Let Me Tell You About Harry

It's late, but I haven't blogged for a while. I came home from camp and hit the deck running with post-camp laundry and jobs, summer stuff, business, work, Doug's work, kid stuff, etc etc etc. This last week and a half has been a complete blur.

But I have to tell you about my buddy Harry.



The building you see in this photograph is the dining hall at camp. Doug and I were staying in a cabin way up the hill from there. Every year we stay in "The Old Workers Cabin." Not sure if it's the cabin or the workers in it that are old, but I've stayed in that cabin for the last twenty years, and it is a lot older than that, so probably both are true.

The cabin can house four "units" of people. Doug and I got our room all to ourselves this year, but other years we have had one or both kids sharing it with us. One, when we only had one. Both when we had two. I have a lot of great stories of life in The Old Worker's Cabin. But today's story is about Harry.

Contrary to popular belief, our family did not go away on vacation exactly. All four of us went up to camp -- Daybreak Point Bible Camp on Anvil Island in the Howe Sound of British Columbia. Lots of proper nouns in that sentence. Hayley went as a camper. Colin was on the work-crew, and Doug and I were on one shift of cooks. We worked on a team of five that included us and cooked all the meals for 140 people for a 24 hour shift, and then got a 24 hour shift off. We usually napped when we were off shift. We had to work a bit harder this year because several people got sick up at camp, and we were a bit short-handed at times. The cooks are a fabulous bunch of people, and I love to work with them. We all pitch in to help each other finish and serve meals, and other camp staff (all vounteers like us) help out too.

Early in the morning, when I was on shift for breakfast, I would get up and head down to the dining hall to start work. Most of the time, the other three rooms were quiet, with occupants still sleeping or hoping to squeeze in an extra hour. The room across from ours housed one of the camp directors and her two young sons. Mom is a huge Harry Potter fan, so no shock when I tell you that her younger son is named Harry.

Harry is hilarious. At two, nearly three years old, he still has a baby face and wispy long, curly baby hair that reminds me of my son Colin at that age. Like Colin, Harry has huge eyes that take in everything around him, and like Colin at that age, Harry has the vocabulary and language facility of a much older child. Perfectly enunciated and grammatically correct sentences of marvelous complexity could come out of that kid's mouth, totally defying his outward appearance. And like Colin, he was a child who wanted to be treated like a cat. I know this behaviour. You can look at them sideways, but never come on too strong. Gradually I could feel him becoming more familiar with me.

In the dining hall, I'd see him playing with playdough.

"I have a big saw. I am sawing wood."

Or playing with a muddy mix of cornstarch and water.

"This is cement. I am making roads for the trucks."

One morning on my way to "work" I saw him standing in his doorway, rubbing his eyes sleepily and watching me brush my teeth and get ready.

"Hi Harry," I said casually.

"NO!" (emphatically) "I will NOT say hi."

I held my laughter until I got all the way down the hill. That kid cracked me up. That line has become a catch phrase around here.

By the end of the week, he was cuddling in my lap.

De-Stash SALE!!!

I have WAAAAAAAY too much stash, so...

I'm having a de-stash sale over at my etsy shop. All yarns from my personal yarn stash.

I'll be posting yarns today (Saturday), and de-stash yarns will be available until Monday morning (August 13). Then I'm yanking anything that did not sell.

If your own stash is over-flowing, you might want to avoid my shop today. Who can stand the temptation??

Have fun!

I'm Ba-ack!

This is where I was for the week: Anvil Island in the Howe Sound of British Columbia. Actually, I'm standing on Anvil when I took that picture. The other island you see is called Gambier Island.



Tired. Dirty. Need my own bed.

More tomorrow.

Confessions of a Socka-Pal-LOSER

I even bought a book and everything!

The Sockapalooza-4 deadline draweth nigh, and I must confess that I will cross the finish line, but not with brilliance.

I joined up with high hopes. I dyed special yarn. I bought a book of sock patterns. My pal was going to get a brilliant pair of socks. I was going to leave mysterious and witty messages on her blog.

Well...

I sold off her yarn. Never opened the book. She doesn't have a blog. And I never contacted her. I consoled myself on that last point with the reminder that my pal never contacted me either, but then my pal did. About two weeks ago. Hmmph.

