Not that anyone would actually notice since I have been so bad about updating, but I will be off-line until after the first of the year. We are off to PA to vist Arlis' family for the holidays. It has been several years since we have been out -- so it will be good to see everyone!
Happy Holida...
So quite some time ago a promised a picture of Leather & Lace (the leather shawl) I knit to prove, not only to my students but to myself as well, that you can make cool (somewhat practical) stuff with alternative fibers. Knitting with Alternative Fibers, has been a popular class and students either LOVE IT or HATE IT. Very little middle ground!So...
So it has been forever since I have posted, but I just had to post to thank my secret pal for one more gift!!! It was such a surprise! Secret Pal #2 has been over for a couple of months and she had already been SO GENEROUS, that I wasn't expecting anything else. And then this showed up in my mailbox:
She commented that the yarn is similar to...
I can't believe. That is my husband's favorite saying whenever I remind him about something coming up in the ver near future that he has forgotten about even though I told him about weeks before -- sometime several times!! Well, I can't believe that we are already in November, staring down the throat of the holiday season with 2005 nearly upon us. I also can't believe that it has already be over a week since I last posted!
Time flies when you...
So if you are like me, you love to learn new stuff. Sometimes it comes easy, sometimes not, but regardless, the excitement of expanding knowledge is always worth the effort. But the question arises, what kind of learner are you?!?!
I am a "doer-seer" learner. I learn by doing and by seeing others do whatever it is that I am supposed to learn. I can learn by books, but it is not my favored method. People who teach themselves how to knit just...
So I have been away for a while and I always miss blogging, but it still seems to happen. It is kind of like forming a good habit, they seem to be harder to make stick than the bad habits. Why is that?!?
So I have been teaching a bit more lately (which I LOVE) but unfortunately that leaves me less time for knitting. Between teaching and the biz -- I have been staying pretty busy. Unfortunately this gets me a bit disorganized and a little disorganization...
Look at all the cool things that I got from my Secret Pal!
I actually got it a day ago, but haven't had time to take a photo, which was really a problem since I wanted to dive right in, but then you all couldn't see how cool my Secret Pal is! So for those who can't tell or aren't familiar my package came with the following:
A very nice note -- paper...
Well, not exactly weather-wise, but style-wise, Fall is here! We are still running around in shorts and T-shirts and just made it past some more of the hot weather. But it has cooled off this week and it looks like Fall may finally be on the way.
In the mean time, Knitability has finished up the inital distribution of the new Fall line and is diligently...
So you will see two new posts, because one that I thought I had lost to cyberspace, was found. In the mean time, I have been busy, just check out the progress bars!!! I have also been getting things ready for the new Fall season. Now, all that is left is to get the website updated and I will once again be caught up for a few minutes!...
The beginning of a new season is always a busy time. Trying to get materials ready for Reps, updating the website, finalizing new patterns and taking pictures. So much to do and so little time. And then on top of it all I have some sort of sinus thing going on which is making me rather miserable. So hopefully by next week I will be better and can give a better post -- think good thought...
So I am back!! It was a great weekend -- well -- except for the continual coughing on my part. Luckily for me, both my roommate and my students were very forgiving of the occassional hacking fest. The good news is that my voice did hold out for the whole event. The bad news is I STILL have the cough, so I am going to the doctor a bit later today.
If...
So tomorrow I am off to Stitches Midwest. This will be my first full teaching schedule although I anticipate it will be easier than doing the vendor/teacher thing! Unfortunately I have been fighting some sort of upper respitory thing and I worry about loosing my voice. I'll give an update when I return!...
And this is what I got from my secret pal (probably a couple of days ago, but I sometime forget to pick up my mail from the mail box). It may not look like much, but it is over a 100 yds of the most incredible softness. I LOVE Habu's stuff, which is where this comes from. My secret pal actually gets to visit their studio, I have only seen their...
Tomorrow, my first secret pal package is going to be departing to it's destination. I am excited about this because I always like the challenge of finding the perfect gift for someone. And it is kinda like that, but even harder since this is not someone that I actually know other than what I have read about in her blog. So let's hope that she likes it!...
