Today is one of the best days of the year. It’s Fiberpalooza in Winterset, Iowa. Every year Ivy and I head over to browse the yarn market, wander around the little town square, and eat fried pickles.
The market moved this year to the gym at the middle school from the gym at the elementary school. There was more space, which meant more vendors. In the end, even though there were more vendors, I ended up buying from the same people I usually buy from. Ivy did too, actually. We are old and set in our ways.
I went over board on yarn purchases. I’m now 187 g in the hole for my yarn diet. I need to get knitting on my WIPs so I get back in the black soon. 
The yarn on the left is from Fiber Cuiro and Sundries LLC. It’s a Romeldale/Suri Alpaca blend. It’s lace weight, but I’m going to pretend it is fingering and make a wrap out of it. Probably. Or I’m going to put it in my wine cabinet/yarn storage cabinet and look at how pretty it is for years. Only time will tell.
The rest of the yarn is from Yarn Geek. I love her yarn. I already have a skein of it in my stash, and I made socks for John from her yarn last year. I went into her booth and all self-control was lost. It started when I picked up two mini skeins for my sock yarn blanket. Then I saw the Rainbow Dashing (just left of the mini skeins) and knew I needed to take it home with me. I was trying to convince Ivy to buy more mini skeins when I saw the sparkly yarn (it is much more sparkly in real life than in this photo). I said “SHUT UP!” like a loud passionate teenager and grabbed the yarn. I may have said that while the dyer was having a conversation with Ivy about the mini skein options. After I reached over, clutched the yarn in my hungry grasp, and held it close to me, I explained to Ivy and Sarah (the dyer) that I was overcome with yarn love and was not yelling shut up at them. Being yarn nerds, they were understanding.
After the fiber festival we headed to the town square. They have a wonderful cafe that we eat at every year. We always start with fried pickles. Two years ago they switched from pickle chips to pickle spears. We still haven’t recovered from that shock. This cafe is where Clint Eastwood and Kathleen Kennedy ate in The Bridges of Madison County. If you are a mid 1990s film buff that tidbit might be exciting to you. Personally, I care more about the pickles. 
After our lunch we walked around the square checking out the shops. The old county jail is now a shop carrying hand-made goods. The last time I was there I found a kitchen towel that featured knitting. This time I found one for my other love – reading. I don’t really need another towel, but this is a really absorbent and soft towel, so I felt justified bringing my 1000th tea towel into our house.
At Heartland Fiber Co. I wasn’t tempted by much. The store was crowded with knitters in for the festival, so it was hard to wander around. I was going to walk away without anything when I discovered a basket on the floor filled with random bits of yarn. They sell yarn leftovers for $0.10-$3.00 depending on the size. I splurged on 3 balls and spent $3.25. I loved being able to pick up a few yarns for the blanket for less than a mini skein. I’ll be searching for fingering weight in the basket every time I visit their store.
We ended the day at Ben Franklin, a store where I always find random things that need to come home with me. Today it was a googly eye chip clip. How could I possibly say no to that? I also picked up some fat quarters to make some project bags or stuff in my drawer and forget I bought until I find them next year and make Kathleen take them. 
It was a wonderful day in Winterset. I now need to go knit furiously until my yarn diet is in the black. I would grab some pretzels to snack on, but the bag is giving me a dirty look.
I take my coffee with cream. I drink a lot of coffee. This is a great price on an item I use daily.
Summer is white wine time in my house. It’s great for drinking on the patio. Most of the time I tell myself I’m going to drink a bottle over the course of the week, but I only have two glasses and the I pour the rest down the drain later that week. At $6.99 this wine tastes like a $12 bottle (that is high praise in my book). I still feel bad pouring out wine that has gone bad, but when the whole bottle costs less than a glass when we go out to dinner it doesn’t sting as much.
I could not buy all of my produce at Aldi. The selection changes constantly and they never have all of the produce I am looking for. One thing that is consistently available and always good quality is their cherry tomatoes. I love cherry tomatoes. They are a great snack off the vine, and they are good sliced and added to sandwiches. My favorite way to eat them is to sautee them in some truffle oil with a handful of spinach, then scramble some eggs in with them and top that scramble with goat cheese.
I cook with ginger and garlic a lot. I usually use whole garlic cloves and grate my own ginger. There are times when I don’t have those on hand and I am not able to cook what I want to cook. It’s at those times that I reach for paste. Once opened, they keep for four weeks in your refrigerator. I don’t think these are going to replace fresh ingredients in my kitchen, but they are great to keep on hand for ingredient emergencies.
These pizzas are huge. I have a full size oven, and the pizza barely fits. I like it as much as any other take and bake pizza I’ve tried, for much less money. I usually pick one up when we shop at Aldi and have it for dinner that night.
John and I both have strong opinions on snack food. We rarely see eye to eye. These pretzels are the exception. They are somehow extra crunchy than most pretzels. We both love them. I usually buy two bags at a time, as we have developed a bit of an addiction.
I wish I could explain how good these pistachios are. Some things are too good for adjectives. They are delicious.
Have you ever had roasted chickpeas? They are crunchy. They are tasty. They are one of my favorite snacks.
This is just the right amount of cheese for when you are throwing a cheese plate together for a group of 2-4. It’s an instant cocktail party – just add some grapes, some nuts, and some wine. I love that the cheese comes sliced, which makes it easy for serving.
mildlygranola 