It pays not to be poultry today

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.


Days like this give me reasons to ponder.
I have learned to be thankful everyday not just a certain Thursday in November.

• I have a roof over my head
  
• Food to sustain my body, not always the normal 3 squares but why be normal when you grow old, have a slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast or pancakes for dinner once in a while.
  
• Employment to sustain my somewhat comfortable lifestyle
  
• Two incredible children
  
• My best friend/lover/soul mate/partner/wife. Everything is better with you.
  
• I must give special thanks to the yarn Gods for Silk Merino and Cashmere, we are not worthy.
  
• Leo Fender, George Fullerton and the music gods for without you, the music I love may not exist.
  
• Stretch pants for days like these.
  
• My friends and family near and far
  
• Chocolate
  
• To watch Jerry Springer instead of being on the stage.
  
• and everyday I wake up for another turn in the circus, no matter what ring I'm in.

-

The Enabler and Chrome White Hair

Our Saturday trip started as normal. I yelled at the McDonalds drive through idiots again but I won’t digress. The goal was to head down the coast to Knitting by the Beach in Solana Beach. The Mrs, and I have been looking for a Tilli Tomas Trinket Bag for our trip back east next month. Undecided on what color to chose, we picked up both the Plum and Red (American Beauty) with the thought of we keep one and gift the other.




This point brings me to the second topic.



I AM THE ENABLER
If you’re a knitter and you teach the enabling husband to knit, watch out because it’s a slippery slope.
You may hear phrases like these:



You know that blah blah blah pattern on Knitty would look great in that yarn.
Go ahead and get it, that fiber color looks good on you, very slimming.
It’s all right, use my card, I get paid in a couple days.
It brings out the color in your eyes
You know that would look good with the blah blah blah in your closet (insert top, skirt, shoes, or purse)
I know we don’t have a project for it but I’m sure we’ll find one.
You know if we don’t get it, we’ll regret it foever and kick ourselves for not getting it.
Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is good (The enabler always has this in the pantry)
Shipping is free on orders over $40.00 !
I used my frequent buyer’s card and save another 15% (the enabler has all the cards yes even Yarn stores have these cards)
I’ll knit faster soon
As I said earlier it’s a slippery slope, most of these rationalizations can be used for buying shoes and new clothes etc. etc. Even the voice of reason (Mrs. Twisted) has few countermeasures for THE ENABLER



Oh we didn’t find the right yarn for the trinket bag so we had the back up plan to head down to Yarns of La Jolla to just shop. (Really I knew we were going there all along and I was looking forward to it.) We love this shop, They have a brilliant sales person who has a wonderful knowledge of yarns used and patterns on all the heavily traveled web sites and a knack for exquisite yarn selection. Thank you Kate, you matched a ball of Rowan tapestry to the plum bag that was just beautiful. We never even thought about a wool blend on the bag, but it was a perfect match. We decided to dress up the red bag by shopping through our own stash with either silk yarn we have or we order the matching silk from Tilli Tomas

On the drive north coming out of La Jolla we passed a couple. One guy in his 20’s and a guy(we found out it was a lady after we passed her) with Chrome White hair (Think fine young Cannibals) As we passed them we both said almost the same thing at the exact same time. (I said) That guy looks like Johnny Winter and (she said ) That guy looks like Edgar Winter. As we laughed we realized that not many people would even understand the references let alone have the same thought process. We know we are meant to be together. At times it seems like we think from the same brain. Two twisted souls, loving life one glorious day at a time. For those of you who don’t know, Edgar Winter was known for the songs "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride" (1973), with Rick Derringer. Johnny Winter is a phenomenal Blues Guitarist who has been around since the early 60’s

The bag is finished too

My Secret Pal Package Arrived!!!!

All the anticipation was worth the wait. My SP9 package arrived Saturday.

A very nice lady in Ottawa I believe her first name begins with an "L" because she almost signed the card enclosed with the gifts.

I feel a bit shamed by the attention to detail compared to my package.
Each item was individually wrapped and labeled as follows

Something Practical

A CHIBI for my travel bag

Something Sweet

Dark Chocolate and Mint, these won't last long.

Something Manly

"His" Glycerin soap.

Something Luxurious

Sea Silk By Hand Maiden Fine Yarns. 70% silk and 30% Seacell Colorway Ocean
This fiber is magnificent in color, texture and sheen. My secret Pal has selected a wonderful yarn and also shown me a Canadian source for luxury fiber.

And Something Very Canadian

Pure Canadian Maple syrup!!!! In a glass bottle.
Even Mrs. Butterworth's has gone to the plastic bottle

Thank You Secret Pal!!!!

There is an FO in the house... Elvis has left the building

Not mine but I want to share..



A week and a half ago we stopped by A Mano Yarn Center, see the link in the sidebar. They are helping a women's shelter for expecting mothers. The shop donated the yarn and we donate the time to create blankets for the newborn babies. If you have the time, it's time well spent. This was adapted from a rug pattern in knitting in the round.

Check out the knit picot cast off edging I found in our library of knitting books.


We affectionately nicknamed this the spumoni baby burrito blanket. Now for your viewing pleasure, Elvis Bear models the proper roll.



