Weekend Warrior

 I did something this weekend that I rarely do. I went downtown to eat. Daughter and I met DIL who was in town for a conference at Jaleo near the Capitol One Arena.

The evening all started out reasonably well considering we were late for our reservation. Driving through downtown DC on a Friday night is a skill us suburbanites don't have. Daughter did pretty well considering-minus the close call with a pedestrian. Whew.

The food at Jaleo is glorious.

Everything is bite sized and delicious.

 The problem was-and isn't there always one, is that between the hair raising journey and my empty tummy none of these fabulous dishes sat well. I spent the evening running back and forth to the ladies room feeling like a regular fool. When you don't have a gall bladder certain foods can make you miserable pretty quick so I'm always worried when I eat new-to-me dishes. I never did get sick. In fact, when we got home I was starving leading me to believe it was the sangria and not the food that did the deed. Sigh.......

 In spite of the tummy drama I had a great time. Being downtown on a gorgeous night was such a treat.   I also spent the night at Daughter's to save myself from that long, late night drive home so I got to spend lots of time with little Miss Emi. When I woke up she was sitting nearby and there was a stuffed mouse in my shoe. I think we are finally friends.

Soap!!!

 I am so happy fall is officially here and I'll be even happier to get rid of this fall soap so I can start playing with my winter scents. I've got some new ones to giveaway like Spellbound Woods from Brambleberry. They describe it as a mix of amber, sandalwood and vanilla.

I've also got some good old standbys like Oatmeal and Honey. Another new one is Autumn Equinox from Nuture Soap. They describe it as mint, herbs oakmoss and cinnamon. That sounds awful but I really like it.

 I've got Fresh Picked Apple and Raspberry Vanilla. Both are yummy if you are into fruity scents.

 Pumpkin Oud is strong. If you like pumpkin spice this one's for you. Sweater Weather is new. It's a warm mix of sandalwood, oakmoss and jasmine.

Mediterranean Fig is my all time favorite. It doesn't smell like figs but I love it. Lavender Honey is another oldie but goodie. 

I've got a new Halloween soap. All Soul's Night is a sweeter version of my old standby Witch's Brew which is on the right. They both smell like patchouli although All Soul's Night is supposed to be frankincense and neroli with a hint of lime. 

You know the deal. Give me your FOUR favorite soap scents and some time this fall I will see that you get TWO of them. I also have a box full of leftovers from the ladies lunch so let me know what you'd like as a ride along. I've got cuticle cream, lip balm, lotion bars and bath tea. 

Message me your choices and mailing details over on Ravelry. I'm Araignee.

Or 

email me at araigneessoapshop@gmail.com.

Head's Up

 I've been spending a couple of hours every night down in the card room printing out backgrounds.....

 ....and making little skeins of wool.

I've got a pile of cards to ride along with the fall soap giveaway.
Pssst...............it's TOMORROW!!!!
Happy fall y'all!!!

On the Rocks

Now that the tourists are gone and the kids are back in school the beach is empty.

 Yesterday was a gorgeous day so we went to a place that Pup could get down to the water.

First you take a little hike through the woods and then.....

 ...you have a spectacular view.

I could have sat and watched the sun shining on the water all day. It was like an explosion of glitter.

I don't get my feet wet in the Bay often but I couldn't resist.

 Pup wasn't quite as thrilled with the whole things as I was.

 She'd much rather be exploring things with The Mister.

She found this horseshoe crab on the way home. It looked like it was just walking along the path but the poor thing was actually dead as a door nail. It reminded me of the time Daughter put a recently deceased one in a bag and took it to school for show and tell. Needless to say her teacher was not amused.

Au Naturale

 The All Natural towel kit from Cotton Clouds is finally off the loom.

 It's a big one.

 It felt kind of loosey goosey when I was trimming it.

Even after zig zaging it and hemming it I felt like I just couldn't chuck it in the wash to block it.

 I soaked it instead and then put it in the dryer to shrink it up and hopefully stabilize it.

It did shrink and plump up a bit and it does feel much better now. I'll be throwing it in the wash with the next load of kitchen linens so I'll be crossing my fingers it comes out in one piece.

 As for warping drama, I somehow managed to add one whole color pattern repeat more than my loom could hold. It was no fun taking it all off.

It didn't take long to fix but it was pretty hair raising. I'm hoping that was the last of the drama with this new project but I doubt it. It's always something.

Big Needle Wednesday

 The socks are not showing as much progress as I'd like. I've got a really, really great sock project in the works so these need to be a done deal before the yarn gets here.

 I've got one more repeat on both the shawl and the scarf. The green scarf is officially in time out now until spring. I'm not feeling it anymore. Even though the AC is still on, my head is telling me it's fall.

Northern Lights is getting a liner in sport weight acrylic. The jury is still out on whether it will fit but it's getting a liner anyway. I never argue with my inner knit voice. It usually knows more than I do.

Daughter's wild and crazy Maine yarn is becoming a Mandelbrot.

It's a hat that with a brim that you knit flat than seam. It helped me get the size right for a change. I'm not so sure I like the seed stitch on the brim but I've got another whole skein to play with so I might try a garter pattern next time.

Tiny Needle Tuesday

 Cross stitch wise, I don't have much to show for this week. I started working on my little shepherdess. It's the slog I thought it would be. There's a lot of plain green and blue that has to be done before I can put any of the fun details in.

I've almost got a second leaf done on the crewel project.

I've got part of another Dear Jane block finished. I heavily modified this one. I'm not doing anything too teeny tiny anymore.

 Using my tiniest of needles I did finish quilting all the rings over the weekend.

Now I can get back to the soft center parts which are fun to do.

 The best thing about this week stitching wise are my new vinyl project bags. I saw them on Floss Tube and knew I had to have some.

I have a bunch of projects that I never get to because they are packed away.  Out of sight. Out of mind. Now they are right on my sewing shelf all kitted up in case I get the itch to stitch.