The good, the bad, and the knitted

My trip to Cindy's was over before I knew it!! We had a great time together ~ knitting, crocheting, pouring over new pattern books, yarn shopping, going out for Thai food or lunch at Olive Garden (my two absolute favorites!!) Cindy got me this basket as a belated birthday gift. I chose the on the lower right ~ a deep eggplant color. I keep my projects in it (it's the large basket and is deep enough to hold several projects...trust me, I know lol) and I take it everywhere with me. She also got me 2 balls of Crystal Palace Kid Merino (lace weight) If you scroll down about 1/2 way you can see the color I chose ~ Fern Mix. I'm going to make a shawl with it. The store owner gives a copy of her 2 ball shawl pattern with every purchase of that yarn. It's so pretty! But I must finish a couple other projects first.

Okay, so that was the good, here's the bad: I just found out today that the store I work at will be closing at the end of the month. I should say that I've suspected this was coming....after all, I do work here and I know how slow it's been. But it's still sad. And did I mention that I have never lost a job before? I've quit, but never been "let go". My hubby says "downsizing" sounds a bit more positive. Me? Either way I look at it I am out of a job. Sheesh! How's a girl to pay for her yarn purchases and more Lantern Moon needles?? I have a set of these (in Rosewood) and I absolutely love them!

I've made quite a bit of progress on the Sweet Mary Jane cardi....I'll post a picture later. (I'm actually at work right now, shhhhhh) I have finished 16 repeats of the lace pattern ~ only 3 more to go!!!! I'll also post a pic of the poncho I made while at Cindy's. I used Homespun in the color Baroque for this one. I think that's enough ponchos for me at the moment.