Dichroic Reflections

firsts

I had a couple of firsts at lunch today. I was in a mood for some recreational shopping and had no meetings on or near lunch, so I decided to hit the local yarn store. I've been wanting to make a shrug or short wrap cardigan, something I could wear to work over a camisole. I could use some pale blue and green bamboo I've got (about 500 yds) or I could get something else to knit it in. I haven't found the perfect pattern yet. So I went to a locla knitting store. Unfortunately, having only been open a couple of months, they don't carry any magazines, books or other patterns. For the same reason, their yarn selection is a bit sparse. (They do have tons of Cascade yarns in every color; that's where I got the Fixation for my mom's mothers day set and I loved the colors of the Cascade 200. Just not for summer.) So I can say that I actually managed to walk out of a yarn store without buying a single thing.

I promptly blew all those savings on lunch, though. I went to the Japanese restaurant next door to grab some food. They agreed that I could get some sushi for takeout, even though our weather's been heating up. In return I promised not to order any raw fish. I think this was my first time being served by a sushi chef who wasn't Asian. (I may have encountered some that weren't specifically Japanese before, but my (round) eye for that distinction isn't all that finely honed.) Not only that, he had his hair in cornrows, or actually divided into little squares with a braid poking out of each. I suppose it keeps his hair out of the food, but for some reason it didn't inspire confidence. I think it would have been less off-putting somehow, if he hadn't been a white guy. It didn't help, either, that he was so skinny as to suggest that he's not all that fond of his own food preparations. (Of course, it is fairly nonfattening food, and I suppose he might just be fonder of cooking than eating.) Still, it all made me a bit glad that I was ordering cooked (= less expertise needed to keep it safe) food. It tasted OK, nothing special. Expensive, though, and the restaurant had a slightly downtrodden feel. I'll be back to the yarn store, to check out the increases in their stock, bt next time I think I'll grab lunch at the sandwich place across the way.

It's probably just as well I didn't splurge on yarn today. Rudder wil be away over the memorial Day weekend, leaving me with nothing much to do. I think retail therapy is in the cards.