Despite some “help” from a furry friend… I finished my new cowl, now named the Purple Mountain Majesty cowl, just in time to wear it yesterday! The girl had auditions for all-state band two hours away and I couldn’t miss that. Sorry about that terrible terrible iPhone selfie photo. Usually I get better pictures than that, but at six in the morning, I figured that was good enough. The cowl is fabulous, I LOVE it and it will be even better once I get the chance to block it properly. The yarn is Purple Rain from Lolo Did It and the pattern is River Deep, Mountain High by mollygirl yarn and I swear I will post some good photos once I have the chance to take them.

We were in Columbia for a very very long day, so the husband and I escaped for a short time so I could visit the LYS, the Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe. They’re always so friendly and they have such lovely yarn and I always find something I HAVE to have. Yesterday was no exception. Sighhhhh. I love yarn. This is why I knit, truly. It’s partly the act itself, but mostly it’s for the yarn. Now see those three on the right side, the two teals and a gray? They will come together for a nifty striped cowl. The shop had one on display and the pattern came free with the purchase of the yarn. The purple sparkly I got because…well, because I love purple and I love sparkly. Maybe it will go together with that Cascade Aran Splatter (on the left edge) as a border or accent stripes or something, or maybe not. I just know that when I see purple sparkly yarn, I will buy it, no questions asked.

I also love Christmas, so the red and green sparkle called my name too. I’ve been itching to do some holiday themed knitting, so I’ll put these two with some ivory baby alpaca from my stash and make a Christmas cowl for myself. It’ll be striped, with the red and green being purl ridges.Can’t you just see it?? I can! I’ve got it all ready to go and that’s what I’ll be making today while I rest from the big day yesterday. The knee scooter is great, and I’m so glad I had it, but using it really tires the thigh muscles in the bad leg. Plus it was so crowded that I couldn’t elevate the foot much, which meant it got swollen, and today it’s cranky. So yeah, today I’m pretty much useless. Movies and yarn for me. Maybe I’m finally embracing my forced quiet time.

Sadly, the girl didn’t make it into the band. She did make to callbacks, the top 38 of the roughly 150 flutists from all around the state, which was a step closer than last year. It really is an accomplishment. But she’s been so successful with her band stuff that I think we all had really high hopes, and she was devastated when she didn’t make it. That’s one of the hardest parts of having older kids, when they get sad and there’s not a darn thing you can do to make it better. But she’s talented and strong, and I know she’ll keep doing amazing things with her music. And even if it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, I still got to spend the day with my girl doing something she loves, and we had a great time. Happy Sunday, friends! May your day be as peaceful as mine is shaping up to be.