Knits Well, not Blogs Well

Ok, I admit to leaving my blog by the wayside and even the odd contemplation on dropping it altogether.  Nowadays, I'm all over FaceBook, Ravelry and Twitter for personal and shop use and it feels like I've said it all (or at least enough).
I can't believe how far I've come in the past year.  October 2009 was the month that I (with lots of help) repainted 222 South Beach Street in Daytona Beach and organized it into a yarn shop.  Here's a picture of a the shop as we celebrate Mary Ann's retirement from Second Grade.

It was open before the Halifax Art Festival in November (pfhew!) and in full swing by November.  I found a brilliant fellow-knitter and friend in Weelamb and she took over the store while I visited Ireland for New Year's.  She not only took over the store, she totally kicked butt!  And I won't have to worry about traveling to Ireland again any time soon or Germany.  My personal life is destined to be focused on the American continent and somewhat single for the time being.
The shop did well last winter and spring.  I was so glad to see Snowbirds dropping in for an on-the-road project before heading North for the summer, but it drove home the fact that a large portion of my knitters were leaving.  With the help of knitters, crocheters and close friends, we've come up with some great new classes at the shop for the warmer months and I've been excited to see how many full-time resident knitters/crocheters there really are in this area. 
In the middle of these warm months, I found a great advantage (and deal!) to move into the space next door.  It's more than double the shop space, which gave me room to move the class area to the back and make the overall shopping experience much more relaxed and roomy.  Here's a couple pics of the new space (226A South Beach St).

It's not been an easy summer, but, being that it's my first, it's supposed to be rocky and I *am* very happy to still be in operation.  Just think how many shops don't make it their first year!!  Also, Tammy just signed her lease 4 doors north of me to start her coffee shop Sweet Marlay's and it's encouraging to hear that panic and digestive issues are par for the course :)

There's lots more going on and even some good news in the personal arena.  So I'll be back to update later this month.

Open Season for Knitting.....

It's just around the corner!

We spend the summer relaxing, knitting leisurely by the pool or in the comfort of a/c while we catch up on movies in the evenings. I spent the summer shuttling 6 (yes, SIX!) kids around for three months - we called it Kamp Kaethe and we took lots of pictures. I'll spare you the full trauma of our massive scrapbook, but there are photos I'll just have to share as we really did get some cute ones!

As some states are getting cooler weather and Florida is starting to inch away from the mid-day 90's, our minds trickle back to knitting. We're planning flashy and luxuriously soft accessories for our small winter, cardigans and shrugs to combat frigid A/C in PTA meetings and every restaurant and movie theater, maybe some substantial sweaters and extras for a trip this winter for the holidays or even gifts for our family and friends stuck in the artic North.

Now that the 6 (SIX!!) kids are back in school, I have time again to visit the Knead to Knit knitters in Titusville and visit and teach in Flagler Beach. I've started carrying yarn to sell and have recently been looking for a space to put a table and some yarn so I can offer more classes.

Lately, my eyes have turned towards Downtown Daytona - I'm spending lots of time these days learning about License to Occupy and Commercial Leases (which unfortunately don't involve knitting) but I hope this will lead to a little shop window of my own.

What was it Virginia Woolf said? A room of one's own or a shop of one's own?

At any rate, I've got a yarn of my own. A line that no one is carrying - guaranteed! My sister volunteered me for Vacation Bible School at Prince of Peace this summer, where I had more fun that I expected and met a young girl named Brooke. When we discussed pets, Brooke listed off a multitude of cats and pugs (with puppies!) and 6 alpacas!! Her mom runs a farm and had a dining room full of mill-spun fiber and the poor woman doesn't knit. So I've gathered her farm and fiber in my proverbial (and literal) grubby paws and even knit a sample garment.

Check out how the aran knits up into Interweave Knits' Fall 2009 French Braid Pullover:

This yarn is great - all I can say is wow!!

More details of a storefront and online shop to come soon.

A Day On the Farm

....well, not really a farm, but Erika had riding lessons last weekend and Bobby took copious amounts of pictures.

First think every visitor must deal with is Bob the Rooster. Bob gets yummy nom from a lot of visitors so he checks out every new arrival to see if someone remembered a carrot or similar. Ms. Cindy says Bob just showed up day and hasn't left.

Bobby got a lovely shot of me knitting my Kiila Knitta socks under Ms. Cindy's new gazebo.

A great shot of Erika riding

and cleaning up after her ride with Ms. Cindy

.

Watch Out! She's Mobile!

After months of rehab and patient (?!) recuperation from the car accident in March that shattered her leg and knee, my sister Louise is up and walking again (and walking and walking!) and photographing her travels.

Note from herself: Foggy cool morning here with my wash hanging damply on the line and I am off to study and draw owls at Birdsacre.
b/t/w I am SO walking! I keep the crutches close at hand but ignore them most of the time. Yippee!

Grumpy the Groundhog

The Storm that Has No Name....

The storm that has set records in rainfall, lasted longer than any hurricane I've heard of and is STILL freaking here is not being named. I'm not sure why - maybe it will help us forget quickly, maybe it's just 'that' special and awe-inspiring, maybe the meteorologists are too busy trying to figure out what the heck it's going to do next and when it's finally going away. Either way, it's quite possibly the most annoying storm ever.
Streets are closed, businesses are withering as people stay at home to avoid windy, heavily-puddled roads and slowly go insane with 6 year-olds who are used to going outside nearly every single day. I can name one in particular ;)

The one thing this nasty weather encourages is sorting receipts, cleaning out piles of Maybe-I'll-do-this-someday patterns and hunkering down with one's stash and UFO's to knock them out.

At last count, I have 4 projects laying around ignored that need to be finished to free up head space.
David's Irregular Rib sweater needs to be finished just to free up countless interchangeable cords and stitch markers and also to determine whether or not I need more yarn *before* Lion Brand discontinues the yarn....

The Hearts & Bows blanket might also need more yarn; I need to finish crocheting that one to free-up a project bag and be able to send it off for one of the countless babies that are shooting out of everyone else's pelvises at an alarming rate. Not that babies are an issue with me or anything.....tick, tock...

I received the final set of directions for the Kiila mystery socks yesterday, so I'm home-free to finish knitting those puppies on their massive 3.25mm needles.

And I've got measurements and pattern approval for Mary Anne's Trans-Atlantic Tootsie Warmers (cute, ocean-themed, flip-flop socks). They're also on largish needles (2.75mm) and shouldn't take too long since they're just a scoche above the ankle.

The challenge to all of this is whether or not I can cram these projects into the remainder of my three-day weekend. Granted, there won't be much outside time, due to Florida being in the middle of the next biblical flood and I'm not tempted to drop my few dollars at the extreme holiday sales. At least I'll have something to distract me from copious gawking at channel 13's Doppler X3 and hoping the clouds will find someone else to torture for a while. Seriously, doesn't the Colorado River need water? We could build a new pipeline!