A Very Knitty Birthday

Well, today is my birthday. Typically, I don't like my birthday... but friends and family are making that harder for me with every year that goes by. This year I received a couple monetary gifts, and treated myself to some yarny goodness.

First I went to Borders, and picked up Lace Style and the newest Interweave Knits. I've been wanting to start working on lace, and I found a couple of yummy patterns I liked in both (like that Cobweb Lace Stole in Interweave).

Then today I drove over to Eleganza Yarns- which is now only ten minutes away (squee!), and I gots me some yarn!

Mmm... that's some lovely Schaefer Lola in the colorway Toni Morrison. I actually have some more of this colorway in Schaefer Nancy, and always had thoughts of doing some sort of jackety-cardigan type thing with the main body knit up with the smooth Lola, and adding the cuff, collar, etc. with the slubbier Nancy. I don't know if I have enough Lola to realize that dream (840 yds), but maybe it could work. We'll see. I should also remember to see how a swatch reacts to washing- the Lola is superwash, Nancy is not. Hopefully just handwashing will be okay, but you can never be certain.

After looking through the lace book, I decided I needed something that is sportweight, smooth, a solid color, and has a nice sheen. So I picked up 5 balls of Classic Elite Cotton Bamboo. But with all that stitch definition I'll have to be extra careful with my tension... gah!

My brother- and sister-in-law sent some goodies for me too! They have a knack for finding awesome stuff... like this:

Top view:

And I couldn't get a good photo, but on the side it says, "I need a half gram of wool and quick! I'm starting to come down..." Who hasn't felt like that?

With my Stash Bank, came a magnet-

I find the combination of the bank and this magnet to be utterly hilarious, as I am (in reality) much too elitist to ask for knitting lessons. I will, however, start saving for some Qiviut right away...

There was also a witty air freshener in the package, but apparently cellophane doesn't mix well with photography, and I'm not ready to open it and let out all the smelly goodness. I'm waiting for the day when it can properly scent my knitty room.

Speaking of the knitty room, I'm still at a loss as to how to decorate it. I can't decide on one damn thing. Carpet or Pergo? Curtains or wooden blinds? Or maybe shutters? What color should I paint it? Do I want open or closed yarn storage? What sort of lighting should I get? There are just too many decisions! I suppose the first thing to do would be to set some sort of budget, but I don't even know where to start with that! Maybe that will be my weekend project, as I'm sure a budget will narrow down my options.