I picked up the socks I cast on some months back. Note to self,
never set a project down and leave it for months because I had no idea where I was. Loving the Koigu KPPPM, it's beautiful yarn for the socks. I'm past the picking up stitches and the rest looks like smooth sailing. Problem is that I wear a size 15 show so it may take a few rounds to get to the toe.

Ok I had to do the who do I look like thing

I wanted to see who I looked like because I never really thought I looked like anyone famous.



Ok, I agree with Bill Paxton but Dave Navarro? I guess it could be worse.

Pirate party or party like a pirate

We had a chance to attend friends child's birthday party today. A co-worker to the Mrs did this party BIG, Pinata, bounce room and clown. Pirate themed and lots of fun, Arrrrrrrgg.

Strung up and ready for the beating of his short life.

These Guys are serious, they bring pulleys to assist in the movement of the candy filled buccaneer.

One to many shots to the pirate junk and .....

Game over! He loses his head over a little candy.

It's a bad day when you end it upside down in a trash can

Other news, we booked our tickets to go back east to spend Christmas with the wife's family. My first white Christmas. A little creative booking has us driving to Vegas to fly back to Boston. The four hour drive, saved us $400.00 dollars.

We are now on a mission to pre scout all the great yarn shops anywhere between Maine to New York. If anyone has suggestions for where we could stop and visit, please let me(us) know. If you have been reading this blog you know we love the luxury and or hand spun/hand dyed silks or blends. All you lurkers out there please let me know where you would want to go yarn shopping. We are looking at spinning wheels too.

Secret Pal Package #2 is going out this week. I'm having way more fun with this than I ever imagined.

While we were gone today someone barfed Christmas on the lawn near us. Just a bit early for my taste. Can't people wait till the turkey is gone? Isn't that what the day after Thanksgiving is for? We had another neighbor put up lights the day after Halloween. Maybe it's just Christmas lights peer pressure. I will not succumb.

Two Degrees of Separation (hold the bacon)

Today was a banner day for the Twisted couple
A brief chronology of the day

1. Breakfast
2. New yarn shop (small purchase)
3. Breakfast for lunch
4. 2nd yarn shop (no purchases but saw the cutest Tilli Thomas Elegant Trinket liner)
5. 3rd yarn shop (no longer in business but we saw a fun restaurant sign)
6. 4th yarn store, Major purchase, brush with person who works with stars.
7. Found the new Lucky magazine on the rack at the grocery store before going home.

First stop. The Knot Garden located in Encino. Tucked away in a nice multi-level open mall. Nice selection of yarn and patterns. The goal of the day was to restrain our purchases and be selective. Mrs. Twisted has a future project of a baby sweater. 4 balls of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino and a couple patterns for a throw. Best of all they have a frequent buyer card.

By the time we finished in the first shop it was almost 1:00 and the food from the surrounding restaurants was making it hard to skip lunch and then we saw there was a Waffle place in the same mall, directly under the yarn shop. Who could say no to waffles? "Waffles and More",A little expensive but delicious omelets and pumpkin waffles were just the ticket.

Off to Stop # 2 "Rather B Knitting

Upscale store with luxury yarns. Nothing to make us pull the plastic card out but they had a Tilli Thomas trinket liner that was finished in a beautiful magenta silk. One problem was that they didn't have another one to sell, just the sample bag.

Off to stop #3

"Yarn for all Seasons" no longer in business but we saw a great name for an eatery in the West Valley.

Draw your own conclusions

Last stop...

A stop to A Mano was just to pick up a hat form. Mrs. Twisted made a hat that will be felted soon but she wanted the hat form to help support it while it dries. Here is where the day became really exciting. After finding the most amazing Malabrigo Velvet Grapes yarn, we decided to hang around for a little while and knit with the other customers and enjoy the chit-chat. This nice lady comes in and talks to the owner and sits down and pulls out this simply beautiful sweater made out of Debbie Bliss Superchunky cashmerino in a deep lilac color. Shannita , the owner, was talking to this lady about a repair of her sweater when the woman mentioned it wasn't for the Gilmore girls..... Huhhhhhh? Our ears perked up and we asked if she worked for the show and she replied she was the costume designer for the Gilmore Girls. OMG OMG OMG!!!

Hello! This is like one of the best shows ever!

We were thrilled to meet her and asked about some of the outfits and she was talking about the hand knit sweaters and clothes she has made for certain episodes. I asked her about a dress that Sookie wore in one episode. Mrs. Twisted bought the same dress months earlier at Torrid. She smiled and agreed and said that she remembered the distinct pattern. What a wonderful lady! So nice and friendly! She shared her tales freely as she inquired what we were all making. As she passed behind me she touched my back. The hand that has touched Lorelai, Rory and Sookie touched me! As close to the Gilmore girls as we may ever get. 2 degrees of separation LOL

Oh yeah the yarn....

Malabrigo, So beautiful and soft!

Some Yarn Bras for the secret Pal

A new Spinning Magazine. This may be a little dangerous.

A Mano is supporting a local charity knit program for newborn babies. This will soon be a soft baby blanket for a special child .

The reason for the visit to A Mano. One Plastic Hat Form

And how could we pass up this cute button in the shape of a Reese's Peanut butter cup?

This will go on a felted purse going to the Secret Pal in the second care package.