So if you have a blog, you are not my pal. Ditto that if you have heard from your pal. It wasn't me. I didn't send you a care package, or a note, or leave chocolates on your pillow. And you are not getting the latest craze in sock patterns done in thread-like yarn on itty bitty needles.

BUT

You will get a lovely pair of well-executed stockinette stitch socks in my much-coveted Butterscotch Rowan Pure Wool DK that was dyed by me. They will be done on time and in the mail as soon as I get back from camp on August 4. They will arrive accompanied by a nice skein of sock yarn, also dyed by me, a card, and a set of stitch markers.

So I'm not a total loser.

I'm away for a bit, but my shop is stocked with all kinds of things, and you are welcome to browse and even to buy, as long as you don't mind waiting a bit for your item(s) to ship. I just posted two more offerings of the elann.com Cash Tweed. Each is a 100gram skein currently available...until it is not. The last two flew away very quickly.

REDWOOD FOREST:


RIVENDELL:


PS. I got my gold pirate-tooth today, and it feels great!

PS2. I will actually take pictures up at camp this year so that y'all can see how glorious it is.

Stupid Plastic Tooth

I'm longing for two things these days: autumn, and a new tooth.

Autumn isn't happening for a while, so I'm dreaming about it with dye. This one is called: The Leaves Dream of Autumn. (the leaves aren't alone...)



The tooth is happening on Thursday, so that feels somewhat in reach. Right now I have a stupid plastic tooth instead of one of my upper molars. I hate it. Last week I spent the proverbial about-as-much-fun-as-two-hours-in-the-dentist's-chair two hours.

I brought my iPod since there is only so much classic 1970's music I can stand, and that's all that plays at my dentist's office. At least we can laugh about it since she and I are almost the same age. Depressing Harry Chapin ballad reminds her of depressing Dan Fogelburg ballad, and just as we are laughing at the comparison, the Fogelburg dirge comes on. That really gets us laughing.

If we were laughing, it couldn't have been that bad, right? In some ways not. I like my dentist. I really do. Having suffered a lifetime of severe dental anxiety (with reason), this dentist has redeemed a lot of that for me by being who she is. She has a beautiful new office with comfy chairs and NO shaming, humiliating, or disgusting dental posters on her walls. That alone endeared her to me pretty quickly. And she is kind. And gentle.

So she kindly, gently drilled and grinded my molar for almost two hours last week, without anaesthesia (the tooth is dead anyway). I took my Xanax and listened to my iPod, and I survived. But I left with a temporary plastic tooth that feels like a clunker in my mouth. I can feel the edges of it. It doesn't feel like a tooth at all, and my tongue won't leave it alone. I liked the broken tooth better.

I finished sock one in the hand-dyed and spun yarn I bought at etsy. You can check out the yarn and link to her shop HERE.



And I dyed my second skein of the elann Cash Tweed last night in a colour I'm simply calling Blaze. More dreaming of autumn. I love this colorway. I will definitely be doing a few more like this one. And keeping one for myself while I'm at it.



Man-Boy demonstrates the difference between Cash Tweed before and after dyeing. Hopefully you can also see how much fuller and fluffier it becomes with washing.

If Frankenstein Wore Socks...

They'd definitely be Lime-Green and Purple stripedy...



Don'tcha think?

At Long Last Blog

Reasons I have not been blogging:

Can't be bothered
Too damn hot
Too damn lazy
Too many distractions
Too many people in my house (read: kids home for summer holidays)

In other news...

Catbookmom came to visit, and that was FUN! Catbookmom, Lunadog, and plain 'ol Jayne went out for a pub dinner and then back to my house on the HOTTEST DAY EVER. Seriously. It was the hottest day in Vancouver's recorded weather history. Hotter than the gates of hell. Hot.
But we still had a riot.

It was also too hot to take pictures, but I do have two from the day that CBM came and spent an afternoon and evening chez See-Jayne-Knit.

Good pic of CBM....and uh...Jayne having a Forest Gump photo moment.

Ah...that's better. CBM brought a knitting project that she was knitting in yarn dyed by me! My yarn had come back home again. And it was looking very pretty as it Sunray'ed along.

What I'm Knitting

I decided that my sock pal was getting the infamous Butterscotch socks that have set so many knitters to drooling. They are nearly done. I will make the deadline! More on this later.


