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Hot, like July. And the poor cat still has her winter coat. As now do most of the chairs.

Let’s see if I can finish this before midnight.

Gratuitous Cat Photo

Rose with Felted Object (let’s leave it at that.)

Another Nine-day Weekend (aka The Spree)

I always take this week off from work. This is the week where I used to spend a lot of time pitying myself for having gotten older without actually having ever gotten cooler. Having survived being 50 without miraculously having been transformed into Sting, Annie Lennox or Madonna (she’s right behind me, you know), I’ve given up on cool. I’ve settled for having disposable income.

And dispose of it I have. In a long-needed spirit of adventure, I’m visiting most of the New York yarn shops I’ve never been to, many of which take me above 14th St. (inside NYC joke).

Yesterday, in the wonderful April heat, I walked over to 7th Ave in Park Slope and disposed of income in Stitch Therapy. I met Maxcine, the LYSO, who has some nice yarns and made me feel comfortable. Bought some yarn, too. I then walked two blocks away to FiberNotion, a cute, tiny, and stocked-to-the-gills store, with fabrics (mostly), beads, buttons, fiber, notions, etc. And she has darning eggs, one of which I have to go back for.

Today, sadly, I went to the closing sale of the Point, in the West Village. Well, the 30% off wasn’t sad, but it was such a nice shop, and if it had been local I would have been there much more often. I got there just before it opened this morning, and I have to say I didn’t think it was possible to get that many people into a LYS. period, much less one that small.

I could only take about 25 minutes of that many people in one space—and I had zeroed in immediately on my favorites—so I had an hour to kill before meeting J for lunch at Mesa Grill.

Mesa Grill has one of the best burgers in NYC, but if burgers aren’t your thing at least order something with fries, or make sure someone at your table does. We took my niece and her friend there for Saturday brunch last month; I had the blue corn waffles and half of her fries. She’s was a 23-year-old girl ; it’s not like she was going to eat them all herself. I say “was” because we share a birthday and she is now 24, though I doubt that has had any effect on her eating capacity yet. Give her a couple of decades.

Then we went to Habu. Fifteen blocks in the July-like heat—love it—on a full stomach, but sufficiently lubricated. What an odd little shop(?)! The sale items are in low baskets in the center of the floor. The regular-priced items are on the wall in an alcove around the corner. Got some nice lace-weight. J went with me and was glad he did, because I could not have described it to him, even without the margaritas.

I will definitely go back, because I forgot to look for the silk/stainless steel yarn, which, if nothing else, sounds butch.

Off to School Products,two blocks away. If you need or want or desire Karabella, this is the place to go. Which, fortunately, I did. She had Aurora 8 in black, which no one does. The shop also has a good selection of proprietary yarns (no labels). I picked up some yak/merino worsted and some cashmere, both reasonably priced, I think.

Then home for a nice nap.

More Gratuitous Cat Photos

Rose going to town in the yarn cabinet. I had taken the yarn bin out to rummage through it and she was there in a flash. The picture would be clearer if she hadn’t kept squirming and rolling herself in the lovely wool odor.

Probably not the best place to leave yarn to be photographed. Yes, that’s two skeins of Trekking Hand Art between two shades of Punta del Este Merinocash.

Really, anyone want to come over and knit? There is way too much yarn in this apartment.

Flamborough Pattern I

This is the stitch pattern for my gansey. Working on the round swatch.

Woohoo. Finished w/ 10 min to spare.

About a minute ago. If you are lucky, you only have to be fifty for a year.