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Can I add video? Did the test work?

Trip to Portland

Last Friday I drove up to Portland, ME, to meet with my colleague, Pam. We got a TON of work done - well worth the 2-hour drive each way!

We had the pleasure of meeting Jil Eaton - knitwear designer extraordinaire - for lunch. Lots of business-y things to discuss - but what a lunch we had! I had a great salad with chicken, blue cheese, and other goodies. Jil had the lamb salad. Pam had the chicken satay special with crispy noodles - wow!!

This is a little local place. I wish we had a local place like that here!

Culture Shock

I'm back from California. What a great trip - I wish I could have stayed longer. I don't know any place that has better food, overall, than CA. Imagine artichokes, once grilled and once baked. Yum. And avocados on everything! I stopped at a little cafe in San Rafael one morning, just looking for a bagel, and here is what I got. It was so delicious. I think I'll buy up a bunch of avocados and have them ready for any breakfast that comes along! (But they never taste as good in MA as they do in CA, do they.) After a day of airline food (which had to be PURCHASED along with everything liquid, including water, that had to be PURCHASED - shame on you, USAirways), California cuisine seemed very far away.
And then I experienced this.
"Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music!" We had a great time, but I had forgotten how commercial these shows can be. From the lobby, to intermission, and then the post-show onslaught - it's no wonder that kids learn to "need" and "want" everything. Of course we indulged. But the music was fun, and it was a joy to see our granddaughter soaking it all in.

Now back to reality.

Weather

What a difference a plane ride makes. What I left behind:
Now the view from my hotel balcony in San Diego this afternoon:
Just for the record, I feel a little guilty ... just a little bit.

Let it snow!

It snowed last night. On top of what was already on the ground (and tables and stairs), I think we got about 4".


Sorry it's so hard to see - this is the only ruler I could find in the house. At least this time the snow is fluffy and easier to push around than the icy mess we had last week. Yesterday we spent over an hour getting most of the remaining ice off the driveway so that it wouldn't be lurking under the snow that was (correctly) predicted for last night. I do love living in New England, but this is already a long winter. Fortunately I leave on Thursday for California! San Diego here I come!! I'll be indoors 90% of the time, working the trade show, but I'm pretty sure I won't have to deal with snow. I'll try to post some photos, from the show as well as from my trip to northern California, which is where I'm going when the trade show ends. In the meantime, I have to go put on some socks - it's cold here!

New Year's Eve

May you have a healthy, peaceful and prosperous 2009! Happy New Year, from my home to yours.

Fourth File

Leslie suggested we all play along with the photo challenge. So, as instructed, here's the fourth photo in my fourth file.
It's a diaper cake that my daughter created for her cousin's baby shower. I helped her put it together - it takes two people to construct because it wants to fall down. It was loads of fun - you roll up diapers (we used disposables) and build the cake from the inside to the outside. Then you just build the layers up from there. We tied it all off with some pretty ribbon. She also added little goodies - most are hard to see except for the stuffed dog on the top.

This photo was taken on the kitchen counter at the "beach house" on what appears to be a beautiful day in June. I sure wish we had that weather today - this morning I returned from 5 days in Houston to a foot of snow!

Really

I stopped by Home Depot on my way to work and this was the scene in the parking lot.

That's a lot of trucks!

Many families have been without power since the New England ice storm on Thursday, including my daughter and her family. They have been staying with us since Friday afternoon, but are hoping to have power back sometime today so that they can go home. At least today's forecast is for warm weather; Saturday was really cold. The power outage has disrupted their holiday plans - they were going to put up their tree this past weekend, decorate the porch - but instead they hung out in the condo. At least we live close enough to help. I feel sorry for the families that have to stay in a shelter.

What do you think?

I changed my template and added a header. Do you like it? Thanks to Leslie for the great photo!

Am I crazy?

I decided, on Monday, that I should knit a scarf for my mother. I'm flying down there on the 17th for a few days. Do you think it will be done by then? I'd love to have it done before I go - then I could block it here - but if I can't get it done by the 17th, maybe I can knit on the plane? It's moving right along (although I must admit my left shoulder is sore - from too much knitting time??).

I must be crazy.

Happy 3rd Birthday Sugar!

Yesterday was C's third birthday. I can't believe it. She is looking SOOOO grown up. So thank you, Sugar, for being such a great little person, and being such a special part of our lives. We love you!

P.S. Nice earrings!

Wow

I love Brooklyn Tweed's design aesthetic. He's outdone himself this time.

Gorgeous. And I can think of tons of beautiful yarns that would be great for this project. If only I had more time.

