I’ve lots to write on here about the wonderful time I’ve been having with Jan’s visit. But we are having so much fun it may have to wait until she is headed home.
We have been on the go everyday since her flight landed in Denver. There has been Vera Bradley, Yarn, Antiques, more Yarn, Glass Galleries, some more Yarn, Hiking, and Yarn. Yes, you are seeing a trend there. Of course, considering how we met originally it is no surprise that yarn is the common thread.
Today there was a lovely rain storm in the early evening, pouring rain with bright sunshine. So of course, there was a gorgeous double rainbow. I wasn’t quick enough with the camera to catch the double, but the remaining rainbow was pretty spectacular by itself.
More soon, including pictures of my lovely yarn and other goodies.
One can never have too many bags right? Well that is the theory I operate under. I do have quite a collection of bags, especially ones that are used for carrying around my various crochet, knitting or crafting projects.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on point-of-view) I tend to wear my bags out. Eventually they begin to look fairly ragged and sad. They may still be used around the house or demoted to shopping bag status at that point.
An opening in the queue though, means I need a new bag, and I’m always on the search for a bag that is beautiful, functional and durable. A trifecta that is not always easy to manage.
Enter my friend Jan, who is an enabler extraordinaire when we go shopping together. Jan has an amazing bag that she travels with to our many conferences, it’s a bit like Dr. Who’s Tardis in the amount of stuff she seems able to fit in it. At the Indianapolis Knit & Crochet Show she told me it was a Vera Bradley bag.
Then the real trouble began, the hotel we were staying in was connected by walkway to a very nice upscale mall, and Jan had been exploring there during her free-time one day. I hadn’t had all that much free-time myself, so on Sunday after the show market floor had closed we decided to go over there.
And Jan pointed toward the Vera Bradley store. Oh My!
As many of you that know me personally can attest to, I like color. Brilliant, Flamboyant, Bright Color. The Vera Bradley store looked like color Nirvana to me. I was drawn inside it like the proverbial moth to flame.
I knew I was in real trouble when I spotted this tote bag. Not only was it beautifully colorful, it was in my favorite colors. The patterned fabric it is accented with is called “Heather”. This is a signature Vera Bradley fabric that I really like. Though it was hard to narrow down to a favorite initially, the tote bag helped me make up my mind.
I had to wait for the bag to be shipped to me, as I already had a full suitcase for the flight home from the conference. But I did purchase this handy little cosmetic case to take along with me.
Since the bag’s arrival here on the mountain it has rapidly become my favorite. It is wonderfully designed and constructed. There are 2 generous outside pockets that are ideal for my water bottle and other necessities.
The inside is just as wonderful as the outside, with seams completely covered and reinforced, plus a nice sized zippered pocket (handy storage for stitch markers and scissors), and a reinforced polka-dotted fabric bottom flap. The solid color sides are a sturdy twill fabric that I am hoping will stand up to some wear, and the outside seams are reinforced with a vinyl leather-like piping that help it stand up and should help with wear as well.
This was the larger of the 2 bags they had in this style, but I am thinking I may be acquiring some of the smaller sized ones for individual projects. Because, you can’t have too many bags. Right?
Yes, that is a Trek reference. It’s been a little interesting attempting to write posts for the blog the past couple of months. My lovely ergonomic split keyboard was finally on it’s last legs. Somedays it refused to allow me to type anything, so I pronounced it dead and ordered a new one.
I actually type very fast. Last time I was tested I was at 120wpm. Whether I’m still that fast remains to be seen. But I have made the computer lag in the past. Lovely thing about newer computers is they seem to process fast enough to keep up with my flying fingers.
Generally I only type that fast when writing rough drafts. Pattern writing and editing is naturally a slower process. But anyway it goes, having the keyboard being wonky is frustrating. No matter my typing speed, I really have to take care of my hands, and having a well designed ergonomic keyboard to work at is key.
My new keyboard came a few weeks ago and I’ve been playing catch-up. I am really thrilled with it. This new one is split, but it is also a reverse slant. The mouse is interesting as well, it’s taller and sort of sideways, which allows a more comfortable position for my hand and wrist. Some of these changes took me a bit of getting used to. I’ve noticed after nearly a week that I’m able to type faster and more comfortably than before.
If you are like me and spend a great deal of time working at a the computer you might want to check into this keyboard from Microsoft. It’s called the “Natural Ergonomic 7000 Desktop”. You can position the keyboard a number of different ways as it has a removable lift for creating the reverse slant and pop-up legs for a more traditional position.
