Life is only a Paper Lantern Moon

It's seriously hot here today -- well hot by Portland standards, anyway. It's hovering at 100 degress Fahrenheit right now. I know that doesn't sound hot to lots of you, but for those of us in the "mild" Pacific Northwest, it's absolutely roasting.

But I digress. Today was the warehouse sale at Lantern Moon. Thanks to Peggy and Mims over at the Oregonian's Knitting blog, I knew about this and planned to go. If it wasn't for them, I probably would have found out afterwards via the grapevine and then kicked myself for missing it. Thanks Peggy and Mims! :)

Anyway, the sale started at 11:30, and I found the place (after a couple of u-turns) by 11:45. There were baskets and bags and silk scarves and table runners and some straight knitting needles and all manner of things. There were also, of course, knitters, including Darcy from Knit Purl who was our gracious host on Sunday for the PDX Knitting Bloggers meet.

I couldn't stop myself. I started picking things up and soon I had quite a haul.

I confess I have a bit of a love affair with bags and baskets and cases of all kinds. But the ones from Lantern Moon are so functional as well as so beautiful that I just couldn't resist.

First we have a lovely round basket that cost me a whopping $5. No, that's not a typo! That one will end up in my to-be-cleaned-out-and-rearranged knitting room (right now it holds a variety of other things that will soon be exiting the premises). The bag in front of it is awesome. It's got a large center compartment and then small compartments in each section around the edges. Perfect for holding a project, the cell phone, a few other small necessities in easily-accessible outside pockets while stowing the wallet and other things you really don't want idle hands accessing on the inside. With projects stowed in the outside pockets, anyone trying to reach for a wallet is liable to be stabbed by knitting needles!

And now we have evidence of the depths of my bag addiction. In my defense, I have to point out that blue is my favorite color, particularly that lovely turquoise blue, and that a few of those items may just find their way into the package that will soon be winging its way to my Sockapalooza pal. I feel the need to share the Lantern Moon love!

Anyway, there are two more silk tafetta bags. I just love those for toting around socks in progress. I have two already, but I usually have at least two pairs of socks on the needles, so having one or two more as spares isn't such a bad deal.

Then there's a lovely bag that's about the same size as the silk tafetta ones, but doesn't have a handle and a slightly larger version (the pink-topped one) that has a pair of long handles and a snap closure.

The fan is perfect for stashing inside any bag, as it collapses into a nice small size. It will go with me everywhere this summer.

The small grey holder is a wallet with just enough room for some cash, a few credit cards, and an interior change pocket. Perfect for going to the Flock and Fiber Festival or the next shop hop since it will have everything I need to make purchases, while not taking up much room in the bag, thereby maximizing space for yarn purchases!

Definitely for my Sockapalooza pal are the sheep tape measure and the butterfly sequined appliques, which just happen to be in some of her favorite colors.

So how much do you think I paid for all this loveliness? Take your time and calculate. I can wait.

While you make a guess, here's a picture to help make us all feel a little cooler. This was taken in July 2005 at the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC, Canada on a day that alternately rained and was sunny. In other words, a great Northwest summer weather day. :) Ahh, I feel cooler already.

Okay, do you have a number in mind? Does it have two digits or three? If you said three, you are way too high. Yes, my friends, for all that loveliness, I paid $67.

Color me happy.