Do you see what I see?

There is a tall smokestack in my town, and every year they drape it with lights to mimic a Christmas tree. This is the view from my office window. I was delighted Monday night when I noticed that it was there - really makes it feel like the holidays are just around the corner. I hope you are seeing and enjoying the holiday lights in your neck of the woods.

P.S. C loved her new Advent Calendar. She got to pick two surprises last night (a fancy crayon-like drawing device and some JellyBellies). I wish I could remember what today's surprise will be!

Advent Calendar

My daughter thought C would like an Advent Calendar this year. About a day later, I saw this and knew I wanted to make one instead of buying one, especially since the bought version would probably be filled entirely with candy. So I purchased all the materials and set to work. The embroidered numbers were done on the way back from Thanksgiving at my brother's house. And my new workspace was perfect for laying out the squares of felt. Purl Soho made a slight error in my order, so I only had one of the two red shades they recommended. I had to do a little rearranging of the colors, but I think it turned out well. (I photographed it lying on the floor so it's not the greatest picture.)


Yesterday I went looking for 24 little things to go into the pockets - the pockets are only about 2.5" square, so each day's surprise has to be small! I mixed in some candy along the way, but most days are little goodies like post-it tags, a couple of ornaments, hair do-dads, and some little jewelry items. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Oh - I split it in two pieces (unlike the original which was one long panel) so that it can be hung out of the reach of inquiring little hands. Each panel is 12" square, and there are four of them, so the original design was quite long from top to bottom. By making it in two pieces, it can be hung at normal picture-hanging height. I also got some tension-mounted curtain rods, so H can hang each panel in a window if she wants.


I can't deliver it until tomorrow night, but I can't wait to see the reactions! Can you guess what December 20th's goodie is?

Subways, Trains, and Automobiles

I went to New York City earlier this week. Did you know that 2009 has been designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Natural Fibers? Very exciting concept! There is a small group putting together some plans for how to celebrate the "Year", and I was invited to participate. Most other participants are involved in the breeding of animals or production of fibers. I wore my TNNA Board Member hat (and marketing committee hat). It was an interesting conversation. It turns out that cotton has the biggest natural fiber production worldwide, and numerous activities are being organized around cotton. But these folks wanted animal-based fibers (wool, alpaca, silk, etc.) to be the focus, so that's what they are doing. "Keep the Fleece" is the moniker they will use. Watch for loads of ideas coming out this group in the coming months.

Anyway, I drove to Connecticut and stayed with my brother and sister-in-law for a night, then did the Connecticut-to-New York commute into the city on Wednesday. The meeting was in Soho, in the afternoon, so after the subway ride down, I had mini-meetings with a few business partners in the morning. It was a good use of my time in the city. After the UN-IYNF meeting, I did the back-to-CT commute (subway and train), dinner with relatives, spent the night, the drove back home - well actually I drove straight to work - on Thursday morning. What a whirlwind! But it was fun to do something different for a change.

Happy (Belated) Birthday!

Wednesday was my my baby's birthday. Well, he's not such a baby anymore. Happy Birthday T - we love you!!

Who knew there would be so much math?

It always amazes me how much math is involved in crafting. When you sew, you have to do the math to figure out sizing and how much fabric you'll need. Knitting has tons of math - from gauge to yardage to sizing and shaping. Now I have learned the importance of math in weaving. I had two hanks of a hand-dyed sock yarn, and wanted to make a scarf thingie - just a simple one. I did the math, see?
I figured out how much I needed for the warp and set it up. A few months later (I had trouble focusing on this project over the summer, I'm just saying), I realized that I was going to run out of weft way before I ran out of warp. See the empty shuttle? How did that happen?
So I have little bits of leftovers - I have no idea what I'll do with them - but I also have a beautiful scarf/wrap/neckwarmer! I love it. Here it is on my (now empty) loom.
See how pretty the colors are?
Next I'm doing a scarf for my mother for the holidays. With sparkly yarn in a burgundy color! I'll need one hank of Silk Pearl for warp and one hank of Bead Pearl and Sequins for weft. Kathy wrote out hers here. I hope I do the math right this time!! Of course I also have this pretty little scarf (and I mean little yarn, little needles) that I'm trying to do. There just isn't enough time in the day.

Busy Weekend

From work, to charity, to play - a great weekend!

Friday morning, our company participated in an event at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium called "Made in Lowell." Although we are mostly importers/distributors, I thought it would be fun to be part of this event, and we do "make" all our patterns, marketing, etc. Not everyone "got it." We had to do a lot of explaining about what a yarn company does. But overall I think it was great to participate. Next year I think we'll attend rather than exhibit; it was fun to see the companies that do manufacturing in our City. And I think I found a local printer, and a guy who does great tote bags out of recycled and organic materials. I'm calling him today!

