Show Your Team Spirit

I wanted to do NFL colors last year but never really got around to it. So now I've got some team colors!! One is Ohio State and one is Arizona State, not NFL but there might be some NFL teams out there that share these colors...I give you:

Galactic Gumdrop (silver/gray for the Raiders), 

Packers Punch (green/gold for the Packers as well as my own Oakland A's),

CherryMallow (scarlet red/silver for Ohio State),

Caramel Appletini (burgundy/gold for Arizona State)

and last but not least, 

still to be named navy/silver for the Dallas Cowboys...

needs a name still. Top of the list right now is Midnight Champagne...your suggestions are welcome! Blueberry Cheesecake just came in from facebook...keep 'em coming!

The finished Mystery Socks!!

I've never finished a pair of mystery socks before, so this is a first for me. These were a LOT of fun, but I can honestly say I'll be working single stranded for awhile. Back to my own latest design and the bag of projects I'm currently working on. So enjoy a little eye candy...4-season socks designed by Chrissy Gardiner.

July 25 - A Great Day to be Born!!

July 25, 1988: Lissa comes into the world at 1:19 a.m. after 8 hours of induced labor and that's all we're gonna say about that. Today she turns 22, and the celebration was on first with balloons, one of her favorite things. Today she didn't play with them the way she used to, and I was told she has grown to be quite afraid of them when they pop so now she treats them with a little more respect.



Next, it was time to go into the pool. All of the kids were in their swimsuits and ready to go, but Lissa got a little bit shy about coming out with her swimsuit.



And this was one of the yummiest cakes ever. White cake with rich chocolate filling and a whipped cream frosting. Super yum. And of course there was ice cream, Rocky Road and Cookies 'n Cream. What's YOUR favorite flavor?




So if your birthday is July 25, as Lissa's is and my good friend Jane's too...I hope you had an absolutely wonderful birthday! And if you're looking to decorate your walls, let me recommend Jane's beautiful landscape and nature photography. She's even running a sale this month in honor of her own birthday. We support small business here!

Yay for Small Business America!

On Wednesday Lisa and I went to lunch in downtown Benicia. We didn't know where we were going to go so we just agreed to meet "somewhere" on First Street. As luck would have it, I went to one end to wait and she went to the other, so talking to each other on our cell phones we met in the middle. It seemed appropriate that the restaurant that was right there be "the one". It was Capitol Cafe, a newly established little home cooking place that has only been open for 3 months. And omigosh is it ever worth it. Great food, great service, and the owner Christine came and talked with us about the perks and problems of opening a new business. Things like getting a review in a paper but one of the other cafes, one that has been around much longer, was given credit in print. If you're up here in Solano County, be sure to head to Capitol Cafe on the corner of First and G in Benicia and have some great home cooking!

Today I went over to Kaiser in Vallejo to pick up our prescriptions. We ordered 3 month supplies of all of our meds since we are going to lose our coverage on August 1. Scary. But that's another topic for another day. At this Kaiser on Fridays there is a farmer's market with all kinds of yummy organic fruits and vegetables, as well as freshly prepared foods and freshly baked breads. About 2 months ago I was there on a Friday and the lady who was selling her homemade Mexican food had given me enough sample bites to fill me up for lunch and her food was so good that I bought something like $42 of food from her - the plan was our weekend meals would be this lady's wonderful enchiladas and salsa. Well, when I got home I couldn't find the bag with that $42 worth of food. Anywhere. It was after the market would have closed and so I just hoped that whoever found it needed it worse than we did.

