There and back again

It was a good day. (I cut it a little shorter than I might have, both to save money and because it's monthly Board meeting tonight, so I had to be back in good time)

First stop was at Quixotic Fibers, partly to spend the $20 gift certificate I got last trip there (they do a loyalty program):



Thus, one of those skeins was very nearly free.

The middle one is their own "house yarn" - it's American raised wool and is dyed right there, and that pleases me a lot. (I will have to keep that in mind if I ever need a "unique" gift for a knitter in another part of the world)

The colorway is "Botanica" which could either be flowers of some sort, or I think the traditional-medicine shops (mostly herbal medicines) in some Hispanic communities are called botanicas.

The purple yarn - I just like that color, and it really is intense. It's from Urth yarns (it is their Uneek Fingering line). It just has a number (3003). (And I admit it: I prefer when colorways have a NAME).

The third one is Yarn Rehab's "Silk Traveler" in Malachite. This is a very fine fingering, it looks almost laceweight (and there's more yardage than many fingering weight yarns have). I intend to use it for a small shawl of some kind; the other two yarns are for socks.

I also bought these:



The shop also has the Blue Q line of things. I wanted these socks to wear under slacks to some of the meetings I have to go to because, well, of that thing worked into the sock up at its top.

(And these were FAR from the rudest socks they had! There was another one with the "secret message" worked in near the cuff that said "This Meeting is B***s***" but they spelled it out....though I admit "STOP TALKING" is the thing I'm more commonly screaming in my head when I'm at the sort of meeting where I would wear these, so they seemed appropriate)

I went to Kaleidoscope Quilts next. Found the backing I will need soon (it's the grey, it's a 108" wide backing so NO SEAMING). The other fabric is for sashing on a quilt that will have bright florals (and maybe a few butterfly fabrics) as its focus fabrics. (Another pattern from "Modern One-Block Quilts"). I had originally thought of a dark brown like soil, but this print that looks kind of like travertine tile appealed to me, so maybe it will be more like a rock garden or a very-well-ordered series of planters.



I also bought a few pieces of just-cute fabrics (and another newsprint - this one in French - for the Vigenère cipher-inspired quilt I want to do some time). I don't know where I'll use the novelty fabrics for sure but I just like them:



Then I went and got lunch at Lovejoy's. I didn't get the quiche; the quiche of the day was Southwestern and while I was promised it "wasn't hot and spicy" it also contained bell pepper, which sometimes plays badly with my digestion (especially when my allergies are bad, like now), so I got the ham sandwich* instead - ham, Swiss cheese, a poppyseed spread, and on a croissant

(*I know, I know: sodium. But it seems the occasional saltier meal doesn't that adversely affect my blood pressure)

I even ate a few of the potato chips that came with the sandwich and that is huge for me - no, not because of the salt, but because of the crunchiness. I've been mostly off crunchy foods since the combination of cracking that second tooth (and having to have it crowned) and having a bad sinus thing that made chewing super loud, and it's almost like I developed a little phobia about it. I'm trying to slowly overcome it - one of the recent AAUW meetings, they had popcorn as a snack and I ate a little bit of it (carefully, kernel by kernel, though) and that seemed okay, and I ate a few chips today (just a few, though: I have never been fond of potato chips). I'm thinking now maybe I could add back in Goldfish crackers; they are not VERY crunchy. (I might ask my mom to buy some when I'm up there and then if I just can't manage them, they can eat them instead). I doubt I'll ever go back to eating corn-nuts and hard-roasted almonds and tortilla chips, but being able to be a LITTLE less careful is nice.

I went to all three of the "antique and stuff" shops in town. Found a tea towel at one of them:



I have a bunch of these, mostly acquired in this way. Yes, I use them. (I doubt I'll try making clootie dumpling from that recipe, though).

I always look hard for vintage Ponies but never find any. Either they get bought up fast by the collector community or maybe the shops don't take them, thinking they have no value? My piano teacher asked me last week if I ever went to yard sales looking for them and I know people have found Ponies at places like that but....I don't really have time, and it gets tiresome going to sale after sale and not finding anything. I think I'd rather go through Etsy and pay what is fundamentally the "finder's fee" to the person who is selling them...

From there, I drove back to Sherman. Went to the natural-foods store and the Kroger. (I had contemplated going to JoAnn's and the Ulta, but by then I was getting tired and didn't want to and also wanted to get home at a decent hour).

And I forgot what a great luxury it was to be able to grocery-shop at a time when the stores are not busy, when there aren't the various "minions" hired to do the "gather things for people coming to pick up" running down the aisles with their giant carts, when I had time to consider and to look around to see if they maybe DID have golden syrup, just not where I would expect it (they didn't). But I was able to shop without having to dodge too many people and that was nice. (Plans this summer for "big shopping" will be to do it on a non-Friday weekday as much as possible...)

I also wound up buying myself one last little treat of the day at the Kroger's: 

Yes, it's a Beanie Baby. It's "Destiny" the whale-shark from "Finding Dory." (No, I have not seen the movie, but I think the character is cute, and I kind of like whale sharks). I still have "Darwin," the great big crocheted one I made back in 2016 - this one is a lot smaller.