Happy Birthday

America!! You are 233 today.

We will be celebrating with our community at the Worlds largest musical fountain and with a fireworks show after. We will have a picnic dinner of ham sammies, chips, fruit, cole slaw, and Rice Krispie treats.

It will hopefully be amazing like last year. I love fireworks.

A week or so ago on Twitter there was a plea to follow Hudson Valley Fiber Farm and a drawing for wool. When I signed up, I thought it was for only one skein nope I was wrong, it was for 13 skeins of yummy wool. I won!!
WOOHOO!

Thank you so much Susan. I am sure with over 2600 yds, I have enough for a sweater for me.
The yarn is dusted with pink and blue/green to make a heather look yarn, major yum factor going on. This photo is more accurate in the color.

Hope you all have a happy holiday if you are celebrating.

Birthday,Swap and Etsy

I love packages!!

This weekend I received a present from my dear friend Deborah. She spoiled me! I had invited her to go to the movies with us for my birthday (We saw Transformers 2, I want a Bumblebee!). When she showed up, she bought me a small suitcase.

First the suitcase, no wrapping needed it is beautiful.

When I opened the case, I saw (in much neater placement)
That is 875 yards of Yarn Hollow lace weight in the yummiest Turmeric colorway. The sweetest smelling candle that has scented the yarn in the best way possible is inside a crystal candleholder

In addition, she threw in Diamonds in pink and clear. Mmmm!

The black box

Contains beads in pink, clear, green, pearls and frogs, to make stitch markers out of (Yay an enabler).
I thought I was done. I went to close it and she told me to keep going. She got me a home for my iPod classic. Now I can listen when I am trying to fall asleep.
I know I thanked you in person, but again thank you so much, Love ya!!

I also received in the mail my Crabby Crafter Birthday Swap from the Ravelry group.
Genial was my partner, I still need to mail mine off to her, but her birthday is in mid July so I am not late :)

I received two skeins of purple wool (only one shown as I am using one) and a skein of multi wool, to make a felted bag. Along with the yarn, she sent me Pooh stickers, Butterfly stitch markers, beaded stitch markers ( I will get better photos, lighting is bad), needle coils, a cool peace necklace, a glass flower bead for the bag, lots of yummy tea and a wooden foot file. Again I was spoiled. Thank you ever so much!!

Then today in the mail, I received a package from an Etsy store order.
There is a bit of a story behind the order, so that first.
A while ago, I was contacted by a listener of the podcast I co-host about knitting socks. I sent her off a sock starter of Socks that rock yarn and DPN needles and gave her my basic sock pattern to play with. Her and I chatted back and forth about this and became friends on Ravelry. Well, in reading blog posts from friends, I saw that she had opened an Etsy Store named Llady Llama Fiber Co. so I went and looked.

YUM!!

She had hand dyed BFL and Merino Top.
I just had to have one in the colorway Boundaries. It is turquoise and browns with parts of cream mixed in, my colors all the way. 4 oz for less than $19.00 including shipping! I had that in my PayPal, so I ordered.
My colors are not true, but as close as I could get them


She also included with the shipment, a thank you for getting her addicted to socks ( just doing my bit as a pusher my dear ). This thank you is in the form of the most wonderful spindle spun yarn I have gotten my hands on in forever. I bow to her spinning prowess!



Thank you so much as well.

I have been most spoiled this whole weekend.

On a more serious note, I picked up my books for college on Friday and changed the whole plan I had for summer reading. The class I am taking on American Novels has some books I have to read.

One not shown is the awakening, which we are reading first.
I think this will be a fun class. We get to do crafty stuff to summarize the books, or take excerpts and do a skit and have it recorded. We can talk about on computer radio (as the teacher calls it) LOL yeah a podcast for bookies :) I think I can do that. Only one book do we have to do a report on and that only has to be four pages. After all those reports at the end of last quarter, no problem. Well one problem...I only have 8 weeks to read these four books and do all the crafty stuff as well. *sigh* I guess something else will have to give for a while.
I am also taking European history and will be doing a report on one of the great people from a certain era (not sure who or when yet).

Okay this is long enough for tonight, I have other things to show but they can wait for tomorrow.
Stay tuned...

