Mossy Cottage Knits

Churchmouse!

(Warning: Looong entry; lots of photos!)

First, apropos of nothing: Anyone else watching Westminster? We'll be glued to the TV for the second three hours tonight. (And, on pain of death, no one tell me who won, or I will hunt you down.)

Next, on to birthday and Churchmouse!

The Magic Birthday Numbers: 44, 75, 137, 62, 12 and 8.

44: My age, post-birthday (no, not the 30 a Dear Reader mischievously hinted at in her comment)

75: The total of gift certificates I had to spend at Churchmouse. How did the $50 gift certificate magically turn into a $75 gift certificate? Details below!

137: The amount I actually spent at Churchmouse—a truly outrageous amount for me.

62: The piddly out-of-pocket amount I personally had to shell out for my big bag of yarny goodness.

12: The even smaller out-of-pocket amount I personally had to shell out for my big bag of yarny goodness—if I dedicate the $50 my aunt sent me for Christmas toward this purchase and not some other.

+8: The amount I MADE by going to Churchmouse—if I dedicate the $20 the same aunt sent me for my birthday toward this purchase and not some other. Hmmmm—Apparently with a little creative financing I can manufacture money out of thin air while, at the same time, adding to my stash! Somebody pinch me!

A Mini-Travelogue and The Story of My Big Surprise
First a mini-photo-essay of our trip to and from Churchmouse.

A photo taken while The Mysterious K and I were waiting for the car ferry Tacoma to whisk us to Bainbridge Island, the location of Churchmouse. The sticky-up thing in the middle of the picture is the top of the ferry. Yes, it looks gray and dreary but it was actually quite cozy in the car for me ‘n’ my honey (except for when she decided to open up the driver-side door and swing it back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, letting cold air in. I have no idea what that was all about. I hadn’t even farted.)

The ferry Wenatchee passing us on its way from Bainbridge to Seattle:

Port of Seattle cranes used to load and unload containerships:

The Seattle skyline on our way home. Note: The teeny white building on the right used to be the tallest building on the West coast! And, no, the photo hasn't been retouched; that is actual sunshine.

An artsy photo of the Space Needle, again, on the way home.

The mini-travelogue done, let’s talk Churchmouse!

As some of my Dear Readers may remember, I was all het up to go to Churchmouse because I had won a $50 gift certificate at my guild’s Christmas party. Little did I know that one of my very special Dear Readers had connived to add to what I thought was already a substantial amount.

The night before the trip, TMK started hinting mysteriously about a birthday “surprise” having something to do with Churchmouse, so I was all atwitter. Before we went into the yarn store, we stopped at a bakery (Blackbird Bakery, for those of you who know it). After I ate my chocolate croissant (a warm, slightly melted chocolate bar inside a croissant—heaven on earth, I tell you), I decided to hit the loo, and TMK said she would wait for me outside. When I came outside, with a twinkle in her eye, TMK handed me an envelope and a printout of an email. Apparently, as the email explained, DearDearDear Reader Lisa had called Churchmouse and had made arrangements for me to receive yet another $25 gift certificate!

(Lisa, since you couldn't be there, for you, the details of how this all "went down." Apparently TMK was fretting about how she was going to get her mitts on the gift certificate without my knowing and she saw her opportunity when I went to the bathroom. She raced around the corner to CM, picked up the gift certificate, raced back around the corner, screeched to a stop and assumed a nonchalant pose just before I came out of the bakery. When she handed me the envelope and the email, I spent many minutes staring at both, just amazed by your generosity and the surprise of it all. And the fact that I spent “many minutes” staring at it says a lot, since TMK and I were sitting on an ice-cold cement bench and our derrieres were turning blue!)

So, armed with an unexpected $75 worth of Churchmouse scrip, I started my adventure. True to her promise to allow me to just enjoy myself and to remove Non-Knitting Bored Partner from the picture, TMK left and occupied herself in the local galleries, bookstores, hardware stores and woodworking stores. And, yes, Dear Readers, when all was said and done, I spent almost three (3!) hours in Churchmouse!

Here is my bag of yarny goodness:

And its contents, waiting to be revealed:

Two skeins of a periwinkle blue Inca Alpaca yarn. So soft! Such a beautiful light-purple-blue, actually much lighter than this picture shows, more like the color in the picture above.

Two skeins of Lorna’s Laces sock yarn in the Childsplay colorway. This is something I have been on the verge of ordering online many, many times and was tickled to come across in the store.

Three skeins of Tahki Shannon (one is already in use, hence just the two in the photo). This yarn is a light liver brown (that’s really the best way to describe it) with beautiful, bright strands of red, blue, purple and orange added.

TMK fell in love with the Tahki and insisted I swatch it right away so:

Three skeins of Cascade 220, two in a beautiful dark teal/midnight blue color, and one in a dark emerald green. These will be used to make the FiberTrends felted clogs (the pattern for which I also purchased). In my mind, these are the things I bought with Lisa’s gift certificate because it will be nice to think I’m wearing warm slippers made possible through someone else’s kindhearted generosity.

Two Harmony Guide books:

Two packages of copper-colored beads and two of earth-tone beads:

What a fabulous birthday! Thank you everyone for their birthday wishes, and a big hug and smooch go out to Lisa!

Posted by Ryan at February 10, 2004 02:05 PM