Labor Day Shopping Extravaganza

Holy Cow. My daughter and I went out to run a few errands, and came home with a haul. First, we hit the Redmond Farmer's Market, which was brimming with great fruits and vegetables. We started off eating Hawaiian hot dogs, which are totally yummy, then we picked up some blackberries, pluots (a combination plum & apricot), apples, pears, an onion, and some peaches. Oh, and I got something called a lemon cucumber. I can't wait to try it in a salad with some of the cherry tomatoes I'm getting off the plant on my balcony.

Then we went to Borders. I had a 30% off one item coupon, and of course we bought way more than one item! I got this:

There are some really cute patterns in there, plus a few sock patterns that I really liked. My daughter got the 2nd book in the Twilight series, and we picked up a few other odds & ends as well. Then we headed off to Bath & Body Works where they were having one sale after another, and I picked up a few nice smelly things for home & bath. Then......drum roll please....off to Ben Franklin's. Oh my. I went in for this:
and came out with this:
A sad state of affairs I tell you! Every once in a while I get a 40% off coupon to use at Ben Francklin's through my email, and I tend to go in and buy a skein of sock yarn with it. Today I bought the Fortissima Socka with it, intending to make a pair of socks for my dad for Christmas. Then my daughter fell in love with that book in the picture, Creepy Cute Crochet by Christen Haden. I have been desperate to get her interested in knitting or crocheting, or some type of fiber hobby. She loves building legos, but that gets expensive after a while. So I caved in and bought her the book, a crochet hook, some yarn, and the googly eyes. I'm afraid she will get bored quickly, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. She also likes embroidery, so we bought a package of white pillowcases for her to embroider on. She got the bright idea that if she gets bored with one thing she can switch to the other, which brought to mind all the knitters I hear about with multiple UFO's - she'll be like that, only switching between hobbies! As you can see I also have some candles there. They are all fall scents, which just smell so good.

We also ran a quick errand to Staples to pick up the last couple of things we need for her back-to-school supplies. Thank goodness we didn't leave it all to the last minute, because that place was a total zoo! We only needed a protractor & some pens, and then we high-tailed it out of there!

I'm currently knitting my daughter a pair of fingerless gloves. The yarn is Paton's Stretch Socks in a black & white variegated color. I've not done very much lace, so it's a little on the hard side for me, but I think they are coming out pretty good:

For some reason I'm not really enjoying knitting these. I don't know if I don't like the yarn, or the needles, or both. I feel the pattern is not very well written, but I've been able to figure it out as I go along. The pattern is out of a Patons booklet written for this specific yarn called "Patons Stretch Socks Sweet to your Feet." It's Pattern #4, the Lace Wrist Warmers.

One of the things I bought today at Ben Franklin's is a set of bamboo dpn's in the size I need for these gloves to try with the next glove. I'm thinking maybe I don't like the metal needles. I hope switching from metal to bamboo won't change my gauge too much. I need both gloves to come out the same!

We are having a beautiful fall-ish day here in the Seattle area today. The sun keeps coming out from behind the clouds, but it's only about 65. The sun feels good, not to hot! I'm going to go enjoy my balcony for awhile now.