batteries tomorrow - a package just the size to hold two skeins of some special sock yarn.
Yep, I did it again. Well, it's not my fault. Yes, yes, I spent the money, but it's the only yarn I'm planning on (hah) this month, and it was a special, one time ever, totally unique short-run colorway that would never be offered again, and it happened to be in colors I love, and geez, guys, what could I do, huh? They're only doing enough of these for a couple pair of socks per state! It'll never be available again! C'mon!
Besides, it's really the fault of the person who commented on Steph's blog about the fact that Jimmy Bean's was teaming up with Lorna's Laces to do a limited edition run of unique colorways, which they'll be offering each month. (No specifics on how long they'll keep doing this. Yeah, I looked. As long as they can, I hope. ) Anyway, she mentioned this (thank you, whoever you were), and gave a link...and faithful, read-every-comment Harlot repeat offender that I am (yea, even unto the 538th or so; hey, I don't work, I have the time, and lots of commenters are pretty darned funny, y'know?), I saw the comment...I went and looked...and gasped...and said oooohmy, I gotta get me some of that...and pre-ordered it.
Of course, it woulda been nice if I'd mentioned this, to spread the word a little. But I remembered the Ram Wools sale, and did pretty good to finally think of posting about that, frankly, no matter how few managed to run across that one. S'ok, you know about the Lorna's/Jimmy Bean's thing now. They're going to be doing this every month, so be prepared for a feeding frenzy, fellow sock knitters. ;) At least, unlike lots of other sales seem to do, they're doing it at the beginning of the month, right around paydays; instead of at the end of the month when no one has any money!
I didn't expect it quite this fast, what with not even being at JB's yet when I ordered. But it got here Saturday, 'cause I just checked mail Friday night, when there was no squashy little package. So whooooo, not only books, but yarn, too! If I'd thought I wouldn't break my neck, I would've happy-danced back upstairs. And I got an email coupon for free U.S. shipping on my next order from Jimmy Bean's, too! Wowsa. Erika at Redshirt Knitting just made a post about Jimmy Bean's customer service the other day - and man, was she right. Fast shipping and a coupon? Love it.
The yarn is simply gorgeous, so I think I'd better start budgeting for it, just in case, fickle person that I am, I fall in love a lot in the months ahead. It's highly likely. And I seem to be actually making fairly steady progress on a sock now, which means I might be starting to go through the sock yarn supply a little faster. (Ok, yes; that's an excuse. I like adding to the stash, all right? At least I can afford sock yarn every month, unlike a sweater's worth! ::gets stubborn look:: Hyacinths, souls, all that. I am gonna be good and not continue with cable TV after the twofer deal is over around September, after all. I always intended just keeping the broadband. See? I'm being good. Sorta. Paying the bills, anyway.)
Oh. You wanna see the yarn? Not my particular yarn right next to the computer where I can pet it (batteries), but they still have the picture of this first month's colorway up on the JB site for now. Here's the link:
Jimmy Bean's/LL Rainforest
Isn't that just gorgeous? ::happy sigh:: LOL, yes, I seem to be on a green/purple/turquoise combination kick, as well as my other green kick lately. Well, it's not like I'm gonna get tired of these colors. And some other people might appreciate those colors, too.
So yeah. Great weekend. Thanks to everyone for the hilarious posts, thanks to new friends bearing books, and thanks to enabling commenters, yarn stores and dyers, plus the usual pleasure of Sunday chat. (We talked a lot about movies today.) Plus it's only been in the high 70's in Portland the last few days, lovely - especially compared to two 90-degree days in a row - and I've adapted some to the heat, so that felt nice and cool, comparatively. Yep; nice weekend. I'm feeling happy and simultaneously anticipatory/satisfied. (The latter due to books to read/yarn successfully captured, of course.)
But if you're planning to check out Jimmy Bean's limited edition Lorna's Laces next month?
Watch out. I like this idea. I'll be waiting in ambush too.
