Nuts

My favorite snack mid-afternoon is almonds. Even though I probably eat too many, it still feels like a healthy snack, at least healthier than cookies or chips. I went into my snack stash this morning to open a new can, and discovered that I had bought the wrong kind! I like the Dry Roasted Almonds, and I had mistakenly purchased the Smoked Almonds. Bummer. Guess I'll have to have a party and pass the Smoked Almonds around before dinner.

The knitting is a cardigan for granddaughter C, out of Summer Sox. In Huckleberry. Yummy color.

Crafts

I belong to a great knitting group. We don't knit much any more when we're together, but we all do a lot of crafts when we have the time. It's more of a fun get-together with friends than a knitting group, but we still call it knitting group. My friend Cass showed us some pincushions she had made. She took various materials including machine-knitted pieces, beads, embroidered bits, and yarns, and made little "cakes". They are so cute! I think she did a great job (I bought the one in the center). I'm encouraging her to put them up on Etsy. What do you think?

P.S. The pieces in the foreground are coasters I bought at a crafts fair. They are just felted pieces, cut into squares (not even very evenly). I really liked the colors (one is solid orange; the other is stripes of green and beige), and they are very handy here in the office. And how appropriate for a yarn company!

New Addition

We have a new addition to our family. (Drum Roll Please.) Meet Max! My new grand-nephew. Isn't he cute!! He lives in New York, and I hope to get there to meet him in person sometime soon. Welcome to the world, little Max!

Hydrangeas

We've had a pretty hot summer. June was hotter than usual too. I've never had much luck with hydrangeas - I try and try, but many summers go by without a single blue blossom. But look what happened this year! I have two kinds of hydrangea - one that is pretty traditional (above), and another variety produces a kind of lacey blossom. It's big and bushy, and I can only remember one other year when I got any blossoms at all. But this year is amazing!

And see how delicate the flowers are? I love it.

I hope you are having a great summer! Oh, and let's hope Dolly is kind to Texas.

Baseball and Bunny

It happened again! I've been a bad blogger. Where does the time go? There was a lot of travel in June (a trade show; a great business trip to Georgia, visiting shops & knitters at three wonderful locations), a lot of business to deal with (banks; customers; suppliers - but what's new with that really). And then, before I could blink, it was the 4th of July!

Summer has already been great. Family fun on the 4th, and then yesterday, we all went to a Lowell Spinners game with a bunch of knitters. It was Stitch 'n Pitch night at the ballpark, and we had a grand time. There were probably 100 knitters in attendance, including Jess & Casey of Ravelry fame.

But best of all, C came along, and brought her new best friend, Bunny.

Who could ask for more - family, friends and knitters, a new hand-knit bunny, baseball, and of course, cold beer. Happy July!

Random

I can't believe it's been so long since I posted. A lot has happened around here, but mostly it's just been a busy time. We had a great long Memorial Day weekend - the weather was perfect, we all went to the beach, some flowers were planted (some by me, some by H), and besides the fact that I worked 2 of the 3 weekend mornings, it was a relaxing time.

I was thinking this morning about what joy people can bring into our lives. People like Harvey Korman, who I always loved to watch. Or my family, some of whom are motorcycle nuts, doing silly things on bikes in big cities (when they probably shouldn't). Or little kids. Or good friends. And things that bring joy to us. Like most crafts. Especially knitting. (Wrap/Cardigan knit in Embrace, 100% cashmere. Yum.)


I leave on Thursday of next week for our trade show in Columbus, OH. It's a long trip - 7 days - and I find it exhilerating and exhausting. Then I get to really enjoy my summer.

Spring Has Sprung!

There are the most amazing flowering trees on one of the city streets I travel to work each day. I love how they look, but it doesn't last long! By next week, the flowers will be long gone (especially if it rains). But in the meantime, I savor how they look coming, and going. Enjoy spring!

The rest of the story

April and May are crazy/busy months for me. Trade shows. Launch of a new line. Conference calls. It's hard to keep up with daily activities much less "extras." So, finishing up the last post, I took the photo of me, along with a photo of my daughter at about the same age



Then I took a picture of C - voila!


