February 2007 Archives

A few reasons why being at Stitches is great (and being a vendor is even more fantastic):

1. A constant parade of wonderful knitted items walking past you. If you want to knit it, someone else probably has and will be walking past your booth.

2. Meeting old friends and making new ones! Seeing the Bay Area Knitting Co-op booth mobbed is a great (okay, maybe not so great for the checkout people, but come on, there are worse things!) and having a person I never saw before (I don't think I have) say she reads my blog! Hi No-Blog Rachael!

Oh, and when lovely lady was checking out the sea silk, I noticed that her shawl was a lovely pattern from Victorian Lace Today and I said the title of the book. She replied in a nice British accent "Yes. That's me." It was Jane Sowerby, the author. My eyes got really big. You KNOW how amazing those patterns are, don't you?

3. Cash and Carry (this one is a great perk) - This is where Hollis sees awesome stuff that we don't carry, gathers her loyal staffers, and we raid other booths at the end of the show. Don't worry, the yarn (mostly) goes into the shop. Yes. It is super shopping on the large scale... And fills me with joy just to think that I get to work closing shift today. Just let me at one or two stores... Fill my short arms with joy in a skein.

4. Enough Yarn fumes to make you high. There's a concentration on the unique, the extra soft, the hard to get, and the bargain deal. Alpaca is a strong contender along with some book vendors that probably carry more than your LYS (though, if you're in this area: Uncommon Threads in Los Altos and Yarn Dogs in Los Gatos both carry enough books to give the show vendors a run for their money).

5. Two vendors that carry the newest Addi Turbo Lace Needles. Yes, I bought a pair- #4 24" and I like them. The tips are slightly blunter than my #4 knitpicks needles and have a longer taper. Photos coming soon.

I know I've said it before but now you can see how awesome my life is. With a special kick to the end of the day!

Elisa of Concateknit posted her typical day at work and I thought it was a neat idea. My normal day is probably of little interest to most out there, but I rather enjoy my life so I thought I'd post a slightly special "Freecia's Day".

My day usually starts out at about 8 am when I wash my tea mug and look out the kitchen window. I got up a bit early today to track down these great convertible bag backpacks made by Frederic T. I stalked a person in the grocery store last Saturday, refraining from asking where she purchased the bag. The first time I saw this really nifty bag was on a customer shopping at Full Thread Ahead and I forgot the maker.

This is my backyard. It was raining outside. -- 8 am¹

When I park my car, I always chuckle because this company has their own little house as an office building. Seriously, a cute little house in the middle of an office park. -- 9 am

These flowers have been making me smile all week. -- 1 pm

The clouds caught my eye so I popped into the hallway to take a picture of the gorgeous colors. -- 5:30 pm

Normally, this would be nearing the end of an already good day. Throw in some tv and knitting, or if it is Thursday, then knitting group.²

------ Eeek! The special event is about to start! -----------

Here's my boba tea and I'm ready to get my knit on. Instead of the normal Tapioca Express boba knit Thursday night, we're taking it to Stitches West for the two hour Market Preview. -- 7 pm. The wonderful gentleman in the shot is Hollis' father, Don. (shhh, this is a smuggled photo!)

Here are the boba knitters at the end of the night :
Left to Right: Pauline, Margit, Kristi, Cookie, and honorary member Hollis

Sorry they're a bit blurry. It was a long two hours. -- 9:30 pm

Here's my haul: Sarcelle and Avery patterns by Kristi, Louet Gems from Cookie, stitch savers (did Linda make these?), Ribby Cardi and Ribby Pulli from Bonne Marie at Chic Knits sold by Purlescence, and a magnet from Margit (thanks!). -- 10pm

And oh.

My comfortable shoes arrived. Just the thing for the coming weekend at Stitches.

Yeah, my life is so awesome.

Nite! --11 pm

¹ Times are approximate.
fn2. Note, my usual workday is a bit longer than this.

Ah, the incentive given by a deadline! Here we have TWO completed socks in Fleece Artist possibly Raspberry colorway (remember, they don't come labeled) purchased at Full Thread Ahead just in time for Stitches. A slightly more vibrant pink colorway will be waiting for you at Stitches West this Thursday-Sunday!

The pattern is Vine Lace Socks from the book Socks Socks Socks and photographed at the community room aka yoga studio with lovely wrestling mats. Also, note how the top sock patterns differently from the striping bottom sock. I still love these socks!

Pardon the blinding white legs.

My favorite "surprise" of these socks is the cute striping on the heel.

I'm glad the weather cooled down after a very spring-like weekend!

To my dear (and fantastic) boyfriend:

Half a dozen things I'd rather receive bundles of than overpriced red roses:
1. A Bouquet of Yarn (duh) in the skein or in the ball, both great.
2. Assortment of Salt and Vinegar Chips. Finally, a comparison!
3. Office Supplies. But the good stuff. None of the Bic Sticks and cheap paper.
4. Tea and a mug while you're at it. Definitely a happy moment.
5. Songs or conveniently downloaded podcasts, or even a list of funny YouTube links. More pictures of kittens doing cute things.
6. Your cheesiest pick-up lines... in a poem. Extra points for haiku.

In return, I might give you
1. Lots of sugar in different forms. Sugar in packets, cubes, rock candy, and powder.
2. "Boy Movies" that have history and weapons in them which put me to sleep.
3. Highlighted and annotated passages in books that attempt to explain female behavior and psychology. And maybe some annotated yarn catalogs and magazines for future gift ideas.
4. Classic computer games and a nifty super-laser mouse
5. Attempts to write a really good myspace/dating profile for a certain male friend of yours. Something certain to get him dates.
6. More opportunities to see me in dresses. Which, considering how cold it is, would be a really nice gift!

Much Love,
Your Girlfriend

P.S. Thank you for the flowers in years past. Giving away half a new graphic's card $ worth of flowers was very sweet of you, especially on our college budgets. Though, we could have purchased a lot of really awesome hardware... To your male friends who insist flowers are the definitive gift, "Stop raining on my parade. Really."

This is cold #2 in 2007. Cold #1 was over New Year's and didn't go away until the beginning of January. Riding in on the tails of that is cold #2, a cough filled affair that has been here since Saturday.

I wish I could say that I've completed some knitting while I've been in bed but I've been sleeping. My voice sounds a bit like a 93 year old smoker with her nose stuffed up, nasally and rough.

Not fun. Two colds in one month. Not fun.

In the healthier weeks I bought a skein of fleece artist sock yarn from Full Thread Ahead in what we think is the Raspberry colorway and it is gorgeous. I've finished one Vine Lace sock from the Socks Socks Socks book and it looks fantastic. Pictures will come when I can keep still without coughing.

I saw Interweave's Favorite Socks book in FTA's inventory queue and it looks fantastic, though Hollis did note a lack of toe up socks.