Since I can’t stand to move on without at least a cursory mention of my time away, here it is in list form.
Things I did during my summer vacation blog-break:
1. Kept my living room clean
2. Made my own lunches and brought them to work.
3. Finished and photographed Adromeda.
4. Finished and photographed Coraline.
5. Finished and photographed a Noro Striped Scarf
6. Didn’t have a doctors appointment since they canceled and rescheduled for September.
7. Went to my coworker’s wedding and took photos
8. Fell in love with Joss Whedon all over again because of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog.
9. Went to see Flogging Molly in concert with a local band of special importance opening for them.
10. Mail ordered way more stuff than I actually need. I guess when I’m not eating impulsively I shop impulsively. I also subsequently curtailed the purchasing and started focusing on knitting from stash.
11. Got a haircut that instantly made me feel hot.
12. Had the stylist glare at me when I instinctively tucked it behind my ears when I stood up.
13. Convinced the doctor’s office to give me a blood glucose monitor so I could at least have an accurate picture of my blood glucose levels BEFORE my September doctor’s appointment instead of showing up, having him look at my feet, ask me some questions and then send me off with a monitor for ANOTHER 2 months.
14. I worked long hours at my regular job, and got a bunch of overtime, which is sort of making me really unhappy to be at work now. Too much of a thing….
15. I joined the 100 pushup challenge, and let it fall by the wayside after 3 weeks.
16. I made lots of jam. Red Raspberry and Apricot, Red Raspberry and Mango, Liquid Crack….
17. I hung out with my grrls when Norma and Kim were visiting and had such a wonderful time I thought about packing myself into Norma’s suitcase so I didn’t ever have to go back to work.
18. Changed my eating habits to remove complex carbohydrates and add a great deal more vegetables, then found it wasn’t really helping that much, and added back in some complex carbohydrates, but in moderation.
19. Tested my blood glucose levels every morning, getting them down to 104 or 105 (fasting), regularly, which is still higher than it should be, but better than before.
20. Found I could download TV series from itunes and got hooked on Weeds.
21. Finished and did not block my Hourglass Sweater.
22. Finished and didn’t photograph some handspun socks.
23. Began Imogen, Wintergreen and the Kusha Kusha scarf.
24. Started going to Yoga.
25. Spun and plied some of Isabo for my “Before I Die” sweater. I filled 3 bobbins, then plied them, and now I’ve got 2 more full and working on the 3rd so I can ply again.
In the next post I’ll show you some actual knitting. I just had to clear out the cobwebs first.
By way of clarification, Brother #2 from yesterday is engaged. And getting married in November. A bit soon, I think, but then again, I’m the old curmudgeonly sister who dated her then boyfriend for 4.5 before getting married.
And in case you need a laugh to get through the rest of this week (and who doesn’t… really…) check out the newest gadget that everyone must own.
I am planning a return to blogging, soon. But for now, imagine cold mornings and finished sweaters. And if you ever harbored any desire to be related to me, I have one fewer brother on the market now (there’s still 2 left, so act fast).
This is Daniel, with a sign illustrating his awesome sense of humor. He wore it on his back as he rode his scooter home from work.
I’m not ready to come back yet, but I thought I’d give you all a heads up that the Twist Collective and Cleite goes live today. Go check out the debut issue and don’t forget to check the marketplace for an ad and a discount code for my store.
Thanks are due to Kate, Irene and Julia for making the Twist Collective concept real as well as Jessica for knitting the Cleite sample and Cynthia for designing a stellar ad.
M
p.s. I’m also set to teach at a retreat in San Diego if you are interested. The dates are September 18-21. Register early if you want to go, as space is limited.
This is more for me than for you, since I know you will all be here if you want to be, but every day I feel a twinge of guilt about not posting, and I spend a lot of time thinking about things I COULD be posting, when my mind really needs to be elsewhere, so I’m taking a break. I’m taking a break from designing for a short period as well. I need to spend my non-regular-work time changing my diet and making exercise a habit, and that’s not working out so well when I feel all guilty about blogging and keep thinking about my blog.
So I’ll see you all later. Please still feel free to e-mail me. I always make time for e-mail and I’ll still be minding my shop, so I’ll be checking e-mail regularly. And when I’m feeling lonely I check my e-mail, so an e-mail from a friend telling me something funny that happened or asking a question or whatever is always welcome.
