battery's back

Fused glass pendants from the incredibly talented firehorse studio artist, Kris!


And my latest using my new obsession: Malabrigo Aquarella, which is supposed to look like watercolors (and does). I'm not happy with the photo settings, but gave up this morning. I do love how it turned out, particularly the super long fringe (up to 12"!!!) and the shifting shades of deep ocean blues and greens. I'll try photos again later today. Too pretty outside to be cooped up inside!

Spring has sprung?

What glorious weather!!! My window fan (running full speed) shows 65 F right now, which is plenty warm for April at 9pm!

Short post, pictureless (battery's charging). I'm finishing a new deep indigo and forest wool scarf tonight, which will be a big hit in places where it's getting cold right now. Like the Southern Hemisphere or way up North!

I've been on the hunt for Karabella Festival for weeks, after selling my teal chocolate elegance scarf. It's hard to find! But lo and behold, Bobbin's Nest Studio saved the day today when I went to pick up a skein of Sheep Shop 2 wool in the same shade as my scarf of many colors (impossible to find this weight and colorway!!!). They had a whole jar of festival, so I have teal/chocolate again (which I'll probably keep for ME) plus a rose/taupe and a luscious multicolor. The ribbons are divine and look like shot silk. Love it!

I hope my car comes home this week. As much as I've enjoyed toodling around in my rental Camry, I'm a Honda girl at heart.

Back to finishing up the new scarf!

Anniversary Weekend

So! Saturday is the three-month anniversary of my shop's first items posted for sale! I think I then graduate from "newbie" to whatever is one rung above newbie. (Doobie?)

I've learned SO SO much in the last three months. I never thought I'd learn to use Photoshop (let alone BUY the license!). I'm no pro, but my pictures sure have improved as I've learned to use my camera's features and to take full advantage of what Photoshop offers to the unskilled. I've learned a LOT about shipping, particular global shipping. I've certainly improved my knitting skills as well, largely of necessity, since I don't want to sell sloppily knit scarves (but maybe I should create a new category for irregulars and oopsies?).

I'm still finding my way with pricing, marketing, etc., but that's all part of the gig, and I love the business side as much as I love the creative side.

And along the way, I actually sold a few scarves! Not huge numbers, but just enough to allow me to keep posting new scarves at the best rate for me, without selling out. I don't think that's too bad for someone doing this on the side, given a more than fulltime job + grad school.

So, I'll have to celebrate this weekend somehow (other than cleaning the house and doing chores). Hmmm. Maybe I'll read a book! I just checked out The Somnambulist based on my friend Phil's recommendation (see his wife Heather's blog for many fun craft ideas!).

I ordered some BEAUTIFUL fused glass pendants, which arrived today, from Kris, the designer behind Firehorse Studio. I'll post photos tomorrow -- you should check her shop, she does incredible work!!!

New scarf above: autumnal elegance. Plus self-portrait. What more could you ask for???

Life happens

Life always happens, that's one certainty for sure!

Given my enormous deadlines at work (and still recruiting for staff) + the car incident + unanticipated illness of a close friend, I've withdrawn from my current class in my degree program, which gives me eight weeks "off" to get stuff taken care of. I'll have to double up in the Fall ... one bridge at a time.

Car's in the shop as of this afternoon. They're going to have to replace front and back fenders, the hood, and we'll find out about the back axle and what kind of additional damage happened to the trunk. Insurance has been WONDERFUL (who ever says that??? but it's true!!!).

Doctor thinks I'm fine, no nerve damage, motrin/tylenol around the clock and got some muscle relaxants :) I'm also on the mend, slowly but surely, from the lovely bronchitis, so that's all good news. Less good news is what's going on with lupus, but we'll know more after lab results next week. :(

My rental car for the next 1.5-2 weeks (more good news) is a really nice little Camry. Kris, they just might win me over to the "dark" side -- I'm loving it! :)

Now home after a day with body repair shops, car rental agencies, doctor's office, and pharmacy. A big salad for dinner and then work on budgets!!!

evidence

I once drove a beautiful silver Honda Accord.

Boo HOOOOO!!!!

Crunch, smash and whiplash

Not even a full day after Kris' car was broken into, mine got smashed up.

:(

I'm OK. My car's limping and gimping. On the way from groceries, cat food/toys/litter, Taco Bell (priorities!), just two blocks from home, I stopped for the truck stopped in front of me, but the car behind me didn't stop (and definitely wasn't going the 20mph speed limit on our busy street of tourist traffic and pedestrians). I was rear ended hard enough that my forehead met the steering wheel and my foot flew off the brake. I quickly got my foot back on the brake, but not hard enough to be kept from being moved into the truck ahead of me. And head then slammed back onto my headrest.

:(

Those of you who know me well know I used to work in healthcare; in fact, in an emergency room. So, I'm sitting there in shock thinking, "Whiplash? Am I OK?" Then worried more when I saw the scared and shaken face of an elderly woman getting out of the truck in front of me.

:(

And held it together despite my rage when I saw a kid (OK, maybe young man) get out of the car that caused all this trouble. Same kid who didn't want this reported to his (ahem, his DAD's) insurance, since he totalled his Mom's car. Same kid who flipped off one of his friends who drove by laughing at him in front of the elderly lady (classy). Same kid who ripped into two bystanders for watching (note, before I got their contact info as witnesses).