My favorite change from my old keyboard is that the wireless hook-up is a small USB device about the size of most thumb drives. My previous keyboard had cables that needed to be connected to the computer with a large ovoid shaped transmitter that seemed to be constantly in the way on my desk.
Of course, now I am dreaming of saving up the funds to purchase a new laptop. Something lighter weight and powerful enough to run video editing software on.
Sorry for going a bit quiet on all my lovely readers. The last bit of March went flying by as it was Spring Break for my boys and since then it’s been madness.
For one thing, the weather up here on my mountain doesn’t seem able to make up it’s mind. First it’s 60+ temperatures (farenheit for those of my non-US readers) with loads of mud everywhere, then it’s 6-10 inches of snow and below freezing temps.
A few weekends back was Easter, which my family tends to celebrate as the beginning of spring. For the first time, in a long while, we actually had a warm weather day here on the mountain to celebrate my favorite Spring holiday. Generally we are still contending with just above freezing. Our egg hunts are either conducted indoors or wearing full winter gear.
I’ve been working away on much of the book-keeping tasks that seem to be neglected until tax time rolls around again. Every year I promise myself that I will do a better job of keeping up with that job. So far I’ve not done a stellar job with meeting that promise.
Of course, the good news is, each year the amount of book-keeping work increases as my design, writing and teaching work load increases. As my darling friend Pam says, it is a “quality problem”. Who knows, 2013 may well be the year I finally hire someone to do the book-keeping for me. That might whip me into shape.
Speaking of getting into shape. My birthday resolution of improving my health is coming closer to my grasp. I’ve been working on developing the habit of going to bed before midnight. Amazing what getting decent sleep does for one’s attitude overall, not to mention the improvement in energy during the day.
I’m also exercising more each day. Some days it is just 1/2 an hour of dancing in my living room to my favorite disco tunes. This is really entertaining to do when my children are home after school. Who knew one could embarrass their children when no one is around? Wait til I dance in the grocery store aisle when shopping with them.
I’ve been reading a rather inspiring book that one of my PJ Jam friends recommended. “Younger Next Year for Women; Live Strong, Fit and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond ” by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D.
The book is really reiterating some of the info I already knew about keeping active and involved in life to stay healthy. Written with a rather humorous voice at times I have been finding it entertaining, as well as motivating me to get off my duff and get active again.
I will be going to see my medical doctor soon for an evaluation as part of my fitness program. Partly because I hope to repeat the appointment in a year and see an improvement. My 50th birthday is only 6 months away now, so I’m thinking that will be my first milestone to shoot for.
It would be lovely to walk up my own driveway by then without feeling winded. And in case you are thinking I’m really a wuss for being winded going up my drive, it’s a very steep drive and I live at nearly 8500 feet above sea-level.
Photo courtesy of Red Heart
Meanwhile I have a few new designs out. Flowered Wedding Favor Box is worked in thread and is quick to stitch up. Work the flowers in your wedding colors, or make one trimmed box to hold a gift for Mom this Mother’s day.
Photo courtesy of Red Heart
And if you missed the issue of Crochet World that had my Button Showcase Bracelet in it, you can now find the pattern on the Red Heart Website.
I hope you are all enjoying your Spring and finding time for some outdoor play to balance your crochet time.
2013 has been moving fast. I’m busy with lots of crochet work, but being it is all still in the secret stage I can’t share about it yet.
Instead just a quick post today of my companions while I work.
The big guy on the right is our new addition to our family. His name is Fango. I know, it’s a sort of horrible name…but he came with it and it is the one he knows. He is 6 years old and came to us thru the Rocky Mountain Labrador Rescue.
He had a rather rough time initially. He had major surgery on his leg as well as 2 malignant tumors removed from his side. Fortunately he has recovered well from the surgeries and they are confident that the entire tumors were removed. Almost half his body was shaved and he looked quite a mess when we first saw him.
He started off with a different foster family, then at Thanksgiving he came to stay with us while his foster family was out-of-town. When they got back there were some emergencies with their family, so we volunteered to continue fostering him. By Christmas time we had completely fallen in love with him, and after a family meeting we decided we needed to adopt him.
He is super mellow and a calming influence on our sweet Kenna girl. Loves to go for walks without dragging on the leash, and is very happy to play fetch.
