It's the Day Before Thanksgiving, ya'll!

Oh, man.  This time of year really snuck up on me-and it's a late T-day this year.  Just about everything sneaks up on me lately though.

I think I lost a couple of weeks while preparing for Kid and Ewe in October because the middle of November was here before I was ready for it.

What am I working on besides procrastinating?  Well, I am working on getting samples ready for the Phat Fiber December Box-The 'Hollywood Glamour'.  The fiber I had already torn into sample sizes before Kid and Ewe and the yarn was a complete accident that I mad edit the theme.  I will blog about that accident when I post some pics maybe next week.

R wants a feast to end all feasts.  So we are having Turkey, all manner and type of sides, rolls, and 2 kinds of pie.  well, really, I COULD get away with only doing a pumpkin pie, but mama loves pecan pie-and my pecan pie is the bomb.

Well, I should get back to my sewing machine so I can finish up the cute bags I am doing for the phat fiber box and work on the giveaway item for December.  It is crazy cute and my goal is to have it up on here this weekend.

Wool Hats and Jack Frost

Jack Frost came and visited last night, and boy were the kids excited.  They spent several minutes outside eating icicles.  I told them as long as they did not eat the yellow icicles we were all good.  It is nice to be able to wear all of the hand knit woolen things we have.

We have our last rehearsal of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever before Thanksgiving tonight.  When we start back up next week, we start right in the thick of tech week.  For those of you who do not know what tech week is, it is when all the everything-lights, sound, costumes-in a play have to come together.  It usually makes for a stressful week for techies and actors alike.

Also, tomorrow, I start up rehearsal for Cash on Delivery that opens on New Years Eve.  I am excited about this play because it is a farce and farces are my favorite kind of play to be in.  Whatever ridiculous thing can happen usually does happen.  So, I gotta dust off my British accent and be a meanie.  The meanie in a farce is often hard to play, because it involves keeping a straight face through out all of the crazy antics happening around you.  And believe me when I say, this play is chock full of crazy antics.

Last Thursday, I hit a milestone in my shop that was very exciting for me-My 300th Sale!  Woo!  I opened shop in February of 2012 and it took me almost 3 months to make my first sale.  So, I feel like this is a huge thing for me.

This week, I will be updating 3 items everyday- a bag, yarn, and fiber. All of it is overflow from prepping for Kid n' Ewe, so it is sort of like having a week 'off'.

Todays update was....

A Very TARDIS Christmas on BFL

TARDIS Variegated on my 2 ply 80% SW Merino/20% Nylon Base

And this dual fabric TARDIS Tote Bag.

Yes, Yes.  It's all Doctor Who.  That's mostly because I am a dork, but also because the 50th anniversary special was on this past weekend.  I loved it by the way, but will not say anything else because...Spoilers.

Oops Happens...

Especially when you are trying to sew speedily.  I glanced at the Star Wars fabric I had cut out for a tote bag, noticed that 'Star Wars' was right side up and commenced to sewing.  Except, Except, Except, when I was done sewing I noticed that the SHIPS WERE UPSIDE DOWN!  It turns out that on this fabric, 'Star Wars' is always right side up.  :Le Sigh:  So now it is in the shop as a 'One of a Kind Upside Down Star Wars Bag'.  

I think it is still an awesome bag, and hey, if it doesn't sell in the shop, I will have a funny story to carry stuff around in.

Back From Boerne...

Phew, folks!  I survived the Boerne trip.  All in all, it was a fun weekend and I got to meet lots of neat people and look at lots of lovely knitting and crocheting.

It was real hard work-This was my first 'away form home' show.  I learned a lot from this and am glad that I had done a local show so that other things were not a surprise.

One of my favorite moments was looking out of the booth and seeing this clueless guy standing there wearing a Star Trek shirt.  I said to him, 'Sir! I have something you want!'.  He said, 'Ya do?!' and I said 'Yep!  Right Here!' and held up a Star Trek tote bag.  He said, 'You're right!  I do want that!'.  He was pleased as punch and even posted on Facebook that he had bought the bag and that he never thought he would buy something at a wool festival.

This is what my corner of the booth looked like...

 This is what the entire booth looked like...

I would consider doing this show again, but only if I brought the whole family since it is always on O's birthday weekend.

15 Minutes of Magic

So, what with prepping for a fiber show and a busy kid oriented schedule, my house has gotten a little...well...slobbish.  So, I am doing something that has worked for me in the past and is already working for me now.

I am taking 15 minutes per day per 'hot' spot in my house to set a timer and work diligently on that area.  I have already done our bedroom and living room and need to also do the kitchen.  If you were to come over, you would not think that my house was tidy in any way, but already with just the 15 minutes I spent in the LR and BR, I can tell that it is not quite so bad.

So, everyday this week, I will spend 15 minutes a day in each of these rooms and by the end of the week I will have dedicated over and hour to each room.  Because I certainly do not have 3 hours in one day to clean right now.  By next week, I will branch out and work on other hot spots while spending 10 or so minutes maintaining the rooms I have already done.

This is nowhere near the overwhelming thoughts of hankering down and doing it all in one day.  And maybe the habit will stick this time.

Embalm and Scary On

I did a small update last night at The Shop of some fun seasonally colored fibers and a couple of bags with some awesome fabric that I found.  It's a play off of 'Keep Calm and Carry On'.

I made a couple of the medium sized drawstring bags that I make out of fat quarters and then I experimented with making an unlined tote out of the remaining half yarn.  It has french seams and I finished off the top with some bias tape since that part is pretty ugly and usually hidden by the lining on my lined bags.

With this color way, 'October', I just used all of the colors that make me think of this time of year.  So there's black, pumpkin orange, acid green, and purple.  This one is on BFL.

This one is a take on another color way of mine-'Harvest Moon'.  Only instead of gold, I used the bright green and it's name is 'Zombie Moon'.  This has dark blue, purple, black, and acid green and is also on BFL.

 This one?  I was playing around in my dye pots trying to achieve a gradient.  I have experimented in the past with it and had varying degrees of success.  This one turned out well.  It's blue, dark pink, and orange on organic polwarth.

So, I have also been working on relabeling my products.  Yarn and fiber will now have a label like the one on the left.  My old labels were mostly hand written and hung off of the skeins/braids.  I was going for a more professional/less mangleable tag.  I think it looks good,

 This is most of the fiber that I am labeling and naming to take to Kid n Ewe.

 These are the skeins of DK that I am taking to Kid n Ewe.

Right!  So I have been a busy girl-and still having trouble getting time at ye old sewing machine.  I hope I can do it all!

A Weekend 'Off'

Well, off of the internet for the most part.  I stayed busy and read a book instead of putzing around on the interwebs when I wasn't up to my elbows in dye pots.  I dyed the rest of the fiber for Kid N Ewe in November and a few skeins of self striping yarn.  My goal is to dye 2 skeins of self striping each night until I have what i planned.  I also am gonna dye up some District 12 because I have none of that and it is a very eye catching and striking yarn.  It's my color way that I dyed to look like coal fire.

I am sharing a booth with a couple of other ladies-Rebecca of Lazy Cat Knits and Katie of The Barbed Dragon.  We are all a little Doctor Who mad, so there are plans for a Doctor Who section in the booth.  Hopefully it will go over well!

I ma having trouble, of course, getting everything done in the speed that i want to get it done.  I have barely sewed at all, but hopefully now that the lions share of the dyeing is done, I can buckle down and get to cutting and sewing.  And, if it's sunny enough later I plan on having a small shop update.  I got this great fabric on a whim that says 'Embalm and Scary On' and I have some bags that I made with it.