The Friday Update

Update

1. I didn’t run out of gas before I got to the gas station.

2. I finished a second Perdita bracelet (Bluebells) and both are currently blocking in front of a heating vent.

3. We brewed up some of the Genmaicha tea this morning from Japan. It was fabulous. Very oily and pungent. Not dried out. I think it probably helps to get it from the source.

4. IK has assured me that they are going to add a correction to their errata page for the Padded Footlets pattern. I’m quite impressed by their response to my query.

5. It snowed yesterday. Then it rained. Then it snowed. And finally, it rained and rained and rained. In short, my deck furniture is soaked and my dog refused to go out to pee last night so I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. to let her out. Yes, my dog refuses to go out in the rain. She’s a wee bit spoiled.

I ordered Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis a few weeks ago and it arrived at my house on Wednesday night. Last night, I couldn’t resist and I cast on. Oh. My. God. I. Love. Braided. Cuffs. Seriously, I am in lust with my mitten at the moment. It is Plate 2b and Chart 24. I also love the book. How could you not love a book that’s written half in English, half in Latvian? It’s fantastic. And I love the color photos of each of the mittens. I understand that some of the earlier versions of the book did not contain the color photographs, so definitely, if you’re ordering this book, get the newer one with the color photographs. Unfortunately the charts are not in color. They are also a little hard to read because they are sort of crammed in there, like six to a page. That being said, they’re definitely readable and, so far, I’m finding mine to be workable. I’ll let you know how things progress.

By the way? I love The Office. I love the American version, but I’ve fallen deeply in love with the BBC version as well. Stephen and I Netflixed both seasons of the BBC version and this week we also watched “The Office Special” which is set three years after the end of the original series (can you believe there were only two seasons of this show? I can’t.) If you like the American version, you should rent the BBC version. If you’ve seen the BBC version, but not the Special, you should see that too. It has the Best Ending Ever. Seriously. The Best.

Oh, and another reason to buy Latvian Mittens: it contains several Latvian poems about mittens. Poems about mittens! Did you know that the average Latvian dowery included 100-200 mittens, all hand knit by the bride and her female relations? Amazing.