I am also knitting myself a pair of socks in some lovely and funky hand dyed and spun yarn from a fellow etsian (how Jayne spends her money). The yarn is called creamsicle, and she spun it with little coils peppered in there that give it a fun texture. More on this later.



What I am Dyeing:

I bought some of elann.com's new and limited Cash-Tweed yarn to see how it would dye. Colour choices were very limited by the time I got there, but I still got some useful yarn to play around with. Unless I hit a colorway that I absolutely adore, every batch will be a one of a kind. So if you see something you like, I wouldn't wait.

This is my first effort. I dyed two balls tied together, so the put-up is 100g/392yds, and the yarn bloomed and got much softer with dyeing. I'm calling it Stormy Seas. The colour came out rich and saturated, and that warm coffee brown is really something else (love that). I don't think I will repeat this one, so like I said, if it makes your heart go pitty pat...


A particularly lovely batch of Copper Blaze Kid Mohair:



And a new colorway in Blue Face Leicester that makes my heart go Pitty-Pat! I'm calling it Sun Kissed.



All these are currently in shop with lots of others and a whole lotta stitch marker sets. I didn't know that I would be in the stitch marker biz until I listed a few and they took off. Now it is a fairly large part of what I do. Who knew?

Breakfast of Champions

Okay, I realize that I've been a slack-ass blogger these days. It's just too freakin' hot around here. I think it's finally time to admit that I'm not really a summer person. I love sunshine, but heat makes me cranky.

I used to spend the summer outdoors, getting a great tan and, well, getting a great tan. I think I've probably had my last tan. The last few years I've noticed that I don't tan, I blotch. My skin itches and changes, and I'm thinking this might not be altogether healthy for me. I do love to swim outdoors though, so I'm looking forward to long swims in the lake that is about twenty minutes away from where I live.

In case you haven't heard, there's a Simpsons movie coming out soon. Some 7-11 stores have converted into Kwik-E-Marts to promote the movie. Apparently these are very rare, and the 7-11 a few miles from here is the only one in Canada. Or one of a very few. The story keeps changing. I go there to use the post office sometimes, and last time I went I had to pick up some junk for my kids, who are major Simpsons fanatics. No matter what movie, cultural event, or life issue comes up in casual or even serious conversation, my kids say the same thing: "Oh! There's a Simpsons about that..."

You'd be amazed at the education they've received, courtesy of Homer, Marge, Bart and the gang.



IT CAME AND IT TOOK OVER THE WHOLE HOUSE!!!

This yarn business has taken over my house. Some days, I beat it back with a broom into dim corners and downstairs, where it lurks just waiting for me to turn my back so that it can burst out all over the place again.

It has a whole bedroom to itself, half the kitchen and sometimes more, most of the dining room, part of the living room, and quite often a good deal of the family room.

I bought myself a tool box for my stitch marker supplies. Yup, one of those manly red tool-boxes. I love it. Now I can keep everything for stitch markers in one place instead of in ten. Things have a way of creeping out though...

During the cooler months, I dry my yarn in the room where the furnace is. Things dry in a day or so there. Lately, our furnace never comes on, so I'm drying in the dining room, where it is warm all day and all night.


So Proud I could just Burst!

I love love love this colorway. Haven't been able to get to the lake on account of Hayley's cold, so I've been beating the heat by staying inside and dyeing up all kinds of fun new colorways. This is one of my favorite yarns yet. I'm calling it Borealis.



Not much happening on the knitting front, but I will post a Sockapalooza update tomorrow.

Of Knitting and Etsy and Mutant Ladybugs

Of Knitting:

Here is my progress on the Simple Knitted Bodice. I worked on it during the long drive to, and the longer drive from, Hayley's all-day fun day to celebrate the end of Grade-5. I am nearly done the body, and can move onto a sleeve. The pattern called for two skeins of the beaded Rock Star yarn, and it took one whole skein to do the lace section of the body. The second skein is supposed to handle a similar lace section on each sleeve, as well as neckline trim, bottom edge trim, and sleeve edge trim. Wondering about that...I wanted to get the neckline out of the way, but I think I'd better do the sleeves first to see how much of Rock Star is actually leftover for those other jobs. I have to say this top is a thorougly satisfying knit so far, and the Tilli Tomas yarn is some of the nicest I have ever knit. Yesterday I even had some women oohing and aaahing at the field trip when I pulled it out to do a few rows at lunch.


