I'm on the hunt...

Why does it seem like I'm always on the hunt for discontinued makeup or the perfect pair of shoes? After getting out of the ASPCA on Saturday (where I saw the cutest little kittens ever, ever--they fit into the palm of my hand!!!), Brad and I went to Roosevelt Field mall out on Long Island. Brad needed to get a present for his aunt and uncle, and I needed to find my favorite lipstick. It's not just any shade of lipstick mind you--it is the perfect, perfect shade of red--it's deep and has a really beautiful blue/cool undertone (I know the ladies understand the importance of getting a red lipstick that is not too orange and not too brown). This was perfect. It makes your lips look like ripe cherries. It was by this company called Alchemy and the name is (approprietly enough) Devil's Claw. Well I dragged poor Bradley in and out of Sephora, Bloomingdales, Macy's, and Nordstom's and no one--no one--had anything even close--not even Channel! I am distraught. I did search on eBay and Googled it and my search turned up nadda--apparently the company is out of business. Ugh. To make up for my disheartening lipstick search, Hubby got me some drop dead gorgeous peep-toe black patent-leather shoes that I will post a picture of as soon as I get a pedicure.

In happy news, I bought more sock yarn yesterday. I went to this sweet little yarn shop in Park Slope called Stitch Therapy--lovely people in there. They don't have a ton of yarn, but what they do have is beautiful. (I checked out Knit-A-Way too and though I was impressed with their selection, I didn't like the vibe--and they're more expensive than necessary. They were selling Karabella merino at $10 a skein--the same yarn I can get at Knitty City for $8.) Not that I've finished the socks I'm currently working on, but that doesn't matter--this yarn was too yummy to pass up. Not to mention having the Hubby with me to pick out the colors of his next pair of socks makes things easy and fun. Here it is:

It's from a Welsh company called Jitterbug. 100% merino wool and it's so freaking soft. I can't wait to knit with it. Has anyone ever used this company before? I'm hoping that they'll be self-patterning like my beautiful Koigu, but I won't be devastated if they aren't.

Update on next baby blanket!

This weekend I bought the yarn to get started on Olessia's baby blanket--it's absolutely beautiful yarn--Bernat Cotton Tots:


I'm using Sweet Green, Little Boy Blue, and Wonder Dreams (a light blue, light green, pale yellow, and white blend). I love this yarn because it is 100% cotton and so soft. I think it will wear really well too.

Tuesday night, Brad and I started yarn ball rolling while watching TV. After I had a ball of each color, I looked through my hooks to find the one that the label recommended--4.5 mm/US 7. I didn't have it. I tried a 4.0 hook. Too tight. Then I tried a 5.0 hook. Too loose. Sigh. So began a quest for a 4.5 hook. I could special order it from Michael's or Susan Bates, but that could take a while. I wanted to get started right away! So I checke the yarn shop, The Yarn Company, right down the block from my office, but since it's a knitter-friendly shop, they don't really cater much to us happy hookers. I pressed on and walked down to this new place that my google search for yarn turned up: Knitty City. There, I met an awesome lady named Amanda who not only went out of her way to unearth the strange hook that noone else seemed to carry, but she was also told me that they do intermediate crochet classes! Score! I need to get another person to go with me, but they do have intermediate crochet classes. I am so excited! Now I'll be able to bring my dilemmas to Amanda whenever they come up, and hopefully I'll get to go to a class soon.

Happily, last night I not only started on Olessia's baby blanket, but I also mananged to figure out a motif called "Italian motif" which uses the dreaded puff stitch. I'm happy to say that I figured it out, but won't be making blankets with this motif any time soon. Way too intricate--at the most, I think it might make a nice shawl...hmmmm, now who can I make one of those for?