With the recent rains, the rest of the backyard has turned into a lake. What isn't lake is marsh or bog. We avoid going out there.
In mo' bettah news, DH got his Dupuytren's Contracture taken care of (the picture of the hand on the "symptoms" page of that website could be DH's; looked exactly the same). That's the condition he has on his right hand where he can't straighten out his pinky and ring finger. Thanks to a referral from our GP's wife (whose dad had it done), we found a doctor in Larkspur who has a non-surgical fix to the problem. Pictures show before, after with bandage, and after without bandage. The discoloration in the bandage, by the way, isn't blood or betadine... it's barbeque sauce! His hand is still a bit achey and black-and-blue, but his fingers can now extend fully!
In our trip to Healdsburg this weekend to visit KB, we dragged poor DH around to 4 knitting shops: Llama Llama Knit in Novato, Village Knitters in Santa Rosa's Coddingtown Mall, Cast Away in Santa Rosa's Railroad Square, and Balls and Skeins in Sebastopol.
Llama Llama Knit is really cute, very comfortable, and carries roughly the same types of yarns that Bobbin's Nest does (Rowan, Louet, Misti Alpaca, etc.). I would feel comfortable bringing my knitting and just flopping down in their knit pit.
Village Knitters is actually a small side area inside Village Sewing at the Coddingtown Mall. It's jam-packed with yarns and there's a small table to gather around, but it doesn't feel like a "sit and knit" kind of place. They have a HUGE selection of Cascade 220, 220 Superwash, and Lamb's Pride, plus they had Mini Mochi sock yarn. And they carry Royale Hare yarns and fibers, which is a Santa Rosa local company. They also posted on their website that they had a sock yarn that self-striped on the diagonal, but the clerks on duty when we visited knew nothing about that. They offered to find out and give me a call, which they did a few hours later. Word was that it's an Opal yarn, but try as we might, we can't find any reference to a diagonally self-striping Opal yarn. It's a mystery, son.
Cast Away is adorable! From the boat in front to the pug/terrier doggie who greets you to the lovely displays, it's a cozy and comfy place to be. (I also envy the owner's - and her daughter's - gorgeous red hair.) They, too, carry many of the same yarns that Bobbin's does, along with some of the artiste Cascades (Nicki, some other hand-paints), organic fibers, and more unusual vendors (ggh, BeeSweet). She also carries Mini Mochi, as well as Adriafil Knitcol, which I had never heard of before (of course I got some, in color 46 - Monet Phantasy).
Balls and Skeins was probably the most surprising of the lot. It's in a non-descript building with an awkward parking lot, and you sort of have to know where it is in order to know where it is, so I wasn't impressed from the outside. But inside... wow. It was warm and inviting, and had more unusual brands of yarns: Conjoined Creations (not just Flat Feet, but their other yarns), Blue Heron, Shaeffer, Wildefoote, I can't even remember the others. And they carried Offhand Designs and Namaste bags. I walked around carrying a pink Namaste Newport bag, but in the end decided not to buy it. Yet. I may get one at Stitches or I may wind up going back to Balls and Skeins after all.
After the knit-shop whirlwind tour, we (DH and his 2 "nieces") had Valentine's day dinner at K&L Bistro in Sebastopol. Wow. Really good. I made a pig of myself with their fabulous French Onion soup, frisee salad with warm pecan-covered goat cheese, Boudin blanc sausages and fries, and a hot fudge and caramel ice cream sundae (I paid for being a pig that night - uncomfortable). Everything was amazingly wonderful.
Drove home in pretty much continuous pouring rain. Very tiring, but made it home safely. Today is for kicking back (then some work for RP).
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