We love the rental by the way. Not sure why, but it has completely charmed the pants off my roommate and I. Granted, we are using one bedroom for storage of boxes and my yarn stash. We barely have any furniture, so you walk in and you see a TV, a small table housing the router and modem, and a desk in the corner...and the basement is also devoid of anything except the small room where my roommate has claimed for his room...but we really like it. It's very cozy.

Anyways, not more than a week has gone by since we've moved in...and Justin, my roommate gets this message on his phone: "The stove blew up."

Yup. Two days ago, I go to cook lunch. Now, we've used the stove every day since we've moved in. Remember the no furniture thing? Yeah. The stove is the only thing we have to cook something! So, we've been making pasta, pizza...etc...every day. I go to make my lunch, and not two minutes after I turn away, I hear the most horrible crackling noise. Thank you dad for being an electrician, because I knew that noise when I heard it. Sure enough, I turn around, and smoke is filling the kitchen as the burner is flaming, sparks are shooting across the counter and into the air as the electrical current arcs and goes on the fritz.

Fire goes out. I wait a moment to see if the smoke will continue, meaning the fire has gone deeper into the wiring in the appliance. Nothing happens, so I shut the thing off. The cords in the coil melted the wrapping and pretty much severed itself.

And! It does it again! My boss had me check to make sure the stove was really caput or if it was just that one burner...and when I turned the other burner on, the already toasted burner made with the sparks again.

The animals were less than happy with the ordeal. Sey hid in the entertainment center behind the subwoofer for two hours while Bailey stuck to her kennel. She didn't wany anything to do with the stove, and when I finally coaxed her out to come with me to the living room, she stayed as far away from the appliance as possible, slinking against the far wall and then dashing through the doorway. Poor kiddos.

We got our brand new stove yesterday. It's absolutely beautiful! Well...for an appliance that is. What? Don't look at me that way...

While working this morning, Bailey alerts me to something outside. The mail comes really early in this neighborhood! At my old rental and even at my folk's house, I'm used to something like a 3 o'clock delivery! It's 10:30, and there's the mail man.

I'm thrilled! I actually got mail today! And now, it's time for the shameless plug!

My new row counter came today! Whee! Again. Jen's fault for pointing me towards her shop...but they're so ingenius! I had to get another set for the gloves I've been making in KnitAMittAMo. I might have to eventually get another one for some projects that require much larger needles (can't say what due to mom's Yule gift.) But they take size 13 needles, and I'm sure she can make them up to that size, but I've yet to ask and fully decide.

Anyways, the maker of these awesome row counters runs Muddy Paws Knit Knacks store at ETSY. You can find her blog here.

I have finally gotten around to taking some pictures (found the camera!) and they include the new row counter that came in the mail today and the one I ordered a while back. (Yes, I took the photos on the new stove. *laugh*)

That would be the Celtic one I ordered awhile back on the Gryfindor scarf I'm still working on for Brandon. (Sorry Brandon! It's close I swear!)

And the new one! It all it's shiny, glorious, golden rose glory laid out on my finished left mitt for October! This one is a bit smaller than the celtic one, and eventually I might even use it for socks! If I can sit down and finish some! It's going to go on my right mitt I'm knitting right now to finish October's Mitts, so I can start Novembers. I've seriously fallen behind!

Speaking of pictures...here's what's left of October. Not much. Should finish it relatively soon. Might even do it this weekend if I have some time. At least if I get up and go to Panera tomorrow I'll get a sizable chunk of it done. I really like how the colorway is coming out though. And it looks like I'll have an extra skien of it, so I might make another pair to give to Bob's mom, since she really seems to like them.

And as promised...some abstract pictures of mom's Yule gift. They're a little blurry in spots, but this should definitely keep you guessing. I'm so happpy how this is turning out! My first attempt at felting, and it's really looking great! There is an amazing difference from the knit pictures and the finished felted project. Enjoy!