JessaLu Knits (and Spins!)

<p>Because I can’t seem to stop myself.</p><p>I was never a ‘joiner’ in High School.  I was never part of a defined group.  There were defined groups, don’t get me wrong, I just wasn’t ‘part’ of them.  One day I’d wear my jean jacket (with the <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=555&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://www.led-zeppelin.com/home.html" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.led-zeppelin.com/home.html’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Led Zeppelin</a> and <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=556&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://www.acdcrocks.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.acdcrocks.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">AC/DC</a> patches) and a button down shirt with <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=557&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://www.timberland.com/home/index.jsp" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.timberland.com/home/index.jsp’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">Timberlands</a> with my jeans tucked into my socks and the boots untied just-so and I’d be part of the ‘hoods’ or ‘the smokers’.  Next day I’d wear my <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=558&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://www.izod.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.izod.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">Izod</a> shirt with the collar up, extra tight jeans tucked into my matching socks and my purple hight-top <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=559&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://store.reebok.com/home/index.jsp?cid=" onmouseover="window.status=’http://store.reebok.com/home/index.jsp?cid=’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">Reeboks</a> and be a ‘prep’.  Then, just to stir things up, I’d wear my bohemian skirt with a Boy George hat and be my own group.</p><p><a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=560&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/uploads/Buttons/erispull.jpg" onmouseover="window.status=’http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/uploads/Buttons/erispull.jpg’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;"></a><a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=561&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://k-knit.blogspot.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://k-knit.blogspot.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" height="65" src="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/uploads/Buttons/button733083.jpg" width="130" alt="" /></a>Now, I seem to have an urge to sign up for every -along I stumble upon.  Yesterday I was over at <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=561&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://k-knit.blogspot.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://k-knit.blogspot.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">Karen’s</a> signing up for her <span title="Finished Object" class="serendipity_glossaryMarkup">FO</span>-along and my eyes fell upon a button for a <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=562&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://showmeyourstash.blogspot.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://showmeyourstash.blogspot.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; FLOAT: right; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; WIDTH: 135px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px; HEIGHT: 67px" height="67" src="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/uploads/Buttons/STASH.jpg" width="135" alt="" /></a><a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=562&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://showmeyourstash.blogspot.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://showmeyourstash.blogspot.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">show-your-stash-along</a>.  My fingers were doing the clicking and before I knew it I was over at <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=564&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://mamaespot.blogspot.com/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://mamaespot.blogspot.com/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Mama-E’s</a> signing up and emailing her my very old stash photos (pre Rhinebeck) because I didn’t feel like dragging the stash out to take new pictures and didn’t have time before the deadline (okay and I didn’t want to drag it all out in front of <span title="Roger Rabbit - my SO" class="serendipity_glossaryMarkup">RR</span> - because what he doesn’t <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=567&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kniteris/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kniteris/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; FLOAT: left; BORDER-LEFT: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px" height="63" src="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/uploads/Buttons/erispull.jpg" width="103" alt="" /></a>know won’t hurt him - or get <em>me</em> yelled at, for that matter).  THEN, because I <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=566&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html" onmouseover="window.status=’http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/olympics2006.html’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">don’t have anything else to do this month</a>, I signed up for the <a href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=567&amp;entry_id=114" title="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kniteris/" onmouseover="window.status=’http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kniteris/’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;" target="_blank">Eris Along</a>.  At least I own the pattern for that one - I just haven’t decided what yarn I’m going to use.</p><p>I think I’m trying to make up for lost time.</p>

Well, I’m two days late for the first day of the festivities but I wanted to have my IKEA experience <a href="uploads/Photos/CNY2005.jpg" onclick="F1 = window.open(’/uploads/Photos/CNY2005.jpg’,'Zoom’,'height=250,width=329,top=266.5,left=483,toolbar=no,menubar=no,location=no,resize=1,resizable=1,scrollbars=yes’); return false;"><img width="110" height="82" style="border: 0px none ; float: right; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;" src="uploads/Photos/CNY2005.serendipityThumb.jpg" alt="" /></a>to be my ‘new week’ post since, as <a target="_blank" href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=537&amp;entry_id=113" title="http://caroleknits.knitblog.com" onmouseover="window.status=’http://caroleknits.knitblog.com’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">someone</a> has pointed out, they are the most important and I happen to agree with her ;o)<p /><p>The <a target="_blank" href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=538&amp;entry_id=113" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year" onmouseover="window.status=’http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_New_Year’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Chinese New Year</a> celebrations last for 15 days so I feel I’m safe in mentioning it today.</p><p /><p><a href="uploads/Photos/CNY2005a.jpg" onclick="F1 = window.open(’/uploads/Photos/CNY2005a.jpg’,'Zoom’,'height=495,width=655,top=144,left=320,toolbar=no,menubar=no,location=no,resize=1,resizable=1,scrollbars=yes’); return false;"><img width="110" height="83" style="border: 0px none ; float: left; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;" src="uploads/Photos/CNY2005a.serendipityThumb.jpg" alt="" /></a>I think I mentioned in my post a few days ago that Roger was in NYC on Saturday. I completely and utterly flaked and didn’t remember the new year until it was too late to get my ass down there. I would have loved to spend the night and been in Chinatown on Sunday for the first day of the celebration. Last year we completely lucked out and were there for the <a target="_blank" href="http://jessaluknits.yarncourtesans.com/exit.php?url_id=540&amp;entry_id=113" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance" onmouseover="window.status=’http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion_dance’;return true;" onmouseout="window.status=”;return true;">Lion Dances</a>. I had never seen<a href="uploads/Photos/CNY2005c.jpg"><img width="110" height="83" src="uploads/Photos/CNY2005c.serendipityThumb.jpg" style="border: 0px none ; float: right; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;" alt="" /></a> anything like it and found it to be a beautiful and exciting ceremony to be a part of. They also sell these crackers - not the kind you eat, these are like party crackers that explode and make popping sounds - they are long tubes with confetti in them that explode when you turn one end and make a lovely mess. I’d like to go back - and bring Heather this time - but unfortunately not this year, because I am a flake. </p>

