Don't Swoon, It's June!
Had a nice Memorial Day weekend -- hope you did, too. Didn't do a whole lot, overall. Got a bit sunburned on Sunday while running, but I *think* I'll narrowly escape peeling (fingers crossed!).

Still can't get Neckdown Summer Cardi finished! It's becoming an approach/avoidance thingie. I need to force myself to sit down and devote an hour a night until it's done (ha!).

In my efforts to avoid finishing NSC, I started this:



It's a free project sheet from Michael's, in #10 crochet cotton (ecru shade), and a sane steel crochet hook size of No. 4. I'm finding that although I like the look of motif crochet (see March 8th entry), I much prefer filet crochet as far as crochet enjoyment. Sarra, don't even ask about Shades of Roses Painted Crochet Scarf! (entry from April 14th). I *may* have to frog it -- I have 2 extra filets on either side, and I'm concerned about running out of (expensive) thread. Sigh.

But It Looked Good at the Yarn Store ...
File this under the "What Was I Thinking?" Department. Got to go to the wonderful Common Threads yarn store in Encinitas on Saturday. Lovely drive up the coast. DH went to Nytro in Encinitas to check out wetsuits for ocean swimming (that triathlete thing ...); RockStar got to pillage the used CD bins at the famous Lou's Records store (also in Encinitas) and found 4 "totally awesome" thrash metal CDs by mega-obscure bands.

If you're ever able to visit Common Threads, you'll find a lovely little yarn store (complete with a kitty snoozing in the window!) filled floor to ceiling with yarn displayed in color-coordinated bins. So in the "purple" section, you might find Berroco's Zen stuffed in a cubbie right next to Cascade 220. Aesthetically quite pleasing, but you might do as I did and fall in love with a yarn that looks gorgeous next to its fuzzy neighbor, but once you get it home, by itself, it morphs into something totally unexpected and not exactly ... ugly, but more ... puzzling:



Berroco Glitz in lovely shades of green, gunmetal grey, and bronze. Loved it in the store, surrounded by lots of other shades of green, but am not thrilled with it at home. But I did score a No. 4 steel crochet hook at Common Threads! In fact, they have the entire range of steel hooks, which is pretty amazing, fine crochet work having fallen out of favor with most needlecrafters, and all.

Toeing the Line
I love jewelry. Real jewelry. Gold, gemstones, diamonds, all of it. However, having champagne tastes on a beer budget means I don't get to indulge my gem jones very often (sigh!). But I did treat myself recently to a summer goodie:



It's a toe ring! Gold, with 2 teeny diamonds. I love it! It makes me feel classy, but with an edge. A bit femme fatale-ish. Works for me :-)

Happy sorta-Monday, everyone!