Afterglow, exhaustion, and catnip pants

Went to Pittsburgh yesterday for the 4th Annual Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Festival. Such fun! Five of us crowded into Jen's Civic Hatchback for the drive to the South Hills. What fun! What yarn! What a long weekend! Worked all day on Friday, 8:30 am - 10:00 pm. Woke up at 4:00 on Saturday, then worked from 8:00 am - 4:30 pm (well, knitted my murder weapon while working on Saturday), then off to the beer festival until 10:30 pm, and up at 4:00 am on Sunday. I love my schedule. If only I could schedule more time for sleep.

Mike, I don't think you read this, but if you do, you can stop reading now. Not that you will care, but still. You don't need to know. You can find out in bits and pieces.

Details of the day:

Sunday morning, Zuzu woke me at 4:00 am, as usual. I gave her breakfast, and went about my morning routine, even though I was exhausted, since I didn't get home until 11:00 pm Saturday night. (Winter Warmer was fun, as usual.)

The day began relatively well, with the making of cakewaffles. For those of you who are not yet aware of the glories of cakewaffles, they are nearly-instant cakes, cooked in a waffle iron. Yum! Cakewaffle sandwiches (two cakewaffles with frosting in the middle) are much tidier than cake, especially when one is without plates and utensils. Made coffee and cakewaffles for the group, and had extras to bring along.

Rebecca was first to arrive, soon followed by Jen. Vicky and Melita arrived shortly thereafter. Vicky brought me some of her niece's handspun yarn, which is a gorgeous shade of brown, and oh-so-soft. And intriguing to Zuzu. We enjoyed breakfast, and were on our way.

Although the weather looked nasty, the roads were fine, once we were out of our neighborhood. The drive was uneventful, once we found our directions.

First thing after we got to the festival, we met a HUGE Angora bunny. Such a nice lazy lump, just laying still, enjoying all the petting. Very soft. And $150, for a small one. Which isn't really all that bad, but none of us took one home. I wonder how Zuzu would like having a rabbit in her house. Especially since the rabbit would grow to be larger and furrier than she is.

I had my eye on some of that booth's hand-dyed yarn, but finally passed. We wandered around a while before purchasing anything. So many choices! If there were fewer choices, I may have purchased more, especially from a vendor towards the back. They had a *huge* space, and tons of yarn. I eventually purchased one skein of sock yarn there, a blue-green-black variegated superwash wool blend with silk and viscose. Thought about getting more yarn for a sweater, but couldn't decide on what kind or what color - too many choices.

Spent a good deal of time debating some olive green cashmere laceweight. I kept going back to pet it. I finally did take it home with me. When I was making that purchase, I noticed another skein of green and white alpaca blend laceweight that became an impulse buy. Please note that I have never worked in laceweight, never really even considered it all that much, as I am not a girly-girl and don't really understand the need for shawls. I mean, they're pretty, but they're not really me. If I want to be warm, I will wear something practical, even if it isn't pretty. Well, the idea of pretty won me over yesterday, so I now have two skeins of laceweight. Now I just need to figure out what to make. Or maybe I will just snuggle with the yarn.

Walked past a vendor selling handspun. Nice fibers, but one skein in particular caught my eye. Thought about purchasing it, but after talking to the vendor, walked away with some natural fiber and a dye kit. I am going to try handpainting yarn. Should be interesting. I love me some autumn colors, so we'll see how it turns out.

Finally, a cabled cardigan caught my eye. Lovely green yarn, a hemp blend. The yarn was reasonably priced, and the pattern was gorgeous, so I walked away with a sweater-to-be. Other highlights: Vicky bought yarn for a cabled blanket. Jen found some yarn made out of corn. Melita found a beautiful variegate - I almost bought some, too. On the way out, we checked our raffle tickets. Rebecca won $5 in Vendor Bucks. She chose the vendor that sold me my sweater, and selected some roving.

After we'd finished, we drove up to the Galleria (cha-cha-cha!) for lunch. Wandered through the mall, which had changed a lot since the last time I'd been there. Ended up eating at Panera, and stopped at Starbucks before the drive home. We were all exhausted. When we left Pittsburgh, the sun was shining. As soon as we got to Ohio, the snow started. Luckily the roads were clear.

We were home around 5:00. And very tired. I was quite happy that my house was the central location, so I didn't have to drive anywhere else. Tried to take a nap, but that didn't work, so I made dinner, stared blankly at the TV for a while, and went to bed. On the trip, I finished Kel's clogs, so they are ready for felting.

Today was an adventure, as well. They are calling for nasty weather tomorrow. I am spending the night away from home, so I can be an emergency babysitter if my nieces' school is closed. I should really go to bed. I don't know why I am still awake. Baked quiches tonight for a luncheon at the museum. Jen and Nick came over to watch some show with Mike. And have dinner. We had salad and quiche. It was yummy. I should go to bed. Yes, I should go to bed.