I put the finishing touches on the last items to put into the bins. The bins are mostly packed, just have to check things over, and tomorrow morning Yarny Goodness and Evil Eye Emporium hit the road to be a part of this:
Wish us luck, or even better yet, if you are in the area, stop by and say hi (and buy a t-shirt!)
I’ll find out this weekend as Yarny Goodness and Evil Eye Emporium go on their first road trip to Bazaar Bizarre in Cleveland! Knitgrrl, Shannon Okey, who was at YarnCon selling her lovely yarn and books suggested we take the trip, and Sara and I decided to take the show on the road. The truth is Yarny Goodness has no store of it’s own YET, we’re working on it. Right now it is the entity that brought you YarnCon, but we plan for it to be even more than just a lovely host. So, we’ll be there to talk about YarnCon, sell t-shirts, and brainstorm with anyone foolish enough to get us started. I will also be wearing the evil eye hat (oh! I should knit an evil eye hat!) and be selling those goodies as well. So come and see us in Cleveland on Saturday!
Today I spent the day in Pilsen waiting for my car to be serviced in anticipation of the road trip ahead. I went for an oil change and winter inspection deal at the mechanic’s shop, and good thing too. I needed to get the drive belt changed as it was cracking on me. Not something I want to discover on the road. This meant spending the entire afternoon wandering the streets of Pilsen, something I love to do. I had Mexican Hot Chocolate at the Jumping Bean Cafe on 18th St. and took lots of pictures of murals and graffiti. Codo has been busy putting up some great stickers. Too bad my batteries gave out in the end. Now I have gotten precious little work done, but the night is young, and I polished so many pieces yesterday that I have blisters on my fingers. No joke. So, maybe taking it easy on the fingers today was not so bad.
So, I said I would come back Friday complaining. Well, I haven’t posted since Wednesday, so that didn’t happen. But if I had posted on Friday, there would have been no complaining to do.
Downtown wasn’t too horrible. It was just as crowded as ever on the streets, the only difference is that the power suits and briefcases had been exchanged for gym shoes and shopping bags. I stayed focused, picked up my castings and a couple of tools I needed, delivered a piece, and went home.
Then, later in the day I had the pleasure of meeting a customer I had only talked to over email, and just in the last few days on the phone, in person. It was a real treat to meet the talented Matt King. I’ve had lots of fun making skull rings for him, and when I met him, it was one of those cases in which you just know you would like to hang out with someone.
So Friday was good. Thursday was fantastic. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at my parents-in-law’s home. It was a huge gathering, the food was amazing, and I wish the conversations could have gone on all night. It was everything a Thanksgiving dinner should be, and I am so glad to be part of this family, and share in these occasions.
It has otherwise been a moderately busy weekend, I’ve run a few errands, seen friends who were in town, and yesterday I even went thrift shopping, and got lucky in the sweater department, so I am ready for winter. I even made Erwtensoep, also called “snert,” or Dutch split pea soup. You are supposed to make it the day before, so I already have today’s slow cooked meal ready. Which is good, since today, I go into hiding until I leave for Cleveland on Friday. I have way too much work to do in order to be ready. But, I am not complaining.
I know I won’t be posting (again) tomorrow, but hey, it’s a holiday, so you won’t be reading it either, right?
Trying to ignore the myth behind the holiday, I thought I would list a few things I am thankful for at this time. This list is not all inclusive, and I will think of other stuff later I know, but hey, nobody’s perfect.
I am thankful for Scott, all of our family, a house over our heads we can call our own, working from home and actually having paying work to do here, this here computer that Scott built to suit me, my hands, my friends, my cats (what?), that I found something in life I like to do and am good at, my health, and my life. It’s a good life. How could I not be thankful?
I’ll be back on Friday, complaining. Enjoy this little moment, and have a happy Thanksgiving.
I’ve been busy, and yet I feel like I am getting little other than knitting and baking done. But, its the time of year to share goodies, and I do enjoy baking. Monday was the Stitch n’ Bitch to which I brought pumpkin cookies, and yesterday was the Windy City Knitting Guild meeting to which I brought pumpkin muffins. I did get some wax carving done, a bit of repair work, and a whole lot of wax injections into casting yesterday, so work is getting done. Today I hope to get lots of work out of the way so I am ready to work on all of the pieces I will have coming out of casting.
And yet, the house really needs my attention. I have spent so much time in my studio, that the house is getting a little fuzzy around me. Sigh. Well, instead of complaining there is never enough time, perhaps I should go and get to work, so I can have a little time for domestic chores later.
Well, another DIY Trunk Show has come and gone, and it remains my favorite show. I had a good show this year, and am feeling pretty good about the feedback I got from people. I thought I would be able to get a few days rest, but now I have to work on replenishing my stock for Bazaar Bizarre in 2 weeks, and get the custom orders done. This is good news for me, and it’s not like I won’t have Thursday off to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family and friends.
