I was rolling through my morning routine this morning (brush teeth, read blogs, etc) when I saw that Bonne Marie of Chicknits had linked to my blog. I nearly spat out my coffee. Well, I might have done that anyway since I used buttermilk instead of milk this morning out of desperation. I wouldn't recommend it. So, if you're a new reader, welcome. Today I will try to be at my wittiest.

It's been an interesting week at the shop. We've had a fairly international crowd the past few days. Yesterday, a very charming mother-son pair of knitters visited from Australia, with dad in tow. They were delightful and humored me with descriptions of the knitting community down under as I wound their purchases into balls. Later, we had an English couple from London. Zoe steered them to me because I understand the UK/Australian knitting terms (though measuring yarn by weight instead of quoting yardage seems ripe for error). One of these days, I might make a cheat sheet. When I have a bit of free time.

We also had a couple of meetings with our yarn reps. I love these meetings because I am a shameless fiber addict, but I must admit that I can only take so much yarn in one sitting. It's fun looking at all of the new colors and yarns, but after an hour or so I really can't retain any more. I gave in to temptation and ordered a bag of Manos wool to make a Pimlico shrug like the one that Lisa made as a store model. She and I wear it around the store fairly frequently, so I started to think that it might be nice to have one that I can wear wherever.

While I was taking in all of the fiber temptation, I knitted away on one of my Christmas projects. If you see me knitting in the next couple of months, it will either be commissioned work or gifts. Ironically, the project in question is knit up in Knitpicks Shine Worsted, which is sort of like going to Paris and eating at McDonalds. I am making a bed jacket for my grandmother, a top down raglan with seed stitch edging. Since I'm not using a pattern, but working from a mathematical formula, it seemed wise not to break out my prized alpaca. The Shine has a lovely hand, as well as an elegant sheen when knit up, though I really ought not to work on it in the shop.

Nina is having an anniversary sale this weekend. I was momentarily elated when I read their email this morning, until I considered my current fiber state. I am stashed to capacity. I have more yarn than time to knit it. I do not need more yarn. Also, I just ordered a Fleece Artist kit and a kilo of Manos. Damn.

Lately, I've been going through my annual Christmas card buying dilemma. I pretend that I will design them myself, which I've not done since college. This leads to denial and epic shopping searches for the perfect card. I must find a tasteful, elegant card on fairly thick cardstock with plenty of room to write on the inside. And, since I haven't won the lottery, it can't be square. Nothing cute or with glitter on it, preferably a vintage looking picture. No cats and no more Asian motifs because I did that three years in a row. You can see how it could be difficult to find that perfect expression of my personal aesthetic in holiday greeting form, no? Well, I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday, fleeing the cold and reading magazines for free when I found this year's card. It is on heavy but not additional postage weight stock with a white on white design of a dove and the word peace embossed on the cover. Not that lousy silk screen "embossing" but a heavy bruise like you find in letterpress designs. Here's the shocker: they were cheap (like a dollar per card) and Unicef cards. Unicef! When did their cards become so nice? I remember when they were cheap looking and awful and only bleeding hearts bought them, but all of their designs this year are elegant. I snapped up two boxes and another design for older relatives who might be challenged by the white on white design. Apparently, my purchase financed the immunization of 45 children, too. I'm not a buy-crap-for-a-cause fan, but I was happy when I read that on the box.