So today I walked by her booth and struck up a conversation and mentioned I'd bought this wonderful food from her and then lost the bag somewhere before getting home. I couldn't afford to replace it today so I wasn't going to buy anything, but I'll be damned if she didn't say "that was you? She not only remembered me, but I'd left the bag at the bread man's booth next door to her and he didn't see it until I was long gone. She said if I'd paid with a check or a credit card she would have had my number and would have called me, but since I'd paid cash she had no way to reach me. As she was telling me this, she was filling a bag with exactly what I'd purchased that day, including remembering which salsa I'd liked, and handed me the bag. Now that is the way to build a business and inspire customer loyalty. So again, if you're in this area, her company is Mi Fiesta and the address is Broadway St. in Vallejo. She's at the Farmer's Market at Kaiser Vallejo every Friday from 10-2 and probably does other Farmer's Markets as well. Tell her the forgetful lady who left her food sent you :)

I am so happy to see small businesses forging ahead and pushing for success. I'm doing the same and if you're running a small business whether it's a little cafe, a home catering business, a photographer (Janiefer), a yarnie such as myself, or whatever keep it going. It's the foundation of this great country of ours. All politics aside: we're in this together and everyone deserves to succeed and have a warm place to sleep and the necessities of life. Such as good food prepared by ladies who love to cook.

Katie Kat and that damn elusive tail - Part II

Okay so I posted this yesterday then couldn't get the video to upload. So here's the video. Everyone in the world can post a video to YouTube, but not me!! I tried uploading it to YouTube, Flickr, and directly here and all of the uploads failed. So I took another video this morning using my phone and was able to upload it to YouTube. If I can get another one I'll do it with my camera, which has a much better resolution.

Katie Kat and that damn elusive tail

Katie is my little tortie who was diagnosed with end stage renal failure and given only 3-6 months to live. That was June 1, 2009. Today is July 21, 2010 and she is showing signs of going nowhere. And chasing that damn tail she can never quite catch. Enjoy!

Unemployment, Underemployment, and...what's next?

I've got so many friends and loved ones who have lost their jobs and have been trying to keep their heads up and stay afloat. I want to pursue my yarn business full time but it's just not supporting itself, so I've been looking for a job myself. It's quite discouraging to have the experience and the education and still be unable to find anything.

But things are looking up...a little bit. A good friend who lost her job as AP manager for Longs Drugs (when CVS took over Longs and fired everyone in the Longs main offices) has been unemployed since April 2009. She's done a couple of temporary gigs but those have no benefits, no paid time off, and generally no recognition. She was offered a perm position with the company she's currently temping for, and she'll take a $25k salary reduction from what she's making as a temp and what she was making at Longs. But it's better than nothing, yes? Quite a blow to one's ego but at least there are benefits and paid time off.

So I look at this with hope. Hope that in a short period of time others I know and care about (including myself) will find the opportunity to help the economy begin to turn around. Our elected officials did the right thing today by extending unemployment benefits to those who have been unemployed for a long time. It's a start. Now we need to get all of those people back to work. Including a reluctant me. Crafts Meow won't support us. Yet. But with my loyal customers spreading the news of this product, it should.

Template change

I have changed my background template...yet again...my 50-something-eyes are beginning to have a hard time reading. Imagine that! Hope you like the new light background. Time to go get my hair done...red I think!

Valencia

I found this pattern on Ravelry and knew I absolutely had to do it. So it jumped to the top of my ever-expanding queue and once I went stash diving and found this lovely yellow yarn it became a must do. I currently have cast-on-itis. But that's one of the great things about knitting as a hobby - there are no rules! If I want to have a whole bunch of projects sitting here in process then I will...because I can. This one I'd like to wear before summer is over but if I don't get it done in time then it will be summer again next year. And since the pattern is called Valencia, I will have to do it in orange as well!!

July Mystery Sock after Clue #2

I'm half way done with my first ever Mystery Socks that I will actually complete!!

July Mystery Sock

I've never completed the mystery sock when presented in Ravelry's Sock Knitters Anonymous group...but I am determined this month to finish. I've finished with Clue #1, using Ice Cream Sundae in Banana for my MC and Kamikaze for CC1. When Clue #2 is released I presume it will begin gusset increases, which I find so much easier to do toe up than top down. And the toe pockets hold the yarn bobbins really well!

