*whew*

Wow, I hadn't realized it's been that long. Between having my extended family over for Thanksgiving on the 18th & than doing a family Thanksgiving on the 23rd, I really haven't had time to post.
I am still working on my contract piece, it is going slower than I thought, but any project goes slower than I think it should go;) I'm the time that would pick up the "24 Hour Projects" book and figure "oh, it will only take me eight hours;) " I must think I have flying fingers.
Outside of that project, not much of anything. I did venture out to Michael's on "Black Friday" for their sale. No, I was _not_ there at 6am. No_way_! I'm not saying they didn't have good sales, but not for me.
They had rearranged the Michael's I normally shop. There was a lot less yarn there, which was a disappointment to me. I was looking for something a bit different, sort of like Lily's "Beadit" (I think it's called that) but no luck. Of course, I did buy yarn. I bought some Matrix, which was on sale for $2 a skein. Good price. And I also lucked into some Lion Brand Watercolors. That was in the sale bin. I bought 2 skeins, $2 a skein. I never have purchased this yarn before and now it's being discontinued! It's lovely yarn, bit I don't remember seeing it at Michael's prior to this visit. I really did luck out as I only had 1 skein of 1 color and was hoping for a second skein but couldn't find one. I stuck my hand in the bin, digging for something else and found another skein of Watercolor in the same color. *woo hoo* Now I want to go to every Michael's in the area looking for more Lion Brand Watercolor. It's a shame I don't have any yarn;)
But _why_ are stores downsizing the yarn departments? I was in A.C. Moore and it was the same situation - a lot less room for yarn, a lot more room for fake flowers and all the slightly different yarns were gone. I thought crocheting (and knitting, as they allege) is the "new yoga". So if it's so popular, why downsize the department? Are that many people shopping on line? I do occasionally shop on line for yarn, but nothing beats that tactile sensation of petting new yarn. That's when it becomes an impulse buy, it's so soft and so pretty, I just don't resist it. Online shopping is great if you know you want Bernat yarn, exactly the color and style, but petting Bernat Boa in person makes me want to think of a project for it.

I don't have any clear cut projects for Christmas. I've got yarn for a scarf as a project, maybe a stocking, but nothing concrete. I want to finish the piece I am working on before I start another project. That's unusual for me, but there it is. I got a lot of cool crochet books for my birthday, when I have a chance I will skim them and give a bit of a review.

I hope your crocheting is coming along fine and the cat did not eat your pumpkin pie.


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scraps and scrips

Probably like most of you, I've been trying to get ready for Thanksgiving. The cooking part I can do just fine, but I am a bit of a pack rat, so cleaning up the house takes a bit longer for me than it probably does for most people;)
I was working on a gold and burgundy scarf for my sister. Around here, that's considered Redskins colors. But it's also the Harry Potter colors. I was zipping along when I noticed that the scarf began to narrow. Apparently, I had forgotten how to crochet a scarf;) Oh well. I did rip it out but I doubt I will start it again. She doesn't really take care of her stuff and I thought "why am I putting all this effort into this scarf?" Plus I made her a similiar one last year, she doesn't seem to wear it, so why make another scarf?
I am currently working on a contracted item. I have not been as careful as I should have been about checking the pattern against what I was doing. The problem this time was the item _grew_. Maybe I need to take Crochet 101. Or maybe I just need to pay attention to what I am doing instead of fretting about how it is turning out.
I visited Joann Fabrics today. (no, I don't get a kickback from them.) I wanted some soft eyelash in an offwhite color, but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted. I had hoped since they were having a sale on their Sensations yarn I could find what I wanted. But no luck. Of course, that didn't stop me from buying yarn;) Get real. Sure, I got 20 or so people coming over for dinner on Saturday night, I still have lots of housework to do and did I mention I haven't even started prepping the food or even making a grocery list?
*sigh* Too bad there isn't a Yarnaholics Anonymous, but that probably wouldn't work. "Hi, I'm Robin and I haven't purchased yarn in 3 hours, but before that I was at the yarn store and they had the _best_ sale. I'd still be there but I had to come here." And almost everyone there would start saying "where? Did they have that chenille on sale? What about the cotton with the beads on it already?"
Plus the meetings would probably be right next to a craft store, so it would be worse than having a Baskin-Robbins next to a Jenny Craig location.
Outside of that, I haven't worked on much of anything. My brain feels like mush by the time I get home from work. I forget to put anything in my bag for the ride to work because my brain feels like mush. I'm not too sure what's going on, whether it's the time change or what, but my brain has been mushy of late.
mmm, maybe I should go to bed, maybe that would help the mushiness....