This Little Pig Went to Market...

Good Wednesday afternoon to you!

Big news: I wrote today! After almost (gulp) a month of No Knitter-No Writy, I took to my desk*, pulled out the page**, and from my brain*** came actual words. Whoo-hoo!
*hunkered down on the couch **flipped open the laptop ***God knows where

Of course, there are yarny projects in the works. First, and first time on this here site I believe, the bag I'm doing:


It's cabled and knit entirely in the round- the most work, from what I can tell, is seaming together the bottom when I'm done. I've used Cascade 220 Tweed in- can you guess the shade?- green! Also, those red and blue and yellow spots aren't the results of shoddy camera work but little flecks in the yarn. Bright and cheerful, isn't it? An excellent spring bag, which is probably around the time I should expect to finish it. I found the pattern here.

Also, The Hubba's socks, out of the school colors yarn dyed by Dani of Sunshine Yarns.


I'm so close to a finished pair. And The Hubba will have them for good luck throughout college basketball season. Have I mentioned both our men's and women's teams are ranked in the top twenty-five? I said it's great! to be! a Tennessee Vol! (And ya'll thought you might escape it because football's over...)

Speaking of Vols- and might I say, again, how nice it is to be associated with a school who's mascot is a Volunteer?- I've been out and about in the knitting Good Works community and have a few suggestions for anyone looking for a project.

I read about the Red Scarf Project from the Mason-Dixon girls and I'm on board to try and get a scarf or two out between now and the end of the month.

I'm also barking mad for the Snuggles Project which I first learned about through Brooke, who's lovely mom has been knitting these pooch blankies for a while. I look at our guys (cue Orchestras of Cuteness)


and figure if a homemade blanket gets one more kooky pet out wreaking havoc on the world, who am I not to help?

Or if you're looking to give some cash (from all the money you're saving with Renee's Stash-a-Long) send it over to Yarn Harlot and her Knitters Without Borders.

Can I get an Oo-Aa for these nifty Knitters?

Good Neighbor News of the Week: Well, I've been thinking-
What's that?
What did you say?
What's Good Neighbor News?
Oh. I'm embarrassed. Let me es'plain. No, there is no time, let me sum up.
I thought, what with all the conversation we've had lately about our outstanding 2007, it might benefit us all (coughcoughme) to find some good news, here and there, to keep us on the Bright and Optimistic. You never know when it could come in handy- or it just might save your life.
OK, that last part was a little dramatic. Let's stick with, it might come in handy.

So, Good Neighbor News of the Week: We have markets and grocery stores! OH, you laugh- but wait. I, too, once thought this a mundane detail of everyday life. But I say to you again- and this time with feeling- we have grocery stores!

This lightbulb went off earlier this week. I'm not much of a shopper; I love to cook good food, I love to eat good food, I do not like to shop for good food- it's some basic flaw in my DNA. So there I am, at the store, behind my cart, Ipod on, and I'm buying apples. I look at the apples- this huge selection, Granny Smith, Gala, Macintosh, you name the apple, the Teet's got it- and, in my peripheral, notice displays of lemons, potatoes, bananas, peppers, salad dressings, and I'm grousing- probably loudly (see: Ipod)- "Blank and blank for apples! The price of them."

Then, folks, it hit me- We have grocery stores! I can, at one store, buy apples, pork chops, green beans, bell peppers, Hostess treats filled with cream, toothpaste, DVDs, all life's necessities. In one place. It's shocking.

Maybe you've thought about it before. I'm betting, considering the thoughtful comments I get on a daily basis (particularly those that start "Em, you are the smartest, coolest, best looking blogger I've ever read..."), you readers are an appreciative bunch who walk into a store and think "Man! A grocery store! This is the life!" I, I'm ashamed to tell you, never thought about it.

Until Monday. And then I noticed all these benefits everywhere. The store is bright and clean. They have great sales all the time. I can sip a Starbucks coffee while I shop. The people who work there are absurdly friendly (I can't walk down an aisle without someone in a red apron jumping out and chirping "How're you today, ma'am?", usually making me jump and slosh caramel macchiato down the front of my shirt ). It's a pretty sweet deal.

So I'm on board with the appreciating of the stores. I will try (really), from this moment forward, not to complain (coughcough) to anyone who will listen (The Hubba) about the drudgery of supermarket shopping. Instead I will take a moment to appreciate all the people, and equipment, and trucks, and planes, and energy that went into getting all this food in one place for me to purchase at almost any time day or night. Good News, huh? I thought so, too. I mean, what's fifty cents here or there when we've got apples in the middle of winter?