Just listed today

Finally had some time to upload some new listings. Trifle in Kamikaze, a rich beautiful teal semi-solid, and for those who have been asking for silk, take a look at Mousse. A few flavors are up now, with more to come in the next few days.

Trifle is 100% superwash BFL wool, and Mousse is 50/50 superwash merino wool/silk. Super yum!

I am busy preparing for Stitches Midwest, to be held August 19-22 in Schaumburg IL just outside of Chicago so if you're going to be in the area I'm bring LOTS of yummy stuff, including everything from the Etsy site!

New book!!

Chrissy Gardiner is putting together a new pattern book featuring 25 (or more) indie dyers such as myself. The book is set to be released in July at Sock Summit 2011.

Here is a link to the site. I urge you to sign up...what a great opportunity to obtain some of the patterns pre-release, extra goodies, and when the book is in print your copy will be signed by this very talented designer!

The latest addition to the flavor line

is Cantaloupe Freeze...some of the best ones start out to be something else and then decide that's not what they want to be. Such is the case with this one. It was supposed to be Peach Smoothie, a nice soft peach color but the yarn said nope, it wanted to be darker. It reminds me of the flesh of a cantaloupe. Enjoy!

New Listings

So the dye pots have been hot and lots of stuff coming out. Spin-a-Yarn, a wonderful little yarn store in Vacaville, is carrying Crafts Meow yarn and selling it quite well. I'm taking a new supply over there 3/10 so if you're in the area stop in and say hello! She's requested jeweltone and pastel semi-solids but I'll take a few variegated pieces as well.

New Etsy listings include pastel solids for the Solid Socks group KAL in April on Ravelry - join in the fun! And the Blankie group is buying up Kiddie Scoops almost faster than I can make them.

Cantaloupe Freeze is the newest semi-solid and will hit Etsy tomorrow after I get it photographed. And a new one I think I'm going to call Punkin Twist will be up too. Go on over and take a look...I'm much better at keeping Etsy up to date than I am this blog :-).

Welcome to Kitty Heaven

Simon 8/29/04 - 2/20/10


Sigh. I have been preparing myself emotionally for months to handle the upcoming death of my Katie, my little tortie who was diagnosed with kidney failure early in June 2009. She's beating the odds and showing no signs of giving up any time soon.

This morning when I got up Simon was laying on the floor barely breathing. I rushed him to the vet and it is believed he had a pulmonary embolism. He was euthanized about 30 minutes after getting to the vet's office.

So dear Simon now up in Kitty Heaven, I know you're raising hell up there with your incessant talking and desire to be top cat on the hierarchial ladder. Go get 'em! I miss your voice even though it did annoy me at times, and Bailey says if he'd known you were going to leave us so soon that he would have been nicer to you and maybe even let you be top cat...for a day.

I love you Simon and will miss you.

Ray's Disneyland Birthday

Disneyland gives free admission on one's birthday, so we spent the day on Saturday November 14 celebrating Ray's special day at Mickey's kingdom!

Isn't She Lovely?

This is my honorary neice/granddaughter/baby...baby fix!

On her pretty little feet are the socks I made for her from Witch's Brew yarn.

SP 14

So my final package from my secret pal arrived today. At Sock Summit, a lady named Ruth approached me with a little gift from her "friend" who was my SP. I had initially thought my SP was Ruth herself, so she tried to throw me off. But, as it turns out, she did exactly what I would have done. Good move! Anyway, here's the final package. I am super duper excited about the hemp yarn because I've been wanting to work with it and just haven't had the opportunity or the desire to buy more yarn. The small square project bag, which I will use for socks or booties or possibly as a notions bag, is one that I was actually looking at and considering purchasing!

So thank you Ruth!

Team Spirit

So I'm still in SoCal and still having mixed feelings about the area. On the one hand, and probably the most important, the smog is killing me! I had forgotten how bad it is to see the air I'm breathing...but that's the case. It's not as bad today since it cooled off dramatically.

