Tilt-a-whirl

Putzlesnutz!

I know, I know...dead or alive, yatta yatta yatta. (where would we be without the Seinfeld references?) Yesterday, in case you happened to tune in for one minute, there was a time when my freaking shopping cart stuff was not operating properly and I blogged about it. Thank goodness those of you who REALLY wanted yarn were tenacious enough to either keep hitting CONFIRM ORDER or just plain emailed me to figure out what the BLEEP was going on. I'm telling you, it was the fault of Frick and Frack Putzlesnutz, the lovely Hungarian webhosts up in Canada. They decided to upgrade some software or program for my shopping cart right in the middle of the day. Yeah, sweet, I know. It took me whining and sending atomic messages and just all out pestering them to have them understand that NO, they had NOT fixed it. Guh! Twenty four hours later, they were still futzing. Finally one of them decided to try to place an order on my site and Ohhhhhhhhhhhh. Duh.

So, here is what has been going on lately at Chez S...Lime & Violet shenanigans are keeping me bizzy and I am still trying to figure out how in the WORLD I am going to have enough to bring to Stitches East. We bring in more troops, that's all. Friday and Monday saw Tink's best friend, Denise here helping with tagging and inventory. What a blessing it all is, cuz this old broad was getting a little bit over-tired. Troops help, big time. One great thing is that while chatting with Doll Maker extraordinaire, <a href=">Mari Morris  the other day, I got the message loud and clear that there was a better way for me to get my stock across country, without breaking the bank. Amtrak. This will also give me another week, instead of the super early and ridiculous deadline for the stock to get to Maryland, if we went through their decorator with a trucking company. Phooey, Louie. So, The Husband was a man with a mission and hooked us up, getting the info and we will be able to have more time, which means a LOT at this point. Thank you, Mari.

I might as well tell you that very soon I will be adding three new yarns to the site and will eliminate some old timers that are not serving me as well anymore (why oh why do mills turn out crap after so many years?). I have been dyeing Blue Faced Leicester yarn for some time now and enjoying the heck out of it. The first garment created with it is gorgeous. People who have bought El Dorado, which is a kid/silk sport weight yarn, have been bugging me to get it up on the site and so when I get a minute the photography will commence and poor Holly will have her hands full. Third is a rolly polly little bat faced girl, nah...it's just lovely Big Wool, a heavy worsted that takes color like Jack the Bear and is a felter's dream. Teasing, I know...too bad, it's fun. :o)

Last but not least...I have been stealing a few minutes out on the front porch, resting my back and listening to Hummy Wars. The thing riveting me to my seat is the latest book by my talented friend Vicki Stiefel called The Grief Shop. This is the third in the series of books with a ballsy female homocide grief counselor who uses common sense and intuition to get to the heart of the mystery. I am just loving it and highly recommend it to anyone who loves shows like House or CSI or Law & Order. This book is very hard to put down...darn it. Hey, she even has knitting references in there! Great read, Vicki.

Nose above the water

There is some stuff that has been keeping me busy around here. REALLY busy.
Yeah, that's right. It is The Lime & Violet  Tag that accompanies the skeins of yarn that were in a great big pile, which is now symbolized by a dent where more should be. SIGH. The girls will have a new mic and I have lots of new people hanging around the place. Win, win...big time. They will continue to have surprises for you so stay tuned.

Oh, another new thing...I am beginning the dyeing process on a sport weight superfine Superwash Merino . Yeah, a mouthful but oh MAN is is gorgeous stuff. You will just have to order and wait because I just got it but I promise that it will be worth it...we are swooning.

I'm hearing the constant pounding of the drum in my head because I have a really really close deadline to get my stock dyed and packed for pickup by the freight company, heading it cross country to Baltimore for Stitches East. If I am a little shorter and greyer when you see me, this is why. It is just a big adventure for this West Coast Woman to come east. It is a big investment but I have so many of you on the east coast that I have such a tie to and this year was the perfect year to come to meet you in person. If it is anything like Stitches West, it should be a blast...especially with a bunch of my pals within close proximity. Awesome.

