Wowzer Wowzer Wow! It's December Y'all!!

The older I get, The faster the year goes by.  (Ray says there's some kind of mumbo jumbo sciencey thing that has proven that its not just my imagination.)

Li says that he doesn't want any other gifts just so long as he gets a go-kart.  I would love to get one for him but we just don't live in a place that he can safely ride around in one.  We are all hemmed in by a residential neighborhood and have a tiny yard.  So I tried to let him down gently and logically, but I know he still wants one.  O hasn't really made any specific wants made clear.  Of course, there will be legos.  I guess I ought to have the boys make a list.  Man, when I was a wee thing, I started making my list early and my kids have never really been big Christmas list makers.  I always have to remind them or I just go by the seat of my pants in the shopping.  Speaking of shopping, I haven't done that yet.

We have been very busy lately and I feel like I am constantly moving form one thing to the other right now.  Hopefully I can relax soon and not feel quite so 'Must Do All The Things Now!' for at least a few days!

I have been working on this hat for what feels like forever.  I WILL finish it today!  Theres not much left.

Thanksgiving 2014

Today has been a lovely day filled with family and good things to eat.  My mother, father, step mother, and her aunt came over for lunch today.  Even though I am not really 'feeling it' this year, it was a lovely meal.  The only things from scratch that I made were the turkey, the mashed potatoes, and the cranberry sauce.  Everything else was with frozen or from a box.  And you know what?  That's really just okay.  Today isn't about wowing my family with my amazing cooking skillz(and I do gots them), it really is about spending time with the people that give you joy.  For some of us that's the family we are born into, and for others, it's the family that we create by surrounding ourselves with awesome people.

Now, for a little shop announcement-I am offering free worldwide shipping now through Monday Dec 1.

I hope you are having a good day with people that you enjoy being around.

Brazen Friday 11/21/2014

I apologize for my bloggular silence, folks. This month has been real roller coaster ride.

This week I have been working on getting my items listed in my etsy shop.  And exciting news! My yarn is now available at a real life local yarn shop.  You can find a selection of Brazen Stitchery Yarns at Jennings Street Yarns in Fort Worth, TX.  ::Kermit Arms::

Here are some of the things that have been listed.  I still have some more batts and all the bags to list, so I have a busy weekend ahead getting that done.

Gandalf The Grey

 By Grabthars Hammer

 District 12

 Pure Blood Shorty Stripes

 TARDIS 3Some Stripe

 Captain Tight Pants 3Some Stripe

 The Hero Of Canton 3Some Stripe

 Vincent and The Doctor Batt

 Dodgeball Champion Gradient Batt

 Punky Monkey Gradient Batt

Witches Brew Gradient Batt

 The Hero of Canton Gradient Batt

So, big shop update doings, with more to come this weekend!

San Antonio Family Trip/Kid N Ewe 2014

Kid n Ewe was this past weekend.  So was Otha's 10Th birthday.  Last year I missed his birthday-(I KNOOOW, put me down on the Bad Mom List) and I vowed never to do that again.  So, I asked my booth partner whether she needed me there for put up or tear down.  She told me tear down, so I talked with R and we decided to turn this into an opportunity for a family trip to San Antonio which is not very far from Boerne.  So, last week was even crazier than the normal lead in to an away festival because I was not only crossing my t's and dotting my i's for Brazen Stitchery, but also getting the family stuff together and taking care of animal arrangements and all that stuff.

We took Clarence, The Rescue Bully, with us on trip because I very specifically booked a pet friendly hotel, so there was also making sure that we had everything for him.  Bru went to a friends house and Dot went to my moms. So they each had to have overnight bags and kennels with them as well.  Clarence was great once he settled into the trip and realized that we weren't taking him to the vet, Dot did well with my mom, but Bru had an 'accident' on our friends carpet, so next time we plan a trip, we will have to figure something else out.  She will either have to go to a kennel, or we will have to have someone in to house/pet sit because Urine In The Carpet is not how I want people to remember us.

While down in San Antonio, we saw the Alamo, The Fire Museum, and The Riverwalk.  The great thing about our hotel was that we were just blocks away from all of these things.  So we walked everywhere.

 
Otha chose Rainforest Cafe for his birthday which, unless he chooses it for his next Birthday, I am okay with not ever going there again.  But he had a blast, so that's all that matters.

Then, when we got up on Sunday, we checked out of the hotel and R dropped me off at Kid N Ewe.  Katie worked her tail feather off to get this booth up and was all alone for the first two days.  I don't know HOW she did it, but she did!  We are not happy with booth layout in actuality, what worked great in theory, did not work so great in the real world.  So we are going back to the drawing board on it.