3 generations, but all photographed at about the same age. I framed us side-by-side. I think it looked great.

Spring has sprung here. I took a photo of some beautiful flowering trees, but I can't find my camera cord...I'll post them you next week, after I find the cord.

Birthdays

Next week is my daughter's 35th birthday. I can't believe it! It takes my breath away that she's that old - which means that I'm getting up there too! Some days I feel like I should be 30; some days 60. But mostly I'm just glad to have such great kids (including kid-in-law) and grandkid. I'm cooking up a surprise for the birthday. Here's a photo of me when I was about 2. I'll tell you after the official b-day gift what I'm doing with it.

Disappointment

I was supposed to take a weaving class tomorrow. It was cancelled. I am sad. But I think I'll take the day, which was already set aside for moi, and do some more experimenting with the loom. Some FOs for you next week? Perhaps. In the meantime, check this out!

What the........

Just for the record, today is March 28th. Spring. I know it's New England, but COME ON GUYS -- we need some sunshine, some little buds on the trees, some HOPE that this will end sometime soon!

Enjoy your weekend. I plan to knit. After all, what else would one do on a snowy day ... in March.

Windy City

Wow. What a great 2+ days I had. I just returned from attending the Yarn Market News Smart Business Conference in Chicago. Fabulous. Really fabulous. It was a great mix of hard core information, fun, networking (really great networking!), and swag. Yep, swag. The conference sponsors (of which my company was one) really outdid themselves with giveaways. I'm having a raffle in the office today to share some of the goodies with our hardworking staff. And the speakers were fantastic! Check out their bios and websites. They had great information to share.

Yesterday, before we all headed home, we were treated to a tour of Lornas Laces.
Beth was a gracious host, explaining her products, showing us works in progress, and she even did a little dying demo! It was fun to see the action.

Soho Publishing (parent company of Yarn Market News) did a great job. I hope this event becomes an annual one, and that I am fortunate enough to be able to go again. It was wonderful meeting so many talented retailers, and brainstorm how we can all grow the yarn/knitting/needlearts business together.

Now I just have to find the time to summarize all my notes and implement all the great ideas I heard about!

Texas

I just got back from 6 days in Texas, visiting my Mom, brother, sister-in-law, and 3 nieces (2 local, one from NYC). I was lucky enough to travel with my daughter and grand-daughter, so there were 9 of us enjoying each others' company. It was a really good visit, and we were able to parcel out small-ish times with everyone. I helped Mom finish her taxes and hang pictures on her walls. She moved to a new space recently, and has lots more room, with big windows and a good location - such an improvement over where she had been! I also had some relaxing time by the pool and on walks. It was great to skip wearing a coat for 6 days!

Now it's back to the grind. Hopefully lots of knitting and weaving too. Even though it's going to snow overnight tonight, I sense that spring is right around the corner! And that means more playground time...

Where Have I Been

I did it. I bought a loom. It's very small and portable, and it's called a Flip - and I love it. Not only is it portable, it was really easy to learn. At the recommendation of 2 very helpful people at Webs in Northampton, I bought the loom and a book. By reading through Betty Linn Davenport's Rigid Heddle Weaving, I was able to begin a small project all by myself. The photo above is warping. The Flip provides a spindle that can be attached to pretty much anything (I used the edge of a bookcase) and you attach the warp to the loom as you go. It's a 1-step process instead of two - easy-peasy!

Once the warp was rolled onto the warp beam on the loom (below)


I was ready to get started. I didn't take any pictures of the work-in-progress; I guess I was too absorbed! But look what I did!


The piece is about 20" long, and is W.A.Y. better at the end than at the beginning! I learned a lot and am really proud of what I completed! I used Cotton Bam Boo for the warp because I wanted something pretty thin, sturdy and non-stretchy. I experimented with various yarns for the weft. First I used a different color of Cotton Bam Boo; then I experimented with stripes. And then, I found some really beautiful Koigu in my stash. So I used the Koigu for weaving about 9", then switched to the Cotton Bam Boo in the same color that was the warp. I love it. I can't wait to try some other combinations.

