A Drop Just in Time

  Wow... I promise this is a happy post, but it requires a bit of sadness to set up. I don't want to carry on about depressing things... But I have a feeling there will soon be a sad, sad post regarding my dog. I've been spending a lot of late nights and early mornings playing dog-nurse, and I feel like I'm losing my mind more than ever. I'm down in the dumps and I can't concentrate on work. To top it off, I spent an entire night at the beginning of the week getting sick. I dozed for half an hour before I had to be up again, and when the alarm clock went off I (thought I) couldn't have felt worse. No helping that; time to get on with the day anyways.


  First on the agenda every day after taking care of everyone else: Email... *Sigh* Usually... That day it got interrupted when the dog had another seizure. Afterwards, he always needs to go outside, and we spent an hour out there after he collapsed again. After a time of crying like a crazy woman right there in the yard, thinking "this is it, I'm burying my dog today", he jumps up like a pup and runs after a cat, coming back with a wagging tail and a smile on his face. Sometimes I think he's fine and just faking. The vet never has figured out exactly what the seizures are.


  So anyways, it left me at my mental breaking point that morning. One spilled bowl of water, a crunched-up-but-uneaten cookie, and a flipped-over area rug later, not to mention a dog that now seems fine even though I still feel like death, I finally sat down to my email. After all that depressing junk (my life, not the email. Well, some of it)... Jeez.

I WON YARN! Yaaaaaaay!

(This is where I'll tell you that the following pictures of yarn are all from thesilkdrop.com  - I usually do this the right way, but the bugs in Computer-Land said "no way!" today... I'm tired. Find the links to the yarn pictured under the photo... Clicking on the picture will just take you to the URL of the photo. Thank you Silk Drop for the use of your pictures while I entice other people to buy your deliciously yummy yarn!)

Now, let me say that again...

Yay, I won yummy, yummy yarn!

Autumn Sunset Lace Weight

  At first I felt guilty for feeling so happy, but I realized this wonderful gift landed in my inbox just in time to save my sanity. So now it's time to say all my thank-you's and tease you with tell you about this yummy yarn!


  The Silk Drop sponsored a giveaway at last month's Yarn Fanatic Party, a link party that you can find on The Philosopher's Wife and Eye Love Knots. I shared my links at the party as always, not really thinking I'd ever win... Only because... Are you one of those people that never wins anything? I am. I always enter as many giveaways and contests as I can get, but I've never won any of them. You start to get that hopeless "I'm never gonna win anything" attitude, but you keep entering giveaways anyways. Then one day, you get a message in your inbox that makes you do a little happy dance, and all hope is restored!


  Now the problem is, I can't decide what to get with my gift certificate! That first picture above is what I think I might settle on, but I still keep going back and leaving indecisive. See, the Silk Drop has a few "novelty" yarns, meaning beaded silk and sparkle silk. Aaaaand I wasn't really looking for a beaded yarn, but OMG how can you not stop and stare at this?

 Silver Lining Beaded Silk

  *Drooling*! Is yarn-gasm a word? I think I just had one. So, I was dead-set on getting that lace-weight silk from the first photo, but then I started thinking I couldn't pass this up. It's 400 yards of beaded mulberry silk. Oh! I think I need to get this one. Just let me look at what else they have in the Silk Drop store...

Kiss Me, I'm Irish

  Honestly, I'm not a very big fan of green. Why does this call to me so much? Is it because of the month of March? My sparse Irish roots telling me I need some green in my life? Is it just because yarn this yummy looks good in any color? I also had my eye on the Galaxy colorway, but it's sold out. Aw, a skein of that plus this green would make an awesome project! I really considered Kiss Me, I'm Irish as a choice, but I might have to pass it up without the Galaxy.



  I got into DK weight, and was awfully attracted to the colors. But honestly, there's less yardage in a skein, and I'm trying to get the most bang for my (free) buck. I fell in love with Majestic Mountains, but I think I'll put that one on a wishlist. Although this yarn's color called to me more than any others, I'm trying to use this opportunity to get something I usually wouldn't. I want to think/work outside the box and create something out of my comfort zone... Even if it's just a color I wouldn't normally pick.

 Majestic Mountains DK

  Somebody pulled those colors from my (mental) favorite-color bin. Ooo, it calls to me so much! But then, let's think about my "mental color bin"... Black is number one, tied with Glow-in-the-Dark... Only nobody ever considers that a color, and it's been argued that black is a shade. Blue and purple run neck and neck behind them; one can win over the other with the proper depth of color. I'm not a fan of pink or green, but I'll accept them under the right circumstances... That's why I'm changing my mind about Kiss Me, I'm Irish. I still think it has potential, but I'm afraid to get it then have regrets.



  I soooo love the Autumn Sunset pictured in the first photo, but I'm afraid with that as well... The purple hues in it are close to my very favorite, and I can just imagine that hand-painted yarn unfurling its gently changing shades as I work. But (why is there always a but?), I'm worried about the orange. I don't like orange. Would the beauty (and the purple) of this yarn outshine my dislike for bright colors?

  Or do I play it safe and go with the Silver Lining? I know I like the color (shade; grey is a shade, too), but you can't get further from my "usual" than beaded silk. Although it's not as flashy as the colors of Autumn Sunset, I'm pretty sure I don't have to worry about whether or not grey would fit into my wardrobe.  And after the past week, I kinda feel like I could use a real-life glimpse of that Silver Lining. 


  Aw, heck... I'm not leaving without both, I bet. The Silk Drop was awesome enough to sponsor the giveaway; I think I'll open my wallet a little and spend more than just that gift certificate. The perfect time to splurge is when you're down in the dumps. And of course, that gives me the opportunity to do a review of the yarn for all of you, too, so you can be confident that your money will be well-spent. Because you know you're putting this on your wishlist for a spurge too, aren't you?


  And that's why I owe a huge THANK YOU to Rachel at The Philosopher's Wife and Alexandra at Eye Love Knots! I love dropping by the Yarn Fanatic Party anyways, but the giveaways make this party even more awesome. I always put the yarns I want on a wishlist, but half the time I never get to buy them before the colorway I want is discontinued! For once, I get the chance to see a yarn, want a yarn, and actually get the yarn. The Silk Drop and the Yarn Fanatic Party dropped a little cheer in my life just at the right time.

(This month's giveaway is sponsored by a TPW reader - You can win four skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sport Yarn along with a pattern! Be sure to stop by the party and enter for a chance to win!)  

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  On a side note, I just had to throw one more thing out there: It's funny how the world works sometimes. So here I am, dying for a chance to work with silk, especially after this extremely interesting post about silk on Roving Crafters. (No, I'm not being sarcastic... It is interesting, and fun, and you will learn about bugs and stuff!) Yup, here I am suffering a bit from the green-eyed monster Jenn awoke with her post(s) about this luxurious fiber, and then a skein practically falls in my lap. If you're interested in learning more about silk, I highly recommend you go check out that post, plus you can find lessons in how to spin your own silk. Just look out for Spider-Goats!

Happy Crocheting!