Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

The couple that came on the 22nd came again yesterday, and 8 minutes early! But I was ready. I'm always ready early. And the apple crisp was in the oven permeating the house with its cinnamon and apple aroma!

Yarns and New Designs
I've been scouring the web for yarns, again! Some of the new design ideas I sketched out really need a body-soft yarn with some drape. The soft Targhee and Rambouillet yarns I've used are light and fluffy, not as drapey as I need. But I've found 2 maybes which I'll need to get a few balls of and swatch with. The first is Queensland Collection's Kathmandu Aran, which is merino with a bit of silk and cashmere. And it's a tweed! Do love those tweeds!

The other is Laines du Nord's Dolly Maxi, which is all merino wool, aran wt. and comes in tons of solid colors. Both yarns are hand wash, which as you all know is my preference. I can't see taking a beautiful *natural* fiber like merino and putting it through all the chemical processes to make it superwash, but that's just me.

Several online sources have the Kathmandu on sale and Elann has the Dolly Maxi, also at a nice discount. I don't like to use yarns that cost $6 and $7 a 50 gram ball, but sometimes there's just no getting around it, in order to create the garment as it should be. The 2 or 3 designs will be fitted and partly lacy and so should use less yarn than some other design styles.

I'm also playing with my charts for the "Whig Rose" and "Cat Track and Snail Trail" patterns. Both of these are historic overshot woven coverlet patterns. I'm trying to separate the whole into workable units that can later be joined and began a swatch in single crochet to see if an afghan and pillow design will be do-able.

The great thing about crochet colorwork is that the carried yarn gets hidden as you work along.
The not-so-great thing about crochet colorwork is that the carried yarn gets hidden as you work along!

For small repeats, it's a pita to remember to *change color at the last stroke of the previous stitch, work over the carried yarn for just 3 or 4 sts, then switch color again. repeat from * ad nauseum. Progress was going far too slowly for my taste and could not imagine anyone wanting to make an afghan *in these motifs in crochet*. So I ripped it out and am knitting it, regular ole stranded knitting, which some call Fair Isle or fair isle, but here's an opportunity for a lesson:

Fair Isle, Stranded and Jacquard
Fair Isle knitting refers to pattern motifs that are, typically, no more than 5 sts in width, and employ much use of the X and O shapes in its variations. The diagonals in Fair Isle knitting distribute the tension of the 2 yarns by varying the changeover points from row to row. Also crucial is symmetry, usually 2-4 lines of symmetry, or more, and a lack of strong vertical lines in the patterning. The mirror imaging of the motifs (both from the middle up and down and from the middle side to side) usually requires an odd number of sts and rows to each pattern motif.

The 5 st width allows for the carried yarn NOT to have to be woven in, as it would need to be across a longer stretch of knitting. The traditional Shetland wool is fuzzy (grabby) enough to hold the carries, which is also why sewing the steek sts is optional as the wool holds to itself so well.

Once one moves to larger motifs, like some Norwegian or Swedish motifs or many other colorwork motifs, it is no longer called Fair Isle knitting. It is called stranded or Jacquard knitting. The Norwegian reindeer motif is a good example of stranded knitting. Without the frequent change of color across each row and the lack of diagonal patterning, it is no longer Fair Isle, but stranded knitting. I think it is important that we do try and use the correct terms for anything, really, not just knitting, as not doing so muddies the waters of clarity and understanding.

Language has within itself the tools for precision. In our fast-paced world, it can be too easy to think in generic, not specific terms, much to our loss. Like arans and cables. All aran sweaters are cabled, not all cabled sweaters are arans. Commercial textiles don't expect the average Joe or Jane to understand anything about textiles, so the terms used get dumbed down and murkied.

So, for clarity's sake, I prefer the term "stranded" over "Jacquard", as it is self-explanatory. By using "Jacquard", the *knitting process* is not clear, and requires discussion of the French guy (Joseph Marie Jacquard) who invented the Jacquard loom (accurately though - the Jacquard "head" which fits on a dobby loom), which allowed more freeform colorwork motifs to be woven, then onto how a loom connects with knitting! The floats that occur in Jacquard weaving are similar to the stranded floats in knitting. They are imperceptibly caught in Jacquard weaving, thanks to the dense ends per inch (epi) and picks per inch (ppi) - there are no long floats on the back of the fabric. In stranded knitting, there are no long floats either, they are woven in as one knits.

Another link and another great link!

Pre-Jacquard looms, were 2, 4, 8 and 12 harness looms, which kept the motifs square or angular - as in "summer and winter" and "overshot" weaves, but not curvy or rounded. Summer and winter is great, though, as it's reversible. Where one color shows on the front, the alternate color shows on the back.

One day, I'll get another loom and tackle these weaves. I could always just buy one from Family Heirloom Weavers, but at $500 for a coverlet, I think weaving one myself is a better idea. Now, their wool carpets are nice as well! I think my favs are Maple Leaf, Flower Garden, and Vine and Pomegranate.

Enough yammering from me for one day! Work awaits, then later, a bottle of Asti has our names on it! Happy New Year to all!

Yesterday, I went from "I have no idea what my next design(s) will be" to having 7 ideas roughly sketched out, by evening's end. That's what I like - free flowing ideas. And that's not even considering Maus's excellent suggestion of a slip stitch colorwork idea!

My designing can go many ways. I can have an idea that stems just from something I'd like to wear. I can pore over the trend reports that come in the PKDG's quarterly newsletter (Professional Knitwear Designer's Guild), and the reports sent to designers from VK, or the online reports, for instance, to get ideas for either an overall shape, color, or detailing I like.

I will see things in magazines. Not just fashion mags, like Vogue, but also Architectural Digest and Old House Journal, for historic-inspired motifs. As I LOVE textiles and interiors, carpets, linens, upholstery and wallpapers all intrigue me and can work their way into a knit design.

Other times a stitch pattern, whether knit or crochet, will tell me where it wants to be on a garment, which can then be reinforced by one of the upcoming trends, or not, as the case may be!, but it's nice when it does. Then it's just a matter of working out a good yarn to use (no easy task), good color combinations, and the math, which together decides the sizing.

Well, off to work for me. I have another house showing tomorrow to clean up for today. Then a shop to call, an ad to create, then to begin crunching those numbers and considering yarns and colors.

BTW, Jordanna and I engaged in several emails back and forth, yesterday, tweaking the new design for my website. I can't wait!

The Peace Fleece link in yesterday's post has been fixed.

Yesterday was laundry day - 2 machine loads and handwashing of some delicates, wool socks, a wool afghan, 2 wool doggie blankets, then the 7 hanks of Galooboy Blue Peace Fleece. I also finished pair #2 for this batch of CIC socks. So today, I can finally can get back to work.

