Nice weekend

I had a very nice weekend. Friday we did nothing for once, which was great. Saturday, our friends Meg and Craig came to visit from Fallbrook. We went out for sushi at Wasabi and drank way too much beer and sake. Yum! It's been far too long since we've had sushi, and I forget how good and inexpensive that place is. And it was really nice to spend some quality time with Meg and Craig. With 5 kids, they don't get a lot of quality adult time, so this was good for them.

Sunday, we got up early and went to breakfast at Johnny Reb's with John and Mary. We sat out on the patio and probably pissed off a number of people with our obnoxiousness. It is trouble when we get together - our "inside voices" tend to find their way outside. Tact just goes flying out the window. I had a lovely meal of chicken fried steak, scrambled eggs, biscuit, and cheese grits. They had to roll me back out to the car. But we did manage to make it back home in one piece. We then started the laundry, and I went grocery shopping. By that time, our friends Randy and Ginger had arrived. Randy and J went to work patterning some slops for J's Border Reiver outfit, while Ginger read and I knitted on my cardigan. We then went to dinner at Cosmo's, where I had some of their yummy Gnocchi. I love how I was able to hit all my favorite restaurants this weekend :)

And yes, I did finish the cardigan. Lemme tell ya, bulky yarn and big boobs do not mix :( It turned out great, but it makes me look HUGE. For the sake of this blog, I will post pictures so you can witness me looking like the Great Pumpkin. I had to make one change - Lion Brand Thick and Quick doesn't block worth a damn, so the button bands were rolling like crazy. I put the buttons on, and it didn't help. So, I grafted the button band with the button holes to the other side of the cardigan, so I would wear it like a pullover, but it has a faux button band going down the front. It turned out very nice. Maybe if I have a friend that has no boobs, I can gift it to her. But this is the last time I am making a sweater out of big yarn. I have learned my lesson.

I'll take some more pictures later of my other two projects - the sock and the Mariah sleeve. I'm into the foot of the sock and about 5 inches into the sleeve. Both look pretty spectacular. I should have those pics up this week, but don't hold me to it.

So, I have all of this heathered green Wool Ease yarn. I've tried making two sweaters out of it, but get bored to death with each pattern I try. I think I'll try a third pattern - Klaralund. I love the shape of the sweater, it only has 4 pieces, and the stitch patterns change enough that it should keep my interest. Plus, this sweater wouldn't make me look like the Goodyear Blimp. I don't like the feel of this yarn very much, but I don't want to just toss it. And I think the drape would be just right for this pattern.

So, to totally change the subject. J brought this up yesterday - after two years, we haven't really settled in to our house. The craft room and office still have boxes and aren't organized. Same with the garage. So, since we are having a big work party on December 10th where people will be spending the night, we need to clean up some of this stuff. We are also going to decorate a little more. Target has these velvet curtains and valances on sale for $24.99 and $14.99, respectively. These would not only look kickass in our living/dining area, but would help to keep the heat out in the summer. Plus we will need to decide if we are painting and which rooms get painted. We are so used to moving every two years, it's weird to think we will be here longer than that.

The rest of this week should be pretty nice. I only work three days this week. Thursday is Thanksgiving at my Mom's house, with both sides of the family. Friday, J is having some sort of work party at our house, so I'm hoping to get some more knitting in. And Saturday and Sunday we are visiting George in Santa Maria. I'm looking forward to that little vacation!