Me and Debbie Bliss

I spent a lot of time with Debbie Bliss this weekend - rather, her Lace and Bobble Jacket pattern from her Wish You Were Here book. And here's the results so far! This is my first attempt at a lace and bobble pattern and it is not as difficult as I thought. I had been stalled on it for awhile as I was struggling with doing the "K3Tog"s in the DB Cotton DK (which is kinda stiff and unyielding, yet gives a crisp look to the pattern) and bamboo needles. But as soon as I loosened up a little on my grip, it seemed to work out much better. Figured I better get this one done before the bolero thing is out of style....

Also visited Peggy's Strands of Heaven to return the Jaeger Roma and liked it much better this time -the woman working there was very friendly and they had moved the "knitting table" up front, I'd assume so that they can actually greet customers. I did notice they had a lot of different kinds of Blue Sky Alpaca there, including the bulky that I don't see everywhere.

Perfect Touch Yarns - it was in someone's house in a nice residential neighborhood in Joliet! They had a sign in front saying to enter in back, and not block the driveway. I have to admit I almost scrapped the idea of going in - but I figured I'd come too far to turn around now. I walked up the driveway and peeked around the corner at the back door and they had a sign for Addi Turbo needles, which made me feel a little more like I'd come to the right place. However, they also had a sign saying that they were closed that day because of a graduation! So I didn't get to go in - probably won't be back either, truthfully.

Stitch and Hook in Shorewood - in a little strip mall and stocked a lot of craft yarns like Lion Brand. They did have quite a bit of Cascade and a small selection of Noro and GGH. I bought one of the Garnstudio Drops magazines written in three Scandinavian languages and including a helpful separate booklet in English, as well as the Magic Loop brochure, which I'd heard about but hadn't seen before in a shop.

Other knitting progress - finished the front of the Dress Me Up pattern for Mia's dress - just need to sew together and do the bright yellow-green crochet edging around the neck.

Started the V neck alpaca "Mikey Did It' sweater in the Yarn Girls book for Noah (Mia's twin brother, for those of you who don't know.) I scored some Alpaca/Tencel blend on Elann.com for around $3.50 a skein (total cost - under $30) instead of the Blue Sky 100% Alpaca they recommend at $10-11 a skein. He'll grow out of it so soon, I can't justify $80. Saved about $50! I'll have piccies next post...

Saw The Break Up last night - I really liked it. I thought Jennifer Aniston did a great job with it and it was interesting to see her "claws come out" just a little in a movie as she usually plays long-suffering nice girls. Vince Vaughn really played an unlikeable character and I continued to ask myself, why would this beyond-gorgeous woman be with this guy? (as the moviemakers surely intended for me to ask) I'll tell ya, I'm definitely not considering batting for the other team, so to speak, but JA looked amazing in this movie. I'm not a star worshipper by any means, but if I could look like any famous person, she'd be it without a doubt. I don't know if they made her look especially good so he would look even worse, but the clothes they put her in were all really great and she was perma-tan throughout. Anyway, I laughed my *ss off at this movie and definitely recommend it. If you know my taste in movies though, I lean more toward movies like Wedding Crashers and Old School that make me laugh rather than high art, so take it with a grain of salt if you want!