Yesterday afternoon we went to South Coast Plaza, an upscale mall here in Orange County. I really missed not having a wallet full of cash I tell you! But I'm not going into debt again for "stuff" and there was lots of "stuff" I would have loved to own :-). Anyway, I don't think this area is feeling the recession or the unemployment figures at all. Quite the opposite of malls at home - no closed stores, no empty aisles, no big signs announcing store closing final sale. Instead, there were signs announcing the upcoming opening of a Prada boutique. It was a mall full of designer stores (Michael Kors, one of my personal favorites, for one) and shoppers that weren't just window shopping. Well...we were window shopping, but most of the folks had bags full of their latest purchases.

Last night we went to Downtown Disney. We chose Tortilla Joe's for dinner, and had to wait an hour for a table. The area was seriously bustling - people everywhere, long lines for everything from having a caricature drawn to a sit-down dinner. There is an ESPN store and of course there were television monitors everywhere showing the Angels v. Yankees game that was under way. As I'd heard the other night at Chili's, collective cheers and groans with every pitch. After dinner it was after 9 p.m. which meant it was after midnight on the East Coast where the game was being played. The game went into I believe the 12th inning before the Yankees won, but not until the Angels tied it in dramatic fashion and all of the fans here thought for sure they would pull out a victory. I sure love that atmosphere!! Oh. And waiting an hour for that table was worth it. Food and service was excellent.

Thursday October 15

Just got to Orange County - spending the weekend w/hubby for our anniversary! I left cool, cloudy and slightly drizzly weather for gorgeous 78-ish weather. SoCal seems to always be like that. I remember growing up here there never seemed to be cold or ugly weather. Anyway, kicking it in the room now watching Game 1 of the NLCS Phillies @ Dodger Stadium. We thought about getting tickets but I know the traffic down here all too well, and there is no way we would have made it in time. Such a beautiful ballpark though and I haven't been there in probably 10 years. Maybe tomorrow.

Driving from the airport to the hotel, about 11 miles, took an hour. I don't miss that! Listened to Vin Scully on the pre-game show and he mentioned some milestones related to today's date. Today is 21 years to the day of the Kirk Gibson game-ending come-from-behind homerun against Dennis Eckersley in the 1988 World Series. He was hurt, and came off the bench for this, and the stadium erupted. Rod, Terri, and I had gotten stuck in some pretty crummy seats...behind the plate but waaaaaay back, and it felt like an earthquake. As he gimped around the field with his arm raised, we screamed and yelled and high-fived people we didn't know...for a really long time. We couldn't hear the play-by-play of course, but we heard the repeats of it over and over and over...

Anyway, I'm watching the game on TV but I'd much rather be there! Post-season baseball is the best. And being an Oakland A's fan...well...let's just say there's not much hope of seeing October baseball again. For awhile. So I root for my Dodgers. And always will.

ETA: We went to dinner at Chili's and during the half hour we waited for a table we sat so I could see the televisions in the bar, where the Dodgers/Phillies game was playing. I observed group moans and/or cheers, depending on each play. I looked around the restaurant and in each group of people at least one person was wearing a team-related shirt or cap. Most of them were Dodgers, even though we're in Orange County (definitely Angels country), but there were a few Angels shirts too. I don't recall seeing that kind of support in the Bay Area when our teams were involved in post-season play. I guess I miss this kind of camaraderie as it relates to professional sports and supporting the home team(s).

OH and it's going to be 95 today. Glad I brought summery clothes!

Trifle

And the winner is....Trifle. A super luscious dessert!! The 100% BFL has just been launched on Etsy. It's been dyed in Plumilicious too, but it's not dry yet. I can see that winter is going to be a problem for this business. I hung it yesterday morning. It hung outside all day yesterday and has been in the bathroom since last night. It's much too cold and windy to hang it outside. I've got to figure out how to dry yarn inside in a reasonable amount of time.