Of Etsy:

One of my fiber colleagues over at Etsy has written a wonderful blog post on what Etsy means to her -- and to many of us. I am in full agreement with Deb of Fearless Fibers. If you are interested in knowing more about the community that is Etsy, and in spreading the word of the site, please read her blog post.

I agree with her comments that Etsy is bigger than my own shop, or hers, it is a vibrant, inspiring community of artisans and buyers. I am impressed over and over with the range and quality of items that are available, and with the artists themselves. Deb makes a gentle appeal to spread the word of Etsy as a site and a community where artisans and buyers deal directly with each other.

For myself, I am grateful to Etsy as a site that allows me to support and be supported by a variety of artists from all over the world. I am grateful for the ethics and philosophy on which the site was founded, and that the administration maintains. I am grateful for the opportunity to work from home in what has become a fully viable and satisfying business. I already do a great deal of my personal and gift shopping through etsy, and I'm sure that will only increase as I become ever more familiar with all that the site offers.

Of Mutant Ladybugs:

I got in a large shipment of funky glass beads for making stitch markers yesterday. The box arrived, and I couldn't wait to dig in. Stuff for fall, stuff for Christmas/winter, more Skully's, all kinds of cool beads, and...Mutant Ladybugs.

The other beads are all fine, but I have no idea what happened to these ladybugs. They are not quite as advertised. They are genuine lampwork, but just who did they trust the blowtorch to? A six-year-old?

When I got over my surprise as, yes, every ladybug in the package is a little bit lunatic, I found the funny. They began to grow on me in about thirty seconds. My kids came home from school and agreed that the ladybugs were endearing. So if you have an off-beat sense of humour and enjoy the wabi-sabi in all things, you might want to adopt a set of mutant ladybugs.



The penguins are pretty cute too...

As Long as I Have My Knitting...

I can get through anything.

This week has been packed full of events for Hayley's school. More than usual for year end, but I think that's partly because it is her last year at the school before moving on to middle school, and partly because the whole school is closing after this year.

Yesterday, they had a talent show. 25 performers. Two hours. Hayley's piano piece lasted for about 90 seconds of that two hours. I have to admit that a lot of the acts were really cute, and overall it was a fun event. But only because I had my knitting. If I can knit, I can get through anything. A kids' talent show becomes downright delightful, as long as I have my knitting.

Today was a day-long outing to an arcade style "fun" park. The "park" was actually a series of buildings with indoor batting cages, driving ranges, bumper cars, miniature golf, and a zillion arcade games. Hayley and her friends had a blast. The bumper cars were fun, and the whole day was made better...because I had my knitting.

I might have spoken too soon when I said that business was slowing down. Yesterday was a big day, and today was a HUGE day. Maybe everyone's stocking up on projects to work on through the summer.

I'll post another photo of the Simple Knitted Bodice tomorrow. I am almost done the body and have to show it off.

The Knitting Zombie

I am such a zombie today. I've taken lots of days off over the last week or two, and have been relaxing, knitting, napping. Discovered that I'm tired. Been sleeping most of today.

Business has dropped off over this last week. I think the summer slowdown has begun, so it's good timing to relax more, knit more, get out and swim at the lake. I look forward to having some time to develop new colours and possibly stock up for what will likely be a rush when the fall begins.

Spent quite a bit of time this past weekend working on the Simple Knitted Bodice, so here's a report.



I'm working the pattern called Simple Knitted Bodice that was designed by Stephanie Japel (Glampyre) for the Tilli Tomas silk yarns. You can see/purchase the pattern from Stitch Diva as a PDF download HERE. You can buy the pattern lots of other places, but I wanted it right away.

If you're not familiar with this pattern, there are instructions for both a short sleeved version and a long-sleeved version. You should be able to see pictures of both on that link if you scroll down. I'm making the long sleeved version. I've been in love with this sweater ever since I first saw it at KPixie, but I just couldn't get my head around the cost of the Tilli Tomas yarn.



Let's see...what do knitters like to know... This sweater is knit from the top down. At first, you work back and forth as though it is one piece, until you get to the point of the v-neck in front, and then you join the thing together and work in the round. I use my Lantern Moon ebony circulars in size 7 (4.5mm) for the knitting done in the main colour (Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple in Forest). The pattern says to switch to 3.5mm needles for the lace, but I only went down to 4mm.



