Cabin fever update

The snow has almost completely melted , and it was finally possible to take a neighborhood walk without any extra risk to life and limb. (just the usual risks associated with crappy sidewalks and drivers wearing virtual blinders). Gusano Medidor and I took Kate for a walk this afternoon, and it was nice to stretch my legs. I admit that I'm usually a pretty contented homebody, but even I was starting to feel cabin-feverish and wanted to go out. I could only take Kate because Seamus's foot is still healing and I haven't been able to leash train Sheba and Simba yet. It's Kate's last walk for awhile because tomorrow she's going to the vet to have a growth removed from her toe. It's a pretty simple procedure and I'm sure will heal quickly, but I'm guessing that a long walk is out of the question. 

Oscar, G.M., and I went to The Mall today to get GM's giftmas gift. (Don't look at me like that. I didn't know what she wanted until she got here and then the whole area has been snowed in.) She wanted some walking shoes and found just what she wanted at Nordstroms. My friends tease me that I shop just like a guy. I never enter a shop unless I have a pretty good idea of what I want and am ready to buy. I hate the mall with a passion and while we were there, we had to go to Macy's because Nordstrom didn't have the other thing GM wanted (much to my surprise). We found what she needed at Macy's (and at 50% off! a pleasant surprise this time) and even though we had been in the Mall for about 2o minutes total, I was all ready to leave. It wasn't even that crowded but I could already feel the werewolf-like change from fairly-laid back, somewhat mellow person to uptight and bitchy woman starting to happen. (So why even go to the Mall, you ask? Well, as far as I know, item #2 is only available in department stores, which tend to be located in malls.)  If Nordstrom hadn't let me down by not having item #2, we would have been in and out of there before any anxiety had started (instead of making a hasty retreat as anxiety started to set in). 

I don't hate all shopping. I like browsing in bookstores. I like going to yarn shops. I don't even mind shopping if it's in a market-type environment instead of a mall. I really hate the artificiality of the suburban shopping mall. The only mall that doesn't give me hives is University Center in Seattle, and that's probably because each shop actually exits to the outside instead of to a giant room with artificial lighting.  

And (tangentially) speaking of yarn, I am working on the first project in about two months that hasn't turned to crap. I went to my LYS (local yarn shop) this afternoon to finally purchase the books that I'd ordered. They arrived over a week ago, but I hadn't been able to get there until yesterday. While there, I noticed some skeins of Noro Kuyeron yarn on the sale table. Noro is a Japanese company that specializes in multicolored yarns, and they are often quite beautiful. Most multicolored yarns I'm familiar with are made by dyeing sections of a large skein of yarn, but Noro creates multicolored yarn by spinning several colors in sequence. Since the new color is added bit by bit, each color transitions gradually and they tend to be quite beautiful. (I say "tend to" because often a color sequence will have a color which I Just Don't Like.) Anyway, one of the popular project in knitting world recently has been this scarf using two different colorways knit in an extremely simple pattern of knit 1, purl 1 ribbing and switching the colorways every two rows. Anyway, I saw this yarn for sale and asked G.M. if she were interested in a scarf. She said yes, and so off I went. (And yes, if I were a real frugalista, I would have waited one day to buy the yarn because the next day, everything in the store went on sale and even stuff on the sale rack would be further discounted. But I wasn't sure I'd make it back before the clearance rack was cleared out, and besides, I really like my LYS and support her as often as I can. That's why I order knitting books from her instead of from Amazon or Powells.) 

I may have mentioned before that I really don't like making scarves. And usually I don't. But for some reason this scarf is really holding my attention. The stitch pattern of knit one, purl one is quite rhythmic and therefore soothing. The colors of each yarn are constantly changing and each row is rather short so it is rather intriguing to see what will happen next. One of the yarns is in a very neutral colorway probably best described as "greige". You know, light grey to dark grey to light brown to dark brown to charcoal to black. This "greige" colorway provides a lovely balance to the other colorway which so far has transitioned from rust red-burnt orange-bright orange-muddy red-green-purple-magenta-dark magenta-deep greenish black. 

This is one seriously gorgeous scarf. I can't believe that I've already knitted half of it since I only started it yesterday. But the colors are so bewitching! I hope she likes it, 'cuz if she doesn't, I may just keep it for myself.