In my next 40 years

Today is my birthday.
What a change 40 years makes. I was a little baby at just over 5 pounds -- I've grown a bit.

For me my birthday is a time to reflect on what has happened in the past and to plan goals for the future.

This last year has been a hard year for me physically. I have had a few surgeries and a couple of procedures on the side, that has made it some I have not been that active. I want to change that. Now that I am feeling better, as soon as the doctor says it is okay, I am going "guts to glory" and getting myself in shape.

Friendship is very heavy on my brain today. You know your worth by the friends you have. I don't know who said that, but the saying is ever so true. I need to be a better friend.

After the last surgery, my hormones have changed and I have become quite bitchy. I want to change that aspect before I lose every friend I have ever had. I have always been very upfront about my opinions, but maybe now I need to censer what opinions I give and where.

I want to love my family more just for who they are, instead of who my mind thinks they should be. They are grown up now and I have raised to wonderful people who I am glad to call my friend as well as my child.

I want to get back to being a couple with my husband. These last 10 days of no kids at home have been wonderful for reconnecting and I would love this to continue. This is the man I am proud to call my husband, I want to continue to also be his friend.

" Life is the party to which your invited. Show up and dance 'til you break the strap on your shoes. And don't worry about the steps: they'll come to you"-Anita Renroe

Things I want to do in the next 40 years (the list is not complete):

1. Graduate from college
2. Open my yarn store
3. Get a tattoo- yep I said it, I want a tattoo. I want a yarn ball with two needles sticking out and a crochet hook underneath. Not real sure of the design or where on my body, but I want one.
4. Travel the United States- I want to hit historical sites, tourist locations, attractions all over. I want to RV it, fly it and drive it.
5. Visit Canada
6. Travel to the UK
7. Bounce grandchildren on my knee
8. Watch my kids graduate from college and have good careers
9. Watch sunsets with my husband and snuggle while the sun rises too.
10. Learn to make won tons and croissants
11. Attend fiber events each year at different locations
12. Take fun classes, like underwater basket weaving
13. Ride in a hot air balloon
14. Knit, crochet and spin
15. Visit Time Square on New Years Eve
16. Watch the Rose Parade in person (not in the same year as #15)

I hope to be able to enjoy all of these with my husband, but it is his choice to come along, as his "next 40" may have a different list than mine does.

Yarn Store Rant

You all know me, I love to rant. Here is another one for your reading pleasure

I have been trying to figure out how to blog about experiences I had this last weekend. I hope I do this justice, but remember I am more of a math person than English major.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go to three different yarn stores. Each had there good points and their bad points. Two, I had never been to one I go to a bit more than my husband thinks I should.

The pluses to all three stores, was the yarn selections. Each had different high points and each seemed to cater to a different crowd. I eneded up with patterns from two of the three stores, some will be used in a swap and one will be made up for the Sarge. I saw a book at the other store that I would love to pick up in the future, it just wasn't in the budget for this week.

I am not sure if I was just over tired this weekend or if my mission of "The Perfect" was not one that could be fulfilled.

Here starts my rant:

I admit, summer is not the best sales time for a knitting store, but I would think from a retail perspective, you would try to be inviting to people who are shopping, even if they are just shopping for vacation souvenir yarn.

By inviting, I mean:

Air conditioning- Picking up and loving yarn is important. When you are hot and it is humid, the feel of wool changes. What could be the softest yummiest yarn for an evening shrug or cardigan, will stick to the humid skin and be itchy/yucky to the feel.

Be helpful but not judgmental in other words, remember the old adage that the customer is right? Yep, it is retail and even knitters can vote with their dollars where they will go. If the customer asks for a certain type of yarn, do not put down that type of yarn just to make a sale. I can understand that you as a store will not carry all types of yarn. I understand as a business you will show me something else that will work. This is fine; I may find it is something I like. However, if I want a certain brand and I have fallen in love with it, then I will go somewhere else to get this yarn.

Respect the customers: Do not sit and gab it up with your regulars and when someone asks a question, or act as if they are infringing on your free time. Really? Are we not all customers even if we are not yet friends? This was a huge thing this weekend and it really surprised me.

