Slowly but Surely...

I had forgotten how difficult it is to get back into the routine after a little time off.  Probably because since I started my business 3 1/2 years ago I haven't taken time off.

But there is nothing like celebrating the marriage of a child that will remedy that in a heartbeat. So my husband and I spent a few fun-filled days in San Francisco last week.

And now I'm really working on getting that motivation thing going again.  I made my to do lists - for the rest of the year - today.  I emailed all 10 of my brick 'n mortars with my schedule.

Then I browsed thru a few vacation photos.  I called my Mom and brought her up to speed on the trip.  I spent a little time on Facebook (legitimately - staying in touch with friends who have been evacuated from their homes because of these wicked wild fires in my home state).  Ok, I stumbled on to Pinterest for a little while, too.  And now it's time to come up with something for dinner.

But I will be pulling out my knitting after dinner.  I'm thinking of adding some knit caps - baby, child and adult sizes - to my line in the fall.  What do you think?  (Cat not included - she's the quietest one in my house!)

Tomorrow it's back to the sewing machine.  Seriously.  I mean it.

Dreams and Wishes and Hope...

As promised ~ more items benefiting Make-A-Wish! They are in my Etsy shop now.

These super soft, super warm chunky knit beanies were hand-knit on looms and are sized as "child size;" I would say they would fit a toddler from about age 2 - 4. Sporting buttons full of hope, one states "Dream" and the other "Wish." (Watch the little guys with those buttons, though!)

10% of each sale will go to Make-A Wish Foundation of Colorado. Thanks for taking a peek!!

Apple. Tree.

They say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Hmmm... apple; tree.

If you've followed my blog you know my affection for my 92 year young Mom ~ and how much I have learned from her. One thing that has become more apparent to me as I age (ahem... not that I'm old or anything) is that I enjoy being productive. Productive almost every waking hour. Omg. I am my Mom. ;-)

So sitting in front of the television at night has always seemed like a waste of time if all I'm doing is looking at the television. I have many hobbies that have kept me busy over the years whilst TV watching; but about a year ago I discovered knitting looms. And oh boy, a faux knitter was born!

I am in awe of people who really knit - you know, with needles and patterns and such. I think the looms are not quite "knitting." But they are fun and fairly easy and produce a consistently nice product! There are ways, too, to make many, more complicated projects using them.

So something I really enjoy in the evenings (particularly those long winter evenings where the sun sets at 4:30 pm!) or on a long car trip ~ is knitting on my knitting looms.

And 'tis the season ~ soon. Time to get ready for those snowy mornings walking the dog or hitting the ski slope and the need to bundle up! I have a few beanies/toques/hats in my Etsy shop with more appearing as the snowflakes begin to fall!

An Homage to Mom

My Mom had three sisters; two of them were stricken with breast cancer. One passed away a few years ago; the other has suffered with complications and side effects for more than 40 years. The up-side is she survived; the down side is her quality of life hasn't been that great.

When the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen was in clinical trials a few years ago, my Mom felt a responsibility to participate. She volunteered to be a part of the study for a couple of years. So, she's kind of my breast cancer hero, too. She took a chance ~ not knowing what the drug may do. Fortunately she didn't experience any side effects and is still healthy as can be.

Mom turns 92 on Friday. One of the gifts I'm giving her is this super soft (think angora/cashmere) pink hat I knit for her, with a special little note from me. ;-)

Signs...

This is what I do on road trips. Well, this and shoot out the window a lot.

I go thru stages with hobbies/addictions. My knitting looms have been lonely and ignored for several months ~ since my little animals took over anyway. But since it was a little crowded in the Jeep to bring my Janome sewing machine along on this most recent road trip (although my mister offered an adapter and was sure I could keep sewing), I opted for something a little more compact ~ a couple of my knitting looms.

I decided to knit hats (these are small!) for Olympic Bears (both USA and Canadian) I plan as my next "freckles & friends" project ~ and thought I'd knit a few for Valentine's Day as well. (Did I mention addiction?) Well, I get a little obsessed. I not only knit these six, but I think there are about ten or twelve more in a suitcase (knit thruout the trip). So, of course now the challenge is to make the bears to match the hats.

An aside ~~~ My Dad was a man of few words, but I do remember two comments he made to me over the years. One was:

"Cindi, I get tired just watching you run up and down the stairs. Don't you ever sit down?"

and

"You sure know how to make work for yourself..."

Like I said, he didn't talk much, but he was observant. ;-)

Now back to my story ~~ I found it an incredible coincidence that I picked up my looms for the first time in months and last night I sold a knit hat (people size) on my mister's website (a little plug for www.buyoffseason.com/ ). I had forgotten I had anything listed with him. So isn't that the strangest thing? That I'm finally making hats again and one that I had totally forgotten about sells??

I believe in signs. And I think that's one. I just haven't figured out where the sign is pointing yet...