"tuo xiang le" - I've succombed

I might as well admit it: I've been a little more than naughty lately. I just adopted Devon's yarn collection, which amounts to a mountain of high-quality wool (like Malabrigo, Peace Fleece, and LTK yarn), and today the zakka got the best of me, and I bought this gorgeous book. It's much more exotic for the fact that it's being shipped from Japan! Who can resist this kind of ethereal cuteness???




















I was sorely tempted to get this book, too:
























Otherwise, this week has been all about work, and sadly, not Bamboo Village work. I've got several things in the pipelines, though. Maybe I'll manage to get them photographed for your perusal today.

I did manage to get a post up on Travels With Swatchy, though, so that was a huge relief! I've taken Swatchy many places this summer, so I've got to start getting them written up.

The best news of this week is that we confirmed the money transfer has been successfully completed - Zhang Lin's tuition is paid! Hoooooray! Interesting that this is 9 months after our visit to China - a nice gestation period for Bamboo Village and our first successful sponsorship. :o)

traveling

I know it's "wrong" for me to post the latest photo of Swatchy Hugz here, and not on Travels with Swatchy where he belongs, but we wanted to say HI from Atlanta!

This week, I met some new friends online - a couple of artists new to Etsy, and I'm excited that we'll be doing an interview with them next week! My first interview! It sounds like they want to partner up somehow to help Bamboo Village, which is really cool! So you'll be meeting them soon.

In other news, I have been a knitting fool lately! I'm knitting some amazing socks from Interweave Knits new issue - they're all cabled and beautiful. I'm also thinking I've leapt into a higher level of knitting obsession - this trip I think I packed more yarn than clothes. And I've purchased more yarn since being here!

I'll be home on Sunday, so there will be lots of new things to share then. For now, greetings from Atlanta!

miscellaneousness

Turns out, this weekend has been too hot for much of anything except sitting around, feeling exhausted. That's ok - every once in a while, you just gotta let the body crash, right? So, in the spirit of using this down time to catch up with the internets, I bring you new photos and new blogs, two great tastes that taste great together.

Of course, this Bamboo Village blog is just a wee fledgling, so if anyone is reading, you certainly have come here because you know me already. I've already linked some of my favorite blogs in the bar on the right, but this week, I've made some new discoveries and thought I'd share:

ONE: I found this blogger by browsing through a Wee Wonderfuls photostream. She happens to be a fellow Pennsylvanian, and has a gallery show of her quilts coming up! Here she is, Keet Leibowitz.

TWO: This blogger isn't new to me, in fact she's one of my best friends! Knittah of Travels with Swatchy had some real excitement this week when another of that blog's contributors went to the S&B at Lettuce Knit and met Stephanie Pearl McPhee. Indeed, Swatchy was even mentioned on the blog of the Yarn Harlot herself. Terribly exciting, not only for reasons obvious to us all, but also for the attention it will bring to the Swatchy blog and to CFIDS. Way to go, team!

(A little aside here to tell you that yesterday I had the pleasure of spending the morning with Knittah engaging in one of our favorite pass times: fiber shopping. We went to Yarnings and spend a delicious time there, enjoying the 25% off sale and spending way too much money (at least I did!). The coolest part was when we were sitting chatting with a young knitter, who, upon hearing that my companion was the proprietress of Travels with Swatchy, said "YOU're Swatchy?" It was one of the neatest moments ever, made even sweeter because I will still take the credit for getting Knittah away from crocheting with - gasp - acrylic yarn and bringing her firmly into the world of knitting. Job well done, me!)

THREE: Plushyou. Need I say more?

And now I give you a photo of the most artfully made latte I have had in more than 10 years:

And here are a few shots of me and Zegang, on a fishing trip last weekend: