Wine, Wool, and Flowers

Yesterday after a particularly challenging day at work I rewarded myself with a fabulous Italian wine tasting held at Cloverleaf in Royal Oak, put on by Cantoro Italian Market.  My friend Eddie picked me up (excellent since I wouldn't have to drive home....) and we got there at 6:30 pm.  We didn't leave until 9:45 pm so you know we had a good time!

I started by filling a plate up with chunks of Parmigiana Reggiano, salami, mozzarella balls, and some sort of tiramisu bars.  It's always good to have something in your belly before you begin imbibing at a wine tasting.  I tried several different wines including a couple of different Moscato d'Astis, a Barolo, and a couple of Amarones.  Where else am I going to get to drink $60/bottle wine?  I took full advantage of the selections available from the 7 or so different distributors but haven't put in an order, just yet.  It stormed while we were there but cleared up before it was time to head home.  It got to be sooooooo loud there -- the building has a really high ceiling and you know how people talk louder the more the have to drink.  It was actually a respite in the ladies restroom -- when I came out of the bathroom it just seemed soooooo loud in the main room.

Today I got caught up around the house -- laundry, weeding, Costco run.  I also got a haircut -- first one in 6 1/2 months.  I kept the length but had it trimmed up a bit and thinned out a lot.  It feels better.  Kyle spent about 25 minutes trying to dry it straight.  Short of using cement on it, it's going to curl right back up again but he just wanted to see how it looks straight.  It will probably go right back to curly tomorrow.

I finished knitting another hat, this time using Malabrigo Chunky ~~

Purples are so hard to photograph -- this yarn is really pretty.  The hat was a plain knit because I wanted to showcase the yarn ~~

I wish you could see it in person -- I really love the colors.  I finished another hat earlier this week using a heavy sock yarn by Jarbo called Raggi Print.  The colors are a mix of blues, white and grey and again I knit a plain pattern to show off the yarn.  It was a very interesting yarn -- I looked forward to seeing what color would appear next as I knit it up.

And here's a bit of a close up ~~

I think it makes a good uni-sex hat.  I picked up three more skeins of the same yarn in different colors today, plus another skein of the Malabrigo Chunky in a brown/blue palate.  I need to keep cranking out the hats for my fall shows.

Out in my front flower beds my Primrose are in bloom ~~

They look like such happy flowers -- they add a great touch of color to a blah side of the flower bed.

Well I'm off to cast on another hat before heading to bed.  It's raining pretty good outside and that usually helps me get to sleep.  I've got rug hooking to get to tomorrow -- hoping to get a rug done, finally!