The first thing that got me going, as I told folks in chat today, was reading Stephanie's post about her appearance in Boston. Which had me in total hysterics, and hoping like hell that someone puts up a video. Oh man...! ::waves hand vaguely, signaling a brief wait while your scribe suffers another helpless spasm of laughter:: If you are not a knitter, you can stop reading at the first photo with a baby in it. But to that point? Go. Read. Enjoy the pix. Whether you knit or not. Do not be drinking anything, because I ain't gonna be responsible for computer damage. And no, I am not going to give you clue one. You'll just have to trust me. (Yes, I realize that's a scary thought, but do it anyway. Please. You'll thank me.)
So that started out the weekend on a...er, somewhat giggly note. (To put it mildly. I thought I was going to bust something important.)
Then along comes something I was awaiting eagerly, knowing what a wonderful job this blogger did last time she went to a Harlot event. That being the report from the Boston audience's POV, by CCR in MA.
My faith was completely justified. (I'll refrain from the margin joke. Oh. That almost was a margin joke, wasn't it? Sorry. I did say giddy, didn't I? You were warned.)
CCR's report was, again, wonderful. Not only all the great pix (especially the one of Stephanie during the-- Well, during what you'll have read about if you did like you were supposed to, and visited Steph's blog.) -- but the reporting. The sentence about knitters waiting had me in danger again. And the noting of special prep by the bookstore. And her conversation with Stephanie. And the entire thing. The best report about Boston I've read yet, and lots and lots of photos! CCR does not disappoint, whether she's writing about knitting, cats, gardening or just life in general. Thank you, CCR!
After chat, while I was waiting for something Momentous For Me, I swung on over to Bobbie at Tiggywinkle Knits, and was completely gobsmacked by the tour de force she and her DH, Tool Man, managed to create from a day at the Appreciate Hillsboro street festival. (It's a good thing I had somewhat recovered from Stephanie and CCR. Really. And you know that keyboard damage warning? Consider the full metal jacket version on this one.)
Folks, if you don't go over there, I shall do you serious injury forcing you to visit, somehow. Once I can make it up off the floor. 'Cause man, I was laughing so hard I could hardly see for the tears! I mean literally. Bent over, fistful of kleenex, wiping my eyes while howling, and barely catching my breath to do it all over again. Ok, ok, so admittedly I could've been somewhat primed and in the mood to be amused by the apparent comedic theme of the weekend? ::ponders a moment:: No. No, this is one of the funniest posts I have ever seen on a blog in my life. It's partly the build-up...partly the whole idea...partly the other participants...partly the little touches...and wholly the fault of Bobbie and her DH, who I now consider to be positively evil people who are out to attack us with innocuous-seeming comedy that catches you unprepared.
You won't be prepared either. Go get ambushed. Enjoy. And have that kleenex ready.
::tries, but can't wipe totally idiotic silly grin off face::
Man, I feel like I saw the best bits from a comedy festival. Oh, gawd. My ribs. My diaphragm. I'm whacked from laughing.
But wait, there's more!
No, not links to funny posts. ;) Just Good Stuff Happening.
Firstly, in comments Bobbie had offered me some books her DH had finished, and when I said I probably wouldn't make it to the event where she could've just handed 'em over, she and Aimee (another PDX knit blogger) put their heads together - and I got a personal delivery of said books by Aimee! ::hugs to both Bobbie and Aimee:: Bobbie dropped them off at Aimee's office, and Aimee said she had to go up to the Humane Society in my sort-of-general-area (widely speaking) anyway this weekend, so no problem. They were like a well-oiled machine. I was defenseless. Thus now I'm rejoicing in two sacks full of lovely paperbacks, nice thick ones, murder mysteries plus a couple of fantasy ones. All which I've never seen, and mostly new authors to me, too! Plus a couple favorites.
Naturally, I am in transports of joy. I mean, new books! You guys know I'm an addict, and could quite easily spend my entire discretionary budget on books if it weren't for the fact that, you know, I'm sort of obligated to do things like eat and pay the bills on occasion. And like to buy yarn and jewelry-making supplies and such every so often. ;) But ohh, my; I am in possession of Books. You know what I'm going to spend the next several days doing, don't you? Yes you do. Barely coming up for air. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thanks, you two! {{{{{Bobbie & Aimee}}}}}
Of course, while I was downstairs picking up books (and meeting Aimee, and her mom, and her cute daughter), I checked the mailbox. And good grief, there was something more than junk mail in it! A nice, squashy little package - and Jo, abide in patience, I should get batteries tomorrow - a package just the size to hold two skeins of some special sock yarn.
