Maiden Voyage

 I had my maiden voyage with the craft show tent this past weekend.

I was a vendor at Buckland Flowers and Produce's Fall Family Jam and got to use the tent for the very first time.  I was weirdly calm leading up to it.  I wasn't the least bit stressed or concerned about having enough inventory or if the weather would cooperate, or if I could fit all the stuff into the car, or if I'd make enough sales to make it worth while.....  I had none of the pre-show jitters that I normally get. It was weird.  Don't get me wrong, it was nice not going into panic mode.  Nice, but weird.

Of course I ended up forgetting to take several things with me but it all worked out in the end.  The guests were none the wiser, it was a beautiful day and sales were good.  

The event was really nice and I hope to get invited back in the future.  There was a band, well, really just a guy singing I think.  I couldn't see the stage from my booth but I could hear him singing.  It was the perfect level of background music.  Loud enough that I could whisper-sing along with him, but not so loud as to make it hard to have conversations with the shoppers.  There was a dunk tank where you could dunk the sheriff or a firefighter, there was, of course food and other vendors, and somebody must have pulled some strings because a medevac helicopter flew in and landed in the adjacent field for the kids (and grown-ups) to tour.  Pretty cool!

All in all, it was a really nice day and my tent went up and then down with no problems, my sandbag weights worked just fine (I was worried about them being heavy enough) and the tent never attempted to blow away, even with the helicopter wind.  Success!! I feel like a 'real' vendor now.  😊

I did have a little trouble the day before the show though.  The whale sweater I was knitting for Sarah for Christmas.... Well, something went horribly, horribly wrong.  And I don't even know what happened or where the problem is.  I have looked and relooked at the pattern a zillion times.  I started with the correct number of stitches.  I had the correct number of stitches before I started the yoke's colorwork.  The colorwork worked perfectly so I know I didn't have mistakes in my increases there.  But after the colorwork, when I went to put the sleeves on the holders, I discovered I'm missing more than 115 stitches.  For the life of me, I can't see where I went wrong so I plan to take it to the knitting shop and see if they can figure it out.  I don't want to frog it and start over if it's a pattern issue.  I was unbelievably mad and frustrated at first but the more I think about being 115+ stitches off, it's just sort of funny.  Frustrating, but funny.

Another frustrating thing is, I've got a nice case of poison ivy.  It's driving me INSANE.  Rather than itching, it feels more like someone is jabbing a lit cigarette into my skin.  It's mainly across the top of my foot, and on, between and under a few of my toes.  I'm not handling it well and I'm pretty dang cranky.  The good side of it is, they sent me home from work for having 'open sores' (a big no-no at the grocery store) so I've had two extra days to spend knitting and preparing for the next show this week.

It's also been raining almost constantly for the last several days.  I'm not complaining about that.  We needed the rain and it just makes me want to stay home and knit.  No complaints about that!

Happy knitting!

It's begining to look a little like Christmas

We finally got a Christmas tree.

This is a record breaking year for tree shopping.  It was the first time since Mike and I have been together  (over 30 years) that we went together to pick out the tree!  Can you believe that?  I know, it's crazy, right?!?  

When we first met, we were living in apartments and real trees weren't allowed.  And then my fake tree was a really nice one and lasted for many, many years.  And then we were young, first time parents and broke and we made do with the old, now worn out fake tree. And then it became a tradition, (not a well loved tradition, but a tradition all the same) that Mike would pick one up on his way home from work. And the last few years, he and Sarah went together while I worked or stayed home to take care of his mom.

Anyway, we went together this year.  You'd think we were both drunk in the photo but it's because my arm wasn't long enough and we got laughing at my inability to take a decent photo.

Normally the tree hangs out in the bed of Mike's truck overnight but this year we brought it in immediately and set it up.

And Sarah instantly started putting the lights on it.  

Thank God for daughters who will willingly put the lights on!

On a different note, tomorrow is my last craft show/event/fair of the season.  I'm terribly unprepared after not being able to knit and replace the things sold at the last fair but.... if you're in the area, come by and see me and all the other vendors.  There should be some fantastic Christmas gift options to choose from.

And, there will even be a craft supply yardsale type table where the vendors can destash their no longer needed/wanted crafty items, kits, tools and scraps.  There will be something for everyone so stop by if you are in the area.  It should be a good time!

Still knitting

I'm still knitting and freaking out over having enough merchandise to sell at the Strawberry and Wine festival in two weeks.  And, I'm still enjoying my new job but boy! It sure takes up a lot of time.

