Quick! Somebody! Call I-X-I-I !

Hi all
Been a busy week so let's get cracking with the updates.

The Tunisian Vest From Hell : not a lot of progress has been made, since evidently my cats are in cahoots with the Forces of Evil and have hid the chart I was working off of. I could print a new one, if my printer were working. I'll do it tomorrow at work. I really should get this done before it's too warm to wear a wool vest.

the Gathering Leaves Shawl: I'm not sure whether to blame the loss of this chart on the cats or whether all the loose stitch charts I own have just up and decided to visit Yarnia where all the tape measures, scissors, and spare hooks go. I'm pretty sure I was on row 38 ( and if you haven't bought the pattern.. it's two rows before the damn chart changes pages.. so there was some creative cussing)

I know that doesn't sound like a lot of crocheting, but we're close to Easter holiday, and I have rehearsals out the wazoo for various and sundry productions, masses, services, "why, if it's a day of rest, do I have to get my butt out of bed at the crack of dawn" stuff to do. The fact that I get any time at all to make pretty knots in yarn is basically a good thing.

Today, being Sunday ( and Monday comes afterwards) I drove up to WEBS to go to their big author event. I primarily went to go meet Mary Beth Temple, the host of Getting Loopy a podcast I listen to religiously. I've gotten to know her online but had never met her in person. WEBS is in Easthampton, MA. I'm on Cape Cod. Mapquest said it was a three hour drive. It was slightly more like a three hour tour.. a la Gilligan's Island.

So I left the house at 8:00 this morning, gassed up Blue, my trusty SUV (named because when someone asks me what kind of car I have, I say "Blue") grabbed some coffee since my addiction to the fruit of Juan Valdez's loins is well documented, and my printed directions..from...Mapquest....
Ok back to the house to grab the directions, then grab a fresh coffee since I'd finished the first one and headed out to the western part of the state. I DID remember my Ipod, so I had that set to an Audiobook and figured that would keep me company on the drive.

Massachusetts is bigger than I thought it was. A LOT bigger. And unlike in my neck of the woods, when you get out west, past Boston, past Worcester (which, for out-of-staters, is pronounced "woostah" not "wohr-cess-ter") they don't believe in the things I take for granted here in what I affectionately refer to as civilization.
Things like convenient gas stations, or service areas.. or ANYWHERE I can safely pull over to find somewhere to get rid of two large iced coffees that I rented this morning.. if you get my drift...

after driving 3.5 hours ( and finishing half the audio book) I finally got off the highway and into Easthampton, I needed to put more gas in the car ( I don't like driving on less than half a tank) and found a nice clean-ish gas station. I left there with a full tank and an empty one. yaaay. Then I promptly got lost. (Canada sends its love)
I drove around for the better part of a half hour before pulling into an empty parking lot and checking my directions from mapquest, and was about to call the store when I realized.. waitaminute.. I have a GPS enabled Cellphone
I probably could have thought of this a half hour ago. I might even have thought of it four hours ago and just programmed the damn thing from the start.. but I am a bear of very little brain. Stunning good looks, but very little brain.

I programmed the address into the phone, and it kept saying "you are too close to your destination" I'm thinking.. no.... if I were that close I'd be sitting in the parking lot. (wait for it) and I'm sitting in the parking lot of a newspaper (wait for it) facing (wait for it...) oh..the exact road I want. I find a store front marked "WEBS" and pull in. I'm the only one there, but since I was early for the event, I figured, no big, I'll just sit and work on a piece while I wait.. and wait.. and wait. I eventually looked up at the clock and said to myself "Self, this event was supposed to start ten minutes ago, where is everyone".
Yeah..did you know WEBS has a bead store? I didn't.
Did you know that bead store is literally fifty yards from a HUGE HONKIN WAREHOUSE also bearing the WEBS logo, that is, in fact, their yarn shop? I didn't. To be fair, I was facing the opposite direction..from every other car in the effing parking lot,and was busy working on my crochet. It's SO not my fault that I didn't notice EVERY OTHER CAR going DIRECTLY BEHIND me to the warehouse.
Shut up.
Finally met Mary Beth after signing in. Had a massive blast. She's just as lovely in person as she is at her podcast (which you can vote for at the CLF blog to win a 2011 Flamie for best podcast)

Me and MB

Now here's the part where I think I need to consult a medical professional..
I'm in a large warehouse full of yarn.. quite a bit of it discounted.
I DIDN'T BUY ANY!!!!!
not a single skein.
Didn't even want to....
I might need professional help..AAAAAAAAACK!