On the homefront. Well, the MIL is installed  in her new home. Her room is large and bright and the other residents (she is one of five) are alert and nice. Of course NOW she has had a setback with her mental situation, which I guess can be triggered by such a move. It is daunting but we will visit her today and try to drag her back to reality. The caregivers are very sweet and we found that one of the residents, who is probably my mother's contemporary (she is 8 years the MIL's junior) was born at Fabiola Hospital, just as my mother was. This Oakland hospital became the first Kaiser Hospital...the same place where MY children were born. She lived in the same neighborhood that was our stomping grounds and so the conversation got flowing quickly. Small world.

Hey, I started a new book (who had time for reading? ) last night. I needed to calm down from the hysteria around here and so I took a bubble bath and finally cracked Vicki Stiefel's new book called The Grief Shop. It is the third in her series of murder mysteries starring Tally Whyte, the intrepid grief counselor/sleuth/intuitive and I called Vic a Vixen because now I am hooked. I am so glad to have cracked it last night because it kept me happy at the dentist's office while I waited for my mother. Great job, Vicki...I am fully engaged and can't wait for a quiet moment to get another chapter devoured...perhaps earlier to bed, eh?

I see that my buddy Alison The Storyteller Hyde has finally succumbed to the blogging pressure...good job Richard. I hope that you will visit her, if you are not familiar with her stories and it should help you get to know Alison and be ready when her book comes out next summer.

Fear not, I am well and will make it through the onslaught, with the help of Tink and the extra help that will come my way. Thanks to everyone that has already ordered their LimeNViolet and  for those of you readying yourselves for their KAL...I will have the dye ready to sling.

Good energy

I tell you people, it started on Thursday...the steady drumbeat coming from people that heard that there was an official Lime & Violet colorway coming out of Lafayette, California. The Husband and I had to leave the house on Thursday evening to visit the last two Board&Care homes and by the time we got home, the inbox was vibrating. Ok, gulp...I did the initial run in Sock! and so WHY are they all shopping for the Merino? Tsk.

So, back to the MIL saga. We found the house that we hope will be the best for her, where she will be happy, have plenty of room to engage (or not) and best of all it is a home big enough to allow for a Shnicklefritz The Crawler visit, without impacting anyone in any other way than positive. (I keep singing the Talking Heads song...baby, baby, he's just a plaything, I wanna make him stay up all night.) Look OUT, squealing crawler coming through! The house is here in Lafayette and in a nice woodsy setting about a mile from here. The best thing is that we found her the biggest room of all of the places we visited (not fancy) and it fit right into the budget. WHEW! Oh yeah and this house has people pretty fully in touch with reality...everyone is alert, which is a blessing. One Down! Now I hope that we can move her in right away so that I can have a certain porch full of my MIL's belongings be divided between her new abode and charity. That's Two.

So, today...Brenda/AKA Tinkerbelle came early and a little droopy for a fairy. Yup, enthusiastic and willing but just feeling kind of OFF. We called in the reinforcements and here comes Audrey (awesome knitter number two) to help us get the unwanted big skeins (another story) of Sock! Merino cut down to the right size for dyeing. Oh man, did I need HER today. Tink got right to work and began the rinsing of the first gang of skeins of LimeNViolet. She was a trooper but then she was going to have to bump up her energy for tonight...you see, The Fairy is a Raider's Fan. Weird, I know...the Monsters of the Black Hole like the little knitting woman...:o) We'll see if The Husband, who is up in the Nose Bleed section can pick her out of the crowd down in the NON nose bleed section. I am just happy to be HERE...believe me.

That's Three.

Number four came in before noon...a phone call from a certain man back from The Brink. Yes People, my Brother From Another Mother, Tom Clark, has done a lot in the past few days. He packed up his car and left his parent's house in Idaho and drove back to LA (no, I told no one because you might have worried) to pick up the essentials...his computer, his yarn and his stock of caps that were in storage while he went to Italy. Uh huh...I know, this guy is 6 weeks from having almost died and now he drives to LA and then yesterday drove up to the Bay Area to install himself with friends in Mill Valley. Remarkable, isn't it? You see what the power of positive energy/prayer/whatever you want to call it can do? So...today I get a call from a guy sitting on Stinson Beach saying that he is going to leave there (!) and head on over to play. I mean it, he came to play in the yarn bins and just hang with me and the girls, talking yarn, crochet and life. Life IS good, especially on the anniversary of such a day. I thank the power.

