The First

My version of Quinn's hat from Glee. I saw the photo but couldn't tell if it was a button or a flower so I made this big ass flower. It sold the first day I put it in the shop - but there's another listing up. I have to write the pattern for this one. It took me a few days of looking at the photo to figure it out. I think I told you in an earlier post.

I finished the baby sweater, too. I started it Wednesday after we went to StitchCraft and I had it to show off Sunday at Evanston. I have another one on the needles and it will be a little different. It's the green in the back. The heart is in red and the sleeves will be red with a little green heart of the sleeve. I am going to offer it made to order in the shop. The Coordinating Sweater is the body and sleeves all one color and The Contrasting Sweater will be the body and sleeves are different. I did one front in intarsia and the other in duplicate stitch and though intarsia was easiest to manage, the floats are a pain. I am also thinking about what other motifs I can put on the front that will be more gender neutral - though I have no objections to either gender wearing this soft, comfy bit of goodness. Maybe and ice cream cone or a cupcake.

Feel free to let me know what you think - but remember - it's a baby sweater so keep the idea small.

Actually, that photo has a lot crammed into it. The completed sweater, the sweater WIP, the box for me to send the Glee hat in. My, that ottoman is an office on wheels.

By the way, I did a smaller workout today because the leg is still a bother and I got through it just fine. I have to practically start all over and build up my time but I think it will go pretty quickly and now that the weather has turned to the better, I can add walking! Yeah!

The Best Laid Plans

God is good. All the time. Even when God laughs at the plans we make. God is good.
I was being proactive - something which should have been a clue to me and I am sure started the heavenly chuckle. I can just see the angel assigned to watch me yesterday. S/he tapped another angel on the shoulder pointed down (up?) and said, "Watch this. She's going to organize her finished stuff."
Said angel then watched as I packed the first zippered container containing afghans and prayer shawls. They watched as I manipulated folded with great care the new afghan and placed it in the container. They saw as I was satisfied with my feat and felt one step ahead of the getting ready for the show coming in October. Said angel then called the sales department and told them to arrange for someone to buy it.

But God is good and the little angel may have had a short term giggle but I have the reinforcement of selling my goods and the money in the bank. Of course, the angel knew that was going to happen so the giggle wasn't exactly at my expense but rather at my profit. So who can begrudge an angel her humor?

Thanks to Mr. Honey's BFF, Bruce, and his wife Becky for having us over yesterday. Mr. Honey went over because he and Bruce are into cars (Bruce has this stunning 1933 Ford Sedan made from a kit) and Mr. H took over the hubcaps from his 66 Corvette for them to mask and paint. Bruce asked me to come over as well and when the four of us get together it's just one laugh after another. We ordered pizza (GREAT pizza from Grandstand Pizza) and we were there all evening. Becky lets me bring my needlework so I worked on the granny square afghan - almost half done.

They have one of those 'just stop by we'd love to see you' houses and because of that I love their home and their kids (all grown but still manage to be there and they sparkle each one!)
It was an unexpected joyful way to end the day. Thanks, guys. I got you when I got him and that just sweetens the deal!

Gone, Just Like That

And it's gone...well, it's still here but it officially doesn't belong to me anymore. The afghan sold overnight. I didn't have time to become attached to it before someone else became attached to it and paid for the privilege of calling it their own. I didn't even get the coordinating pillows up in the shop. But that's how it goes. I guess it means I have to start a new one.

I do have starting a new project on the to do list for today so it might as well be a new granny square afghan since I recently purchased a new book of granny squares.

The universe has a way of working with us even if we're down on some aspect of ourselves, if we leave just one part of us open to new experiences and the blessings that surround us in abundance, one of them will make its way in and bring you back to harmony and balance. I always have to fight my natural laziness and I am given incentive by seeing my work appreciated or a kind note from someone (like the kind email I received from Mrs. Collman. These things bring me back to the goodness of the world and the people stomping around on it.

I still don't know what I will be working on during the vacation time - feel free to provide suggestions. I haven't started the vacation countdown. I will start that after the next craft show in a few weeks.

In the meantime, I have to get that new afghan started and the other one sent on its way.

Another One Bites the Dust

I'm loving it today. There was a great rainstorm last night. I love rainstorms. I love thunderstorms. I don't like it when they knock out the power and the one last night did not, leaving me to love it. I love it because when you open the windows the day after a rainstorm, everything smells so fresh.