Have knowledgeable people working for you. When a customer asks a question, have the ability to look up an answer if you do not know it. Do not be www.cantdoit. The internet is a great tool. It may even help your store out. Classes to learn a new stitch at TNNA cost more than a basic internet class at your local college. A decent PC or laptop is about a grand these days, think of it as a business investment/tool and use it. Along these lines, know the popular patterns on the net; know how to pronounce the Clapotis or the Seraphina. Even if you do not enjoy the pattern, know it because thousands of knitters do, and they love it. In addition, have someone on hand that knows how to crochet. Being looked down on as a crocheter can cost you a HUGE sale.

As I said, maybe, it was just me being cranky this weekend, it was a long drive, two hot days and I was very tired at the end of it.
This is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

Hair- Part Two-Fun for the Summer

Yesterday Adrianne came over and finished up my hair. I have to say I am in Deep Like. Not sure if I am in live yet, but it feels really fun.
Before styling:

Before Makeup:

And after:


Sorry, these are self taken bathroom shots, hope their not too blurry. The pink faded a bit, without a wash. I think I might need to get a permanent red to go under it. I am also not too sure about the white part, I may dye that pink as well. Sarge said it reminded him of Neopalitan Ice Cream or those coconut chews that are tri-colored.

In Fiber, I have been crocheting:

I also finished up my Lilac Lace baby blanket. I am still working on the pattern. This is the same pattern as the Pink and Lacy baby blanket I made up but I used a smaller hook. From a J to a G. I am not liking the one on the G hook. It is heavier, stiffer and it took the whole skein of yarn. I didn't get to finish the edging before I ran out, so there is a short edging instead of the deep frilly one on the pink blanket
The two blankets are for different babies, so no one will ever know the problem, but I will still work on the blanket design.
Live and learn.

Hair-Step One

I am not going through a mid life crisis. I just want to have a bit of fun this summer.

Bears girlfriend is going to beauty school and she needs to get practice in dyeing hair. Today I went in and got the bottom part of my hair dyed black.

On Wednesday she will come over and bleach everything that is reddish in the picture and dye most of that Hot Pink.

Yes I said Hot Pink.

Yes that is what I want. Like this but on my head :)

I am excited!

A Fun Filled Weekend

First I have to say I fell off the Diet wagon. I will hop back on today, but the last two days have been wonderful and I just had fun.

We call Friday and Saturday the weekend. Yes we know Sunday is normally part of the weekend, but the Sarge works 3rd shift, so he has to go to work on Sunday night, so we play on Friday and Saturday.
This week, we actually removed our bodies from our home. Yes this is a treat for us as we are both homebodies.
On Friday, we headed up to Montague, Michigan for a Patriotic Rally. They were honoring military and Emergency personnel with flag waving, music and the ability to talk about the people you are honoring.
The event was held at the "Worlds Largest Weather vein" which we had never been to before and was pretty cool.

My husband went in uniform. It was a wonderful couple of hours in tribute to those I hold so dear. I have many military memebrs in my family and a few Emergency officers as well. Thank you to all of them.

After the Rally, we were getting ready to head home and saw a drive in burger stand. You know, like A&W used to be, with car hops and all, yep, we had to stop.
I think the Sarge and I both think we had the best burger we have had in forever! They also make their own rootbeer and it was awesome. The place ... Dogs and Suds If you have one near you, go...have a Texas Burger and fries with chunky applesauce...TO DIE FOR!
But not something you could eat everyday, so thankfully they are an hour drive away.

Saturday we had W.W.K.I.P. Day.

We went to the Old Boys' Brewhouse and were able to sit out on the deck and enjoy the sunny day.


The Sarge and I got there early and we ordered lunch
Oh my goodness it was good!
I also had 3 or 4 margaritas..but who is counting?

We had a good turn out.
Nikstergirl, Asemumma, Asemumma's Daughter E who knits, Deborah, MIL, Jan and myself all sat around and had a wonderful afternoon filled with knitting and gabbing.


Lots of door prizes were handed out




I hope everyone had fun.
Onward to next year.

Thanks everyone for a great weekend!