This past Sunday the Lexington (MA) Arts and Crafts Society had a "knit in". They asked us to provide a trunk show, so Saturday I met up with my friend Cass (who is a member, and the creator of the pretty pin cushions I wrote about recently) and put up some posters and hung some sweaters. Two other yarn companies had things displayed too. I heard it was a fun day - even Wren Ross was there - but sadly I didn't make the actual event. Some amazing work was on display by the Society's members. The exhibit will be there until October 18 - if you're in the area, check it out.

I didn't make the Lexington event because on Sunday, I walked with my daughter and her family in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Boston. 38,000 walkers! It was amazing; they raised a lot of money for breast cancer research - hooray! C and her friend were troopers.


After riding in on the T, we trekked over the to Hatch Shell and the official starting line. We all made it the 3+ miles. Although the weather wasn't beautiful, it was perfect-enough for a walk. Not too hot; not too sunny; brisk is how I would describe it. After the walk, we went to brunch at a family-friendly place in Cambridge called Full Moon - really fun for the group, and great food!

Next weekend it's all about getting some knitting done...oh, and some baseball. Go Red Sox!

Travel Is Over!

I'm home! What a journey ... 9 days and 8 nights ... too much. As as much as I planned to photograph the entire journey, the only shot I have is from the last night. I stayed at the O'Hare Hyatt (which I had thought was the hotel on site at the airport, but the hotel at the airport is a Hilton!). The Hyatt is a beautiful hotel, and I had a lovely room. I grabbed a bite before crashing into bed, and it was wonderful! An appetizer called Grilled Prawns and Avocado, with Chipotle Dressing (along with some bread and wine). Yum! Other highlights of my trip? A great photo shoot in New Harbor, ME; 3 great days with friends in Chicago, shopping, dining, giggling at the Bobbi Brown makeup counter with Jasmine (the makeup artist), and going on a great river boat architecture cruise! Chicago's skyline (or river-line) is something else. Then on to Lake Geneva, WI, to another great location. But this time it was two days of hard, volunteer board work. And I came home with way too much to do. It's going to be really wet here this weekend. I hope to re-organize my office, get some laundry done, and chill/knit a bit. Hope you have a great weekend too!

Photoless

It's been a busy few weeks. I took a trip to New York via train, and had a really good visit. I met with, ate with, and visited with my colleagues at Vogue Knitting and Knit Simple; I had lunch and dinner with my brother and his family. And I did a little visiting and shopping at three great New York stores: Knitty City; Purl Soho; and String. Each is very different from the other, with a unique personality, stock layout, and ambiance. And one of the highlights of my trip was getting to see Maksim (a.k.a. Max), who is now 6 weeks old! What a cutie. I was lucky enough to stay at my brother's apartment on the Upper West Side, and managed to get around New York via subway most of the time. What fun to be in the hubbub of NYC!

But no photos. My camera stayed safely tucked inside my bag for the entire three days.

Late last week I had a chance to drive out to Webs, America's Yarn Store. It was fun to see Kathy and Steve and show them some new things we may do next spring. And they gave me a tour of the new bead store, aptly named Webs, America's Bead Store. It's a good thing the bead store isn't in my neighborhood. I could do a lot of damage to my pocketbook there.

I meant to take pictures of the storefronts. Nope. Didn't happen.

Last weekend we went to a great wedding - my husband's 2nd cousin was married in Portsmouth, NH. A beautiful setting by the sea; great weather; wonderful family. What a nice day for them. And they really lucked out - Friday it rained, and Sunday it rained, but Saturday (the wedding day) was PERFECT! Congrats to the newlyweds. Saturday during the day, the two of us explored Freeport, ME, home to the L.L. Bean store and numerous outlets. We didn't do much shopping, but it was a nice day so we enjoyed wandering around.

And no photos from me. Not of the wedding. Not of Freeport or Portsmouth. None.

Tomorrow I head to northern Maine for our spring photo shoot. It's a beautiful area and I know our products will look great in that setting. I'll be there until Friday, then I flyto Chicago for an annual WWW (wild women weekend). Then Monday, I drive to southern Wisconsin for a trade association board meeting.

I PROMISE TO NOT ONLY TAKE MY CAMERA, BUT TO ACTUALLY TAKE SOME PICTURES! Promise.

Next post will be very photo-intensive ... stay tuned!