You know what else is nice? Selling something on your sadly neglected Etsy shop. It is especially fun when you sell something you don't think will sell. Something like this:
Yep, the granny square afghan was picked from the pile. I was thinking I needed to put it in a special container until the craft show and then I would display it and possibly sell it. Now, I have to put it in a special container so I can ship it off to Ohio or Iowa or was it Wisconsin? Actually, it was Missouri - Kansas City, Missouri.

You know what's even nicer than that? When one of your buds gets a job! The fabulous Melissa has been looking for work for the longest time. She was doing two part time jobs but she wasn't in her field and she was thisclose to being miserable when she hooked a job she wanted and they met her salary demands! YEAH! The bad news is we won't be able to hang cuz she's gonna be one of those working stiffs. All that means is that we are going to have to do our special knit dates because the j.o.b. is the important thing! Congrats Melissa and I hope you are employed long and enjoyably!

As far as my own job, things are looking up for the April 17th show! We have some folks signed up and I have a few (and I mean a few) more spots open and I am going to send out an invite to some artisans I met Saturday afternoon. I will also be checking out another craft show this weekend in Chicago and this time I will arm myself with info on The Craft Cafe.

The only bummer is the Cubs got it handed to them on opening day in Atlanta. But there's 159 or so more to play.

The other good news is that there is yet another skein that has bitten the dust as well: I have used a skein of I Love This Yarn in Aubergine. That means 2 down and 4956 to go and there is another one on the horizon that might not make it through the night. well, that may be pushing it. So far, it's been a part of about a dozen granny squares and 12 rows of the ribbed afghan and it's just now beginning to falter. I'm about to make a pair of booties to help the cause along. I am determined to get that stash down! Y'all pray for me cuz next month is our anniversary and my new anniversary present is a trip to Hobby Lobby - but I may change that to a trip to Chix With Stix to get a couple of pair of Turbo Addy circulars to see if I like them.

My cup runneth over.

Glasses - The Rose Colored Kind

Things are looking up for the knitting group. StitchCraft now has 107 passionate crafters and though I have not met them all, the ones I have met have been wonderful!

It also looks good for the first StitchCraft sponsored craft show to take place in either February or March (I will know the date once I get the final approval to hold the shows and get feedback from potential vendors. I was looking for something to do that had to do with the craft show and keeping a positive outlook, so I created a logo:
What do you think? It's just a first go, but I'm liking it. I should know by this time next week if it's a go - if I remember to send the proposal.

I am hoping I went through all the crap for something great to be on the other side - I hope that right after I hope that all that crap is revisited upon the person who sent it. (Hey, I'm prayer, not perfect.)
There's another prayer shawl on the needles! And I sold another afghan! We have to take the pooch to the vet this evening because he cut himself and I will get the afghan out of storage in the trunk. It's freezing here - so I'm hoping to get the trunk open!

Did you all have a good Christmas? Mr. Honey and I saw Up in the Air on Christmas Day and yesterday we went to see The Blind Side. I will have to say this has been the best performance I've seen Sandra Bullock do and Tim McGraw was surprisingly good. (Is that his real hair?)

The Infamous Afghan and A Book Review (Kind of)

Infamous. Yes, I have given the afghan wip the title of infamous. You recall I told you there was a problem with skein and the afghan was a, let me see if I can quote myself: 'a friggin' lot of work.'

I admit I did not spend as much time knitting yesterday as I normally do - I don't know what I did between hour 23 and 24 of the day - oh wait, I sold an afghan yesterday and I had to ship it off to New York! Yeah, me!!) But even so, I know I spent some time knitting and it doesn't look much longer than when I took this picture. So I didn't bother taking another picture so as not to give witness to the progress I did not make. I believe I have only three color changes about the blue (that's really purple - what is it with digital cameras not photographing purple - can someone tell me?)

The good news is I got so tired dealing with the messed up skein that I finally took the (great deal of) time to pull the end out of the skein. I found the end that supposed to be on the outside and I pulled it to the outside and now I can't find the end that goes on the inside but I can unroll the skein from the outside - just like I used to do. I put the skein in a bag and now I'm a happier knitter.

(By the way, this is the afghan that sold. I was thinking it would never leave me to go to another home, but it's going to the Big Apple and from there, I have no idea. But you see the panel to the right? That's actually purple - it looks blue and the second panel from the left is deeper purple - geez!)

Anyway, the infamous afghan is reminding me of one of the ski sweaters which is why I am continuing work on it. I believe it will be stunning when complete - and since it calls for 30 different color changes, it will be quite the stash buster. I am pulling out another skein with each color change - and because black is tying them all together, color matching is pretty easy because almost anything will go. That's a fun aspect.

