They had a little bit of yarn that wasn't Red Heart, but nothing (even in Red Heart) was appropriate. It was either too thick or too pastel. I am so sick of pastels for babies. What's the deal? I proceeded to Michael's because I thought they had a good selection of Lion Brand, and I knew Jamie came in a red color. No luck. They had a pretty good selection of crazy yarns, but nothing I wanted to use for the sweater. They did have Lion Brand Baby Soft, which I generally recommend, but the skein was only a little bit short, and I didn't want to buy two and have a bunch left over. Next stop: Hancock Fabrics.
Hancock Fabrics carries just about all of the Lion Brand yarns, but still no Jamie. They had Jamie Classic, and Jamie Bonus size, but none of the lightweight yarn. I again considered the Baby Soft, but then noticed they had WoolEase Sportweight in some lovely heathered colors. The skein was still just a bit short of what I needed, and it was more expensive than the Baby Soft would be, and it was quite a bit thicker than the required yarn (it's 20 sts/4 inches, not really sportweight, but whatever) so I oscillated for a while. I considered just buying the yarn and finding something for it later, but I didn't feel like spending that much time on it. Finally I decided that the Baby Albert would be a suitable option, and I could certainly make one of those out of any amount of yarn of any weight. And for some reason, I love those mindless projects. Beautiful. And it is:
The color is Boysenberry, and is a mottled purple color. I really like it. The yarn is a bit thicker than the recommended, and I'm making the middle size (the yardage required matched with the amount in the skein) so I think it'll fit a one-or two-year-old. And I only had to buy one ball! Just perfect for my financially-challenged self. I love making things like this because I don't have to worry about whether I'll look good in the color, I can just use whatever color I like.
Speaking of financially-challenged, I went to get my car inspected to renew my license plates, and lo and behold, I needed to replace my brakes. I swear they never squealed or anything to let me know that it was necessary. The brake light came on a while ago, but nowhere in the owner's manual or the shop manual does it indicate that the light might come on when they need to be replaced. Phooey. So, on top of the cost of renewing, and the emissions test and the safety test itself, and the recent oil change, I had to buy new brake pads, and in the interest of preventive maintenance, I let them do all the other stuff they recommended while they were in there. The car has almost 150,000 miles on it, and nothing has ever been done to the brakes, so I figured "better safe than sorry". My father just thinks I'm stupid. Oh well. Nothing was hurt except my savings account. THEN, as I'm going home last night the gas light comes on, and I flip the odometer over to the one I use to track my gas mileage, and it's about 50 miles short! Ack! When I get to the gas station, I check the tires, because that's the most easily fixed cause of poor fuel economy, and sure enough ALL FOUR ARE LOW! Isn't Jiffy Lube supposed to check that? Shouldn't that be part of the safety inspection? Well, I know of one more thing I better do myself if I want it done right. Sheesh.
1 comments:
We had a similar thing with tires. Hub took his car in to have some work done to the brakes and the mechanic says his tire pressure is set too low. Well, dang, ez lube sets it. I think the oil change places are in cahoots with the gas station people, that's what I think. EZ Lube also sold him a "lifetime" air filter, which according to his mechanic is a bad thing. They spray oil in them and they always spray too much, which also drags down the gas mileage. Coincidence? I think not!
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