A new hobby ... woo hoo!!

Have you seen all the great spring yarns that are flooding into yarn shops and online stores? They are amazing. And great patterns too. Of course I'm partial to the ones from CEY.

Speaking of which, our creative director is hard at work on Fall 2008 - can you believe it? I drove up to Maine in a little snowstorm on Tuesday and worked with her on the line and other work-related stuff. It was great to see her progress - lots of photos on the walls, with little snippets of yarn and project notes. Putting a new season together is always challenging; I don't know how she does it! Once the designs are in progress, being written by pattern writers, or knitted by knitters, or being blocked for the photo shoot, then my work begins in earnest. That's when I have to put it all together, create a package that makes sense to salesreps and customers. For now, I'm just the consultant, the watchdog, the advisor.



It's hard to imagine now, but Fall is going to be great! By the way, have you seen Spring? Happy weekend.

Sharing

This week my family had a milestone worthy of mention. My daughter completed her breast cancer treatments. She still has a long road - to getting her stamina back, getting her hair back, moving towards pill-free days - but surgery and chemo and radiation are complete. The joy we feel is so immense, and the gratitude we have for all those who have been so supportive the past 7 months cannot be adequately expressed. Thank you.

I am so proud of how she has managed all the scary moments, and there were a lot. She remains beautiful, intelligent, talented, a great mom and wife, and now she has another moniker: she's a survivor.

I'm Back

California was great / exhausting. We had a pretty good show, but the travel was hard. I was able to see my son for a few hours - awesome treat - and had dinner with sister-in-law and her husband. Fun.

Two years ago when I was returning from California I bought some yarn and a pattern at the last minute and spend my plane ride working on a project for granddaughter C. It was a quick knit and fun to do. I don't remember if was knitting for her last year on my way home, but I decided, when I was in Oakland, that I should make this an annual tradition - each year I'll knit something for C when I return from my January California trip. It's a 6-hour trip, more or less, and I can get some really good knitting time in. In Oakland, I bought some yarn and a pattern for a vest. I didn't finish it, but I did complete the back and most of the front. Since coming home, I've finished the front, sewed together the shoulder seams, and knit the neckline rib with picot bindoff. All that's left is the side seams and armhole rib/picot. Can't wait.

I did complete a little jumper before I left town. Too cute.

Today is not Friday

I usually post on Fridays; it seems like a good day to wrap things up. But this Friday I'll be standing in a trade show booth, hopefully selling yarn like crazy. Yep. I'm off to Long Beach in the morning - 2 days of prep; 3 days of selling; 2 days of meetings; a short visit with boy-child; then home - 8 days away from New England! It was really hard to pack for such a long trip! (Let's see, if I wear these shoes on the plane, then these other shoes on the show floor for 3 days, then ... wait, what about that brown outfit? well maybe brown should stay at home 'cause it would dictate another pair of shoes and there isn't any room for more shoes!)

I'll try to post a picture or two on Friday. I expect they will be pictures of yarn, 'cause that's what it's all about.

Starting 2008

Since 2007 was so difficult for me and my family, I'm hopeful that 2008 will be a winner!

Having everyone home for the Xmas holidays was a great way to end last year. Lots of little joys add up, so I'm going to make a point of celebrating and noting the special moments. Here's my first one. Can you count to five? Happy New Year!

Packing Up

In addition to everything else that has to be done in late December, I have to coordinate getting a trade show ready. We have 4 big packing crates - you can see a couple of them above (open). They must be packed up ever so carefully; it's quite a challenge getting everything to fit, but Judy is a miracle-worker and makes it all happen. These two are only partially filled. We have to finish packing up all 4 of the trunks by the end of the day today - the shipping company comes first thing Wednesday to haul them to California, and I don't plan to be here between now and the 26th.

May you and yours have a wondeful Christmas weekend. I plan to celebrate joyously with my husband, children, and blessed grand-daughter. Merry Christmas!