A Good Yarn

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

I Love Minnesota

People who frequent this space already know how much I love the Twin Cities. One of the reasons I love it, believe it or not, is the weather. I know those of you from more moderate climes will think I'm crazy. I just love how things are different from day to day. A week or so ago, it was just unbearably hot and humid. Last night, when I was out in the backyard with the dogs, I could see my breath. That's crazy - and I love it! I love fall and that crisp air is a tonic to me. I bought a new leather jacket and had to wear it on Sunday night, even though it really wasn't that chilly. In the spring I can't wait to ditch the coats and feel free, but the summer doesn't have to be too long before I'm ready to pull out the coats and sweaters again.

As promised, I finished the left front of Lucky and started the first sleeve. I was a little worried about the sleeves being too tight for my sausage-like arms, even though there are new, larger sizes available. My gauge is off just a little bit after I block out the body, which will give me enough ease in the sleeves - nice! After the MN AK Knitting I went to Needlework Unlimited with a couple of the girls and bought a couple of things, even though I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head. First, I picked up the Sock Calendar:



I saw this booklet in my sock class at Yarnover last spring and I'm happy to finally have it. Even though I don't knit socks all that often, I do like making them and like having so many options. I also picked up a "kit"



It's the Shapely Shawlette pattern and some chocolate brown Koigu to make one with beads. There was a sample in the store that was just gorgeous and I hardly ever knit with brown. Plus y'all know how much I love knitting with beads!

Sunday I spent cleaning the house and I'm so happy with how things are starting to look! This whole spring and summer have just flown by and I hardly have finished any knitting projects and have been very lax in my housekeeping. It had gotten very bad around here. With two Sundays in a row with some time to clean, I've made a good dent. Almost every article of clothing in the house is clean, which is pretty amazing. The kitchen, dining room and living room are pretty clean too. I replaced all the burned out light bulbs in the house and it's amazing how much lighter the rooms are now! It's the little things that make you happy. Sunday night Greg and I saw this:



Oh boy! I really liked this and thought it was hilarious, but it's definitely not for everyone. It's a documentary about a joke that comedians often tell each other, which is called "The Aristocrats." The joke itself really isn't funny, at least to me. Here's the joke if you're interested. Every comedian puts his or her own spin on the joke and they try to outdo each other in being more obscene and more outrageous. What's funny is the way each person brings something different and it reflects his or her personality and act. Some of them are just hilarious and some of them were just incredibly dirty. My own personal favorite was Jake Johannsen, but I'm a huge fan of his, so it probably depends on your own personal taste. There are interviews with dozens of comics. If you're not really familiar with stand up comedy, it's probably not going to be that enjoyable to you. There's no name labels during the interviews, although at the end they have names and pictures. I recognized about 90% of them, but those I didn't I really wanted to know who they were.