Last night, I pulled out my design binder and spent some time trying to decide on the next group of designs to work up. I still have my simple raglan pattern to work on. And another cabled raglan pullover sample to do, to fine tune the design I knit for DD and then write its pattern (I want to change the neck cabling.)

But I'm always thinking past what I'm currently working on. I need to have several firm ideas in the queue to drive me. So, I'm thinking maybe something Bohus-inspired, or modern nordic in style. It feels like I haven't done any fair isle or stranded knitting in ages, but I know how overwhelming an allover fair isle style design can be for some knitters, so I'm thinking I should incorporate smaller doses of it into my designs! I'm also wanting to do a cape. NOT a poncho, but a cape, maybe both cabled or aran in style with fair isle accents. Though the idea of a fair isle style cape isn't bad either, especially a design that moves from full colorwork to none, hmmm....

So, today I'll be taking notes, looking up stitch patterns, and calculating measurements and yarn needs for a few ideas. Then we'll see which ones take.

The Felted Faeroe colorwork socks I was planning isn't looking to be such a great idea. This can happen when a design idea and swatch sits awhile. And in most cases, it's better that it sits, so that I can really give it good thought. I'm sure the resultant design (more like a slipper sock) would be warm and cozy - that's not the problem.

I think the problem will be, for some, or maybe many!, knitters, will be the changing of 2 colors every 3 rows. It's a pita to do. And it's a lot of ends to weave in, either as one knits or later on. But I like the basic idea and the colors, so I just need to adjust the idea for another purpose - not socks or slippers.

I've also pulled out some crochet swatches I did a month or so ago and need to revisit some of these ideas, especially those that blend crochet and knitting.

I hope you all had a happy and not too stressful holiday?

I am learning not to do stress at Christmas. I used to go nuts making gifts, making candles, making socks and other knits, making cookies - oh, the umpteen dozens of cookies that would take me nearly 2 weeks to bake, so everyone would get a full tin's worth. Nope. No more.

Not that I don't enjoy baking cookies, if it's just SOME, not tray after endless tray. And not that I don't enjoy rolling up beeswax candles, but after the first few, one's hands do get tired, as you have to press hard on the candle whilst you roll them up, so by the time you've got them all done, you wonder why you thought up this hair-brained idea in the first place! And knitting for gifts is SO very time-consuming. If I don't start in October, there's little hope of getting gift knits done, on top of my design knitting.

Christmas is no less enjoyable if you haven't knocked yourself out in the process, and it can definitely be more enjoyable - having time to spend with the one(s) you love, instead of running around harried, thinking did I do this, did I do that? So, I've just had the laziest 3 days since I can't remember when, and it was great! It's also hard to want to come out of! Hubby literally had to drag me out of bed this morning!

One of the many nice gifts I received was the following, from one of my brothers and his wife:



There WERE 5 chocolate-covered marshmallow sticks in that cup to start with! They WERE to be used to make the special cocoa recipes using the canister of European chocolate. But, noooo. I couldn't look at them and not eat them. I ate 2 and hubby ate 1. As he's not into sweets as I am, he wasn't crazy about it. So I asked why he finished it, then, when I certainly would have! But at 130 calories per mallow stick, it's better I didn't.

And I finally finished pumpkin's sweater. On Sunday, I grafted the underarms, hand sewed the steeks, cut them, then tacked them down on the inside, and picked up and worked the cable neck edge. It was hand washed and dried yesterday over a towel on the electric radiator, wrapped up this morning (after taking the photo below) and sent on its way to her. It's late, but it was the quickest I could get it done in between work.



Yarn: Peace Fleece worsted wt, 70% American and Russian wool and 30% mohair
Color: Latvian Lavender
Ndls: US size 8 (5 mm)
Gauge: 4.25 sts/1" in stockinette

I used only 4 hanks of yarn to make her sweater! I bought 7, but as she wanted it more fitted than even I wear sweaters, a mere 4 hanks only was needed. It's 22" in length, 36.25" at the underarms, and 18" sleeves.

I like it enough that I'm going to make one for myself. I have 7 hanks of Peace Fleece Galooboy Blue (a pretty french blue), which I'm going to add ties to today and put into a long hot soaking with Dawn dishliquid.

The Latvian Lavender is a bit thinner than the other colors, hence the 4.25 sts/1" gauge with 8's on washed Peace Fleece. I find that with washed PF, I get 4 sts/1", and if the Galooboy Blue does the same, I can make pretty much the same sweater (number-wise) and get a 38.5" sweater, which is perfect for me, and I can even fit a thin top underneath. She's got a petite frame, so even with a large chest, her sweater at 36" should fit her fine. But we'll see, after she gets it and tries it on. The problem area for me is that snugging ribbing across the belly. Gotta watch my weight and then it will be fine. But I tried on the sweater and hubby liked it on me, so that's a good sign.

I also begun, on Sunday, my next batch of CIC socks. Yes, I just sent 17 pairs and 2 sweaters, but the current sock challenge runs to the end of January and there are SO many cold children that need to be knit for. So, 1 pair done and am on pair #2. And I'm sure I have some wool sweater design samples I can send with this batch as well. I may not be able to give money to all the usual charities and agencies that help those in need, but I will always knit for CIC throughout the year, every year. Want to know more, see the links in my sidebar.

What comes in the mail on December 24th? Not more Christmas cards or gifts, but my beloved, though decidedly EARLY, The Cook's Garden catalog!





The hollyhocks I grew this past year that took off like wildfire.



The lettuce mix I grew this past year, but I've also bought several of their plendiferous varieties for many years. They have more greens, lettuces and meslun mixes than I've seen anywhere else! Salad heaven waits in this catalog!

A garden is hope incarnate. Winter hasn't even really hit yet, and yet winter ceases to exist the minute I open up a seed catalog. But not ANY seed catalog, THIS seed catalog! Maybe it's the charming illustrations, maybe it's the endless untreated heirloom, and occasional organic, seed offerings. I think it's both.

I'll take this seed catalog over ANY of the glossy, full-color jobs that start streaming in in January. Why? I've tried seeds and plants from other sources. But only once I began buying seeds from The Cook's Garden did I have a vegetable garden that nearly grew itself. Always productive and abundant, hardly ever a pest problem. The rest of the world can keep its grown-with-chemicals-and-hybridized-to-withstand-endless-diseases seeds! I have not found any of their seed varieties to not grow well or be so much more flavorful than store bought.

YES! I love my garden, and hope we'll get to sell this house soon, so we can be moved into our new home and settled in with enough time to put in, plan and grow my veggie garden. I can't skip a year. Life just wouldn't be the same.

So, if you love gardening as I do and haven't tried heirloom seeds yet, DO give this small company a try. Bio-diversity is a GOOD thing and needs to be encouraged in our homogenized world.

Pumpkin called me twice yesterday! Once at lunchtime to tell me she received my emails. I had emailed her twice - once to let her know a package was coming her way and to look out for it and once because I missed her call the night before as I was in the shower.