Our next event is Yellow Rose Fiber Producers Festival in Seguin, TX January 9-10.  So, If you missed us this time, you can find us there in a little less than 2 months!

Kid N Ewe Prep

My life is consumed right now with preparing to do Kid N Ewe this weekend.  It's down in Boerne Tx which is close to San Antonio.

Here is a basket of fabulous yarn waiting for their labels.  I only lost 2 of the planned skeins of self striping.  One was so tangled I didn't even try to reskein it, the other went horribly wrong in the reskeining effort, so yarn for me!

 Katie of The Barbed Dragon came over so that we could figure out our booth set up.  She is going down alone and I am coming down the last day to help with tear down.  So, we had to get our booth figured out in my living room.

Life is very frantic right now-I am looking forward to next week when I can feel like I get a breath again.

Workin' It 10/30/2014

I have been getting up a little early this week in an effort to find some personal crafting time.  This week I have used that time to spin.

 I have also been dyeing in preparation for Kid N Ewe next weekend.

 And planning on dyeing up some yarn for my awesome sis in law.  Baby poop yellow and olive green it is!

This week I plan on continuing the spinning project and working on at least one of my languishing WIPs.

Weekending 10/27/2014

Getting back on track with the blog.  And hey!  I just noticed that I have SIX followers to my blog.  Woo!  Making it to the big time!

So, I have an announcement folks.  I have another job.  I think this makes it job five-That's 1. Wife 2. Mother 3. Teacher 4. Indie Shop Owner and now 5. Part Time employee at Jennings Street Yarns.  It's nice to look at all the pretties through the day.  And kinda hard not to buy all the things.  I haven't bought any yarn.  Yet.

So, on Saturday I went in for a few hours to the yarn shop and then I went to Joanns and bought fabric.  Note: Do NOT go to the cut counter at Joanns the Saturday before Halloween.  When I pulled my number, I was 32 and they were on 1.  And I think at least 10 people ahead of me were making Frozen costumes based on their fabric selections.  That's gonna be a very popular costume.

I also went over to my dads house to meet the cat that has adopted him  He has fallen hard for this sweet kitty kitty.  And even said 'She's so f*cking beautiful'.  I have NEVER heard my dad talk like this about any animal much less a cat, so I had to meet her.  And she is a cute and friendly little thing.  I think she's about 6-9 mo old based on her size.

I also have been prepping for Kid n Ewe down in Boerne Nov 7-9.  I have been working on getting some self striping done.

This next week and a half is gonna be very busy for me in preparation mode.  I must remember to take time to take care of myself.

Weekending 10/21/2014

This past weekend had a busy Saturday followed by a less busy Sunday.

Here are the signs that I made for the gift market at Jacobs Reward Farm that I was at on Saturday.  I really crack myself up.

Here is what our booth looked like.  I shared with The Barbed Dragon.  I met lots of new people and saw some familiar faces.

 This guy was Baa-ing throughout the day-such a cute face.

 Then, I wrapped that up for the day and went to the boys piano recital.  O played something from 'How To Train A Dragon' and Li played 2 pieces from 'The Phantom of The Opera'.

 I worked on a dishcloth while listening to the other performers.

 Then, Sunday, I worked on getting the office finished.  I found this piece of paper from when I costumed Babes in Toyland back in 2012.

 And, Ta-Da!  The office is done.  It's nice to have it back to a usable space again where I don't have to step over piles of stuff to get to the desk.

Workin' It...Thursday? 10/16/2014

I am a little behind this week because my office is torn apart and in the middle of a reorganization.

The shelves are repurposed from the boys room and the desk is one that my dad gave us.  It is brand new-whoever bought it decided they didn't want to use it, so we have it now.  It's a nice one.  I am also going through books and getting rid of a pretty sizable pile.  So, the office is a wreck right now.

 I did decide to spin up another 4 oz of this color way from a thing for string.  This is RNA Interference on Falkland wool.  I spun it as a single and got 384 yards of a soft and smooshy single out of 8 oz.

 I alos knit up a couple of dish clothes for a swap that I am in.  I accidentally made one bigger than the other.  I got a little to in the knitting groove and didn't count my stitches until I had 49 st instead of 43.  Oops!  So, its just a little bigger.

This week, I plan on working on a hibernating pair of socks  and getting them close to completion.

