schloooop! and goldilocks

You hear that schloooop? That was my mom getting sucked into the knitting obsession. She's been dancing on the slippery slope for a while now, working on a project here, a project there. But today she and I spent some time at Creative Fibers (one of the few local stores with Sunday hours), where she found puh-lenty of droolworthy patterns and a very helpful store staff, who tracked down enough skeins of the right type of yarn, in the right color and texture, to set her on her merry way. Her swatch was right on target for size, so she plans to cast on before vacation and bring her project along for the ride.

I cast on for this baby hat yesterday and got it to the single-color top section, the portion that'll be good mindless travel knitting. (Don't worry; I'll have other projects too.) This is the same Dale of Norway hat that I've done a couple of times before, with Dalegarn Baby Ull and leftover Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn (the red/orange/purple variegated). Funny, though, that the first time I made it, it turned out too small. The second time I made it, it turned out too big. This time? Just right.

But back to my mom. You know, the one who claims she's a "seasonal knitter" but chose some of Scott's handspun for a future project for herself, was tempted by a Philosopher's Wool kit yesterday, and dropped a solid three digit$ worth into her yarn bag today? Well, she just called to tell me there's a mysterious ad in the newspaper about a gigantic yarn sale in CT that doesn't say where it'll be. I said I bet it's the place in East Haddam. I've heard of it, but never been there. I called the info number from the ad and, sure enough, it's at Farmhouse Yarns/Hopyard Spinnery. I couldn't find the info on their website, but the ad said the sale is April 3-7. After reading a few people's comments about past sales, though, I think it might be worth a visit. Oh, I just found some more info here. Sounds like a party!

My mom likes parties. :-)