The things I learned during my first visit to IKEA:

• Their carts are WEIRD.
• Swear to God they pack rocks in with the furniture ‘cuz that sh*t’s heavy.
• The Swedish Meatballs are awesome
• It is entirely possible to spend over $400 and not realize it - because they’re sneaky.
• Carole is just as tricksy in person as she is via email/blogosphere ;o)
• I can’t wait to go back.

Have you ever met someone and had an instant connection with them? I mean, I’ve met lots of knitters and felt an instant affinity, but when I first saw Carole in ‘real life’ I felt that I had known her forever. I got to her house at just the right time to meet her husband too and also felt comfortable with him right away. It helps that I grew up doing Civil War reenactments with my parents and Dale looks like he could step into a uniform from that time period and fit right in - in other words, we speak the same language. (Civil War Reenacting is a hobby way of life for them) Within five minutes Carole had me drooling over her sock yarn collection and was letting me pet her spinning wheels and fiber stash. I was able to resist the urge to sit down in front of one of them however, I have a feeling I won’t be able to resist for much longer. (Especially considering the first thing I said to Roger this morning was, “Good Morning honey, I think I want to spin.” ;o) To which he replied, “How about we get a new laundry room, first, okay?”).

After an hour or so of talking - and finding out that Carole and Dale have visited my part of the state several times - we got ready to go to IKEA (which was one of my reasons for going out there - I really wanted to meet Carole but I REALLY wanted to go to IKEA). I must have made a good impression because Carole said she’d ride with me to the store so we could talk more. When she got in she noticed my new toy so that took 10 minutes of me showing her that I know nothing about it other than my audible books ;o) After that I scared the hell out of her drove to IKEA and was sufficiently awed by the size of the building we drove up to. This place is HUGE! The first thing we did was get something to eat (well, the FIRST thing we did was park the car), then I realized I forgot my phone out in the car so I ran out to the car and Carole waited for me inside.

Then, the tour began. At first, Carole had mocked me laughed at the fact that I had an IKEA catalog in my car. She was pretty happy about it during our stroll through the store, though, since I had already picked out what I wanted and didn’t dilly-dally! I love the way they have everything laid out so you can see how it will look in the ‘real’ world. I also love how they’ve made more ‘traditional’ furniture so I can get stuff that works in my 200 or so year old house. I ended up getting an extremely large cupboard/cabinet thingy for the laundry room that is a little over 6 1/2 feet tall. And it comes in one loooong box with several smaller boxes. This is important and will come into play later on in this little dialogue.

There will be a test.

This is also where IKEA gets sneaky. They have me pay for this, the most expensive item I’m buying, separately. This lulls me into the feeling that I’m not spending as much as I’m really spending because it doesn’t all get totaled together so I’m not staring at a purchased items total larger than any car payment I’ve ever had. Sneaky bastards.

We finished with the top floor and went downstairs where the smaller stuff is and decided that we needed a cart. These carts are freaky weird. The wheels turn (not just around, either - I’m talking about to the right and left). ALL the wheels turn. Your average shopping cart has the two front wheels that turn and the back two that don’t. These all turn. It’s like drunken shopping cart driving if you’re not used to it, which I’m not. I almost took out a small family at my first turn because SOMEONE *ahem* didn’t warn me to start steering like six feet before I wanted to actually turn. I didn’t learn my lesson, either because I almost took out a pile of baskets, Carole herself (which is how she thought up the title for my post) and an IKEA employee during my wild drunken foray through the 1st floor.

It was also on this floor that I learned that I do ADD shopping. Several times I’d be halfway through a sentence, see something out of the corner of my eye and go “oooooh a insert lovely object here“. Sensory overload. I’m worse at the Christmas Tree Shops.

We finished walking through the 1st floor and it was time to go fetch my coffee table (the cupboard was in this entirely different area that we had to go to). This is where my and Carole’s new-found friendship began to be tested. First, she handled it very well when I laughed hysterically while she stood rooted to the spot while the cart-dispenser thingy threw carts in her general direction (bawahhahahahaha *ahem* I guess you had to be there…) then getting the damned table onto the cart (this thing is HEAVY) and THEN (here is the icing on the cake) getting the f-ing 7 foot long package that is my new cupboard to fit into my 6 foot long Jeep interior. Oh. My. God. What a nightmare. And stupid me couldn’t stop apologizing. I think if she could have lifted the thing by herself she would have smacked me with it just because I wouldn’t. stop. apologizing.

I totally blame RR too, it was HIS idea to buy the damned cupboard.

We then headed back to chez Carole where I got to meet her daughter who is three years younger than mine. It was like deja vu every five minutes. She is almost exactly like my daughter. She even talks as fast and as much as Dobby ;o) We spent a nice quiet hour knitting which helped me recharge my batteries for the ride home.

Okay I’m going to wrap this novel up. I had a wonderful time, Carole was a lovely tour guide (even pointed out the local ‘flora’ *snort* Where can I get boots like those?), she has a wonderful family and a beautiful home. We got along famously and I hope to see her again very soon - and hope that she will come to visit my neck of the woods VERY SOON. So thanks again, C - I can’t wait to do it again!