Thanks friends. I’ll be back when I am comfortable enough with the new regime of “Humor The Pancreas”. Hopefully with something new to publish. Andromeda is done and beautiful but much too complicated of a pattern to write up in my current brain-fried state.
There is a function in my store front for reviews. I hadn’t used it previously, but then a couple of people left reviews for some of my patterns, so I’m soliciting reviews.
If you’d like to leave a review of a pattern:
1. Go to My Storefront. And log in.
2. Find the product(s) you want to review.
3. On the bottom of the pattern’s individual page, there is a link toward the left side that says “Reviews”. Click that link.
4. Click the little pencil button that says “write a review”
5. Write a review and select a rating, then submit.
The free patterns can also be reviewed, but you do need to log in to be able to write a review. All reviews require my approval before they are visible, so if you write something mean, I won’t let it post. So to any trolls out there, don’t waste your time.
I do realize this is a cop-out blog post, but I’m so astonishingly overwhelmed right now with my regular job and my health issues, plus having been locked out of my apartment yesterday for 4 hours during which I had planned to catch up on a bunch of stuff, but clearly, couldn’t… and I’m just barely keeping my head above water. Bear with me.
It’s been all I can do this week to make sure I blog everyday. When I get home I am tired and end up knitting a few half-hearted rows on my shawl and then ignoring it for a few hours while I doze in and out of sleep while watching a movie.
I’m at a stand-still on the Andromeda shawl, which I need a bit of brain power to overcome, sadly, brain power seems to be lacking. I’ve been throwing myself and my energy into my regular job this week. Trying really hard to keep everything on the rails. It has worked, but at the cost of my creative mojo and all my extra energy.
Part of it is a sense of my own mortality brought on by a biometric test that I had done Tuesday morning as part of my work’s wellness program. Turns out I have a rather high fasting blood glucose level and given the family history of diabetes I feel like my possibilities have shrunk. Like my pancreas is a ticking clock and I just have to watch while it dies. So in an attempt to stave that off I’m changing my diet bit by bit. I am bringing lunch to work so that I’m not left with only vending machine fare as my mid-day meal, and we brought a water cooler into our office, which should make it that much easier to drink my recommended daily amount.
For so long I have ignored my long-term health, but I suppose 26 is old enough to stop that childishness. I guess I needed that kick in the pants to really think about it. I know I still need to go have the full battery of blood glucose test before I know for sure, and I will probably need to redo them every 2 or 3 years just to be sure I know where things stand, but lifestyle changes always mess with my creativity. If my brain is too busy thinking about how I should and shouldn’t do some things and what will happen to me, Oh.My.God, there’s not really a lot of room for shawl edgings.
I’ve got a long weekend off work though, so I’ll probably not post on Monday. And I’ll be spending it with some family members that would be chosen family even if they weren’t blood, so that should be rejuvenating. I just have to think about the laundry and the wholesale pattern orders before I can go… bah.
I’ve been toying with the idea of releasing patterns as small collections. Like 3 or 4 patterns at a time that all sort of fit together with a theme. Being the obsessive type person I am, I have listed the pros and cons.
Pros:
Less time spent overall to post the patterns, change all my websites, etc…
It would lend a touch of sophistication
A discount could be offered if you purchase the whole collection over just one or two patterns
I would get to work with a theme and some direction
It would take some of the pressure off about releasing as soon as it is done and might allow for time to have patterns test knit
Cons:
Less of a steady stream of pattern sales as the current model where I release a pattern every couple of months.
The delay of one pattern would delay the release of the whole collection
It might prove more work in the end
It might drive my tech editor crazy
It might really piss off my customers
So tell me what you think about it, because no matter what the other pros and cons, what it comes down to is if it will piss you guys off and drive you away. Keep in mind that I can always do a bit of both (like collections to tie in with the seasons and then individual patterns every now and then when I have them done). So I made this little poll. Feel free to leave comments on this as well. The poll closes on the 26th at midnight. And if you feel so inclined, send other people this way too. I’d like as much feedback as possible.
p.s. a bit of a clarification. I would also sell the patterns individually as well as in the collection, but they would all be released at the same time.
