As random as I want to be...

Did anyone notice yesterday was the first day of autumn?  Hello???????  Whoever controls the weather in Ohio, it's AUTUMN!!!!  It's not supposed to be 90 anymore!!!!  We're not supposed to be having freakin' tornadoes!!!  Migraine season is supposed to be OVER!!! 

But it isn't...I'm typing with one eye open, stoked to the gills on ibu and it's barely taking the edge off.  The skies are darkening again, and I'm wondering if I'll need to make a mad dash for the basement like I did a few days ago when the weatherman on TV announced a "possible tornado" just a couple miles away at the same moment the entire top of a medium-sized tree next door blew off and landed in our back yard, severing Pete's shortwave antenna and my clothesline but, luckily, not the utility line.  My one consolation is, once whatever this is passes, my headache will go away.  Till next time.

There's not a lot to report on the WIP front.  I'm making steady progress on all my projects except Evenstar and the Ten-Stitch Rug.  Most of my focus is on the three baby blankets I'm working on, and I know I'll catch back up once they're finished.  I started the Rivendell cowl and Dragonfly shawl last week, but both projects crashed and burned pretty quickly for insignificant reasons.  With Rivendell, for the very first time in over thirty years of knitting, I twisted my join and didn't see it till I was on the ninth row.  Since it's not supposed to be a moebius, I frogged it for now.  Dragonfly started out really well, but by the tenth row I realized this project will need beads.  The yarn is really, REALLY dark, and I don't think the pattern will be very visible without some kind of beading.  Now the question is...what color beads?  I'm leaning toward either clear or a pale yellow/amber, but will probably tote my yarn to a bead shop this weekend for further research.

I've finished a few projects:  Two more Button-Up Neck Warmers

LOVE the buttons I found for all of these!  I'm making one more in the grey color, then I'll be all neckwarmered out for the year.

And there was one more bizarre FO...a couple weeks ago, I was going through the closet in my room when I found a little canvas project bag kind of stuffed in a corner.  Pulled it out and found this:

The yarn is Karabella Gossamer.  I don't remember when I made this or how it ended up in the back of my closet.  All I needed to do was weave in two ends and block it.  I think I may have made this in 2007 or 2008 which is when I was madly in love with this yarn.  The silver bits remind me of starlight on a clear, dark night.  You can't tell very well from the pictures, but it's truly sparklesome.

Last Sunday, Pete and I drove over to Yellow Springs for the Wool Gathering.  I really didn't think I was going to be able to go to this because Wilbur had some bad tummy issues at the end of last week, and I wasn't sure I could leave him long enough to go.  Luckily, he bounced back like the champ he is.  Pete and I not so much.  We were seriously sleep-deprived from his multiple middle-of-the-night trips to the yard.  And I was depressed.  Way depressed.  It seems the older he gets, the more every little bump in his road throws me for a major loop.  When Sunday came and Wilbur was back to normal, I was still a basket case and didn't want to go anywhere.  Lucky for me, I have this wonderful husband who cut through all that early in the afternoon by saying, "Let's go buy yarn!"  And so we did. 

Wool Gathering was fantastic!  There were four tents of all kinds of fiber-related goodies, beautiful border collies, friendly people.  I got to try out several spindles and find one that actually makes it possible for me to spin something closely resembling yarn.  Yup, I'm NOT spinning impaired!  Pete bought me some yarn and some roving, too.  Oh, and a bar of soap that says "Lilac", but really should say "This smells exactly like if you completely submerged your face in lilacs at the height of their bloom and inhaled as deeply as you possibly can".  I know because I've done this over the years at every opportunity.  Truly amazing stuff!

Here are some pictures.  Mr. Sheep was very aggressive about getting his share of ear scritches.

There were two things that made the day less than perfect.  As you can see in the picture, the tents are colored - some red and white, some yellow and white.  It was very difficult to see the actual yarn colors without dragging every skein outside.  There were a few outdoor tents, and that is where I bought the roving.  There's no way I could have seen the color variations if they were in one of the big tents.  I wouldn't have given it a second look.

The other thing that was very disturbing was this:

Source

Yup...that x4 just on the other side of the field where the Wool Gathering was being held.  Pete found me flattened against a tree, hyperventilating.  For some bizarre reason, I have this irrational fear of plane crashes.  I'm not the least bit afraid to fly, but I'm afraid of them falling on me.  When I saw the four fighter jets fly over, I figured they were going to nearby Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton.  But next thing I knew, I'm looking at the top end of one of those planes, maybe a hundred yards or less away, like in the picture.  I asked the woman taking tickets what was happening, and she looked at me like I was crazy for being bothered by it.

After we left the Wool Gathering, we headed into Yellow Springs (one of our favorite places to shop and hang out even if there's not a fiber festival just up the road).  I remembered hearing about a new restaurant that specializes in southern cooking, and after asking directions, we found CJ's Southern Cooking.  Fried chicken, green beans, red  beans and rice...all cooked to perfection and FRESH - cooked to order, nothin' layin' around under heat lamps.  If you're in Ohio or if you ever come to Ohio, this is the place to eat!  Jim and Carl are so nice and friendly, you'll feel like you've known them forever. 

So, thrilled with my latest yarn acquisitions and happily full of fried chicken, we headed home.  When we got there, Wilbur was healthy and happy to see us...and we discovered we have a boarder, Marty Monarch:

He/she should be hatching and heading off to Mexico in about a week.  I'll try to get pictures.

This weekend...a reunion concert by some friends at a local club tonight, knitting group tomorrow, and coffee with one of my favorite dog friends on Sunday.  It should be a lot of fun!  Hope you have a great weekend, too!  What's everyone up to???