Sunday, January 31, 2010

Please pardon the delay

If you watch the news we are now considered to be 'recovering' from the horrible winter storms of 2010. Sure. Whatever. We had a bit of ice and snow last Thursday and Friday, but all-in-all, not bad. I did update the shop pretty well on Thursday - Friday I developed cabin fever and cast on a new project (the current projects just weren't gettin' it for me) and Saturday I spent the day pedaling yarn at Loops. Others must have been feeling cabin fever as well, because we had significant amount of traffic, under the circumstances.

A dear friend of mine gave birth to a darling baby boy on Saturday - and another dear friend of mine learned that her cancer is terminal - and is expected to be sent home from the hospital with hospice in tow. If you know me, you know I have an intimate relationship with cancer, and like many others, I hate it. I've not had cancer, but my mom did (pretty severely) my senior year in high school, my step-father died with cancer a few years ago, and my uncle currently has cancer. Cancer certainly sucks. Today is a great day to be nice to those you love, to sneak in a few extra hugs and kisses and i love you's, and just be thankful that you have the moment together.

Today John and I are headed over to help the new parents, who also have an 18-month-old. Talk about having your hands full! Life is ironic to say the least... And I'm now praying more than ever to be at peace with His plan rather than my own. It's times like these where one can easily lose faith if one does not turn it ALL over.

Stay tuned for sporatic shop updates throughout the week... I leave you with the buttons and dumpling bag, that for some odd reason, are reason enough to smirk right now!




Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Husband Diaries

Today - like most days - I'm completely and intensely studying all of the latest FO's on Ravelry while doing a mental check on my current yarn stash and what I could possibly make... Lots! Let's just say I could make 15 sweaters from that stash and then some... But - I asked my husband for some words of encouragement to sew and not play around on Ravelry... This is what I got:

Positive motivation: You are doing so great at making bags...I'm so proud of you! You do a great job and should be proud of the work you do! With the money you are making you can buy more fabric! :-)

Negative motivation: Get to work or I'll stop cooking you dinner!

John wins motivation: Get to work or I'll buy a 60 inch TV this weekend!

Motivation that is usually meant for a kid:
Get to work or I'll take away your Nintendo!

I forgot one....

The do something nice for your husband motivation: Get to work so your husband can have a bigger computer monitor at work and he'll be a better employee!

Gotta love him, right?


I know, I'm a great hubby! XOXO

Friday, January 15, 2010

It's Friday - Again!

I hope that I am not creating a pattern of only blogging on Friday's - I guess if I do, though, that will still be more consistent than what I've been in the past...

This week has been busy and productive. I finally feel like I am getting the shop restocked after the busy holiday and I'm finishing off some pending orders... I also feel like we've accomplished something on the house front this week; not sure if I mentioned it, but it seemed that as of December we were kind of on a stand still with the house. No additional furniture had been purchased - no additional boxes unpacked. Stand. Still. My front living area happens to be a cluster of no longer used dining room chairs, etc. Well... this week I ordered two chairs and an ottoman for the front room to match our new couch that will hopefully be headed our way soon! Once all the furniture is in I plan to start my hunt for the perfect coffee tables, pillows (go Pier One!), and art work. I came across this wreatch today at Purlbee.com made of felt and colorful thread and feel like I must make it with coordinating furniture colors! I've already printed off the template and will head to JoAnn's this weekend for some natural colored felt. I usually do not attempt to make such things to be on display in the house, but this seems pretty and doable - and will not be the focal point, so why not? I think I will also make a few coordinating fabric buckets to set under the end tables to keep WIP's available but somewhat hidden from visitors...

So I guess that's all for us right now in the land of Broken Arrow! I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend as well!!!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Week in Review

Happy Friday everyone! This week we will count as a success ~ I have managed to finish the sleeves on the Oatmeal Pullover and wear it once... My photographer was absent so I will try to throw it on again this weekend for some modeled shots... One more sweater lacking sleeves! Yay! My bmom made me the 'Tess' sweater... I blocked it and will likely wear it today or tomorrow. Once blocked it grew a little, but I moved the buttons over for a more asymmetrical fit and all was well with the world!

I'm happy to report that I've cooked THREE times this week! Yes, three. Whole. Times. That means, we did not eat out one meal - for dinner, that is. I am uber excited about going to WW tomorrow to weigh in! I definitely feel a bit more svelte this week (and I cheated and stepped on the scale), but it has kept me motivated, right?

I've spent time with two great friends this week and am going to lunch and knit with a third! One friend is my complete inspiration for the new bag design that will be in the shop this week... The prototype is photographed below.

Tonight we're having friends over - and I have my pork in the crock pot cooking away for carnitas! YUM! Tomorrow is kind of a free day except John has to work - he has to work a Saturday each quarter... So I'm thinking we may need to dine out tomorrow. And Sunday (I think we'll go to mass) and then we're heading out to visit our friends, the Thummels... They have a fairly new baby boy and a precious toddler girl running around - so we're going to take a meal over there and feast with friends and enjoy the kiddos...

I hope you have had a great week - have a more enjoyable weekend - and enjoy the bag pics below! If you're interested in a bag prior to their being placed in the shop simply leave me a message and we can work up a custom order for you!



Monday, January 4, 2010

The girl who can't do everything still tries

Ok, January 4th! New week in a new year! I'll acknowledge that I cannot possibly do everything, but I'm still going to try! Today I start a part-time job at a doctor's office... funny how I used to work a full-time job and sew and now the proposition of working 20 hours a week and sewing seems overwhelming. What gives? At any rate, I've enlisted the help of my friend Jessica to organize my schedule! Sometimes looking from the outside one can see opportunities that the other cannot.

I need time to 1) Sew, 2) Study for the Real Estate Exam, 3) Work my 20 total hours per week split between the yarn shop and doctors office, 4) Knit (of course)! Oh, and I also need to spend time with my husband, cook, house chores... Luckily spending time with John is easily facilitated by simply living in the same household.

What's on your agenda? How are you organizing your new year? I eventually need to work in some exercise time, but figure exercise can occur concurrently with studying for the real estate exam. I study well on the elliptical!

I've updated the fortune cookies in the shop today... Stop on by if you feel so inclined! Happy Monday and have a magnificent week!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!

I opened blogger to reply to a blog and feel like I should stop and say something... "Happy New Year?" Maybe? I would like to THANK EVERYONE for their patronage of RoseKnits in 2009. I distributed around 550 bags in 2009!!! That is amazing for something I was doing on the side... I am excited and anxious to see what 2010 will bring in that regard! So, again, thank you so much.

On the life front... Life has been hectic, hectic, hectic. For some reason I had almost convinced myself that when the day job stopped on 12/4, life would almost instantly become this relaxing place where I lived. Not so much. It seems I have the ability to turn any relaxing situation into a hectic one - and I also have the ability to stress myself out entirely on my own without anyones help! I booked a week of travel to NJ to hang out with my little one - home for six days - then headed off to Detroit to spend Christmas with the "other" side of my family.

Since we've been back we've tried to catch up with friends - and more family. I have high hopes for this year - and I still hope for something that resembles relaxation. I have quite figured out how to incorporate the relaxation part into my schedule, but surely I'll get it one day!

I wish for you all a very happy 2010 filled with inspirational and relaxing experiences :-) (Got the experience part from my "sister" Annie - to hell with resolutions!)