It is not unreasonable, in this digital age, I think, to have a soundtrack to one's blog posts. YouTube makes it embarrassingly easy to find interesting things to watch and listen to, and I for one would have never found, nor purchased the recordings of, some extraordinary artists but for their presence on YouTube. (Music Industry Execs, are you listening? Free music makes me buy more music, not less.) So, each post I am going to try to link to something I found on YouTube that makes me smile, or laugh, or cry, because I want to share these gems with anyone that will listen. I may or may not write something about them. I know I have linked sporadically in the past, but I would like to be more regular about it. You don't have to watch if you don't want, just listen while you read the rest of my post (though sometimes watching is half the fun). If you have been reading a while you know my predilection. (I can guarantee they won't always be restricted to this one genre, though there just may be a bias...) Whether or not it is your cup of tea I do hope you give it a try, and continue to give it a try, because you never know what you might like or what might inspire you. 

In other news, I would like to report a theft! Late last night, whilst I was sound asleep, someone crept into my apartment and stole an entire hour! I woke up disoriented and groggy, and clocks in different rooms proclaimed different times! Needless to say I am justifiably miffed at the entire ordeal, as I needed that hour to complete the set I was relying upon to get all forty of the winks that I need in order to function. A warning to the thief - tomorrow may not be that pretty. Return the hour now and you will receive amnesty. Otherwise, all bets are off.

(I am reminded of the excellent Terry Pratchett novel, Thief of Time. Hilarious. If you have never read Pratchett do give it a try. His writing is a bit like that of Douglas Adams. Knowledge of Diskworld and a tendency to read sci-fi are not prerequisites, my aunt has neither and thoroughly enjoyed this one.)

On with the knitting, or rather, lack thereof. I made no progress on the TD since yesterday, partially due to the fact that it was about 75 degrees today, and partially due to the fact that I have made another deposit into the college fund of some Swedish kid. That's right, a trip to IKEA left me with a new chair, table, and night table, a lighter wallet, and a severely aching back. Is it really worth it? You can decide. Tomorrow. After I take the photos that I will be able to take now that the sun is setting an entire hour later, resulting in actual sunlight shining in the windows of the back rooms when I get home.

I did manage to take a couple of photos before going off on a quest for Swedish meatballs and unpronounceable housewares. First up, a tiny slip. I had promised myself that I was NOT buying any more yarn until either I had used up a considerable portion of my stash or there were credible reports of a pending yarn shortage. I do not have a huge stash as stashes go (at least, not from what I've seen online), but it does take up three entire under-bed boxes (the kind you normally put things like wrapping paper in), plus three small bins (nearly all sock yarn), plus a big cardboard box of KnitPicks Palette that I kind of rather hate. I have enough sweater yarn to make at least 3 sweaters, plus some cotton and linen for lighter weight garments or what have you, plus yarn for about 15 pairs of socks (you think I am kidding?), plus that damn Palette... But, I was perusing my Bloglines and noticed a new post up on Sock Madness, so I clicked on over.

Disclaimer: I am not participating in Sock Madness this time around. Last time was a fiasco, since I work full time and also am a crazy perfectionist. (I did get a nice pair of Mad Cows out of it though.) I do not know why I am even still subscribed to this feed. In fact, what happened next is a good indication that I should unsubscribe as fast as humanly possible.

I clicked on the Sock Madness feed, and what should my wondering eyes should appear? They are naming the divisions this year after the last four NCAA Division I women's basketball champs. You know what that means, right? And then I saw it. This yarn. From YarnLust. I cruised on over to the Etsy site and bought it in about 17 seconds flat. I am not kidding. All self control flew right out the window.

See that adorable stitch marker included with the package? It is gorgeous, it coordinates, and it is the perfect size for sock needles (the ring is a lot smaller than most I've seen). The colors in my photos are a tad washed out, I took them in full sun, but needless to say, they are really pretty. 

How could I not?

My parents are huge Huskies fans (football in addition to both men's and women's basketball), despite having never attended UConn (that was all me, thank you very much), and owing to the fact that Connecticut still has not regained a professional sporting team (we have hopes though) they are avid (or is that rabid?) fans. Much bigger fans than I am (and I want to the school for cryin' out loud). I have offered to make something for my mother using this very special yarn. It remains to seen what she will do with it...

I did catch a photo of the lovely peas that are now in bloom as well:

I don't know if it's a snap pea or a snow pea, they were sown in the same spot and it's possible one variety didn't sprout (though I doubt it, those seeds were new last year) and I didn't investigate closely if the flowers were different, but there you have it. Isn't it lovely? Just think, with a little pollination action that little flower will be a delicious pea pod in a short time. I had planned to grow some sweet peas as well this year, but I haven't ordered any seeds yet and I suspect it's getting rather late to start them now (I know, it is only March, but they like the cool weather like "real" peas and most varieties are finished blooming by June.) In other plant news, the chives have started poking their heads out of the soil today! Two weeks and a day from planting. Nothing yet from the basil, delfino (cilantro) , parsley, or dill. 

Musical note: Those of you that follow these sorts of things already know of the passing of Italian tenor Giuseppe di Stefano last week. He was but one more legend from an age of legends that have, over the past few years, been slipping away from this world. Let us hope that he doesn't slip away from out collective memory as well. This clip is the famous tenor aria, Je crois entendre encore, but the Italian version (Mi par d'udir ancora), from Bizet's opera Les Pecheurs de Perles (The Pearlfishers). Much less popular than Bizet's most famous opera, Carmen, and seldom performed today, but full of beautiful and engaging music.