Big Huge Day

We waited for the saleslady who helped me last Wednesday and in the end she talked us out of the pricey Lane set. She just didn't think we would be happy with it since it was for a more formal setting. In the end we bought this three-piece set for less than half the price of the other one. It's made in Mississippi and the cushions have springs in them instead of just blocks of foam. I was overwhelmed that she thought about our satisfaction over her own commission. We were right in the middle of ordering the fabric for the other set and this change-up came from out of the blue. The fabric weave reminds me of Herculon but she explained that it has a high content of polyester which will make it easier to clean and easier to live with, given our vigorous pets.

The ad said that the set was originally priced at $2577 but with the sale and discounts, we spent just over $900 and that included tax, delivery, a five-year insurance against stains, which if we don't need to use it will be refunded to us at the end of five years. That was hard to argue against. It's rather bland but I supposed I could weave some pillows - or something. Delivery is in two weeks. Alexia wants to spend the weekend and "help" us arrange the pieces. In the photo Ian is uploading a photo of the furniture to Facebook and Lexi says she was testing her favorite piece. Her parents are adopting our old sectional which still has plenty of miles to go.

We went to lunch afterward at Nan and Kabob where Alexia noticed that they had posted pictures of the Chef Maurice that people had drawn on their placemats. She worked all through lunch to draw him and was rewarded by his visit to our table and his gift of a bowl of saffron ice cream. I love my life.

When Ian took the dogs to pick up the mail this morning he also collected my package from Yarn Barn of Kansas. After all my complaining about them selling hand-wash yarn for a baby blanket, I washed and dried the last blanket in a mild cycle and it came out great. I was going to order Knit Picks superwash but would have needed more skeins and realized that in this case, I was costwise better off just going back to the Brown Sheep. I've always like their yarns. I won't know until I start to weave, but I think I picked really cool colors.
This is the pattern, if you didn't see in an earlier post. I hope to start winding the warp tomorrow. It needs to go on the same loom as the rag rug, and since I'm still cutting and sewing strips, the loom is open.

I just finished The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny. I started this series in October when we were in New York and bought the first three books, not because it was a mystery series, but because I saw her advertised in The New Yorker. The mystery part was inane but that was okay since I'm not a fan of mysteries. I really grew to care about her characters and what a shock this book was - carefully plotted and full of surprises, a total page turner - and yet with all the characters that I had become fond of. You don't need to read earlier books to enjoy this one. Now I need to put the sequel on hold at the library! (Don't tell Amy. She still believes I don't read mysteries.)