After the trunk show, we went home, got dinner, and got right back on the road to go to our friends’ housewarming party downstate. They bought a farm, and the house, land, barn and all of it is just wonderful. The farm house is in amazing condition, and is a warm and inviting home, I couldn’t be happier for them. Our friends performed a housewarming ritual for them which we all participated in, and the ritual involved making cake! Now there is a ritual I can get behind!
Today I had lunch with an old friend I had not seen for years, and now I am baking cookies for the SnB tonight. Not the most productive day, but that’s ok. Tomorrow I will hit the ground running.
Whew! You’ll see a number of new items for sale, and I will have one item I will be debuting, and taking pre-orders for on Saturday:
As of now, I have this original prototype for you to see and try out. I will be working on more next week, but you can order yours beginning tomorrow at DIY, and from my website once I have the other sizes made. I just couldn’t wait to share it. Super huge thanks for Cinnamon for suggesting I make this ring. Once she mentioned it, I knew I had to make it. I hope you like it. Ok, back to getting ready for the DIY Trunk Show, hope to see there!
It’s taken me a while, but I am starting to develop a routine for working at home. The last couple of weeks are an exception in that I don’t want to be working after dinner, but I wanted to have plenty ready for the DIY Trunk Show on Saturday. Other than that, however, I’ve started to figure out the best time to do things. For example, grocery shopping on Friday is a good idea for us because that way I have next week’s fruit for breakfast ready Monday morning, as opposed to faking it on Monday because I didn’t shop late in the week the previous week. Monday has become slow cooker day. I can start a stew in the morning, work all day, and then go to the Stitch ‘ Bitch, without worrying about leaving early to start dinner, it is ready when I get home, so I can knit with my friends just a little longer. Having shopped on Friday means I have everything I will need for the stew. (The Friday shopping thing is new, starting tomorrow. It was whenever I remembered to do it before.) I like having an established schedule, but I had been making it before, with no rhyme or reason for why I would do certain things at certain times, other than alliteration, and that is no way to schedule your week. I also like the idea of knowing when I have to do things a week in advance so I can plan the rest of the week around those established tasks. Most importantly, I can make the most of my work day knowing when I have scheduled household tasks.
Today I have finally made what I think I need for DIY, so it’s time to take inventory, price everything, and get everything in order. Bleh. I have to admit I find this part tedious, but I will play some tunes, and get it all done, because let’s face it, I have to. But, I will be so pleased when I am done. I am also going to go brave the cold and take some pictures of my new items in the nice natural light, since I can’t seem to get any good shots inside the house. Given how short the days are, I had better get to it.
Oh, I have finally resolved the dilemma with the hotel cancellation by bypassing Travelocity and dealing directly with the hotel. I had canceled reservations I made with Travelocity, but it seems the hotel was not informed. Or so they tell me. I am not sure. They were no pleasure either. Either way, someone dropped the ball, and I was out almost $200. But, I have my money back they tell me. I will check the credit card statement this evening to see, but I hope this is all over with. What a waste of time that was. Needless to say, I won’t stay at that hotel, nor will I be using Travelocity again. It might not have been their fault, but their customer service was less than satisfactory. Live and learn.
Today I am going to vent. I am still angry.
I ride the Redline at least a few times a week. I get sick of watching people just throw their garbage all over the place. Today I saw a guy toss part of his Twizzler on the floor in front of the doors, well away from his own seat. I guess he didn’t want to step on it, who would. I was getting off the train, and I guess I made a face, and he called me on it. He says loudly “You don’t have to eat it.” I hate confrontation, but I had to respond, so I told him “well, you don’t have to throw your garbage around.” His response was that I should “carry my ass back to the white neighborhood and watch them throw garbage around.” I hardly ever have a response. I am not quick on my feet, I do not have a razor wit. But this time I gave the only correct answer, and I loudly told him that I live here.
Carry my ass back to the white neighborhood? fuck him. Just because he is black, and we’re on the South Side, he can litter at will? He can disrespect his neighborhood, the other passengers, his neighbors? It’s not about color, it’s about respect for the people around you, and it has to be learned. And they’re not just his neighbors, their mine too, and I do respect them, and I hate seeing our neighborhood treated this way.
And here i was going to rant about my woes with Travelocity, and how much their outsourced, fake American named customer service sucks. I’m going to go saw and hammer some metal.
I even took pictures of what I had been working on, but the light was terrible, and the pictures are just as bad. The sun is out today, so I will try again. I do have a picture I took a few weeks ago of the stitch markers I have been working on, and will have for sale at the DIY Trunk Show.
I have been making bunches of these in many different styles, here are some of the beads, waiting to be transformed:
More goodies await, and the bench is calling.
You are currently browsing the Evil Eye weblog archives for November, 2007.