So Secret Pal 2 assignments were made last week and my Secret Pal is so much better about posting in her blog than I am! Thank heaven, it has given me some great ideas about what to send her! Hopefully she will like what she gets. She is a bit unorthodox, so this could go either very well or very poorly, but she seems to be a good spirit, so I am hoping for the best.
I have been assigned to someone is isn't great about keeping herself a secret,...
Okay, so all the visiting family is done, I have had time to get the business caught back up and I am back! So the Knitter's Secret Pal #2 has officially begun! I have never been involved in one of these before and I am very excited about the possibilities! So it will be fun to see how the whole thing plays out!
It is hard to believe that the summer is almost over. This one seemed to go much quicker than usual. However, we have finally had...
So, I promised that I would be back to regular posting, that was a bit of an overstatement due to the fact that we have two back-to-back visits from family. So we have been taking a few days to tour Northern California and cover the highlights. This is intermission. One family left late on Sunday and another family is coming late tomorrow through the weekend.
Amazingly enough, we had a little surge of business which put me...
Designing would be so much more fun if you didn't have to do all the stuff that you hate to do but is necessary to publish a design in any sort of form. For example, designing would be fun if:
- you didn't have to rework the numbers into multiple sizes
- you didn't actually have to write up a pattern
- you could just explain it the way it works in your head and everyone else would understand.
- you had ready access to what ever yarn you needed/wanted...
Okay -- it seems a little sappy, but the fact is...it is true...at least for me! This is my first day back on a regular blog schedule and I love the process. Check out my favorite blog sites -- see what is up, find something new and/or cool -- and then share a few thoughts!!
It is actually a very comforting process. I have also made progress, so I actually updated my progress bars!! I still need to make significantly more progress, but I am...
I say I think, because you really don't know until you know -- the proof is in the pudding and all that! But I have resolved several "issues" including having my wonderful hubby (AKA TechBub) get our website moved to a new hosting service -- with no issues that we have uncovered as of yet!!! (Klunk-Klunk -- me knocking on wood).
So I have returned...
So I feel a bit remiss, more days have passed than should between blog entries, but I have been busy knitting. Knitting you say...but there is no evidence on your project bars! That is because, well, I haven't updated them in some time. I will try and get to that soon! But amazingly enough (to me anyway), I have been spending a fair bit of time...
Okay -- so it is an inanimate object, so it can't really be a new member of the family. But it is just as welcome -- more so than some of the living things around here (talkin' spiders here). This weekend we added this to our home!
If you can't tell, it is a brand new Maytag Dishwasher. We have been handwashing dishes for well over a year now....
So you would think after two and half years that I would be used to the fact that I knit for a living. But the fact is, so much of my time during the "early" years was not spent knitting that now that I have some time to knit, it seems, well...it doesn't seem like work. Which I guess is a good thing. So many folks who take a hobby and make it a business end up ruining their love of their craft. But this has definitely not been the case for me.
I...
While cruising around looking for folks to invite to Knit Biz Bloggers, I found this at Indigirl. So here we go:
A - Age: 39
B - Band listening to right now: A mix of classical
C - Career future: B&B owner.
D - Dad's name: Lloyd
E - Easiest person to talk to: Kat
F - Favorite song: Take on Me -- Ah Ha
G - Gummy Bears or Gummy Worms: Cinnamon Gummy Bears
H - Hometown: Merced, CA.
I - Instruments: hand bells, voice
J - Job: Owner of Knitability
K...
Finally, two used for one design. One of my "regular" classes at Stitches Events is Knitting with Alternative Fibers. The only consistent negative comment is that some students would like specific, defined projects. So over the past few weeks I have been teaching another series of classes (Gifts on the Go) that utilize some of the "alternative" fibers. Solution, designs from one can be used for the other!! This makes me happier than it probably...