Besides all the things I'm making over and over and over again for the festival, I've been knitting this beachy shawl.  I don't have an actual pattern but it is loosely based on Reyna.  I got the yarn at Hobby Lobby last year.  It's Yarn Bee, Authentic Hand-Dyed Tiger's Eye.  It looks nothing like a tiger's eye to me.  I think it's quite beachy looking.  I've been very pleased with the yarn.  I'll admit, I'm a bit of a yarn snob, specially when it comes to shawl yarn, but this yarn has been a joy to work with.  It's the second project I've made with Yarn Bee's Authentic Hand-Dyed wool and I've been happy with both projects. 

I'm hoping I can get the shawl finished and blocked in time to take to the festival but.... It can be tricky blocking large items with Hayden in the house.  The dining room table is the only place big enough for shawl blocking and Hayden is a very curious young lady.

But now, it's time to go put that new shirt on and go to work.

And if you are reading this, thank you for sticking with me.  I know my posts have been pretty eratic lately and they will most likely continue to be for a while.  I'm sorry about that but I sure do appreciate you being here.  If it weren't for you, I'd just be some crazy lady talking to herself.  So, until next time...

Happy knitting!

I got a new shirt

 Wow!  It's been over a month since I've posted.  I've been busy.  I got a new shirt.

I went back to work.  Food Lion (a grocery store) this time.  I'm a closing cashier and I love the job.  Not sure what it says about me that I absolutely Love running a busy cash register, but I do.  The job is fun and the people are nice.  But my arms are falling off!  I'm on my third week there and my arms still haven't fully adjusted.  I knew I had no upper body strength but...  Good grief!  Gallons of milk and cases of beer are heavy and, well, wow!  My arms and shoulders are sore from the nightly workouts.

We are also house hunting once again.  That takes up a surprising amount of time.

Between the new job, a recent craft fair and another one coming up mid-May, I haven't been doing any exciting knitting.  I just keep making the same few things over and over and over again.

There's been soap bags and f-bombs,

and beaded socks.

Lots, and lots of beaded socks actually.  They sell well and it's been difficult to keep up with demand.

And of course, lots and lots of pot holders.  They sell well too.

And while I deeply appreciate all the sales success I've had, I am looking forward to May 16th when the last craft show I'm signed up for is over and I can go back to knitting for me.  Or at least knitting something different.

So no, I don't have anything new and exciting to show you.  But I do have the day off from work today so I'm going to wind this up, go get another cup of coffee, knit another f-bomb or two and maybe crack open a bottle of wine later on.

I hope you all had a nice Easter.  And I hope those of you in the path of yesterday's blizzard survived.  My idiot husband was trapped in his truck, wearing shorts and flip flops when they closed the roads in western Pennsylvania.  That will teach him not to watch the weather before he heads out!  No worries though.  He survived and made it home this morning.

So.... Happy knitting and I'll check in again on my next day off.

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a busy week!  I cleaned out and rearranged the pantry.  Doesn't sound like that big of a deal but...  You should have seen the pantry before I started!

After cleaning out the pantry, I spent a few hours Googling recipes that use huge quantities of potatoes, bread flour and powdered sugar.  Yes, amoung many other excessively purchased things, I found four 2 lb bags of powdered sugar, a 5 lb and three 10 lb bags of potatoes, and four 5 lb bags of bread flour.  

The pantry looked so clean and organized, I decided to rearrange and reorganize my room and craft supplies the next day.  My room proved to be a little bit more challenging than the pantry.  And took quite a bit longer.

I watched the daffodils bloom - and practically blow away in the wind.  That whole "March comes in like a lion" thing has certainly been true, wind-wise at least.  I couldn't even get a half way decent photo because the wind was moving them around so much.

I listed several new items in my Etsy shop.

I watched gas prices rise almost 75 cents over a four day period.

I went to the store to buy trash bags.  The next day I went to get a trash bag and couldn't remember where I'd put them so I had to go buy another package.  And when I got home and went to put them away in the cleaned out pantry...  Yep, you guessed it.  There was the original box, sitting just where they were supposed to be.  Aack!

I went to a local craft show, bought a few things and talked to the lady in charge of organizing the event.

And I immediately went home and applied to be a vendor at the April craft show.  I also signed up for the Hanover Strawberry and Wine festival in May.  That one is a much larger, two day event.  And because wool hats and scarves probably won't sell well at either event, I've been frantically crafting non-winter things.

That's only a few of the things I've finished so far.  I've made four potholders, seven pairs of beaded socks, three sunflower gnomes, two sets of crocheted coasters, four chapstick holders that attach to your keyring, four garden soap bags, four knitted market bags and I've tie dyed the fabric for twelve more fabric market bags.  Later today I plan to sew those market bags.  And maybe take a nap.

How about you?  What have you been up to?