Weekending 10/13/2014

Oh dear!  I missed a Brazen Friday post!  Ah, well.  I was pretty busy Friday and spent the day in and out of the house.  I hope my 3 readers forgive me.

I went on Friday to IKEA for the very first time because I needed something to aid in the organization of the boys room.  They have been pretty good about keeping it clean for the past two months, but they really had no good storage solutions.  So, I spent Saturday and Sunday working on their room when I wasn't working the MAFIA location of the DFW Yarn Crawl. I bought the 4x4 Kallax shelf.  I was glad that I had my friend Carol with me when I went to the store because I was feeling very overwhelmed.

This is the pile of yarn that I brought for the last weekend of the Yarn Crawl.  Some of it did not end up coming home with me.

Not really a 'before' pic so mach as an 'in progress' pic.  I had to make a mess to clean the mess.

 After.

 and the new Kallax shelf in the boys room.

 And the award for most random find is awarded to the tin of pumpkin? seeds.

 After that, I better get chocolate!

 And last night, a big storm blew in and caused this to happen.  Glad R realized it had happened before or dogs went on a walkabout.

Workin' It Wednesday 10/8/2014

Well, I am still having trouble finding my personal crafting time.  This is the time of year when I feel like I am in perpetual show prep mode.  Currently I am participating in the DFW Yarn Crawl at the MAFIA location and next weekend I will be at the Jacobs Reward Farm Gift Market.  And the first weekend of November I will be at the Kid n Ewe Festival in Boerne, TX. So very busy.

I did manage to spin the rest of this braid-RNA Interference on falkland from a thing for string.  It was a nice spin-and I may pick up another braid to add to this one so that it is an 8 oz skein.  Love these colors.

My goals this week are to FIND THE TIME TO PERSONALLY CRAFT!! (I figure if I shout it, it might come true.)

Brazen Stitchery was featured in this podcast from a BPAFF attendee- Tapgurl's Podcast.  You should check it out.

Also, a friend of mine is having a farm emergency.  If you can, please contribute to her Go Fund Me.

For Purl

Weekending 10/6/2014

This weekend was busy and fun.  The DFW Yarn Crawl started on Friday and I spent some time hanging with some of the MAFIA girls and chatting with fellow fiberistas.  Then on Saturday, Liam had an all day performance with the Plaza Showstoppers Company-so I dropped him off to that and headed out to support some local yarn shops.  I went to Heritage Arts in Grandview and The Knitting Fairy in Grand Prairie.  I wish I had a larger budget to support these ladies with, but alas and alack I do not.  I then went to the MAFIA location to spend the rest of the day, but Li called and told me that he had a performance at three and wanted me to be there.  So, I zoomed from Mansfield to Cleburne and was only 10 minutes late-which is pretty good considering how far I had to go.  Then I came home and worked the evening away.

Sunday I spent working in the morning and the evening with a trip to Garland in the afternoon to eat a late lunch and some birthday cake with my sis in law.  I spent a lot of time in the car this weekend.  But, cake.

Brazen Friday-10/3/2014 It's a Yarn Crawl, Y'all!

Today starts the DFW Yarn Crawl and you can find Brazen Stitchery at the MAFIA location.  Go HERE to see all the locations, events, specials, and print your passport to get stamped at each location.

I have been batting like mad-Here are Zombie Prom Queen and The Candy Man Can.

Both available at the crawl.

Here is what my areas look like.

Bags, Yarn, and Batts, Oh My!  I will be making more as the crawl progresses to add to the stock, so there will be fresh offerings throughout the crawl.

I hope to that some of you local-ish people are able to make it out.

Workin' It Wednesday 10/1/2014

Happy October Y'all!

We celebrated by going to the local pumpkin patch.  It was hot, but the kids had a blast.

And, I have been working lately a lot on the shop so I have not been very good about preserving my personal crafting time.  But, I have managed a little spinning.  This is Falkland from A Thing For String.

This week, I will find myself my personal crafting time and get things done.

Weekending 9/29/2014

This past weekend I spent as a demo spinner at DJ's Classic Alpacas for National Alpaca Farm Days. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday at the farm.

 I set up a small table and had some bags with me.

Spinning up an alpaca batt.

 I brought Li with me on Sunday and he did some spinning.

 And met some cute alpacas.

 I also taught him how to ply-Here is Li plying from a center pull ball.

I educated a lot of people about just what you can do with alpaca fluff-there were many people there. If you get the chance, you should find an alpaca farm near you and see if they have days when you can come and meet the animals.  They are so cute.