As I feared, I made a mistake in the original pattern for the scrubbie. A small mistake, but thanks to Stacy for catching it! (This is why I have test knitters and proof readers for my business). So if you downloaded your copy before May 13, grab a new copy of the pattern!
It also has the nicer picture with a note about using acrylic yarn for extra scrubbing power. So a few improvements come with the fix of the error. Happy Knitti...
I have found this on a couple of blogs and being an former full-time geek, I couldn't resist. You can get all the gruesome details here.
My geek code is:
KE++ Exp+++ SPM++ Bam++ Wood++ Addi@ Nov(-) Cot+(+) Wool++(+) Lux++(+) Stash(+) Scale++(-) Fin++(+) Ent+++$ FI+ Int Tex++$ Lace++$ Felt+++$ Flat++(--) Circ+++ DPN++ ML! Swatch++(+) KIP+++$ Blog+ FO++ WIP++ GaugeW++ ALTSWv
At least I think that is it!...
Yes, with all the, shall we say excitement, about the dish scrubby pattern guess what Mom got for Mother's Day. Surprise!! It is dishcloths and scrubbies!
Now this may not seem like the greatest gift, but until the throwing of the gauntlet, I had never (yes, NEVER) made a dishcloth of any sort before. So my husband got a set too -- he washes,...
Once again I am amazed at the power of blogs. Just a few days ago Mariko posted a challenge to find (or create) a pattern for dish cloth scrubbies. Within a day, one of her faithful readers had commented they found this pattern in Japanese. Knowing NOTHING about Japanese, I took a stab at based on the pictures. So now I have a free pattern available for those interested. It also includes my version of the old faithful dishcloth pattern. Two...
Arlis has been working out of town since Monday and I am totally missing him. This probably sounds normal enough, but it is very unusual for me. I think this marriage thing is really starting to stick. That combined with the fact that I am a HUGE extrovert and need interaction with other people for energy (actual definition of extrovert) results in a loss of energy and a bit of a depression. I used to love it when Arlis travelled, but now it...
Any one with an old house can tell you, at some point, you have to tear it down and start fresh! Thus what we have decided to do with our bedroom. Primarily because it was the only room never touched (as far as we can tell) from when it was first finished in 1902. Hard to believe, but it was treated a bit like a shrine, most of my life and before and didn't get much use before that. So, we figured we couldn't do THAT much damage.
Long story...
Yes, for the first time in a long time I have a FO (finished object for those of you unfamiliar with internet abbreviations). Yesterday was a very weird day. It was going along great when I had a HUGE attack of the hives (for no particular reason) for which the "cure" is a significant amount of antihistimine. So, then I slept for several hours and...
It is sad to say...I think it is sad...but I get a kick out of seeing my name in print! Is that lame?! Probably, but true none the less. I probably have some on going need to have my ego fed in some way by this. So what is the latest you ask? The Stitches Midwest brochure just arrived. Since I am teaching, my name is in there. I think it is cool!
I have just a little time off during the event, so I think I may take a class with one of my...
This weekend it was just me and the dogs. Kind of different for me. Not that I mind being alone -- I actually got very good at it after the divorce from the idiot and before the marriage to the most wonderful man ever (7 years worth of being alone). I discovered that the ability to be alone and be happy (at the same time) took a bit of practice, but was a critical skill in becoming content with oneself. I got so good at it -- I never planned...
I have now designed a button/logo for my new web ring. This may not be that exciting for most -- but this is a new deal for me! I love learning something new!! TA-DA!!!
So now I am officially ready to start recruiting potential members to my web ring. There are only a couple folks I know personally and a couple I am familiar with via their blogs,...
Today has been Web Ring Day!!! I finally decided to join a couple of web rings and no sooner did I try than they were closed. So what is a woman to do -- start her own web ring. Hopefully I will get it really working in the next day or two. I decided that there are probably quite a few knit bloggers out there that are trying to make a business of their passion and that others might be interested -- so Knit Biz Bloggers was born. Here's to a...
