It is official....

I finally set an official opening date for the yarn shop.  It is going to be Black Friday, Nov. 29.  Granted I am not opening until 2 in the afternoon but that is the date.  Now I just have to hustle to get every little thing done that is not done so far. 
I work better under pressure. LOL.
There isn't really THAT much left to do but it is the little nicety that seem to take so much time to do them up just right.  I am sure I will still be working on the shop months after it is open but that is just me.  I want it to be just perfect, which can't really ever happen, but as close as I can get it. 
I need to take some pix and post them.  No one reads this but still I will do it.  I just can't seem to post from my phone.  If I could it would be no problem.  Hmm, let me give it one more try.
Maybe I'll be right back with a new post and pictures.

We Are Open.......Well sort of

I unofficially opened the yarn shop last Monday.  Then Tuesday night some of our "Knit Night" gals came over to help me stock the shelves.  We did not get it all done.
I worked on it off and on this past week and it is still not done. 

We will be having Knit Night again Tuesday.  Hoping they will be willing to help out a bit more.  I have a problem in that I have more yarn that I have shelf space.  Going to have to put some in totes and bring it out later.

Still not advertising done.  Any ideas?

Soon as I figure out how to post from my phone I will put some pictures up on here so I can see them.  LOL

Til next time.

Here We Go Again.....

Guess it is time to post something on here. I am sure no one even checks it any more but here goes nothing.

My last post I told of my beloved Saint Bernard passing. Later that same year I lost my beloved mother-in-law (still too raw to talk about, I loved her dearly) and acquired her mini doxey, Hannah. Hannah is a long haired dapple dachshund and has blue around one of her eyes, hince her name, Hannah Banana Blue. She is a sweetie. I kid that I went from a 165 pound Saint to a 25 pound mini doxey. What a difference. It was a difference that I really needed.

Hannah is a real lover and is my constant companion when I am home. I never thought I would love a doxey, but I do. She is my girl. She and Coley both vie for the prime spot on me which is on my chest so they can tuck their head under my chin. Really helps with the knitting. Haha.

I am about to embark on a new venture. A friend of mine had a yarn shop but it was rather far out in the country so I am going to take over the running of it and move it here to my place which is only about 2 miles out in the country. I had planned to open this past Monday, the 21st, but that just did not happen so I am GOING to open next Monday the 28th even if I only have two skeins of yarn in it. I need to get over to her house and pick up the shelves and get the rest of the yarn. I am running out of time to get things done.

At the present time I will not be online with the shop, just a brick and mortar shop. I hope to get it online at some time. For now I am just trying to get it all done here and open.

I plan to have classes and lessons available here. Tuesday night will be "knit" night but would more properly be called fiber night as we have ladies who knit, crotchet, quilt, spin, weave, and felt. So if you do any kind of portable needle work you are welcome to come on out.

That is about it for now. Hope to post again soon.


Ta....Judy

Good Bye, sweet Katie

January 23 my darling St. Bernard Katie left me. She was 12 years, 7 months, and 17 days old. That is a long life for a St. Bernard.
Katie had a good life with lots of love and attention. She was an almost constant companion of mine. When we went to look at the puppies SHE chose me and we were best buds from then on. We traveled together whenever we could. She went to North Carolina with us when we went to visit Dean. She went to Virginia with us when Dale was working there. She went to town with me tons of times. She was well known in several stores around town. When we opened the pet bakery she went to work with me until she started having mobility issues.
For the past several months her mobility was progressively getting worse. By the end her hindquarters did not work at all. I had made a sling to lift her so we could go outside to potty. It was hard to lift her sometimes but I continued to do it, with Dale's help sometimes.
She was a very special pet. I have a vertigo problem and when Kate still came upstairs to sleep I woke more than once to find her laying across me so I couldn't get up. When I would wake I would be very dizzy. Katie knew. She would also keep me from standing when she sinced a vertigo bout coming on.
Pets are much smarter than a lot of people give them credit for.
Monday when I got home from the nursing home Kate was whimpering. She was laying flat on her side in the family room. She had phlegm all aroud her head and front legs. I called my son to come in. I cleaned her up as much as I could and talkec to her. I called Dale at work and he headed right home. I noticed that Katie was bloated and called the vet. The vet said she thought Katie had a twisted stomach. Surgery was the only way to fix it. I could not put Kate through that at her age since the vet said she only had about a 25% chance. It nearly killed me but I had to let her go.
She is gone but will not be forgotten. She will always be my baby.
Thank you for 12 1/2 wonderful years, my sweet Kate. Mommy loves you.

SnowDrop,,,the final chapter

SnowDrop is finally done. I just need to block it and it will be ready to wear. I hope to get it blocked sometime tomorrow. Soon as I do I'll get pics and post them.

SnowDrop and other things.....

I am still plugging along on the Snowdrop Shawl. I have made it past the halfway mark for the border. I was thinking that I would have it done so I could wear it to Grand Commandery this coming weekend. Not sure it that will happen or not, but I am going to give it a good try. If I finish knitting it I will probably not have time to block it. Keeping fingers crossed that I get it all finished.

We had to put my Mom in rehab in a nursing home yesterday. That was a very hard thing to do. She can't walk and can't even support her weight on her feet now. There was just no way Dad and I could continue to take care of her at home. We are hoping that the rehab will get her back up on her feet so we can bring her back home. Prayers please.

I plied my first ever sock yarn and made a rookie mistake. I had spun the singles clockwise as I always do and then when I started to ply them I also plied them clockwise, instead of counter clockwise. I started plying them late at night when I was dog tired and didn't even realize what I had done. The yarn is really tightly spun so I am not sure if I can use it or not to make socks. I have it on the niddy-noddy right now and will leave it on there for a while and then check it out. If it is ruined I have more that I can try again.

I really need to get back to my sweater that I started last winter from my own hand spun. I have had to spin more yarn 3 times now. Hope I have enough now to finish the sweater. If not I still have some of the fiber so I can spin some more. Just as soon as I finish SnowDrop I am going to get the sweater out (Celtic Cardy) and finish it up. I should be a really warm sweater and I think this winter is going to be really cold so I will probably be wearing it a lot. I love my hand knit sweaters for winter. They are so much warmer that store bought ones.

Bye for now.

Monday

The SnowDrop is going slowly. I have pretty much laid it aside because I don't really like working on the border. I will get it done, just not right now.
I have a sweater that I started last year that I really need to finish up. It is languishing because it is made from my own spun yarn and I have had to spin more twice now and it looks as though I may still have to spin some more. I need to finish it so I can wear it this winter.
I finished my nephew's socks. Well, I still need to sew the round together at the top and then tuck in the ends and they will be done. So for all purposes, they are done.
I started on the Primrose socks from summer Knitty but I was having a heck of a time with the left twist. I just could not get the PTBL trying to do it on the second stitch. I know how to do it, I just could not get the yarn and needles to cooperate with me. So I frogged them for now. Maybe another yarn will work. Others have done it so I can too,

From August 10 until September 2 I worked ft/pt at a plastic injection molding plant down the road a ways from us that friends own. They needed some extra help so I pitched in. I really was harder work that I could do on a long term basis so I was glad to see Sept 2 come. I do thank them for the chance to do the work though. The 3 ladies that I worked with were all super nice.

Now I am going to be helping to take care of my Mom. They were going to have to hire someone to come in and help Dad with her so I offered and Dad jumped on it. So I am back to work again for a time.

Have almost spun all of my Lapiz merino. I have about 8 more very small balls to spin and then I can start plying it. I am hoping to be able to make some 3 ply sock yarn. I love the color and the feel of the yarn. We will see.

I don't know why it is, but I cannot publish a post on here from my laptop. I can write it and save it but not publish it. I have to come out here to the office to publish it. That is such an irritant. Oh, well. I don't post very often anyway.

I'll try to get some pictures taken and post them here sometime in the next few months. LOL

Later.