Now That's The Way To Spend A Tuesday

So, no pictures yet of the Webs yarn, but I wanted to write about my nice Tuesday. (Yes, I know it's three days later...what can I say? I'm slow.) We took Tuesday off, as we had no guarantee that the train would not be in late. (As it was, it was on time but even so we didn't get to the house until 10 p.m. or so.) So Tuesday morning I got up and did some laundry and some tidying up and ate some lunch and then went up the Black Sheep. Always a pleasant way to while away some time!

When I got there, Tracy was in the middle of arranging a brand spanking new shipment of Miss Babs yarn up on the wall. There were heaps of gorgeous yarn spread out on the floor. Well, I got all pushy and started suggesting placement of the colors and the next thing I knew, Tracy had laughingly set herself down at the table and I was allowed free rein to hang up all the yarn. I had so much fun doing this. In fact, while arranging the yarn I found a colorway I just couldn't resist...picture of that when I take the pictures of my Webs haul. But look how pretty!!

Tracy also wanted to hang up a mitten, knit from Miss Babs, as a teaser for an upcoming class. And yesterday, when I went back to take the picture up above (I didn't have my camera with me on Tuesday) I suddenly discovered that somehow I had signed myself up for the class! Here's a not-very-good picture of the mitten I'll be making. Or attempting to make.

While poor Mr. Pointy Sticks waited in the hot car (And really?! 92 degrees on September 23rd? That's just wrong!), I stood at this wall and held one skein up against another against another against a third...there were so many beautiful color combinations. Down toward the end of the second row there you can see a light and dark teal...that was one combo that was a strong contender, but I figured mittens in those colors wouldn't really go with any of my winter coats. The seventh skein from the right on the top row was a gorgeous orange (though it looks very red in this picture) and the eighth one was a stunning terracotta....they were both considered, too. In fact, the orange with the wine color in the middle row was another possibility I considered for some time...believe me, the colors worked together. And I love that strong yellow in the top row but i couldn't find anything that it looked good with. (Though I'm not sure I tried it with one of the dark greens...that might have been nice.) I dithered and equivocated and pondered and swapped (while Mr. Pointy Sticks sweated), with lots of helpful comments from Tracy and Joyce and Sue.

And what did I come up with?

Here's ole Duncan grudingly posing with the yarn. These two colors look great together, will look fine with both my red and my navy winter coat, and, for some reason, make me feel about six. I think because I am reminded of a couple of outfits that I had as a little girl. I remember in particular one red and navy dress that my mom made for me. She made so many of my clothes when I was little and I have fond, and very distinct, memories of many of them...the yellow linen dress with the inverted front pleat and the little applique of a teddy bear pulling a wagon with a duck riding in it...the coffee-with-cream colored cotton brocade with the ceramic acorn buttons...the wool plaid skirt that seemed to have hundreds of muted fall colors in it...the Alice in Wonderland dress with the white pinafore...the playsuit with the funny orange birds. One of my favorite garments that she made for me was a pair of pajamas...they were very soft white cotton with slightly shinier white flowers woven into the fabric. And each flower had just a soft smear of color, as though someone had just barely dipped her finger in colored powder and dabbed the cloth. I still have the buttons from those pajamas because she kept them after the pajamas were out-grown and I now have her button box.

And wow, I got sort of far afield there! I could get started on the nice clothes she bought for me at Hutzler's, too...the knit, merino wool, cobalt blue Italian three-piece outfit (short sleeved sweater, cardigan and pleated skirt)...the camel hair coat with mink collar (and man, did I feel sophisticated in that!), but really...that's probably only interesting to me. (Or perhaps a cousin or two to whom the clothes were handed down.)

I ought to see if I can identify any of these outfits in the old pictures we have. There's a rainy day project.

Oh, and another things I'm slow about? Birthday cards...I really did mean to get a birthday card in the mail to my cousin ML. And I haven't yet. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ML!! (And now I think I'm even early, since, unless my memory has failed me completely, her birthday is tomorrow!)

Oh...and how did I manage to put up a new calendar this year and NOT transfer all the birthdays and anniversary's I had on the old one over to the new one!? What an idiot.