So, then at 5 pm she calls again! "Did you send me this Drugstore.com package?" giggling away while she spoke. I was afraid to open it, she says, I didn't remember ordering anything and was thinking I should return it, she says! Then she remembered my email and we chatted away for 45 minutes. We talk more when she's not here, than when she *is* here. Stop looking at me, she says, why are you looking at me? I don't get to see you much, I say, *that's* why I'm looking at you!

I'm still working on her sweater, but had more jpegs to get to Jordana yesterday, as well as the house showing and printing to do. I've put a photo below - as you can see, plenty to do yet.

Cable and stockinette hip section moves to all cables at the waist, then back to cable and stockinette, then to all stockinette. I keep the cables to the cuff on the sleeves, as there's enough patterning going on in the body. Will have a deep v-neck, edged with all cables. Her wrists are SO tiny, the cabled cuffs needed only 36 sts!



She's only going to get some use out of it, as they're still planning on moving to Phoenix, for the job opportunities which do NOT exist in Buffalo. Heck, they're closing down libraries there, she says - says a lot about Buffalo's fiscal health, not to mention physical health, from living near the toxic doom of "the original Lake Ontario Ordinance Works (LOOW) - 7500 acres the federal government seized during WW II that received thousands of tons of radioactive waste. The government never adequately tested and cleaned up the LOOW,..."

Residents for Responsible Government

NY Superfund Map There's TOO many sites listed in Tonawanda. So, yes, I much preferred she move to Arizona.

Quick post, as I gotta keep plugging on DD's sweater. 1 sleeve just about done. Body needs just 3" more stockinette, then other sleeve, raglan yoke and neck edge to do. But had to also email tons of batches of jpgs to Jordana today, who is working on my website redesign! AND the real estate agency called this afternoon for a showing tomorrow morning - after 1 month and 3 days of not a word! So, I also had to pick up and finish a few decorations here and there.

I tried (twice) to take outside shots of the house the other day, with all the electric candles in the windows, but the photos stunk.

These are dim, but that's how the light is with just the window lites and the tree on. I love the soft look of this room at night at Christmas time.

Pumpkin and boyfriend left at 4 pm yesterday and I was in withdrawal for many hours afterwards. I hadn't seen her in over a year and 2 days goes by incredibly fast. Hubby made lasagna on Saturday, as he does every Christmas, when either or both of the kids is around, then some chicken cutlets on Sunday to go with. Pumpkin and boyfriend put a major dent in it, which is fine with me! Last thing I need is a lot of lasagna hanging around!

The heat's turned down, the linens are washed and the vacuuming is almost done.... And I was just getting used to her sitting curled up on the couch under a wool afghan, asking for cups of tea.

I went searching online for a nice necklace, as I mentioned yesterday, and found one, in amethyst and moonstone, but it will have to wait and be a birthday gift. So, I was moping around, cleaning and knitting, then while in the shower, I remembered the conversations we had about curl cream for her lightly-wavy-always-tending-to-be-frizzy hair.

I told her of all the women on TLC's "What Not To Wear" that had their hair done with the curl cream, then small strands were twisted, then diffuse dried. (They don't have cable, so they don't get to see the show.) And how shiny, smooth and controlled their hair came out. She hates her hair, and I can understand that, but there's no reason to, if one has a good haircut and the right products.

So I searched and found a product that looked promising at Drugstore.com. She also liked my "Kiss MY Face" Vitamin A&E moisturizer and was using it often on her hands (I use it everywhere, including my face), so I ordered one of each and had them shipped to her apartment. Hopefully, they'll get there on Wednesday and will surprise her upon her return from visiting her dad!

I couldn't get to do any personalized shopping for her (or her brother's) Christmas gifts this year, as I can't drive and time is always at a premium for hubby, and so I felt badly, as she's been choosing some really thoughtful gifts for me the past few years - she *really* knows what I like! I need to see things in person, when selecting gifts, especially clothing and linens and well, anything. I need to see and feel things to know if they're right or not. So, I hope the small surprise makes up for it a smidge. Next year, hopefully we'll be moved, and hubby and I will have more time to for holiday shopping.

Gift Sweater Rush
Pumpkin brought us 6 different kinds of fudge, when she arrived early Saturday evening, 'cause she knows how much I love chocolate - how's that for a good kid - feeding my weakness! We exchanged our gifts last night, as she has to travel on today, to see her dad, then drive about 8 hours from his house back home.

Of course, the sweater I am making for her that was 11" done, nearing the armholes, I had to rip back to just 3.5". This is what happens when you are designing for a body that isn't around to measure! Guesstimations, based on petite sizing charts and what I configured of her personal bust measurements was close, but not quite. She wears her sweaters 2" longer than I was planning, and kept tugging the piece down when I kept hiking it up, so the waist ribbing would be at her waist! If I work hard, I can get it done, washed, wrapped and sent to her by Friday, hopefully sooner.

Now, I'd like to find her a pretty pin to wear on it. I was thinking a nice silk scarf to go with, but she doesn't wear scarves, and I don't think even a pretty one would entice her to wear it. She does like necklaces though, so either a necklace or a pin to go with the sweater. It'll be a surprise as she won't be expecting anything but the sweater!

Website Redesign
It looks like I've found someone to redo my blah website AND she thinks it can be done by the beginning of February - the timing of which is good, as I've taken out a 1/4 page ad in the January issue YMN(Yarn Market News), which will be distributed at TNNA. Actually, she contacted me, after reading several of my posts on the KnitPublishing list.

In the meantime, I've added 7 photos beneath my logo on my home page, so new visitors can see the style of my designs, before clicking on the design page links. I also want to flip all the designs on each of the pages, so that the newest design is at the top of the page. As the pages are now, I was adding each new design, under the previous one, with links to all designs on that page, at the top of the page.

It never occurred to me that *maybe* viewers would just scroll down to see the first few designs, and stop, not going through them all to see the newest designs, then leave the page. But that very well may be happening. I'm no web designer, that's for sure! But maybe with the designs in descending order by newness (not ascending order), it will keep shoppers looking longer. Sort of a mini-revamp, until the new site is announced in February. BUT, I gotta get this sweater done first! Christmas won't wait!

I mentioned the other day in my blog, that small businesses can make maybe one large investment per year. Well, the YMN ad and the site redo are my big expenses for 2006, and the year's not even here yet! Onwards, upwards, always.

LBs Be Gone
Yes! Gone! Or at least they appear to be gone. What? Those nasty 5 lbs from my recent BC pill hormonal withdrawal/upheaval. Back to my size 8. Relief. I think it's a mixture of the bod resettling itself, remembering to take a digestion pill with each meal (helps the aging slow digestion) and my eating WAY more rolled oats than I used to. Every day, sometimes morning and night. Horse food, my sweetie calls it. I don't care, I *like* my oats! And in this coldddd, something hot to eat beats cold yogurt, anyday. Remember those Maypo commercials? Except I don't want my Maypo, I want my oats!