Yep, I did it again. Well, it's not my fault. Yes, yes, I spent the money, but it's the only yarn I'm planning on (hah) this month, and it was a special, one time ever, totally unique short-run colorway that would never be offered again, and it happened to be in colors I love, and geez, guys, what could I do, huh? They're only doing enough of these for a couple pair of socks per state! It'll never be available again! C'mon!
Besides, it's really the fault of the person who commented on Steph's blog about the fact that Jimmy Bean's was teaming up with Lorna's Laces to do a limited edition run of unique colorways, which they'll be offering each month. (No specifics on how long they'll keep doing this. Yeah, I looked. As long as they can, I hope. ) Anyway, she mentioned this (thank you, whoever you were), and gave a link...and faithful, read-every-comment Harlot repeat offender that I am (yea, even unto the 538th or so; hey, I don't work, I have the time, and lots of commenters are pretty darned funny, y'know?), I saw the comment...I went and looked...and gasped...and said oooohmy, I gotta get me some of that...and pre-ordered it.
Of course, it woulda been nice if I'd mentioned this, to spread the word a little. But I remembered the Ram Wools sale, and did pretty good to finally think of posting about that, frankly, no matter how few managed to run across that one. S'ok, you know about the Lorna's/Jimmy Bean's thing now. They're going to be doing this every month, so be prepared for a feeding frenzy, fellow sock knitters. ;) At least, unlike lots of other sales seem to do, they're doing it at the beginning of the month, right around paydays; instead of at the end of the month when no one has any money!
I didn't expect it quite this fast, what with not even being at JB's yet when I ordered. But it got here Saturday, 'cause I just checked mail Friday night, when there was no squashy little package. So whooooo, not only books, but yarn, too! If I'd thought I wouldn't break my neck, I would've happy-danced back upstairs. And I got an email coupon for free U.S. shipping on my next order from Jimmy Bean's, too! Wowsa. Erika at Redshirt Knitting just made a post about Jimmy Bean's customer service the other day - and man, was she right. Fast shipping and a coupon? Love it.
The yarn is simply gorgeous, so I think I'd better start budgeting for it, just in case, fickle person that I am, I fall in love a lot in the months ahead. It's highly likely. And I seem to be actually making fairly steady progress on a sock now, which means I might be starting to go through the sock yarn supply a little faster. (Ok, yes; that's an excuse. I like adding to the stash, all right? At least I can afford sock yarn every month, unlike a sweater's worth! ::gets stubborn look:: Hyacinths, souls, all that. I am gonna be good and not continue with cable TV after the twofer deal is over around September, after all. I always intended just keeping the broadband. See? I'm being good. Sorta. Paying the bills, anyway.)
Oh. You wanna see the yarn? Not my particular yarn right next to the computer where I can pet it (batteries), but they still have the picture of this first month's colorway up on the JB site for now. Here's the link:
Jimmy Bean's/LL Rainforest
Isn't that just gorgeous? ::happy sigh:: LOL, yes, I seem to be on a green/purple/turquoise combination kick, as well as my other green kick lately. Well, it's not like I'm gonna get tired of these colors. And some other people might appreciate those colors, too.
So yeah. Great weekend. Thanks to everyone for the hilarious posts, thanks to new friends bearing books, and thanks to enabling commenters, yarn stores and dyers, plus the usual pleasure of Sunday chat. (We talked a lot about movies today.) Plus it's only been in the high 70's in Portland the last few days, lovely - especially compared to two 90-degree days in a row - and I've adapted some to the heat, so that felt nice and cool, comparatively. Yep; nice weekend. I'm feeling happy and simultaneously anticipatory/satisfied. (The latter due to books to read/yarn successfully captured, of course.)
But if you're planning to check out Jimmy Bean's limited edition Lorna's Laces next month?
Watch out. I like this idea. I'll be waiting in ambush too.