And I spent over 8 hours over 2 days untangling this one. It should cost double, dontcha think?? While it was resting overnight one of the cats chewed through it, fortunately there was still a full skein in one piece. Damn cats. Unfortunately, I think the chewer in this case was my angel Chanel because the family chewer, Nelson, can't get up on the table. Apparently Chanel has been taking Nelson's naughty kitty chewing class.

New Yarn

So I just brought in BFL - blue-faced leicester wool in a superwash fingering weight. It needs a name!! Snow Cone? Some other ice-cream or dessert-related name please.

Here's the first dyed skein in Creamsicle. Not on Etsy yet because it needs a name...




Creamsicle is available on Etsy in Soft Serve, Ice Cream Sundae, and Banana Split!

Received a comment offering up Gelato - I already have Gelato, I just didn't do it in Creamsicle flavor. Gelato is 50% superwash merino/50% tencel and super creamy soft just like Gelato. Next suggestion?

A Swap Package from Sara

I got a pretty darn cool package, but she didn’t tell me her ravelry id so I don’t know who this is other than first name! Once I know that I’ll sing her praises even louder.

This package was so unique…super creative person here! There was a book on top that instructed me to read it first. Each page was a cute little poem and a carnival game. Each carnival game directed me to a numbered package to open. I followed the directions and opened them in the order instructed. The yarn is a hot fuchsia bamboo/silk blend and is super luxurious. I’m going to buy more of it in different colors and create my own mitered corner jacket.

There is a yummy harvest candle, stitch markers, knitters’ journal, and two wonderful hand made items. One is a fold up holder for all of the little knit-knacks such as stitch markers, counters, etc. And the other is a striped project bag perfect size for carrying socks in process!

The tiara has a special meaning. She read my blog post where I was complaining about mowing the lawn! I’ve never had a tiara before, a real one, I had a proverbial one. Now I’ve got a real one!!

So here’s a picture of the whole package on my mantle. Isn’t Sara great??? Now if I could just figure out which swap this is from...

Chicago - Days Five, Six, and Seven

Sunday September 13. The morning was kind of dead, primarily vendors shopping other vendors' booths, but after the grand prize drawing we had a little rush. Folks wanting to make sure they got their last minute treasures. One of the ladies who won some cash in the drawing came to the booth to make sure she had some CraftsMeow yarn to take home! My booth was on her list to shop online later, but now she had cash and wanted to spend it now.

When 4:00 came and the show was officially closed, Jane and I closed up shop so fast. We packed it all up and drove away at 5:15. Not bad, eh?

Monday the 14th was time to conduct business and ship back everything we didn't sell. The morning was spent at the UPS store, then we scouted around a bit and found the train station that Jane would need the next day to go into the city to meet her friends and go to the Art Institute. The afternoon we just vegged. We went to the hotel and hung out in the lobby part of the time, and for me on the balcony of the room part of the time. It was warm, but not hot, and just a really good time to put my feet up and sort of relax. I was doing QuickBooks for part of the show's sales, but I had my feet up and a big glass of iced tea and enjoyed the fresh air of the Chicago suburbs.

Tuesday was way fun. I bought us tickets to go see the Cubbies. Neither of us had been to Wrigley Field and we were excited. I took Jane to the train station so she could go meet her friends and tour the Art Institute while I went yarn store-ing. And yarn store-ing I did!! I went to a little town called Long Grove. The store is called I'd Rather be Knitting. How cute is that??? I perused the store, chatted with one of the employees and the store owner, and am going to send samples of my wholesale line.

And the day was capped by heading to the bus station to catch the express bus to Wrigley Field. I waited and the bus never came, so a couple of Cubs loyals made a phone call to find out there had been only one bus for that game and we'd missed it. These two gentlemen are Cubs loyals and 27 years' season ticket holders. I rode with Gary and Carl to the game so I got an up close and personal tour of what must be seen. We sat behind home plate with them and had a wonderful time!!