In the summer, I can't get enough salad, especially organic lettuces and tomatoes from my garden, but as soon as the air begins to chill, I can't bear to go near salad. I stop craving it in a heartbeat. I'm a seasonal eater, which they say is a good thing.

Pumpkin is coming down this afternoon for a visit, as the weather yesterday delayed their travel plans. We haven't a tree yet, and with my mood, I'm wishing they made large pop-up paper ones! Not that I ever have to fuss over a tree anymore - sweetie takes care of it. I just help him get it into the stand straight and water the thing every day, he does all the lights and decorations and tinselling. LOVE tinsel, hate garland. Something just caught the corner of my eye, as I'm typing, and I could swear a squirrel was hopping across the frozen pond!

Looks Like I'll Be Here Forever
I've been SO enjoying the full moon the past few nights. The sharp shadows of all these trees across the lawns at night is so beautiful. I've not ever tried taking nighttime photos, and will have to try, before it wanes too much. There are some things I could stare at forever and never tire of - moonlight and fog across the lawns are my top 2. It's the calming mysteriousness. I remember my small place in this physical world, and how much MORE exists outside of it.

So, I'll have to write that down, as a prerequisite, for when I'm ready to leave this place and go back home. Must be either a moonlit night or a foggy day. But I can never decide on the season. I love spring, as I was born in April, so I wouldn't want to miss that. Summer is beautiful as the flowers are all blooming, and I LOVE flowers. Autumn is spectacular with the changing of color and winter is pure and bright with the snow. See, how can I pick a season? They better come up with a 5th season, that I don't like, or I may be here forever!

Jack-in-the-Box
Why can I never remember to do something *before* I sit down! I'm like a jack-in-the-box all day long. It's not until I sit down do I think of something *else* that I need to do. It's as if the act of sitting sparks a memory cord. No risk of my ever becoming sedentary, that's for sure.

It's the same with my dreams. I may remember some of the previous night's dreams when I wake up, then forget them completely all during the day. Almost the minute my head hits the pillow, they come back to me, at least the most striking one does. It's as if they are trapped under the canopy over the bed, waiting for me to return to bed to hear them.

A Retasting of Summer


No, these Hollyhocks are growing no longer, but it's cold, snow-laden, rainy, slushy, yucky out. Not so warm in here - I'm bundled in 2 sweaters and wool socks, always wool socks! - so I needed a reminder of summer. The smell of pine boughs is nice enough, but nothing beats flowers, for me!

I'm always sad when it's time to take down all the electric candles in January, as I love the soft light, but what a pain it is every day to go around the house at 4:30 to plug in 17 candles, then unplug them 'round about a quarter to midnight. Another thing to add for the *next* house (geez, HOW many other things are on that list already - it's HUGE) - automatic Christmas candles.

Knitting and Design
I'm working away on the new pullover I'm designing for DD. No photo yet. I do have a crochet neck warmer design ready, but I'm in no rush to release it, as knitters don't seem to be taking to my crochet designs, thus far. The neck warmer is pretty and I *will* get to it, but not until after Christmas, New Year's, then inventory on Jan 1st or so.

I prefer to release more than one design at the same time, so that means writing the simple, cropped raglan pullover pattern up and taking the photos. So, it may be mid-January, earlier if there's time.

Well, apparently, all it takes for me to get a whopping 7 comments on one blog post is to complain about something loudly enough!

Thanks to all who offered helpful ideas or comments.

As I've had my site since '96, moved to a new host with secure cart in '00, yes, many of my *earlier* design photos aren't as good as the newer design photos. I do not have many of these samples to retake the photos, but *even if* I did have them, there's little time available for going back and redoing things that were done already. There's not nearly enough time for creating new designs while running a business, single-handedly.

Try to think of it as a progression of, not only a sense of style over the years, but also, thanks to the digital camera, a progression of photographic ability. It's not like 65+ patterns and 6 books were all written in the past year, and so, all exude the same flavor!

My Twin Rib Warmer Set, Twisted Cable Neck Warmer, Working Cables Cardigan, and Alpaca Boucle Kimono Jacket are just some examples of newer designs with (what I think are) good photos. Anything designed in the past 3 years generally has a good photo, before then, I was limited to a regular 35 mm camera and bad processing and relying on hubby to take the photos when he could - over an over again, as the processing never came out really well.

Onwards, upwards, always.

I have fixed one, of the many, complaints about my site last evening. I switched to a weight-based shipping system. So now shipping is included in all orders that need them (the Gazettes don't need them). This was the best way to get as close to actual shipping costs charged to the customer.

A complete site redesigning will have to wait until I can find someone to do it at a price I can afford, as, again, I haven't that kind of free time, actually I have hardly any free time, especially with all the work on this 13-room antique house in the past few years and its being on the market for 3 months now. (Which, if anyone's been reading this blog earlier than just yesterday, they'd know this.). But yes, a major redo is what would be needed to bring the style of the site into the 21st century.

It's one of those things on the long list of things that small businesses have to weigh the expense of money and time. One year, it's spending several thousand on advertising (that yields little return). Another year, it's a $1500 printer. Heck, Id love to be able to afford office help, as well as a site redo and enough 18 hank groups of cashmere to have a 20-color hand-dyed line! The reality is that not every year can a major expense be taken on and the site redo has been down on the list, until now.

I *was* considering Paypal as a payment option. It would partly depend on ease of insertion into my site, *as it exists*, AND being able to have Paypal income withdrawn to my checking account without too large an electronic transfer fee (on top of the merchant fees they charge), because, guess what?

I DON'T USE Paypal to buy anything, if I can help it. The Knitty ad is the one venue I must use it with, as they don't take credit cards.

Like most businesses, online or B&M, outside the online knitting and craft community, I use credit cards for purchases, and they accept just credit cards for purchases. *This*, folks, is the standard in all other areas of online or B&M shopping, not Paypal, and I'm not looking to lower my professional image by accepting a method of payment that legitimate businesses outside the hobby craft world and ebay don't accept, and many within the hobby craft world don't accept.

There are many yarn shops and catalogs that don't accept Paypal and are doing well, which means knitters DO actually use their credit cards to order yarn and supplies. And I know of no B&M yarn store that accepts Paypal in their shop. It's not the standard.

Redoing the site should get it more in line with my designer status, as one comment stated, so why would I want to water down the effect, and perpetuate the hobby-related status, that Paypal denotes?

Onto other topics. But not today. I do need to get back to work after nearly 2 entire days of dealing with this stuff here and elsewhere.