The lace is a simple chevron lace stitch worked in a contrasting or detailed yarn. I'm using Tilli Tomas Rock Star in Olive, and it matches the Olive in the Forest variegated perfectly. Rock Star is generously studded with Czech glass beads. And both yarns are super soft and dreamy to knit.



Now that I'm done the lace pattern in the olive, I've switched back to my larger needles and colour A (Forest). I have placed stitch markers to note where dart increases go to shape for the hips.

Libby asked for some details on the yarn. I've taken a picture here of the two types side by each. You should be able to enlarge all photos by clicking on them. Pure and Simple is a single ply 100% silk in a worsted weight. It is one of the nicest yarns I've ever knit. Just a joy, every stitch. The Rock Star is similar: a single ply of spun silk, with a think silk thread that has the beads. The two strands are spun in such a way that the beads do not slide around. A lot of care has gone into this yarn. The beaded yarn has a weight to it that you don't expect, but of course, it's all those beads! I think it will pull the sweater into a nice drape.



In shop news: I got these cool lamp-worked beads from India from another etsy seller, and I've turned the into "We love Gryffindor" stitch markers. They come with a tiny matching satin pouch.



And this is my favorite item in the shop today: Teeny little glass lemons and a lime stitch marker. Hayley took one look at these and had to make herself a choker with one of the lemons. She likes having a crafty mom.

See Jayne Knit!

Yes, I do actually knit.

Still.



I have to admit that my knitting output dropped off dramatically from about April, when my dyeing adventure really took off. After four years of almost nothing but knitting, it was a relief to be captivated by something else for a change.



And then my knitting mojo went on a long tour of the South of France or somewhere exotic. In any case, it's not telling. Recently, it has been sneaking back. It heard that Tilli was in the house and really wanted to test drive the Simple Knitted Bodice.

And so I knit. For about an hour a day, or so, and the rows are a pleasure. Each stitch is a pleasure. I coaxed that mojo back with silk yarn and ebony needles (the sticks forbidden to Daisy's sharp teeth), and tiny bronze glass stitch markers I raided from my own shop.



SO YOU WANNA DYE?

One or two people have been asking again about how I do this dyeing thing, so here are the links to old blog entries in which I describe my basic method. Maybe you'll be opening up a shop of your own before too long. It's a big market.

A Good Day To Dye
Live And Let Dye

One nitty-gritty point: Very glad to point you in the direction of dyeing, but methods I've developed since these posts as well as my recipes and charms for making certain colorways are like the Colonel's secret recipe. Secret. On the other hand, I don't own colours so go for it -- see what you come up wth!

And as for colours...Some people have asked which colours I use. I use ALL the colours. :)

A Swiftly Tilting Planet

I know that's the title of a Madeleine L'Engle novel about time travel, but that's about all I know. It seemed to fit the general theme of decor in my dining room these days.

too anti-social to entertain, so the dining room is full of...swifts.



The first one (above) is Mama. She was my shiny new swift of eaons ago (April). Looking a bit worn, a bit weary, a bit dilapidated, much like her owner. Notice the re-ties in orange yarn where the jute wore out? Notice the hockey tape shoring up her axle to her base? She creaks and squeaks and leans to one side. Well, you would too, if you had run the miles she has. I'm not going to do the math, but somebody tell me: how many miles is it approximately if you average 300yds per skein, being wound on once, off once, and on once (total of three times through the swift) and multiply that by about three hundred skeins. That's a hell of a lot more yarn than most people's swifts see in a liftetime. So we'll cut her some slack.

Fearing she was on her last, um, legs, I bought....BIG MAMA:



Gee, I thought I had a big swift until this monster arrived. I bought BIG MAMA from elann on Friday, so naturally she showed up this morning. (sheesh!) The hot new thing in town. But she was friendly to little mama, so I'm a' gonna keep her. (And no, Benne, that is NOT toilet paper in the background).

Then we have Mama's Little Helper:



I love this swift. It's cheap and light and spins very freely. And it has a little crank handle on top. I bought this one a few weeks ago, and it has cut my swift-labour in half. Now for re-skeining, I put the damp skein on Little Mama, and attach the loose end to the Helper, and wind away. You should see how fast it goes, and all in one step. Paid for itself in a day or two.

