Oh, great. Just what I needed.

Something NEW to obsess over.  While I was at the wool fest, I was very proud of myself - I put both hands in my pockets and only picked up yarn for my mom's birthday (thank you, Melanie -- she loved it!) and then just looked.  After all, I have the mother of all stashes at home - not to mention two friends who produce amazing yarn that are within a 20 minute drive.  I was further laden with a quickly thawing gallon of home-pressed apple cider with which Melanie gifted me!  That kept at least one hand busy.

I was almost home-free, working my way toward the exit when I uttered (to myself) those fateful words -- "Oh, there's a little building I haven't seen.  I'll just give it a quick walk through before I leave."  Ha.  I made a quick circle and then, in the final space on the way out I saw it.  As fate (oh, fickle fate) would have it, I had chanced upon her website on Friday and spent a good half hour talking myself into and out of buying one of the "Hip to be Square" looms.  I was so nostalgic for those wonderful potholder looms.  But, to be able to a) make potholders to one's delight; b) to reuse sock bits doing it; c) and make a rag rug from said recycled-sock-potholders?  Could I resist?  I did at the time - the shipping charges always get to me.

Pile 'o potholders

Sigh.  There was no shipping cost barrier at the wool fest.  I walked out with a loom and a big bag of sock loopies.  Then, when I finally got home, I spent a half hour of time much better spent on my "list", making a potholder.  Well, two.  Then I made another in the morning.  And I started another during a break from putting up my goat fence.  Then I finished that one and started another before bed.  Aiiiiirgh.  I did manage to keep myself from sneaking it into the office.  Sure, I could have made my own loom (I used to have one that I made many, many years ago) with nails on a frame.  But this loom has very nice, smooth eye screws that don't snag every last piece of material until you want to say lots of bad words loudly.  It is, quite frankly, mindless fun.  I find that I like mindless fun.  Especially when it means that I will end up with a cool rag potholder rug.  And it has made me think of other things I can create - with my Flora's lopi that I will be getting back from the mill; with the big pile of t-shirt strip balls that I have in the closet; with the spools of silk threads I've been hauling around for a coon's age.  The possibilities are endless!

I am finally winding down the canning process.  Last night I made six half-pints of tomatillo salsa.  There are only apples to go - and maybe a pumpkin or two.  And that's it.  Really.  Honest injun.  I swear.

Tomatillo salsa