Don't want you to think I'm not having a good time - I am. Sometimes this kind of impatience is a knitting tool!

Remember I told you about Lori's Reading Corner and how it moved me to want to pick up a book? I picked one up: The True Darcy Spirit by Elizabeth Aston. She 'specializes' in writing novels about the relatives of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pride and Prejudice. The first novel of hers I attempted to read was Mr. Darcy's Daughters. I couldn't get through it. Because she seemed so far off base of what their daughters would be like and what Elizabeth and Darcy would be like that it made no sense for me.

I often wondered what happened to the characters. Were Elizabeth/Darcy and Jane/Bingley happy? Who married that bi-ach Miss Bingley (I would love to read the exit of Miss Bingley from the house where Jane would now be the mistress.) What would have changed had Mary married Mr. Collins?

I was interested in reading about the characters but it didn't sit comfortably with me in that particular book and also the style of writing tried to hard to capture how Austen wrote. The thing about Austen's writing was she was writing in the style of the day so it's completely natural for her. Not so much for Aston. But what about The True Darcy Spirit?

So far, I'm liking it. The style of writing has changed to that of a historical novel and not one so much trying to be a novel written back then. So the tone is lighter and more natural and that makes her characters easier to breathe in. I'm not completely done with it, but I'm liking how much easier this book is. I am glad I gave her a second chance. And I'm thankful to Lori for inspiring me to take up a book again - somehow it's not a stretch that a knitter also likes to read. In fact, a lot of knitters I know also like to read.

This has caused the creative juices to flow - two weeks from today I will be having another contest that combines reading and knitting. In other words, I will be putting together a prize package that includes a book, yarn and needles. I need the two weeks to decide which book, yarn and needles to give away.

Now, if you will excuse me - I have the next five hours free before I have to do my second workout of the day - I am going to knit and read!





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Cloud Nine

Let's start with a yarn stash update:
I said the goal was to get down to just one box (big box, tub, really) of yarn up in the office and that tub would make it downstairs with the rest of the stash. It was a big dream. Alas, it was just a dream. I did go down from three boxes to two - and the empty box will now go out into the trash where I am hoping someone will come along and say: "why is she throwing away a perfectly good storage box" and take it into their home where they will get plenty of good use for it. If not, it will biodegrade - so I'm not polluting (very much.)

Now, back to our program.

You give birth to them. You raise them. You tell them they need to know how to get out in the world and the minute they want to go and do just that, you wonder why they are abandoning you - no, not the kids - the knits.
There I was yesterday, minding my own businesses when I clicked on my Etsy page and scrolled down. "I don't have nine sales." I said to myself before it hit me that perhaps now I do have nine sales. I went over to the sales page to see that two of my youngest babies have found a new place to live. For the moment, they are going together but who knows how long that will last - I mean unless you're Venus and Serena can siblings really live together?

Mr. Honey was in the other room and I called out to him that two of my afghans have sold - the first afghans to sell on line. I mentioned something like: "Wow, I just don't know what to do." And do you know what the two legged male of the household said?
"Perhaps you should pack them up and ship them."

That's why God made them first.

13004

Invincible! - Well, Almost

Excited, that's what I am. I had two sales this week. I sold two purses that were a special order..that's two wonderful things in one sweet package.

Two of the five bling purses I had for sale are gone off to someone who wants them..asked for them..requested them.

Two sales is good and when someone asks you to do something specific for them that raises you to the level of couture: you will so have to make an appointment to speak with me in the future - unless you become one of my posse, my crew, my entourage.

Even if you don't sell your stuff, it's really nice to have people ask you to make something for them. Especially if you're a knitter and you're going to have a stockpile of things - because that's what happens when you knit: things get made. It's good to have a place other than your own to put them. It is that much sweeter when someone is really to give you some legal tender.

Of course, that comes with responsibility - I will soon be posting an interview I did with someone on Etsy who - get this - has had multiple sales every day for more than a month. You read right, EVERY DAY, multiple sales - as in more than one, more than two. Looking at her shop and reading her interview has given me some ideas to help boost my sales as well as promote the handmade movement. (You know i multi-task whenever I can!)

The interview will be up on this site in short order and I am sure you will find Leanna just as inspiring, creative and modest as I do. In the meantime, my day is pretty clear except I am going to tackle the stash in my office. It's down to three boxes - remember it was about six - I am going to try and get it down to (gulp) zero to one and that one box will go in the basement with the rest of the stash. I know, I dream big.