Suddenly, it's Summer

Today is was over 80 in Wisconsin and Chicago. We were on a road trip, ending up on Saturday at a Wisconsin supper club. This was my first experience at one. Apparently this was the only restaurant in town, because we waited over two hours for a table. At the bar. I'm a two drink maximum girl, or else it's like some one's poisoned me the next day. I was nursing that second gin and tonic so it would last forever. If I haven't mentioned it before, I am super intolerant of second hand smoke. Not many people in the bar were smoking, but you think they could open a window in the place. I left for a few minutes to arrange the hotel room, and when I came back to the bar, it was like having to walk through a wall of smoke. It stuck to my hair, all my clothes, even down to underwear. It was hard to sleep last night with that smell on me. The Man (an ex-smoker of many years) said he didn't notice anything. Piccolo waited in the vehicle for us, and I think she got even with me for waiting so long by peeing on the sheet in the hotel room. Naughty Piccolo! Since I do all the driving on these trips, knitting is limited until we're settled in the hotel room, and the Man is asleep. I'm loving this new car, a 1996 Chrysler Town and Country. It's a super comfortable ride. A little longer in the front end than I'm used to, which makes parallel parking on a city street challenging. I'm sure that there will be many more trips this summer.

I'm usually in a quandry regarding things to knit in summer. While I like wearing cotton, knitting it, not so much. Blend it with something, and I'm happier. My preference always is to knit with an animal based yarn. Of course, being a sucker for marketing, I was obsessed about Debbie Bliss' new yarn, Rialto. A wool that's light enough for summer, she says. It's dk weight merino. So, does that mean that Karabella Aurora 4 can be considered a summer yarn? Anyhow, I had the pattern book for Rialto, which is a winner in my opinion, and had to get the yarn. Fortunately, we got back in town for me to make it to Knitting Workshop before it closed. So, I sneaked two balls into the house, concealed in a tote bag, and the other 10 are in my car, waiting to be sneaked in tomorrow. No need to explain this to the Man. I'm deciding between two designs in the book to knit. At the shop, I ran into Mary, and had fun gossiping and talking about Bohus knitting. She's knit two sweaters, and has more planned.

Driving along Lincoln Ave., to and from the shop, it seemed that the city had come alive with people out enjoying themselves. The Man mentioned that he wants us to go out tonight and hit tennis balls. I made dinner on the grill tonight, for the end of our first summer weekend.