I was going to post a long "GripeFest - Ignore At Will", thanks to my having done a preliminary accounting, last night, of my business' gross sales this year, but I have decided to just skip today's post instead and save you all from hearing me go on about business sliding downhill since last summer. This holiday, I am grateful I still have ANY kind of a design business left. It is surely a miracle. Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll have something more uplifting and encouraging to post about.

It's just really aggravating to work so hard for so long, trying to get to an income level that doesn't remind me of working part time at Walmart, to then have so many exterior events create such havoc with one's sales. I usually put on my happy face and just keep working, and trying to ignore the financial fact that knitters aren't buying patterns and books like they used to (whether because of yet another natural disaster stopping sales or free patterns stopping sales), and hoping my next new design or new book will bowl them all over, increasing sales along the way. And I will do so tomorrow (put the happy face back on), but today, I'm feeling gripey and pissy. Has the likes of Knitty done us indie, self-publishing designers in?

I hope not. I advertise in Knitty, trying to attract the immense quantity of their readership to come to my site, which they seem to be doing, on a small scale. But buying? NO, they're not buying. So, has free patterns done us indie, self-publishing designers in? Will free mags, like Knitty, be our death knell? Do I have to turn back my 46 year old clock, become 26 again and design hip, trendy, and skimpy knits to survive?

I'm SO glad the knitting industry is growing and doing SO well, that yarn companies CAN HARDLY KEEP UP WITH THE DEMAND but I'd like to know why designers are NOT ONLY NOT reaping any of this fabulousness, but seeing a 25-30% DECREASE in gross sales over 2 years ago!!

See, I'm griping and I said I wouldn't. But anyone who might have ANY idea why knitters are willing to spend so much money on stashing away yarns they can't possibly knit up, even within a year, but are NOT buying patterns or books from self-publishing designers, DO feel free to comment!

Thank goodness my wholesale sales are better this year, but it doesn't make up for a 35% reduction in retail sales. New designers ask me, the seasoned and supposedly successful proffesional, when their *break* will come, and I say I'm at it over a dozen yaers and *my* break hasn't come yet. OR maybe it's just passed me by, dissolved into free pdf patternland.

Began DD's pullover yesterday and am nearing the waist. Will post a photo when there's enough pattern to show.

It's darn cold here, for December, with lows in the single digits. Ordering more oil soon for delivery on Thursday. Have been trying not to use much of it. I keep the thermometer low during the day. Most rooms are ice cold, and I have been relying on the small electric heater and lots of wool-wearing. Am currently clad in my allover stranded heavy worsted wt. Tree of Life Pullover and doubled Peace Fleece socks. Nonetheless, our first 150 gallon order still only lasted 5 weeks. Eesh.

DD, who is cold like I am, is fortunate to have an apartment with heat included, and 72 degrees is their norm. It is *not* the norm here, however! so she wasn't feeling very cozy this past weekend, despite my having put flannel sheets, 2 blankets and a down quilt on her bed! That's it. I haven't got an endless supply of queen-sized wool blankets!, and she's not used to wearing lots of wool, as I am. And I don't have $350 to spend on oil every 2-3 weeks to make this place any warmer. Hence this wool sweater I'm knitting for her! And, if she likes it, I may do a second one as well in another color. I need 2 samples for a pattern, anyway. But, if she doesn't like it, I'll wear it. Can't have too many stylish wool sweaters. And I DO LOVE knitting with pre-washed Peace Fleece yarn!

Youngest brother had heard, back in autumn, that it was to be a mild winter! Errant source, indeed!, but I knew that I'd have to see it to believe it, as the weather's been odd for several years. The cold should be good for pattern sales, though - thick wool patterns are beginning to be ordered.

Dad's 70th Birthday Dinner celebration was a blast! He was overwhelmed with the dinner, the cake, the gifts, and having almost all of us kids and our families there.

My youngest brother had the cake specially made at Buono's Bakery, where he worked years ago, before becoming a systems analyst. (I worked at a similar Italian bakery, while in high school - 6 am - 2 pm on Sunday mornings, other hours on Saturday. I can't believe I got up at 5 in the morning. Can you say sfogliatelle? I still can!)

He also brought 4 helium-filled balloons which hovered over our table at the restaurant. We had the table-hopping guitar-playing duo (I think they were guitars!) come and sing while the staff prepped the cake, and then they and the 10 of us sang Happy Birthday.

My middle younger brother drove up from VA with his wife and 2 small children, who behaved spectacularly! They stayed over, before making the longgg trip back home on Sunday.

Here's one shot of Dad, his wife Ann, and my daughter, Sarah. Sarah gave him an engraved pocket watch. He was overcome when he opened up the gift - that she chose something so meaningful for him. We kids went in together on a GPS system for his car, as he's never been good with directions, especially as we all live strewn to the 4 winds, so we hope this helps! We all had a great time, though, naturally, Dad's always just happy to see us all!



And when we picked up Pickles the next morning, he was well, UNLIKE the last kennel visit! Pumpkin and boyfriend drove the long way home Sunday, but will be back on Friday evening late, for the Christmas visiting.

I'm done with my CIC knitting for a month or so. I've got 17 pairs done - see below - and with the 2 sweaters, the largest USPS box is jammed full. if I have time to start more in January, I will, but other things are calling me now.

Here's the swatch I knit from Peace Fleece's Latvian Lavender, in it's pre-washed state. Swatch has been washed and lain flat to dry.



I have yet to determine how long the pullover will be and may well need to start with the stockinette and cables at the lower edge so that it comes past the waist some, then move to all cables, then back to 1/2 cables, 1/2 stockinette, then to all stockinette.

It's a similar idea to my Working Cables Cardigan, except that design used 3/3 cables and never moved to all stockinette.

Here's the Baghdad Blue Peace Fleece. It's a wonderful color and I don't think I've captured it properly!



It's a deep royal blue with definite purple tones, as there's bits of fuchsia in the tweed. But the color changes with the light, sometimes it looks far more blue, other times, more purple. I'll have to see what wonderfulness I can make with 7 hanks of it!

On the CIC Holiday Knitting Front - am on pair #16. Not sure if I've ever knit so many pairs in ONE stretch! Maybe I can get to 20 pairs before returning to my regularly scheduled work program.

About 7 inches already and more coming down every micro-second.

I love the snow bombs! The ground snow gets dimpled from the snow falling off the tree limbs - just don't stand beneath them whilst walking the dog!

Hubby will be soon getting the mower deck off the tractor (yeah, he never has enough hours in the day to tend to this stuff *in advance*!), and get the chains on the wheels and the plow on the old crusty thing and hopefully have it work without having something break. But I better not jinx it by even thinking of something breaking!

Now to go around the house collating stuff I've been saving to give Pumpkin, for when I saw her again - it's been over a year, as I don't think we saw her last Christmas, so it's been since Grandma's funeral, last September. And the 3 bags of clothes my youngest brother John left here not this past summer but last summer, when he was helping us scrape the house.