I NEVER (okay -- rarely ever) design on the needles. It goes against my grain in so many ways. I am a PLANNER always have been a planner, planning is good. Predicting an outcome and then verifying the prediction seems so much more efficient as the "writing" work is already done! Also, although I will always rip out if required, I STRONGLY work to avoid that process whenever possible. All of this adds up to rarely designing on the needles. If...
So in honor of the all time favorite parent saying...since my fellow bloggers are doing it, so will I!!
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the sentence in your journal with these instructions.
"Also look to hardware, electronic, dressmaker, and art-supply stores for unusual knitting materials."
--Dborah Newton, Designing Knitwea...
I am so excited! TWO, yes count'em TWO, great things happened today. Most importantly I FINALLY got my office picked up, organized and cleaned. Okay, so I haven't vacuumed yet, but my husband usually does that -- yes it is true! I feel so much more organized and I think it has freed my mind. Because the second thing that happen is the brown swatch...
I have actually been doing some knitting amongst all the other knitting business related things that go on here. Since you probably wouldn't believe me -- I wouldn't -- I took pictures as proof! The slip stitch patterns are not QUITE right yet, but I have plans for this one!
This one has been percolating for a long time. In fact, I have already...
Compared to my favorite bloggers, I feel so inadequate -- I think that is why my blogging has slowed. I know I shouldn't compare, but some of them are SO GREAT. I love their writing style, the way they tell their tales, the appopriate picture to add just the right amount of punch. So today I am not going to write much, but instead think about what needs to happen here to make this more interesting. I am thinking that more knitting on my part...
It is amazing that a few days missed of reading blogs and you can be so far behind. I have gotten so involved in the lives of these people only one of whom I actually know -- is that weird?? But we all share the love of knitting and the issues of trying to manage our lives around it to some degree. My guess is that no one ever notices if I have missed a few days, because I don't really have any sort of following. It is kind of a strange desire,...
Considering all things, today has gone rather well. I am primed to stay caught up on the various activities required of me as part of my business, the weather is warming up..again..without much of a cold-spell and my birthday party this weekend is shaping up nicely! My only real issue today was I got another hole in my head. Yes, you read correctly not A hold in my head but ANOTHER hole in my head.
As a person raised by great upper middle-class...
One year ago today, we added to our little family. A beautiful Spring day ride up Highway 99 for a couple of hours based on a photo seen on the internet. We were hopeful, so hopeful that we had already sent in our application to become parents. But which would be choose Otis or Scout. They both looked like fine fellas and would undoubtedly grow...
So most of the catchin' up has happened and I think I can finally focus on moving forward! So the next few days are about tying up loose ends and then.....(drum roll please)....I will work on CREATIVE stuff. Yes, crazy talk I know! Who would dream that you could spend time doing creative things when you own/run a knitting business. But yes, before the dawn of April -- creativity will happen! (At least that is the plan, assuming nothing gets...
Yes, the end of the tunnel is in sight. Today was the first day that I haven't worked a million hours (okay normally it is closer to 9 -11 hours, but it feels like a million) and I didn't get any further behind. In fact, I got all of the important thing done that needed to be done! Gotta love that! Also, after a visit to the printer tomorrow to pick up some much needed paper, I should be able to be caught up on the various mailings that I owe...
Today was not a day of knitting, but instead of cleaning. Something that has not happened around this place for some time -- too long actually. We had guests over for dinner tonight and needed to at least get a couple of the rooms presentable.
So we tried something new and it went very well. We served dinner out on the screened in porch that currently isn't screened in (see a couple post down). But everyone was cooperating, the weather was...
So I have just modified my class listing to include events, new classes , links to photos of finished items (where appropriate) and a link to an event/class only page for printing purposes. It sure doesn't sound like much when I type it in, but it took me most of the afternoon!!! Even so, I am much more proficient at this HTML coding thing that I was a few months ago.
Next thing is to work on some designs and get some new projects on the needles....
So I have decided that the blog universe is a very good place. Particularly knitters' blogs, since those are the ones that I am particularly interested in. I am sure there are other good, even great blogs out there, but it will probably be some time before I find them.