Well, tomorrow is the Podcast. If you don't hear from me, I will be out there slinging yarn and The Girls will be in HERE getting stuff ready for shipping. Yowza.

Pictures later...

LimeNViolet, baby...

Ok, the Cat is out of le Bahg. Violet started flapping her lips and so the secret is a secret no more. (That's ok, I gave her permission to squeak and squee, so it is all cool.) I was asked the other day by said Mme Violet and her Pal Ms Lime if I would like to partner with them for an official colorway to help benefit their Mic Fund AKA keep the lights on for the wacky podcasters. Oh, hell, why not...I love a challenge and every time I come in from the Dye-raj I can hear them yammering on through my computer, thanks to Tink and her love of podcasts. That's it, people. I did the test run last night and perfected what I consider to be a damn fine representation of these gals...harmonious color opposites with the ensuing party between them. You are going to love it and you will also like knowing that instead of raising the price to cover the money that goes to the girls, I am making it my donation and you can thank me by buying even MORE yarn. :o) HEY! it's only fair, n'est ce pas?

Here it is LimeNViolet.

Holly the Web Goddess is working on fired it up onThe Site as I write this so keep checking already. I am taking orders and setting skeins aside for people but won't ship until I get the official LimeNViolet tag from the girls. What fun. Thanks for the challenge.

Now it is time to get cleaned up to go look at the last two homes for The MIL. I feel like Goldilocks. SIGH.

A great Bunch of Knitters...

Lucky. Yup, that's me. There are such talented and fun people in my broadening circle of customer/friends (we just fold you in...) and I love having these show and tell days to let other people see the cool things that you are doing. It always makes my day when I get an email with pictures or a link to your blogs where you are displaying your beautiful work. You know, I got a map from The National Geographic Society recently and I told myself that I wanted to put marks on it for all of the places that you live. It always thrills me to see a new country or new region in a country already "claimed". It just does not get old and I appreciate every one of you.

Let's see, first there is Dominique from Arizona, who made these really cute kid's socks in Agua Fresca. So cushy and delightful, Dominique.

Next came Sophie's beautiful rendition of Chery Oberle's North Sea Shawl, knitted with Fingering in South Pacific. You can see her beautiful work here It is quite a lovely piece and you can see what an accomplished knitter Sophie is. Brava!

We move on to Luxembourg. I have been watching the progress of Eva's Swallowtail shawl and got a great picture that she took of her co-worker modeling the shawl. Very cool! I love it when people are not afraid of color and Eva proves that if you don't worry, it will turn out great!

Ok, back to this continent. I got a note tonight from someone that you people that got your Emerald City Sock! have to thank...Miss Judith. She wanted to show me what Gendarme! looks like knitted in a simple Stockinette (I have seen a fabulous mosaic knit, which changed up the colors quite a bit) and how cool it looks. You can see it here Way cool...no, wait...warm, snuggly warm. What fun to see my children knitted up and it is ironic that this came in today because the last thing in today's dye runs was just that...Gendarme!. Thank you, Judith. I love it. See?  What wonderful knitters.

On the homefront, we have visited our second Board & Care Home tonight, looking for a nice place for my MIL to live. The first one was right down the hill from us and a bit shabby but the residents seemed quite happy. The amazing thing was to find the 99 year old man who started Toys For Tots, oh so many years ago, living there. The second house was Doll House Cute but smaller, which could be bothersome for the MIL. Two more nights of this and then we (he) will decide. The closeness of the house in Lafayette is very good and perhaps the things that bother ME won't be an issue for HER. Stay tuned.

Needless to say...part deux

Well, the planets let go of something and so The Web Goddess was able to finally upload the The Circular Needle page  on Sheila and Michael's site. Now you can see them up close. I have number 5 and 6 as well as (Be Still My Heart) number 16. Go buy some, will ya? I am entitled to enable you because I paid full freight, like a civilian...this is how much I love these needles.

Needless to say...

I am waiting to see how a certain bunch of idiots at a nameless internet server get their act together so that Sheila and Michael can get their needles up on their website because believe me, People...you need to buy these things. The points are fiercely pointy and the cording is pliable like fresh licorice whips. I have three pair in my favorite sizes and let me tell you, they are delicious. Here are mine.

