SuperBowl Sunday sale

Had an awesome day yesterday. Went to the SuperBowl Sunday sale at Ewe'll Love It in Nashua, NH. Was expecting it to be a mob, but because she did the sale over two days, it was easy as pie to get in, look around, and cash out. Beverly, the owner, sets a discount on all yarn to match the number of the SuperBowl - so this year, XL!!! (That's 40%, for the non-Roman numeral crowd...)

Last year was the first time I went, and I called that day my stash initiation day. Spent over $300. (But SAVED sooooo much!!!) This year, it was a stash enhancement mission, so spent only about half that - and SAVED soooooo much!!

Here's what I got:

• Twister (75% Merino, 25% Superwash) by Cherry Tree Hill. One skein, 560 yards. Soft, warm, beautiful colorway full of reds, blues, purples, fuschias. Can't wait to do something with it, although what? No idea. Just grabbed it cuz it was pretty. It's hanging around my neck right now.
• Big Kureyon (100% Wool) by Noro. Two skeins. They don't use color names, just color / lot numbers - but color number 18, lot A2 is a dark combination of rich purples, greens and blues, with a touch of fuschia in it here and there. I already made one Booga bag, so these will be for at least one more. I like the size the pattern results in, but I am going to make some pattern changes to end up with a somewhat smaller size. I am also going to crochet instead of knit the bottom, so it ends up round instead of rectangular. Also want to lay in something firm on the bottoms after they are felted. Will take pics - promise!!!
• Some Cascade 220 for other feltie thingies - no idea what. A dark slate blue (3) and a green (2) - enough to try a felted hat for the DH (he has a very big head... wait until I blog my first effort at making him a hat.)
• Lots of Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria in white (2), light purple (1), fuschia (1), olive green (1) and purple (2) to add to my current stash. When I hit critical mass, an afghan will ensue.
• And my only real indulgence - 4 balls of Karabella Boise. If you have never touched this stuff, get up, get in your car, and don't stop driving until you have found it and picked it up. It is 50% cashmere, 50% superfine merino wool. I already have one each of the olive green and the tomato red colors - I bought it on a recent yarn crawl in Lexington, MA - at Wild and Wooly. But two skeins just didn't seem enough to do anything with. Well, they aren't alone now. Two more of each color. I'm thinking there's enough to make a few dickies for the winter. With this stuff snuggling your neck, who the heck needs a man?!?!?

So we got in and out easily, and headed up to buddy Donna's house in Manchester to gloat over our finds and to knit, eat pizza, and enjoy an unusually warm day. An awesome Sunday.

Gotta get some Discipline!!

One of my - ahem - New Year's resolutions is to stick to my other resolutions. I am always full of good intentions, but it's the follow through I really have to work at. One of my resolutions was to become a better contributor to the knitting community. We have this great opportunity to share our talents, ambitions, patterns and dreams through blogging and websites - it would be a shame to waste it because watching TV seems less like work.

So - step one. Find my damn digital camera, or just give in and buy another one. I have a handful of finished projects to blog / brag about, but you would have to just use your imagination unless a camera surfaces.

Step two - organize, schmorganize!

Step three - even if there is nothing especially exciting, blog oh - wait - BRB.

OK, back. My DH had to make me come see something cute Abby was doing. Abby is my 3-yr old cat - a calico Manx. Ok, so yeah, she was freaking adorable, as usual, but she's one of the reasons I get nothing done. (Smell the rationalization?!?!?)

So anyway - blog more frequently. Yeah, that's it.

Just catching up...

Catching up on some knitting news...

• Have been disgustingly sick with a cold lately - enough to miss my Wednesday night meeting at the Barnes and Noble in Manchester with my knitting buds. Trust me - I have to be near dying to miss that. But was able to go last week, where we firmed up plans to go on a knitting retreat next month, at the Grand View Lodge in Randolph, NH. We are leaving Friday after work on Feb. 24, and not coming back to the real world until Sunday. Can't wait - no men, no housework, no nothing to do but spend time with good friends and knit. The Lodge has a great store for knitters. Looking forward to ferreting out the deals and unique fibers / tools.
• Finished one Booga Bag for my sister in law for Christmas. Just have to felt it. Yeah, I know it's late, but in my family, Christmas get-togethers and present swapping can dribble into the summer. We aren't big on planning until the last minute! Anyway, I have felted the bag and i-cord once, and it needs another go-round. My friends Gina and Donna have figured out the perfect formula for felting in Gina's washing machine, so we will be having a felting party soon to get everyone's projects done at once. These bags are incredibly easy to make - I can do the knitting in the round while stuck in traffic. Noro Kureyon behaves very well in the dark!
• On the needles - I am working on the Mary Jane sachet / sweater from Knit Picks, as well as their Leaf-Edged Shrug for my almost-daughter Jesse. I call the shrug the Cheeto-sweater. She chose the Knit Picks Shine in Apricot, of all colors, and it looks like Velveeta or Cheetos - even raises the temperature of the air around it, I swear!! But it's what she wants...
• Finally finished my potholder afhgan (crocheted - don't gasp) and gave it to my best friend Lisa (Jess's mom) for Christmas. They enjoy snuggling up in it - that reminds me - I have to get a pic of the whole family under it and post it!!

Brainstorm Session 1

I have been thinking about what it would take to open a craft shop / cafe. It's amazing how much you can think about on an hour commute to work.

Considerations:

Floor Plan - how much space is needed, and for what?
Inventory - would I have to offer products for sale? would that be the primary source of income?
Cafe - menus, staffing, health codes, insurance
Craft Area - layout per space, rental fees, annual memberships (why couldn't I offer annual sign ups, just like a gym??)
Entertainment - music? chick flicks? special events?
Staffing
Overnights - even weekend events - how about renovating a bed and breakfast??

Sorry - it's been awhile...

Was just thinking that since I have so little real time to knit, or scrap for that matter, that building a blog that would be interesting for anyone but me is probably out of the question right now.
But what I can do is brainstorm here what it would take to build a business like Scrap n' Knit - develop a business plan, right here. With your input.

So if you are lurking and you come across this post, think about this - if you could go somewhere relatively close to your house, to work on your hobbies in the company of others, what would entice you to walk in the door? Would you want to see products for sale? What kinds of space would you use or even want to rent?

I think about / daydream about putting together a place in which folks could bring their work, store it temporarily or rent long-term spaces, eat nummy food, drink fantastic coffee, watch chick flicks - an estrogen haven. What would appeal to you at a place like this?

Welcome to my Blog Site!

Welcome to my blog - Scrap n' Knit. Get it? It's an outright admission that I am totally addicted to scrapbooking and knitting. Add an obsession with my cats and you have a day / life that barely includes time for my job!

I have a dream - that someday, after I win PowerBall, I will open a storefront by the same name, to offer a space for other addicts to come to and work on projects. The store will include a coffee bar, and offer soups, desserts, and other yummies to fortify my customers as they scrap or knit at well-lit, comfy workspaces. On top of that, I would love to be able to keep an inventory of all that yummy yarn that I drool over at my LYSs!

But for now, this blog will have to do. I will share my project successes and failures - not the least of which is a crocheted hat that metamorphasized into a totebag. Just need to fire up the digital camera and you can have a good laugh!