You see, my very small blog universe has it all. In the limited number of blogs I read, I have examples of something that I can really relate to in each of them. I want to...
The long awaited for moment has arrived. I have caught up on all thing things that should have been done a month ago!!! Now that is a load off my mind, but the even better news is the current backlog will probably only be another week or two. So the long and short of it is I am gaining ground! If I keep up this pace, I could be complete caught up by the end of the month and be able to take a day off around my birthday!!!
Well, time to send out...
This is what I was doing during this beautiful weekend:
We have this great screened in porch (currently without screen) that we are getting ready for the Spring and Summer weather. This is great news for me as I haven't been cold for over a week now. Something, just a few weeks ago, I feared would NEVER come. So the thought of sitting out there,...
So today was basically another good day for getting things checked off the list. I am no where near being caught up, but for the first time in more than a month, I can IMAGINE being caught up. I am getting big things checked off the list which is always satisfying. But even more importantly, I am not adding a tremendous number of new big things to the list. That will probably all change in a couple of days when I finally do some personal evaluation...
As is my normal practice before bed, I reviewed my favorite blogs, just prior to penning this. I was planning on extolling the virtues of my glorious day. I actually completed all the "A'' items on my "to do" list. But then I realized the true power of the blog.
While reviewing one of the other blogs I discovered why I had several channels missing from my satellite TV. Not something that I was terribly worried about, but happy to know the reason...
Before my head hits the hay tonight, the new and improve website will be uploaded for everyone's viewing pleasure. There are still a few little things missing or not quite right, but it has to be done anyway. There are folks out there just waiting for the newest version -- I am sure of it!!!
So another big item is checked off the "to do" list. However, there are still several biggies left to go. I still need to desgin, print up and send out...
So we are finally getting close to being able to publish our completely new and improved web site. We have been working on it for weeks and I think we are finally getting close. There are so many new pages to add and then everything needs to be proofed. So the list of things that needed to be done before the end of last month is getting shorter. Hopefully I can get it done before this month comes to an end!! I have great hope for this wee...
I know it is cheap...but I like the quizzes and this one was both fun a fairly accuarate!!
You are water. You're not really organic; you're neither acidic nor basic, yet you're an acid and a base at the same time. You're strong willed and opinionated, but relaxed and ready to flow. So while you often seem worthless without you, everything would just...
Today was another day of progress, so this evening I thought I would take this time to introduce my puppies. Antigone (the old lady of the bunch) was part of a kid's program at our church called CATCH (Children At The CHurch). We talked about how we got to know one another and how we communicate since she cannot talk like Scooby-Doo (although she...
I have been complaining about the fact that my list keeps growing significantly faster than I am able to check things off, but today I actually made some headway! This brings me some serious joy! I have always been very goal oriented, and the appearance of loosing ground is not good for my type of personality. But today I gained a little. And tomorrow has some good prospects of gaining a bit more. I suppose I am most excited about the fact that...
So I continue to plug away at all the work I put on hold to prepare for Stitches West -- which was very successful for us, by the way. Unfortunately, all the "regular" work has continued on plus all the backed up work -- it seems like an endless loop. So much so, I haven't even had time to knit. What's worse, I actually have some designs in my head that I want to get on to needles (at least in minature) to see if they will really work, but I am...
So I was just going to read my favorite blogs and then go to bed. This has NOT been a good day. Huge storms here in the west. My old farmhouse, actually out in the middle of a farm, has no protection from the gale force winds we were having today. So the power went up and down about 5 or 6 times throughout the day. Thank heaven for battery backup. Ah, but now the server is mysteriously down -- shouldn't be, it is on back-up too. And just when...
It never ceases to amaze me how much time the paperwork side of the business takes once I get home from a show. I have been working on it pretty much continuously and I am finally seeing the end of the tunnel. The good news, is the show was very good for us and it looks like we are off to a good solid year!!!
I still have to get a number of non-knitting things done for this knitting business, but once they are done, I can start designing. Which...
