Lovely Day...

Gone With The Wind

I am in Atlanta this week with Hubby.   His new job brings him up here quite a bit.    T2 & I came along with him for a few days in July and had a terrific time sightseeing (we highly recommend the Coke & CNN tours).

 This week, though, the boys are in school so it is just us (which is also very nice).   We drove up early on Monday so that we could spend some time together before Hubby got busy with work.   It has been rainy and cool but I kind of like it.   In July we stayed in Norcross which was rather industrial (think grey with poor air quality).   This time we are staying NW of Atlanta, nearer Hubby's data center.   It is lovely here, green & hilly.  It reminds us of Maryland and makes us wistful.

Margaret Mitchell House

Once here, we headed into downtown Atlanta to see Margaret Mitchell's house.   Originally, I thought I would see it alone today but Hubby surprised me by wanting to come along (I do love that man.).   We liked it very much.   It was fun to hear her story and see where she wrote Gone With The Wind.   Did you know that Scarlett's name was supposed to be Pansy?   "Miss Pansy, Miss Pansy"; "Frankly my dear Pansy, I don't give a damn"; Nope, I just can't wrap my mind around it.

Yesterday, Hubby went to work and I was on my own.   I had planned my day ahead of time and it was just wonderful.

Lovin' Knit Studio

I spent the morning knitting with a local group at Lovin' Knit Studio.    I just can't reccomnend this shop, owner (Pat), staff, +/or their customers, highly enough.   From the moment I walked in the door, I felt welcome. Visually, the shop is just mind-boggling, each thing more beautiful than the last.  They have an extraordinary selection of yarn and accessories.   The knitting group was very warm &; welcoming.   I had a terrific time, was very "bad", and left feeling lighter than I have in a very, very long time.

Maybe I was just in an extraordinarily good mood but, I swear, even the Panera Bread, where I had lunch was pretty.   Check out that gorgeous fireplace.


Also according to plan, I spent the afternoon with another local knitting group at the Cast-on Cottage.   Something in the air? Atlanta being more cosmopolitan than Jax?   I don't know what it is, but I like it.  Two fabulous yarn shops within easy distance from one another.  I have not been this lucky since I lived in Princeton.

Cast-on Cottage and Needlepoint Garden

Once again, I felt welcome from the very first.   The owner & staff were warm friendly & knowledgeable.  The first time I visited this shop in July, T2's reaction upon walking in the door was "Who needs this much yarn".   Silly question, yes, but wonderfully descriptive as well.   There is in fact lots and lots of yarn everywhere you look.   After happily chatting & knitting with one of their local knitting groups for a couple of hours, I found a pattern (caught my eye from across the room), a CE  booklet (I've been looking for this one.  I covet the Highland Fling), and some yarn (variegated, fall colors, Araunia on sale; Who could resist?) that just had to go home with me.   Also, fell in love with their sample of the Summer Flies shawl, which is knit in Koigu (my favorite and almost impossible to find in FL), and is a free pattern on Ravelry.   All in all, I left very happy indeed.


Quick stops at Target and Whole Foods and I was back at the hotel having a quiet dinner with Hubby.   It was, indeed, a lovely day.


At the moment, I am snuggled in bed blogging, but soon I will have to get up, shower, eat lunch and head out.  I am going to see Sarah's Key, grab a quick dinner and then go back to Lovin' Stitch for a yarn tasting.  How cool is that?

I miss sheep so baaad....

sheep 0001 from paul taggart on Vimeo.

Goodbye Irene....

What you see, is what we saw, this morning.   We are very grateful that Irene passed us by with just a bit of wind and rain, followed by a sunny FL day.   Of course, our thoughts and prayers are with our friends & family in the NE.  Perversely enough, they are in much more danger than we ever were.

Caveat Emptor...

It's that time again. I finished my most recent easy/movie/beach knitting project and am in the market for another. I have had it at the back of my mind, that I "need" a simple shawl to wear with everything from a sun dress to jeans + a tank. The Summer Wrap (Mac+Me) fits the bill perfectly (and I already own the pattern). That decided, it was time to pick a yarn. The pattern calls for aran wt cotton (just right for FL) and I want a neutral color. Since nothing in my stash would do, I started shopping. At this point I did something I almost never do. To keep costs down, I went to Michaels to look at their yarn possibilities. LB Organic cotton seemed like a good fit but when I ran the numbers, it was going to cost $90 (since when is "cheap" yarn $8.99 a hank?!). If I am going to spend $100 on yarn it is not going to be "cheap" yarn. I went home, found Blue Sky Alpaca Organic cotton at Webs, and put the called for yardage in my cart. Surprise! The same yardage of this much loved "high end" yarn came to half as much as the other stuff. How can that be? It all comes down to yardage. The BSky hanks had half again as much yarn as the LB yarn. That meant that I needed five $11 hanks (Webs discounts) instead of nine $9 hanks. Let the buyer beware, indeed.
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The Help

Went to see The Help today with my mom & sons.   It was that most rare of things, a movie that was every bit as good as the book.    Do yourself a favor and treat yourself and your family to this important story.

I heart Starbucks...

Do you heart Starbucks too, then maybe you read Starbucks Melody (if you don't, you should).    Last month
Melody asked her readers to think about what the "Starbucks Experience" means to us (here).    Don't you love it when you already know the answer to the question?     It turns out that a few weeks ago, my son asked me why I never use the drive-thru at our local Starbucks.   This got me thinking.   I hadn't really noticed it but he was right.   We are coming up on three years in FL and I have yet to use this or any other Starbucks drive-thru.  To answer his question, the reason that  I always go inside for my coffee is because they are nice to me there.   It is kind of like "Cheers" with caffeine.    I like to go there because everyone knows my name.   They also remember my favorite drink (skinny, decaf, mocha, latte), inquire about my kids, and remember what we have been up to from visit to visit (The baristas were almost as excited as I was when hubby and I stopped in on our way to a childless lunch & movie.).  So, is this, then, the much touted "Starbucks Experience"?    Absolutely!  

P.S.  I probably don't have to tell you where I went on National Knit in Public Day, do I?

My crafty life...

Over on Blogher, I've been reading a series of articles on better blogging. The idea of defining the blog's niche has me thinking. Certainly Serenity Knits began as a knitting blog but is that still what I am doing here? Do I still love knitting? Only as much as oxygen (which is to say a lot). However, life events (especially our move to FL) has had me using this space as more of a sounding board than it started out being. On top of that, I have dealt with my loneliness by taking a bunch of art courses which have me really spreading my wings into other artistic disciplines. Expressing myself both visually and in writing has helped a lot and I would like to share that here. Okay so back to categorizing. For the moment, at least, I will think of myself as a "Crafty Life" blogger. What do you think?
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