The family has all agreed now that we have reached our dog capacity. So our volunteer efforts with RMLR will involve other contributions than fostering for a time. Just as well, since we might end up with 3 dogs.
Wow! I think I say this every year, but this one sure went by quickly. Just a few more minutes until it is 2013. 2013 will be a special year for me as I will be celebrating my 50th birthday.
2012 was really full. I made a bit of progress with my various resolutions, but kept getting side-tracked with other things.
What I did do with my 2012:
Went to my first TNNA show in January. It was the Winter show in Phoenix. I attended as an employee for a vendor friend and to assess if I wanted to join TNNA.
I decided to join and was accepted to TNNA in October.
I spent a good part of the first 3 months of 2012 pulling together sponsors and support materials for the 2012 CGOA Design Competition. This was my first year as one of the co-Chairs of this committee.
It also kept me really hopping at the New Hampshire Chain Link show (Knit and Crochet Show) at the end of June. Lots of set-up and moving the winning entries to various showings during the course of the conference.
An unexpected project I was working on in 2012 was a booklet for Leisure Arts that will be coming out the beginning of 2013. That kept me very busy during May, June and July.
I had 15 designs published during 2012, only 4 were self-published. So I’ll be revisiting that goal in 2013.
I also created 15 additional designs that are scheduled for publication in 2013, not counting the 10 designs for my Leisure Arts booklet. I’ll let you know here in my blog as each design comes out.
Sometimes life likes to surprise you. Those surprises can be good, or they can be bad.
A few weeks ago my computer decided to start messing with me. I would sit down to work and suddenly it would turn itself off. I would re-boot and it would come back. But I had a feeling there could be trouble ahead, so I made sure all my files were safely backed up on an external source.
This turned out to have been good planning. About a week later the computer crashed. Turns out the harddrive had pretty much died. I wasn’t too worried initially, but I should have been.
The good news is, I didn’t lose any of my files. The bad news was (and currently is) I lost all my software and all the settings for my browser and such. It has been an interesting process of discovery just how much my computer has become a vital extension of my working and social life.
I’m very convinced that Murphy’s Law is the main physical law of my life. Since this computer adventure really came at a bad time with all my work deadlines and with the upcoming holiday season. On the flip side, it could just be the blessing that allows me to simplify the holidays, and let it all be about spending time with loved ones for the Yuletide and New Year.
I hope to have some fun posts for you this December, but it might be a wee bit quiet as I make Christmas for my family and friends that will be visiting. I may be asking Santa for a new Lap Top this year.
One of the fun thing about being a designer/blogger is that every once-in-awhile yarn company’s will send a box of yarn and other goodies. This is a great chance to review new products and swatch with new yarns to see if they will fit in with one of my designs. I knew that Red Heart was sending me such a box, but had been so busy with work and family stuff it had slipped my mind.
So I was very pleasantly surprised today when the FedEx truck came and it was a box for me (instead of my beloved, who gets lots of boxes for work stuff).
Inside was this wonderful tote bag full of all kinds of fun stuff.
There are knitting stitch markers, chain for counting off stitches or rows, yarn cutter, knitting needles, crochet hooks, new issue of Crochet Today magazine, Susan Bates and Red Heart product catalogs and…..
Yarn!
More about all this fun stuff once I get caught up on some patterns.
We have been having a bit of a warm weather reprieve, but today it ended. I think I was in denial that it was going to get cold again. I had really been enjoying the warmer days.
But this morning I woke up to colder temperatures and late this afternoon it started snowing. Really wishing I had finished my snuggly sweater I’ve been crocheting for myself. So I will be curling up under an afghan this evening while I get a few more rows done.
Our local school district sent out an email notice to check about school closures and road conditions in the morning. Ya Think?!
Himself is clearing off the snow, and I am firing up the woodstove. Could be a very busy day tomorrow if the boys have a snow day from school.
If the power goes out it may mean the end of my every day blogging streak. Hopefully not though as today makes 25 days in a row.
I have managed to blog everyday for the past 16, but today has been more than a bit challenging.
Say Hello to my Little Friend
I have caught a cold, or more apt to say, the cold has caught me. So I’ve been alternating between working on design projects and napping. As well as taking care of my family.
I don’t know if this sad short little post will count as a “real” post today. But it’s the best I can do.
Consider it a glimpse into the sometimes not-so glamourous life of a crochet designer with elementary school children.
Mamas2Hands 