Then to go rinse the 7 hanks of Latvian Lavender Peace Fleece I put to soak in hot water and Dawn dish liquid last night.

NEVER assume that every color in a certain yarn will or should get the same gauge! The Latvian Lavender tends to be a bit thinner than some of the other colors, at least fresh off the hank. As I wash all millspun yarns first before knitting with them, I would have done this anyway and, hopefully, it will thicken the yarn enough to get the same gauge as the other 2 Peace Fleece raglan sweaters I've been wearing to death, whilst they wait on my sorry self to write the darn pattern up! Otherwise her sweater will need to become a separate pattern, or, more than likely, just become an anomaly - good for a design photo, but I'll have to crunch the pattern #'s based on the gauges of the other 2 samples, then put in a note to beware that the LL color may not meet gauge.

BUT, the idea I had the other day worked! I need to shape 10" from her waist to her bust and solid 2/2 cables separated by 2 purl sts gives a fabric 27% less than the same # of sts worked in stockinette. So, a 41" chest - 27% = almost 30" for the waist. Naturally these #'s reflect EASE!

She has, at most, a 26" waist, probably less. *Mine's* 30" - egads, and why did turning 40 (6 years ago) have to hit at my waist (well, at my calves, too)! I'm working on rectifying it, tho. It IS unacceptable, and the latest hormonal changes have been adding salt to the wounds by toying with my weight, *forcing* me to go buy 2 pairs of size 10 slacks recently, JUST so I have something to wear.

I swore to myself, that you'd have to drag me in chains, all the while kicking and screaming, before I'd wear a size 10. I am an 8. PERIOD. No iffs ands or buts (or in my case, butts), about it. So, believe me, I'll be an 8 soon again and will happily take the waist in on those tsk, tsk, size 10 pants.

Well, work and snow shoveling awaits.....

More Shops!
Spent all of yesterday afternoon reprinting about a dozen patterns, as my new rep emailed me with another quite large shop order, from a new shop account. I've been having to update my Shops and Mail Order page several times in the past 2 weeks! NOT complaining. I am quite pleased to have so many new shops carrying my patterns and books. Books! I had to autograph more books, as well!

Preparing for Weekend
The Peace Fleece yarn didn't come in yesterday, so I worked some more on CIC socks - am finishing up pair #14. And washed some rag rugs and did laundry. I need to remake the large guest bedroom's bed today with flannel sheets and LOTS of blankets. DD is like me - tends to be cold - then put the heat on in that room tomorrow. I should also dust through this place again, floors and surfaces as I haven't done it in a long while, thanks to work demands and poopy dog saga.

And I should go in to the attic and get the electric candles for the windows and scrounge up all the extension cords I can find and set them up - let's see, how many windows again? Oh yeah, 17 of the 43 windows. It *does* look pretty at night, but the only time I get to see it is if the mail comes late, past dark. And if it wasn't usually so darn cold out, I'd stand on the front bluestone path and stare at the house awhile, or maybe pull up a seat!

More on the Browser Wars
I'm back to IE 5 for Mac and Opera. I can't believe it. I've downloaded more browsers (2 versions of Netscape, Mozilla, 2 versions of Icab, Opera, and now IE again, with several of them having been downloaded and tried several times!) in the past week than I have in the entire time I've been online ('96 or so). I wanted one browser to do everything - that's not really asking so much, is it? Apparently it is. Opera was doing fine going into my admin area, going into Blogger so I can post, and doing all the usual web surfing I do. Until. Yesterday.

All I wanted to do was go into the MLS specific search site, for looking up specific MLS #'s of houses on the Cape. The resultant info is more in depth than the typical MLS info obtained on any of the real estate sites. And, it wouldn't do it.

I could see the form flash before my eyes, then disappear into the ethers. No, no, come back, I said - as if it was I lying upon that wood door in the ice cold ocean after the Titanic sank, as one of the lifeboats paddled away. I tried again and again. Nada. Nope. Nothing. It's only a form. True, the form has LOTS of boxes on it, but it's still only a form. I checked the prefs. I search Opera's site for info. I do all the usual semi-techie things one does to solve one's own computer problems. Blast. I need another browser. After all I've been through trying to get used to and set the prefs for browser after browser.

So, that's it. I've run the gamut of browsers that work with Mac OS 9 and am back to IE 5 for my regular browsing which, BTW, handles that stupid form just fine thank you! And Opera will be used when I need to do certain secure things. Ufda and "we'll go 'round in circles".

CIC socks
I haven't stopped knitting CIC socks yet. Am up to 13 pairs and have CO for pair #14. I get into a groove and can't stop! Which is OK, as I need to make hay while the sun shines. As soon as the Peace Fleece comes in, I gotta begin work on the pullover design for DD for Christmas. But, as I posted on 10/21 (scroll down to the 10/21 entry: Cleaning - The Broken Record, Patterns and Raglans), she has a full chest and tiny waist and many sweaters are too baggy on her if they fit her elsewhere, so darting and shaping will be required. Unless I come up with another way to do the shaping, a graduated rib and/or cable, so darting won't be necessary. Much swatching to do. If it works, it would also be a nice detail on the lower sleeve, as well. Hmmm.

Much Visiting
Much visiting will be occurring here soon. DD had SO wanted to come to her grandfather's birthday dinner, but it's a 6-hour trip each way to get here and another 2.5 to Staten Island. She and boyfriend had planned on taking 5 days next weekend as that's the weekend it was originally set for and of course, they're not allowed to change holiday days off now, and so, it wasn't looking plausible to come down 2 weekends in a row. BUT, like a good parent, I offered to pay her gas and tolls for this trip, to alleviate what would surely be a difficulty for them, and it would just entail her doing all that driving. Her car, she drives!

So, between our portion of Dad's gift (not a cheap gift), $ for DD, $ for the dinner for the 4 of us (at a not cheap restaurant), our split of Dad and wife's dinner, gas and tolls to SI and back and cost of kennel for dog for 1 night, as he can't be left alone for 9 hours without getting walkies, this will be one darn expensive weekend, that I hope won't be replicated any time too soon.

Poopy Dog Saga Continues
As it is, the one night we had him in the kennel last weekend has caused nothing but havoc this past week. He's just getting over his let's-crap-up-the-house bug. It's been a week, a LONG week of endless trips outside, and if I have to wash the dog's behind one more time I'll scream!. Now he'll go back into the kennel and catch something else. He came out of the kennel smelling like vomit - his or another dog's that was in his cell before him - who knows. OH, let this be an uneventful kennel experience! It's a good thing no-one's come to see the house, as his current level of illness-related intoxicating flatulence would surely scare away lookers, and I can only spray so much apple-scented Lysol, without asphyxiating myself.