Colin is off from school now, and he has to earn money for a school trip to Orlando Florida next year (lucky duck). So, he's indentured to service, I mean working for me, winding yarn from balls and off cones into skeins. This afternoon we had all three going at once. Whee!

Daisy's Turn to Blog

Hi everybody!

That big hand that feeds me has been dyeing up a storm lately, and the whole house smells like sheep. I thought a sheep was attacking me yesterday 'cuz my mom smelled like sheep instead of like hand, and I wouldn't come out.

She's been playing with those sticks that she won't let me chew, even though they look like great chew toys, all black and shiny like that. And she's playing with that string that I can't sniff or sit on.

But I did get to have some apples this morning, and I got a clean cage and lots of seeds. And I did get to write the blog, so I guess I can't complain too much.

eep!

Taking a Break From Blogging For a Week

I need a week off from blogging. Need to spend some more time here:




Be well...and I'll be back next week.

Your Yarn Dollars At Work

Thank you very much for all the Anniversary wishes. I enjoyed reading those. Doug and I went out for dinner, a movie (Waitress -- very cute and heartwarming), and dessert.


You might hate me when you're done reading this post, and I wouldn't blame you. I'd hate me too.

I get a lot of questions about how it works around here. Well, dyed yarn sells...



And I pack it up and mail it out. I usually have a lot of packages to ship on Monday. Orders that come in between Friday and Sunday go out on Monday, and it seems I get a lot of orders between Friday and Sunday. This is last week's weekend batch. This week's was huge as I had a sale on Saturday.



Mail out means income in, so for the first few months, I have used a lot of it to build up a large to-dye-stash. That stack of stacks is about 2/3 of what I have on hand to dye. Yes, that is a lot of yarn.

Where do I buy my yarn? People ask. Everywhere! I buy it from a lot of different local and internet yarn retailers in the US and Canada. Whenever someone posts a good sale or close-out deal on quality yarns, I get in there and buy a lot. I have a wonderful whole-sale arrangement with Wool2Dye4, an online shop in the US, and I buy Trekking Superwash Sock yarn in bulk from the UK. I buy from independent farm operations, basically any place that offers a product I will enjoy dyeing, and that knitters will enjoy knitting.



Yarn-to-dye-stash gets converted into dyed-stash and listed on Etsy. Many yarns do not make it into those bins. They go straight from the drying rack to the mailer pack, and out the door.

I get asked variations on this question: What's it like to own all those amazing dyed yarns? Or: What's it like to have that stash in your house? Or: How can you part with all those yarns?

The answer: I used to work at a bank, where I handled thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars a day. The money was no temptation since it did not feel real. It felt like Monopoly money to me, and so does the yarn. The yarn in stash for dyeing and the yarn I dye and send out do not feel like "my" yarn, and I keep them in a separate room and bins from my personal stash. Unless I take one of them for myself, they do not feel like they are mine, and I do not feel a sense of loss as they go. I love the idea that others will get to own them and knit with them.




But the money that comes into my account from all these sales, now THAT feels like mine. And it's a really cool feeling because I haven't earned my own money for nearly ten years. This job has been a regular paying event around here, and I am loving it. The money goes into my Paypal account, and I use it from there to buy more yarn for dyeing. I transfer cash into our bank account to pay off my start-up costs for launching this business. And, we do need to pay off a car as well as re-build a fence and put a new roof on our house over this next year. It feels good to be able to contribute towards those expenses too. I just gave Doug his birthday present a month and a half early, and I paid for it myself. A very cool feeling.

And...(and this is the part that might make you hate me). I buy myself amazing treats that I wouldn't have bought before. It all comes out of Paypal without ever touching our regular family finances. To me, it feels like barter. I dye yarn and "trade" it for all sorts of other wonderful things. The things I buy from etsy, and treat yarn purchases. Like this:



Yes, that really is four skeins of Tilli Thomas Pure and Simple Silk in a colorway called Forest.



And yes, that really is two skeins of Tilli Thomas Rock Star in Olive



Don't they look amazing together? Little knits had a sale on TT, and I've had my eye on that Simple Knitted Bodice by Stitch Diva for the longest time. I don't have as much knitting time as I used to have, so I figure I'll make it count by making something extra special. This stuff is sooooooo dreamy.