Catching Up

5 6 things I learned this week

1. Honey-Nut Cheerios violate the anti-nut policy of my kids' preschool because they have chopped almonds in them.
2. Rupert Holmes, author of the "Pina Colada Song," also wrote the awful cannibalism song "Timothy."
3. Only 35% of coffee drinkers drink their coffee black.
4. Contrary to my expectation, I can get even more sick of and repulsed by Tom Cruise.*
5. Kenny Rogers, 67, has two-year-old twins.
6. Rev. Sun Yung Moon is the principal in a company that supplies the majority of sushi to American restaurants, thereby ensuring that the California roll you eat indirectly supports his controversial church.


* I was highly amused to hear, however, that "Suri," the name of TomKat's new daughter, also means "scram" in Hebrew, "pointy nose" in some Indian dialects, and "pickpocket" in Japanese.

Yarn News

It may seem strange to be anticipating autumn when spring is barely upon us, but yarn reps are now traveling across their territories, taking orders for fall yarns. Fall ordering is bittersweet for us yarn diehards; for every exciting new yarn that is going to be released (how about a wool/soy silk blend from Rowan?) there are good yarns being discontinued. Rowan, for example, is discontinuing the entire Yorkshire line, all weights, and this makes me sad; I guess they are going to push the Scottish Tweed in its place. I haven't seen much of the Scottish Tweed in real life, so I can't really compare the two. Chunky Print is also being discontinued; I usually use thick yarns like Chunky Print only for quick accessories like hats and scarves, so I probably won't miss it much, but it did have some fun color combinations. Noro is discontinuing Big Kureyon, but since they have so many similar yarns at the chunkier end, again, this one probably won't be cause for too much gloom. I did like it, though, and have a great cap I made with it that I wear in the winter.

Black Bunny update

I want to thank the people who've written to me to give me feedback about Black Bunny yarns. This morning I skeined up some lovely, lovely hanks. These are sock yarns:



The grey one on the left is already up on Etsy (great for men); the purple-blue one on the right is a special order for Dee, and if it isn't exactly what she was looking for, I'll put it up on Etsy; the blue one in the middle kills me to sell, since I love that combination of colors,



but I'm sure (sniff) it'll find itself a good home once I list it later today. Geez, it's a good thing I don't breed kittens or fluffy bunnies or anything, since I already get weepy sending my creations out into the world.

This is some worsted weight I'm playing around with which may appeal to you green fans.



It's not superwash, and probably could be felted (although that pains me a little to think about for some silly reason; I mean, why should it matter whether it gets knit or knit/felted?), and I'm going to dye a few different colorways of this to see what people think of it. There's over 425 yds. in this hank, so you could easily get a hat & mittens, or a little sweater, or a scarf out of it, or whatever else you can think of.

I'm also working on a web site for Black Bunny. It's still very early, and my knowledge of web-building is minimal, as is my budget, so I've used a web hosting service that provides preformatted pages. I'll let you know when it's up and running; it'll take at least a few weeks. I'm going to continue selling through Etsy for the foreseeable future even after the site is up, but I'm hoping to have information about the kinds of yarns and fibers I use, photographs of projects and swatches that people have made with them (so if you've purchased something and have any photos you'd be willing to have me put on the website, feel free to send them! even photos of swatches or yarn on a bobbin would be terrific), maybe even some really simple free patterns after things get more established.

Mail Surprise

I received a package last week from my dear friend Molly, who sometimes comments here (but not nearly enough). In it was:



a pack of "National Embarrassmints" (heh) and



a Vincent Van Gogh doll. The best part about the doll, you see, is the detachable ear. God, I have great friends! Thanks, Mol!

Silent Auction

The preschool silent auction is, ahem, Saturday, and so far I've got two foofy scarves and a doggie jacket. I also have an adult cap on the needles, which I should be able to finish today or tomorrow. Photos once they're all ready to go. I've never donated to a fundraiser like this, but I figure I should tag them saying what they are and what kind of fiber and what size.

Coming this week: the rest of the Yarn Substitution Tome, and some book reviews...