:(

Never fear, I whipped out my trusty Apple phone and got photos of license plates (and got all the info from everyone). I'll upload my car's photo's tomorrow. I'm too depressed to look at them again. Bashed in back passenger fender and side panel and trunk doesn't close all the way. Bashed in even worse front fender/grill and passenger panel and crunched hood.

:(

AND massive neckache and headache. (Whiplash, the bane of emergency rooms.)

:(

Reported to insurance, DMV report filled out and waiting to go in the mail. I'm hoping there wasn't more damage that I just didn't see yet, but will find out tomorrow morning. Then the fun of repairs and claims.

:(

Lariats, bronchitis and life

I've not knitted a lariat before, but listed one last night right here, using my last bits of Manos del Uruguay wool/silk in that very pretty vintagy rose.

I Also, in bits and bites for the last couple of weeks, worked on a big cuddly wrap/scarf in one of my new Ironstone wool/silk thick/thin yarns (I'm so in love with these) and also put it up in my shop last night. I kinda hope it never sells -- the colors are PERFECT for yours truly!

Bronchitis continues -- at least it's not pneumonia. I think I'm getting better (knock on wood).

Life continues (after all, what's the alternative?) -- I'm struggling with life decisions about how much stress I can take at any given tie -- send me wisdom and positive thoughts!

Heat wave!

I've been so swamped this weekend, I finally figured out that it being hot in the Bay Area meant REALLY hot everywhere else in California! Yikes, it's darned warm!

Swamped, I guess, is my middle name anymore, what with school, work, phydeaux, and life (which is the one that always ends up getting the back burner). I need a housekeeper.

Instead, though, I got a new boyfriend: my new flat panel display, making it possible for me to be more productive with school, work and phydeaux at home. I was trying to work from my little increasingly beat up laptop, and couldn't do it anymore. My life is changed and for the better!

My bronchitis/sinus infection continues to plague me, despite antibiotics. (Stress, much?) I won't go into gory details, but it's pretty miserable (and disgusting). Four more weeks of school, four more weeks, four more, four. Then four weeks off!!!

The girls aren't complaining about the weather -- they're enjoying all the open windows in the evening, allowing breezes through screens, and just sleep like they usually do during the day.

Oh to be a kittie.

Happy Anniversary to my folks! Tomorrow marks 46 years for them! Yay!

Mother's Day Gift Guide

Thanks to the wonderful members of the California Crafter's Club of Etsy street team (CCCOE), I learned this evening (after a LONG day of work followed by project team for school) that my Old Roses Scarf is in the Mother's Day Gift Guide at Etsy. Yay! I really love this scarf, so hope it finds a wonderful home for a wonderful mother!!!

Of note, what a wonderful honor with so many really beautiful items on this page (see below)! I wish I could send all of them to MY mother!

Knitting Lace

Many years ago (hard to believe, but true), I wanted to learn to knit lace. It was probably when I first lived in the Bay Area, literally a starving student, so I hate to say this, but almost 20 years!!! (How does the time fly???) It seemed so hard to me, even though I crocheted very complex lace doilies, lacy afghans, and even made a king sized bedspread from a lacy popcorn stitch!

But, I'm now determined to not only learn, but master, this ancient and honored art.

True to me (haha), I'm not starting out that easy. I'm using a lace weight mohair (which is like a HAIR) and making a scarf (hopefully) from an old English Mesh Lace stitch, from Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knit Patterns (a great set of volumes to have for any knitter's library). First five rows went swimmingly last night. Row six got messed up -- will rework it tonight to see what happened. I'm pretty sure I left out a couple of "k1"s.

Apparently, the basis of knitting lace is pretty simple: yo's, psso's, ssk's. I'm laughing right now, thinking of my non-knitting friends faces as they read that. "YO, PSSO... wha'???" Wrapping yarn around the needle to create an extra stitch, and knitting stitches together to create the lace opening/hole combined with that wrap. That's all it is! The trick is in the patterns, and that's where it gets complex (and sometimes quite frustrating).

WIP photo tonight. Promise.

SALE SALE SALE // happy bday to mom!!!

OK, first sale in my Etsy shop, to celebrate Mom's birthday today!

10% off select scarves, today only (Sunday), check out the SALE SALE SALE section of my shop.

Happy happy birthday, Mom!

Front Page Baby!

Thanks to Silvia66's incredible Treasury in which she very kindly included my Old Roses Scarf, my scarf is on Etsy's front page as I type (see image below).

Yay!

Silvia's knit items, available at Etsy (of course) are just incredible. I fall in love with almost every single one! Please take a moment to check out her shop!!!

New goodies

Since Etsy's down (again...), I'll share pix of my newest scarves right here (I was in the process of posting them when the site went down).

For those awaiting me to ship an order, I may be a day delayed due to the "downage," but I can't imagine I won't be able to ship by Saturday morning!

Thanks everyone -- Happy Thursday!

p.s., wish my Mom a very very happy birthday this Sunday!

Some new yarn coming in!!!

Because I didn't have enough yarn stashed (hahaha), I have three orders coming in, one from WEBS (love their sales!), one from KittyGrrlz, and one from Bee'sKneesKnitting! See a sample of what's coming in below!!!

Bee's Knees Knitting from Etsy:












KittyGrrlz from Etsy:










Ironstone Yarns Fun from Webs:











Plymouth Outback Mohair from Webs: