Posts from — March 2006

:scream:Oh boy! I got not just one but two shipments of yarn for the store. Opal sock yarn and Diakeito. I haven’t seen Diakeito around much but it’s a fantastic yarn…very similar to Noro. Too bad my *^(^*()&@! site has been down all day! I stayed up until 3 last night working on the “situation” and thought I had it resolved. Servers and PHP seem to have a mind of their own though. I’ve worked on it all day (AGAIN!) and its Miller time.

I did get a little knit done. This cute flower was a kit that a I got from my Secret pal 7…Carole. Felting to follow. I’ve never hand felted in a sink before.

:scream:Oh boy! I got not just one but two shipments of yarn for the store. Opal sock yarn and Diakeito. I haven’t seen Diakeito around much but it’s a fantastic yarn…very similar to Noro. Too bad my *^(^*()&@! site has been down all day! I stayed up until 3 last night working on the “situation” and thought I had it resolved. Servers and PHP seem to have a mind of their own though. I’ve worked on it all day (AGAIN!) and its Miller time.

I did get a little knit done. This cute flower was a kit that a I got from my Secret pal 7…Carole. Felting to follow. I’ve never hand felted in a sink before.

Keep your fingers crossed for me. I’m hoping to get the store back up soon (I know the techie gods are laughing their butts off about now).

:pullouthair:Now it’s totally official. My brain is toast. This is the third attempt at writing this post. It seems in the midst of all my PHP and SQL learning that my brain has been fried. Let’s pause a moment now while I’m remembering to hit the “save” button (tricky little bugger)!

I’ve spent the last two days configuring the my store site and shopping cart (feel free to stop by if you’d like to see the fruits of my labor…not too many products yet but more coming soon). The good news is that my cart is free, secure and coming along. Secure payments by Pay Pal. Not ideal, but the least expensive for a startup business. The bad news is that the cart requires a lot of PHP and SQL knowledge. I tend to enjoy getting my geek on tho*hit save button*ugh, so I can’t really complain too much. And I’ve learned a lot! In fact, if you’re looking for some cheap labor to take the headache out of customizing your own “Zen Cart”, I’m your gal.

In an effort to distract you from the fact I have no real post here, I gi*hit save you big dummy*ve you pictures. Seems to work for Jenla and CAP (though they only do it occasionally and they usually have much more exciting pictures) so here ya go…handpainted yarn, one felted flower coming along and fat Rocky. Pretend you’re amused.

I really have a good reason for not posting. I’ve mentioned here and there in the past my desire to start a knitting business. Well…for all intents and purposes, it has finally happened. I just received my first shipment today…Denise Knitting Needles. As y’all know, my favorite! I have Diakeito yarn and Opal sock yarn on the way. I hope to be adding many new products soon. I hope you’ll consider shopping with me! I plan to have discounts coupon codes along the way. please sign up for the newsletter by creating a customer account. I hope to have a newsletter subscription only soon. Please let me know if you have any suggestions and what you’d like to see.

From the amount of pictures today, it might look like I was exceptionally prolific this weekend. I really didn’t do much knitting though. What I did knit just happened to be pretty fast.

First, a felted bag that I have named “the Sunflower.” I’m pretty happy with it even though it’s a little off what I envisioned. I also experimented with a short row toe for my toe up socks. I also tried a couple of different ways dealing with the holes that the wrap stitch creates. I think I like the short row method better than the increase from the figure eight cast on, but I need to keep experimenting a bit to get both sides the same. While neither side has holes, each side looks a little different. Anal, I know. Especially for somrthing that spends it’s life covered up by a shoe.

Finally, my other weekend project…baking a cake for dessert at a friends house. It turned out well and fortunately I was able to convince them to let me leave it there. The last thing I need right now is some delicious cake only a few steps away in the kitchen! Not only do I need to lose a couple of pounds, but according to a free screening at Sam’s Club, my cholesterol is a little high. I just went to the doctor today to have it checked.

It’s always a mystery to me…even when I was running a lot and eating well my cholesterol was 220 (borderline high, but HDL of 88 which is very high and good…if HDL were normal, I’d be below 200). Even though I haven’t gotten back into my full running routine, I can’t believe it has gone up more. I generally eat very healthy…lots of veggies, little red meet, extra virgin olive oil and low fat foods (above chocolate cake notwithstanding :shock:). I’d rather not take a pill if I don’t have to but if it is high, what the heck am I going to be allowed to eat? I guess if I have to restrict my diet a lot more at least that will help get a couple of pounds off. Wish me luck! I should have the numbers tomorrow.

:scream:Last night I cast off Jim’s boring black socks. I hope to have him model them at some point so they seem slightly less boring. I did these two at a time toe up. It’s great to have them finished at the same time, but it seemed to take forever. Mostly because there is only so much plain black sock knitting I can take. And because Jim has size 12 feet. And because he is 6′ 4″ and wanted socks that reach to the knee. NEVER AGAIN people! I would need at least some color to convince my brain that knitting 16″ of leg is not the most boring thing ever.

I finally got to Lambikin’s Hideaway yesterday for the big sale. I was worried that all of the good stuff would be gone by now, but I was able to find plenty. LOTS of stuff on sale. Especially if you like like fluffy, scarf yarn. I have no idea what I am going to do with it, but Cascade Magnum with 250g at $12.60 was impossible to resist. It’s easily soft enough for scarves if I can’t come up with something more creative. I also treated myself to two more skeins of Karabella Gossamer since the sale reduced it by $10 a skein.:shock: Some Dune since I have admired a shawl Julie made with it and sock yarn, because you know I don’t have enough of that!:rofl:

Of course, I have several WIP’s I could begin work on again. I think I’m going to cast on something new though…need some excitement. Have a great weekend!

Four and a half days in sunny Ft. Lauderdale, three and a half repeats of Diamond Fantasy, two and a half rippings of Diamond Fantasy, one and a half books read and half a pound gained. A successful trip.

My mother in law lives in Ft. Lauderdale half the year and we have been fortunate enough to visit her twice a year for the past 12 years. It’s nice to be in a vacation spot where you know where things are…lowers the stress level even more than the white beach and hot sun. I LOVE to get out of Cincinnati in the winter whenever I can.
It’s nice that the accommodations are free and within walking distance of the beach (not that I ever go there, seriously…not a beach babe…although I do love to run on the sidewalk right on the beach). Our visit this time overlapped with Jim’s brother and niece, which made our time there extra fun.

Notable discoveries…Greek Islands Taverna: delicious food and always packed. My new favorite. Hi-Life Cafe: On the expensive side but VERY good. The roasted pablano soup was delicious and my shrimp very tasty. Their “Pre-Theater Price Fixe Menu” (aka the Early Bird, served from 5:30-6:30) is a great deal. Salad, Entree, Dessert and Coffee for around $25.00 and of course, we were there in time to take advantage. Bonnet House: This piece of property has an interesting history. The lady of the house continued to winter there until her death at age 109 (WOW) in 1995. Check out these aerial views of the property comparing the “village” that was Ft. Lauderdale in 1931 to 1988. Unfortunately, many of the trees and other fauna were severely damaged by the hurricanes last year. The house suffered little, probably due to the protection the trees provided.

Moving on to today. Reality…it’s raining, 40 degrees, there is no food in the house, I just had warm egg salad made with fat free mayo that was best used by October 25, 2005, vacation laundry and mail still needs to be sorted, need to lose weight, pets need to be picked up and a visit to the grocery store is a necessity not an option. Oh, and there is the big yarn sale that I really NEED to go to. I missed the first days of the sale due to my absense and if I don’t get there today there may very well be nothing left. And it’s already 12:07 pm. What’s a girl to do?

As a final note, Lambikins Hideaway (haver of previously mentioned huge yarn sale) has begun Olympic judging. Do your duty as a judge and go HERE to cast your scores for these fabulous projects!

:scream:Well, I can finally open my big mouth. I had a pattern accepted by MagKnits a while back and it is finally online in their March 2006 issue. Please check out my free Happy Socks pattern! I have another pattern that has been accepted by a different source but nothing official yet. You’ll be the first to know when it’s out though!

I’ve just about finished Jim’s boring black socks so I should have pictures of those tomorrow. Now I can move on to something more exciting…probably more socks since I’ll be needing another portable project the next few days.