For the first time, in well.....a year, all the pre-show work paid off. We had a great Stitches West show from a vendor point of view and the students I had in my classes were GREAT! It really clicked! But now it is time for the aftermath. I still have a tremendous amount of work to be done. Most of it stuff that was put off until the show was completed -- which is now -- needs to be done by the end of the week. But alas, I am tired -- very...
Tonight is the night I look most forward to when attending Stitches West -- the trip into SF, to Pier 39, to the Crab House. It is my very favorite spot to have dinner. There is a dish, aptly named, Killer Crab. And it is the very best, non-sweet thing, my mouth has ever tasted. I won't even ruin it by trying to describe it. Let's just say it is an orgasm for your taste buds -- a Crabgasm.
Oh Yea -- My class went very well and the market was...
Finally....we are here, booth set up, sneak preview complete, network connection working! So we are ready for the knitters to arrive tomorrow! All in all, this really hasn't gone too smoothly, but it should have. We have done this before, several times before. But as always, a few kinks here and there seem to really monkey up the works! The biggest issue was the fact that the truck didn't start this morning -- electrical short! But, after that,...
All the yarn that is wound, is labeled. All the yarn that is labeled has been assembled into kits. All the kits that are assembled have been packed into shipping crates. And so it continues. Of course, there is still much to be done, but I am finally seeing (feeling) progress. There is still some yarn to be wound and labeled. There are still kits to be assembled and packed. But the false sense of calm, that it is all going to get done, has...
It is amazing how much can actually get done with a few people, working together, focused on the same outcome. Today, thank heaven, was one of those days. Bev and Kate arrived by 9:00 to get started on the "all the stuff that needs to be done before Stitches West" list. And the amazing part is we got A LOT of it done. I wound about 25 lbs of yarn,...
I just cannot get over it. No matter how much I tell myself that this show will be different, I am continually surprised by the fact that I have to work like a crazy person just prior to a show to be ready. Most folks would tell you that I am organized, but from this show thing -- you could never prove it. So even though NONE of this is new information to me, here are the things that I missed this time and am now scrambling for:
1. Packaging...
It is disappointing, but I had to cancel my Fun Fingered Glove class due to lack of interest. Not enough students to make it worth the effort of driving into town. I had the same problem with the mitten class, although other folks have great success with these classes. The only logical answer I can come up with is folks in California don't generally wear mittens or gloves. Even when it is pretty cold here, you still see a lot of bare hands. ...
Yes this is a quick post to include the results of what yarn are you. Yes I am the hair of a mo -- otherwise known as Mohair.
You are Mohair.
You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well withothers, doing your share without being tooweighty. You can be stubborn and absolutelyrefuse to change your position once it is set,but that's okay since you...
Today was my day with Photoshop. Not that I don't have other days with Photoshop, but today was specifically set aside to rework most of my current images. After having an internet site for over two years now, I have finally learned enough to make our site more user friendly (I think) and load faster (I am sure). Of course the key to all of this...
Yes, I am addicted to these ridiculous web quizzes. I don't know why I find them so fun, but I guess it is a case of simple minds....! So you will see these kinds of things added from time to time. Today -- the color quiz (which I think is fairly accurate)!
you are greenyellow#ADFF2FYour dominant hues are green and yellow. There's no doubt about the fact that you think with your head, but you don't want to be seen as boring and want people to...
Today is going great! I have gotten a ton of stuff done including a bunch of things that have never quite made it on to my "to do" list. What do I owe all this wonderful productivity to -- my guess is getting an early start. Why, you ask would I make this assumption? Well, because every time I return back to getting an early start, the same thing happens -- I get a ton done! You would think by now, an intelligent gal like myself could take two...
It only took like 4 hours, but I finally have my class/blog/knitting information page ready for public viewing. Now I am not really sure that anyone is going to want to view my thoughts on various knitting subjects, but I also have my class schedule posted on the page. And if anyone gets bored reading my posts (which wouldn't necessarily surprise me) some of my favorite blogs are available as well.
So now I need to schedule in some additional...