Aren't they PRETTY? While we wait for their server to allow them to upload the needle shopping page, cruise on over to Sheila's Blog and contact her that way. Think gifts, for you or for your favorite knitters.

We had a lovely lovely time in Folsom yesterday, having a get together with The Daughter and her little family, as well as the SIL's folks, up from Orange County. You would think that Schnicklefritz would have performance anxiety with so many pairs of grandparent eyes checking out every little something or other.  The funny thing is that he has changed in his tricks, within one week that he had me busting out laughing the whole time. I now refer to his delight at seeing his daddy's water bottle as The Fliptop Head grin, which is accompanied by the sucked in laugh. My oh my, we grandparents are just so easily amused...it just brings back memories of when our kids were that little. Delightful and a wonderful visit. The kids are lucky to have both sets of parents long married and happy to be with their peers. It makes for a really healthy family.

This week I got two new designs in from Judy Sumner . They are really delightful and one is quite girlie and the other is a new favorite of mine. Check out Tropical Dream and Quail in the Woods. We will have them on the site soon but in the meantime, you can see them here.

Time to get out to the dyeroom.

Heading into the weekend

Tying up loose ends. Yeah, Mars HAS made me pissed off, Eva. It's ok, I didn't see him today and by yesterday afternoon the issues were beginning to work themselves out.

Tink brought the first patterns for her wonderful cap pattern yesterday and Holly will get that up on the site sometime soon. Fat Bunny is up on the site NOW. It was as if another pixie sprinkled glitter on me while I slept...oh, look! Holly did it! Thank you, Holly. Remember, you can ask for it in all of the normal colors. We have skeined it in the size that is perfect for the knitted hat pattern but of course Tom says that it takes more for crochet, so if that is your fancy...you will have to get a second one. or ask me to send you a large skein.

The monster load of yarn for Sock! will be heading down to me today. We still have mill issues but will be as vigilant as we can be to cull any yarn with knots as we skein so that you have my top quality. The yarn is still wonderful but it means that we have to do more to make it perfect for YOU. I am letting go of this issue and handing off the responsibility to The Husband, who promises to be anal retentive with the winding machine. One less thing for me to worry about.

On the homefront news; we have found someone to help us find a board & care home for my MIL. She went to the hospital a week ago Thursday with a swollen leg (Cellulitis) and has been dealing with this issue ever since. It will delay her getting into a homelike setting, at least until all of the antibiotics have been administered but we need to secure a room in one of the places ASAP. The freight on the place she has been living in is 6K per month...stunning and eye watering. Before she was allowed to get this infection, she would have been able to move over to a B&C for half of that money. Perhaps she will get better care at the smaller home, one of which is within walking distance of us...that would be great but we'll see which home we like the best. When I was a little kid, they called them Rest Homes and there was one across the street from us, in a residential neighborhood. I think that it is much nicer for her to have a room where she can be looked after and where kids play outside...back in life.

Speaking of life. Here is my life this morning. To my right is Tank, who is sitting just under my right arm, waiting for me to attept to use the mouse. He slips his cold nose under my hand and flips it up on his head for petting. I find it annoying AND hilarious but being a good mother I try to keep a stern demeanor. He is not a little boy anymore! Speaking of NOT LITTLE...do you see the real estate that Sasha takes up when she is on my left? She really is the size of a small pony and forgets herself sometimes, which is why the little baby who loved her kisses one day is now terrified of her. Ugh.

I was so pissed off about missing the mailman yesterday. (he pretends to ring the bell and then counts to two, turning to go back to the truck...grrrrrrrr) I missed getting my needles from Sheila and  Michael Ernst but promise to post pictures as soon as I snag the package from the post office. I can't wait because I got the ooh lala Gypsy Queen glass, which I will just want to stare at all of the time. This is my reward for liking to knit on size 10 needles (death grip) but now I will steal time to knit!

One last picture for you until I can get my needles. My buddy Robin Senior created a positively sinful critter for the world, which turned out to be just perfect for ME. Here is my Little Devil and while I wear my angel pins a lot of the time, there are certainly times (lately...) when I feel that this dude would suit my mood.  Positively naughty!