All I can think about is getting warm, and getting well. It’s only been a couple days, but I’m sick of being sick. And my fingers are so cold that though I was all ready to do it, I couldn’t cross-stitch at lunch. So I read. Under a nice thick blanket. Big surprise. But man, it’s 64F in here. I’m wearing a tank top, long-sleeved T, long-sleeved bulky wool sweater, a wool-blend shawl, sweat pants, wool socks, and slippers, and I have a blanket folded four times and draped over my lap, and I’m still just short of shaking, because I’m so cold. I know. Wimpy. It’s 64F, not too bad, right? Yeah, but just try being sick and sitting at a desk all day hardly moving when it’s 64F. It’s a lot different than when you’re up and moving around… What am I going to do when it gets colder?

Well, one thing I’m going to do before it gets colder is I’m going to knit myself some wrist warmers/fingerless glove things, so my hands aren’t so cold. I found a lovely free pattern for them over on Knitty’s site called, Voodoo. I’m sure I have some yarn around here that will work, even if I have to double it to do it. I printed out the pattern, and I’ve started digging around in my stash a bit. Definitely want wool for warmth.

Yesterday I got a yarn catalog in the mail that I don’t think I’ve seen before. It’s from Yarn Barn of Kansas. Dangerous shop. Not only do they have a lovely catalog and a wonderful web site filled with glorious yarns, but they carry spinning and weaving supplies as well. I’ve wanted to learn to weave since I was a kid (I have a very small table-top loom that I was given as a child, but have never figured out how to restring it!), and I’ve wanted to learn to spin since the first time I saw it demonstrated when I was in high school. Looks like so much fun! I had a drop spindle and a pound of carded wool for a while, but spinning that way just seemed like too much work to me. Now a wheel, that looks more up my alley. A number of years ago there was a glorious old spinning wheel in the window of an antique shop in town… Got me drooling bad, but I couldn’t justify the cost of it, especially since I didn’t know anyone who could teach me to use it. Buying one is still out of the question, and I still don’t know anyone who spins, so I guess I’m safe for now. But oh, it’s fun to peruse their site. Beautiful wheels, glorious looms, beautiful wood shuttles.

A number of years ago Dave and I had occasion to drive from my family in eastern Iowa to his family in western Iowa. We left my relative’s house early, before breakfast, figuring to stop along the way somewhere. We were driving along and saw signs for Amana and Greater Amana, and that they had a restaurant that was open for breakfast. Sounds good. Let’s give it a try. So we did. Oooh, we had a yummy breakfast. Delightful. Complete with special corn-cob syrup. Had to buy a bottle of that stuff before heading out of the diner. While we were there, we thought we’d wander around a bit. Dave had seen a sign for a small brewery, so we went to investigate. We got a micro-tour (no pun intended) of the brewery, bought shirts, headed out. Ooh, in another building they had a gift shop and over to the side these huge looms. Fabulous. Most of the looms were automated, and were busy making blankets (we bought one, of course), but there was one loom left that was still operated manually. We hung around for the demonstration. That guy could weave! He shot those shuttles back and forth so fast you could hardly see them. What fun. Before we left town we also made sure to take a tour of their woodworking shop. Fabulous tour. They make beautiful furniture there, one piece at a time, to order. Not cheap, but well worth it. Gorgeous. And the tour was fantastic, too. And yes, we still have our wonderful blanket. We use it for picnics.