Friday, December 28, 2007

Memory Loss is one of the first signs, they say...

It's official! I am definitely turning into a nanna, just as Widget said. (In person, not on her blog.) I spent all of yesterday behaving like a doddery old fool. M mentioned a wool shop called Sunspun where she was able to order some shimmery wool from Wales, and she raved about the service. Seeing as how both myself and the shop are in Melbourne and I'm on holidays with time to burn, I decided to go forth and visit, specifically to buy a new knitting bag. This is the sophisticated, cosmopolitan life that I lead when my kids are away for a few days with their dad. Maybe I should begin dating again, but how can I fit in chunks of eye-glazingly boring time with random males who are dull when my days are crammed with full-blooded excitement like this?


This manky old thing is what I've been using to cart my knitting around in for 37 years. (I've just had a coronary. I thought it was only 27, but seeing as how I got it when I was 7.... )

Time to let go of the past and get a new bag. So the day before yesterday I hopped onto the computer, glanced at the address and then yesterday I set off. I drove up and down Camberwell road , and by the time I got home I'd wasted just over an hour. The shop wasn't where it should be.

(Though all was not lost. On the way home I popped into Patchwork on Central to have a look. Ages ago when I started getting interested in quilting I saw a pattern they had for sale. This one: The St Kilda quilt. It's now mine. Though being a Carlton supporter I'm going to use different colours. I don't understand all of the directions, but it says that it's easy, so I should be right.)

Anyway, I went home, popped back on the computer and looked at the address. It was 185.... not 420. I called myself an idiot, then had lunch and jumped in the car to drive back. It was deja vu. I was walking up and down Camberwell road for ages looking for this shop. Finally a nice guy in a music shop rang directory assistance for me....

I'm very lucky that Canterbury road is so close to Camberwell road. Yes, sometimes I remember things by their first letter. It often works well, but obviously sometimes you end up wasting two hours of precious child-free holiday time. After investing all of that time and effort, I wasn't going to give up now. I went. I saw. I bought this. It has lots of zips and no holes for knitting needles to stick out of. It cost $60, but I'm thinking that over 37 years that's less than $2 a year, so it's an absolute bargain.



I also bought this. I'm going to have the most lurid socks in the history of the world. I know a couple of posts back I was obsessing about the swirly socks, but there is no way I'm paying $23 for wool and $11 for multicoloured bamboo double ended knitting needles and then NOT have people notice my work. I watched tv and knitted like a maniac on the afghan. I have to finish it before I can start. It's getting warmer, so soon it'll be too hot to knit.

I'm having friends over for dinner tonight, so today will be a house cleaning and cooking day. We were going to have a paprika chicken thing for our main course, but with the mercury hitting 38C today I've decided to go for a cold dinner. Dessert is the apricot nectar cheesecake I promised Scott, after I mucked up the last one. I know that mid afternoon I'll probably be kicking myself for spending so much time on the Great Knitting Bag Hunt of 2007, but that can't be helped now. I'm off to have breakfast and put the final layer on the cheesecake.

4 comments:

Scott said...

Remind me to buy you a notepad - you can jot down important things like addresses and then take it with you, thus dispensing with the need to rely on (your somewhat shaky it seems) memory!

Kim said...

Awe, ya know, we can't remember everything! That notebook idea is just super! Doubt we ever would have thought of that, lol, too bad it's just one more thing to remember to use and then tote along for the ride!

I like the new pattern, bag, yarn and the adventure you took yourself on while collecting your new treasures. A girl's got to fly by the seat of her pants from time to time! :)

M said...

Hee Hee. At least you managed a child-free day to do this shopping. Yesterday I took my mum, dad and my two kids into a knitting supplies shop in the CBD. In the middle of the sales. Fun.

Came out with a HUGE bag of bright yellow yarn (son's favourite colour) and lots of candy striped yarn (daughter's favourite). At least it was all on sale.

Next time I'll go by myself.

Your bag looks fabulous. I think it's time for me to get one with actual pockets for stuff rather than rummaging around the bottom of a shopping bag for needles etc.

River said...

I actually have the notebook and pen in my backpack. Do I remember to get it out and look at it? No. Where's the fun? Roaming around discovering delightful little cafes with awesome hot chocolate or tiny secondhand bookshops that I could spend hours in.......Much better than going directly to the wanted shop, purchasing and going home. Although I must admit I haven't done much roaming lately.