He could really use another bath, even though I gave him one last Sunday after picking him up Saturday from the kennel. We usually give him a day to recover the stress of being there before stressing him with a bath. But it can wait, as I'll have to bathe him this Sunday again. The bathing not's the hard part, its' the drying him, especially as his hair gets long, as it is now. We'd have the kennel give him a haircut as well, but they don't do that on weekends. It takes a long time to dry his hair, then he runs around the house in a frenzy until he eventually calms down and takes a long nap. What fun.

Book Press
Janet Szabo, publisher of Twists and Turns, The Newsletter for Lovers of Cable Knitting, has kindly reviewed my Curvaceous Cables Collection in her Winter 2005 issue!

Thank you, Janet!

Anniversary
Tomorrow is hubby's and my 18th wedding anniversary! We've already cracked open the Asti over the weekend, as Tuesday is a work day for all involved and next weekend we are putting Pickles in the kennel and driving to Staten Island for my Dad's 70th birthday dinner at the Marina Cafe, then driving home again. So, undoubtedly, after picking up the dog on Sunday morning, there'll be chores to do and little inclination to go out and spend more money.

Hubby and I usually go out to dinner for our anniversary. On a good year, we go to the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, NY. On other years, we go to Red Lobster. This would have been a Red Lobster year anyway, but it's nothing like dining at the Caterina Restaurant at CI. Pris Fixe 5 course dinner with dessert - it takes almost the entire evening to enjoy!

It's not easy having a winter anniversary. It's too cold to *do* anything or go anywhere and a bit too early to at least tour some of the Hudson River Estates which all get decked out for Christmas. They don't start until next weekend. 2 more years until our 20th, and I'd LOVE to do something really special, as we never had a honeymoon, and have spent all these years working ALL the time, and have been through a lot together. I think 2 weeks in late April, early May spent at a villa overlooking the ocean in Italy should just about do it.

I said Id post a photo of the post-fulled swatch, which is below:



Gauge went from 4.25 sts/1" to 4.66 sts/1" and from 5 rows/1" to 5.5 rows/1". This is 9% in both width and length. I *think* what kept the length from shrinking more than it did (and which it *usually* does) is the tighter beginning gauge than normal for an item to be fulled.

The resultant fabric is very nice. It still has vertical and diagonal stretch and a smidge of lateral stretch. It is soft and cozy and would me nice for fulled slipper socks, but also for a fulled jacket or bag.

The feel of Peace Fleece is very nice, fuzzy like Lamb's Pride, but with more character. It is more bouyant, less flat. I think one of the colors I ordered 7 hanks of on Friday will need to become a fulled jacket! I don't have a winter coat, much preferring my knit wool sweaters, but a fitted, fulled jacket would be a nice alternative.

I also said I'd post a photo of my EZ mittens in LP Worsted:



The only things I would have changed *for my* hands is a slightly longer hand length after the thumb gusset and a slightly longer thumb length for more wiggle room. I knit this same pattern in DK wt yarn, I think, for my DD, who has petite hands. Peer Gynt maybe, I don't remember.

Today's a slow day - laundry and more laundry, shopping for houses online, then, the highlight after dinner, going to see the new Harry Potter movie! It's our once-a-year going to the movies luxury. I didn't get to see the last Star Wars, but wasn't going to miss Harry!

Back to sock knitting...

Fulled Faeroe Socks

I thought I'd post what goes on in my head when I'm deciding on a new colorwork design.

In a recent post, I mentioned working on some socks in Peace Fleece in a simple Faeroe pattern, "Long Slants Back and Forth". I then ripped it out. In the following photo of my Stitch Painter Gold charts, it would be the bottom center chart.



I wanted to blend the pinks, then white and grey into each other gradually, for a subtle color evolution. Subtle, indeed! I couldn't discern the pattern, that's how subtle it was! So, yesterday, I changed it to the colors in the chart, bottom right. Now each one stands out clearly enough to discern the pattern. I still like the original idea of shading colors, it just doesn't work with this pattern. It really is crucial for a designer to not get attached to any one idea, until it proves itself worthy.

The rest of the charts are what I made along the way, checking the colors to see if I didn't want them in a slightly more complex pattern. In the end, simple won out. But a stranded pattern in socks is never really simple, as the gussets intercept the pattern's flow, which means inserting, yet another pattern for the gussets. So, what would have been a simple design is no longer simple to knit!

I could work an afterthought or peasant heel and keep the patterning and knitting more basic, but I prefer a heel flap sock. I could work the gussets all in one of the colors, just weaving in the unused color behind. This makes it visually less busy, but no easier to knit. And, as the colors change every 3 rnds, the entire gusset shaping area won't be in one color anyway, it will be in solid bars of colors, the look of which I'm not so keen on.

I could also just continue the Faeroe pattern into the gusset area, leaving just a 1 st demarcation between the instep and heel, as the patterns won't align at this point in the sock.

So, what to do?

I don't think I can decide just yet. First I swatched the pattern on 8's and threw it in with some laundry, permanent press cycle, rather cool water (we don't waste heating oil on heating clothes washing water!), then a toss into the permanent press dryer cycle.

Swatch before felting:



I'll post the felted, or rather, fulled swatch later, as I don't want complete obliviation of the sts, just an all around tightening up of the fabric. As I used US 8's on this heavy worsted wt. wool and mohair blend yarn, there isn't really room for complete felting to occur. I would need to have used 10's or larger to have enough room between the sts for a good felting.

Mind you, when I frogged the original sock, I used up almost all of the yarn to make CIC socks, so I had to substitute a brighter pink (Perestroika Pink) for the Samantha-Katya Pink that is *supposed* to be used. I ordered more Peace Fleece last night, for making the sock design in the colors I want! (as well as 7 hanks of Latvian Lavender for my DD's Christmas gift sweater, 7 hanks Baghdad Blue, for an unknown-as-yet design - I just liked that blue, at least on my screen!, 4 hanks of Galooboy Blue (as I have 3 here already), for another, as yet unknown design and 1 each of the 5 colors needed for the sock design and whatever else I decide to do with them, maybe matching mittens - yes, can't have enough mittens!

I don't like gloves. My hands are always too cold in them, and having finger dexterity isn't something a non-driver, non-commuter like me need worry about. But mittens are great for shoveling snow and taking walks.

I'll also post later a shot of Elizabeth Zimmermann's "Winter Spruce" mittens (from Knitting Around), which I knit several years ago in Lamb's Pride Worsted at about 6 sts/1", for a nice snug mitten. Although that yarn is only 15% mohair, it seems to become very hairy after wearing awhile, the feel of which I'm not crazy about on the inside of a mitten. I will be interested to see how the Peace Fleece does with its 30% mohair content. LPW is a single ply yarn, though, which means fibers will get themselves free much more easily than a well-spun 2-ply yarn. So, I don't think the Peace Fleece will be as hairy with use, but only time will tell.

