Squared.

 Well, that's that. For now, at least.

I'm all squared out on knitting squares for a while. I do like dabbling in some mindless knitting for a bit but it does lose it's appeal at some point and then it's time to move on to something more challenging.

I now have17 new squares to add to the stack in this endless, never going to be finished, blanket.

(I think that brings me up to 65 now?) I'm in NO danger of running out of yarn scraps any time soon either - even after knitting up all these squares I still have a GIGANTO-HUGE bag of them left. It's like a magical bag of yarn that constantly refills itself when I'm not looking. (Something that would be better served if it were food..........or money. lol)

It's pretty crazy for me to only have finished a single pair of socks done at this point in the year (I usually have 3-4 pairs done by now) so I drug out this Cheetos-inspired orange yarn for a pair of socks. I'm going easy on it so far though so my hand doesn't start getting cranky. :(

Do you Hobby Lobby? I've always heard it's a great store to browse and I finally made it to the one that opened near here this winter. (Iif you consider 45 minutes away 'near' - which I do because I have to drive that far for everything that is good.) It felt very old school 90's craft store-ish to me in the sense that it carries everything that was ever made in the history of making things to sell at a craft store. But a lot more organized. And clean. (If that makes sense? It might just be me, but I've done a lot of shopping over the years at local craft stores that were like treasure hunts trying to find what you wanted, everything stacked up in piles, year after year. You never knew what you find. Each aisle was a mystery. lol)

Anyhoo, I wasn't there for any particular reason so all I ended up with is a cute polka dotted bundle of fabric quarters (perfect for small finishes) and an adorable little needle tin with old-timey stitching motives on it.  (Oh sure, there was more I *could* have purchased but I was trying to be good.) 

Unfortunately, that store is situated right next to a Joann's AND a Michaels so I'm going to be faced with an uncomfortable choice when I'm in that area again. Joann and I are pretty tight bff's and I've actually DATED Michael (read: I worked at one in the 90's). Not sure I can dump them for the flashy new Miss Hobby, even if she is pretty tricked out. lol

Home again!

Makes me equal parts sad/glad. 

I do so love being in a place where so much is within walking distance (downtown Arlington) and I love love love the novelty of the subway in DC. (I hate driving and rarely do it.) 

 (Don't always love the loooooooooooong escalators to get into some of the subway stations though. These epically long ones make me dizzy. And they take forever.)

But I miss my kitties and my stuff when I'm gone. If I ever 'happen' upon an extra half a million dollars or so (hahaha!) I know where I want to buy a condo in the sky. :)

Hotel view. Walk one block to the right for subway. Walk one block (or many blocks) to the left for lots and lots restaurants and markets like Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, etc.

My Fitbit tells me I have walked 35 miles over the last six days, with 25 of those miles walked between Monday-Wednesday. (And Fitbit doesn't lie. He doesn't know how.) I am...................very tired. I think I need a week of an epic amount of sleep to get back to feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. (Also: I need to retire one of my beloved pairs of Merrells because walking 8+ miles one day in them has caused much heel pain in my right foot that does not want to go away.) 

So we are taking it easy for the rest of the weekend before getting back to work on Monday. Though everything is already unpacked, washed, put away and...........what was that about taking it easy?? Speaking of which...........

....my ridiculous candy colored new luggage I bought for this trip. My old luggage was falling apart at the seams and looking mighty shabby so I got a set of three of these COMPLETELY OVER THE TOP and OMG PURPLE (!!!) ones to replace them. So me. :)

I did work on some crafty projects at night in the hotel, getting up to the heels on a new pair of stripey goodness socks and the start of a little Queen Bee project. 

 The knitting created quite the kerfuffle though at the US Capital as I was refused entry by security specifically because of my knitting paraphernalia. Pfffftttttt! WEAPONS INDEED! I did not appreciate their suggestion to 'throw it out'. (I MIGHT BE A LITTLE BITTER over the whole thing because we never went back for a second go-round there. YOU DON'T DESERVE ME OR MY KNITTING US CAPITAL.)

Leave to me though to find a yarn store at any time and any place. *ahem*

I had taken brief note of a couple yarn stores in DC but had no particular urge to specifically hunt them down or anything. Fast forward to Wednesday when we were off looking for a textile museum (very interesting but WAY out of the way vs. the usual DC tourist trappings) and I noticed we were on Connecticut Ave. where I thought I remembered there was a store.........and I looked up and it was *literally* about 100 paces away. Hehehe. Too funny!

SO OF COURSE I HAD TO GO IN. It was meant to be! And I always love adding some new-to-me sock yarn brands to my stash. The drawstring bag is sooooooooooooooo soft. *pets*  I wouldn't take the saying too seriously though if you plan on going to the US Capital building. JUST SAYING.

Oh well, that's it for today. I have a lot of food shopping to catch up on because we cleaned this place out before we left. Nary a vegetable or can of Diet Coke up in the joint. MUST FIX IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!

Trip to Mecca aka WEBS.

Rays of light from heaven? COULD BE.

A trip to WEBS Yarn Store that is. 

AKA America's Yarn Store 

AKA the biggest yarn store you're ever likely to see in your lifetime. 

The place is legen........dary amongst knitters. For real. 

They even own the yarn.com domain. (How early did you have to get in on the internet craze to grab THAT?!?)  I've always meant to go there but it's in a part of Massachusetts I don't go to very often and over an hour away so it never happened until recently when we were in the area for something else.

This is about one third of the regular shop area.

And the verdict? It really is legendary. lol

From the size, from the sheer amount of employees buzz buzz buzzing around filling web orders..........the size.

It was so busy I didn't feel comfortable taking a picture inside the regular part of the store because there was no way to snap a pic without, literally, getting 6-7 strangers in the pic as well. I wasn't comfortable with that (knowing I was probably going to post it online) so I snagged this one off the web instead. There is so much yarn in the front room it's staggering. And overwhelming. I really think they might sell yarn from EVERY SINGLE KIND of premium/artisan seller out there. It's sheer crazytown makings. And that's before you get to the BACK OF THE STORE, which is.............

....A HUGE FREAKING WAREHOUSE.

With shopping carts. 0_o

Totally, totally BANANAS. It's enough to give you the vapors.

And you'll be totally shocked to learn that I only purchased this little purple knitting bag and one pattern booklet.

Well, that plus the yarn stuffed inside the bag. *ahem*

These are destined for socks for my mother though...

...because she loves purple (as do I) and it's hard to find purple sock yarn WITHOUT it being paired with blue. Always, always with the blue! I get the whole blue-violet thing but how about some purple yarn that's just.....*gasp*.......PURPLE? At least one of these fits that, and the other is, thankfully, devoid of blue for a change so clearly I had to buy them. :)

The other yarn is just a little something for a little scarf...moving along......nothing to see here..

It was fun trip but I don't think I will be going back for a long time. It's waaaaaaay too dangerous awesome and my heart might not be able to take being exposed to all those mountains of yummy yarn that I can NOT resist buying that awesomeness. Might have to be a once a year thing for me. :)



Oh boy. I found these pics on my computer this week - already 'shopped and ready to post. They are from a couple days before Irene hit and we had no power, etc. and I TOTALLY forgot I had them and a whole post in mind for them. So this is a MUCH delayed post but I went through all that work with the pictures so...................ENJOY! :)