My Latest Socks
Thank goodness the rest of yesterday was quiet and uneventful, well, until 4:30 this morning, that is!

I did laundry and hand washing, finished that 10th pair of CIC socks and washed them, then CO a thick pair for moi. I wear my wool socks every day, all day, all night, so they don't last forever and my few pairs are beginning to get shabby. I liked the soft squishy, fuzzy fabric of doubled Peace Fleece with US size 10 (6 mm) dpns. And yet again, simple knitting prevails in socks that I'll wear every day and wear out soon enough - so:

With MC, 30 sts in 1x1 rib for 15 rnds, counting the long tail CO rnd.
15 sts in A, turn.
(P1A, p1B) across, ending with p1A, turn.
(K1A, k1B), across ending with k1A, turn.
Rep last 2 rows 5x more, then rep purl row once more.

For the heel turn I didn't want to continue the corrugated striping, but I did want the same thickness as I walk hard on my heels, so I worked a V heel on the 15 sts in A, BUT carrying B across on each row.

Gussets - With A, I knit across the rem heel sts, picked up and knit 9 at the gusset, knit across the instep, picked up and knit at this gusset, then knit to middle of heel.

I worked 5 rnds in the A, alternating plain and dec rnds.

Break A (or leave it hanging to carry up). With B, work 6 rnds, continuing the shaping, until the original 30 sts remain.

Then 6 rnds MC, 6 rnds A, 6 rnds B.

Toe: With MC, knit 1 rnd.
(K4, k2tog) around = 25 sts. Knit 2 rnds.
(K3, k2tog) around = 20 sts. Knit 2 rnds.
(K2, k2tog) around = 15 sts. Knit 2 rnds.
(K1, k2tog) around = 10 sts. Break yarn, leaving a tail and with tapestry ndl, pull through last 10 sts.

Now this is where I seem to close a toe differently than some knitter do:
After I pull through and pull it all as snugly as I can, I move the sock around so the last pulled through st is facing east, like so >.

The yarn is coming off the tip of that st, so I dig under a st opposite that st, like so: >-<

Then I dig under a st to the north of this east-west meeting:
v
>-<

Then I dig under a st to the south of this north facing st, and pull snug:
v
>-<
^

This last move is important, as the yarn has now crossed over the top of the toe and sealed any gap left from the pulling through the remaining toe sts bit.

Now I don't weave in yarn tails to the WS as I don't want to have turn socks inside out to do this.

I just see where the yarn is coming out of and weave up and down in the channel between 2 sts, that is south of this yarn exit place, down the length of the toe shaping, like so, then snip off any remaining yarn tail:

^
>-<
v
-
-
-
-
-

With the wools I use for socks, that tail soon melds with the fabric and doesn't come undone.

In case anyone wonders about my choice for the # of rnds. They're #'s I like, usually just some good numerology numbers, like 15, 6, 9. It's a fluke the socks actually fit. Well, not *that* much of a fluke, I do try them on and measure, then calculate if the stripe pattern will work, or figure what I can do to make the pattern work!

Poopy Dog Saga Continues
After yesterday morning's mess, I proceeded to have to take Pickles out 3 more times yesterday, which is 2 times more than usual. The most fun one was after my shower. I had just enough time to wrap the towel over my sopping hair, pull on a sweater and wrap a wool afghan around my otherwise still unclad body, slip on my hubby's much-larger-than-my-feet sleepers which were the only shoes by the door, hook Pickles up and run outside. Urgent is urgent indeed. And having no time to dress to stand outside in the cold is not my idea of fun.

It would have been a hilarious picture tho - Blue towel, pink sweater, grey aran afghan, tan slippers - can you picture it? Thank god no-one was around to really picture it!


By 11:40 pm yesterday, I was done, kaput, crashing hard, was gonna drop off any second if I didn't get to bed that very second. Especially as I was up over an hour earlier than usual. Oh a good night's sleep was ahead of me and I could think of nothing else I wanted as much.

Until.

In the pitch blackness, I awake from a dead sleep to hear, oh, no, not again, dancing dog on our wood floor. Oh crap. I'm not getting up, I tell myself. It's hubby's turn, but somehow he wasn't hearing the dog nails on the floor as Pickles was scrambling here and there. He won't bark, he'll just pace. How considerate.

I lightly nudge hubby. Nothing. Oh well, here we go again. I get up - remember no lens, can't see diddly. Out the door, down the stairs. I'm literally 2 stair steps behind the bugger. Then he stops and squats. Eesh. Urgent is urgent indeed.

I go into the kitchen to retrieve paper towels, disinfectant cleaner and a plastic bag to hold this day's mess. Go back through the dining room, turn on bright overhead light. Gee, how it blends in with the shellac floor color! On my knees to find it, then clean it up.

Meanwhile dog is in the family room and I hear him heaving. More paper towels, on my knees to find it and clean it up. By now, hubby has awoken enough to discern that trouble has brewed in the Brocco Household once again, and comes downstairs to take the little crapper outside.

I wash my hands, go into the kitchen to take 2 ibuprofen and a swig of OJ, and note the time on the microwave - 4:44 am. Eesh. Finally our little troupe retires once again. Dog falls asleep. We lie there awake with adrenaline, and arise a few hours later, in a haze, all screwed up.

Maybe something wonderful will happen today to make up for the Curse of the Dog with Upset Innards.

I survived yesterday's printing bout, but stopped working at 7:30 pm. Good thing, as we always get to bed late, thanks to hubby's odd work hours, and was up extra early this morning, thanks to Pickles' needing to go out ASAP and of course, not making it down the stairs, through the house and out the kitchen door. He woke us up dancing about on the wood floor - 4 sets of doggie nails on wood floors wil do that. So hubby gets up, but the dog doesn't want to follow him. He leaves the room and goes downstairs.

I get up - now mind you, I can't see much until I put the one contact lens I have in, which is in the downstairs bath. The dog wanted *me* to go with him - what does he know of my crappy eyesight! - so I go, eyes half closed with sleep. Hubby had closed the door between the dining room and the family room, as we always do, to keep the heat in there. Dog gets to the door before me and can't wait - oh joy. I circumnavigate the mess and let the dog through telling hubby to take him out. Well, he didn't need out any more, now did he! Clean up mess, wash hands, hubby comes into the bathroom (where I am already engaged), with oogie-butt dog who needs a cleaning up. More joy. And I still haven't got my lens in. Clean up dog, clean up floor which he sat down on, then proceed to spill disinfectant cleaner all over. Mop up puddle, wash hands again. Finally get lens in. Get my pile of drugs, herbs, vitamins, tinctures and OJ and go to hide in my office.

The offender:



On Today's Schedule - who the heck knows!

I called a shop who apparently has a disconnected phone #, am waiting on rep to get back to me about this.

I have more book binding and pattern printing to do. And we'll see what else is in store as the day goes on!