Happy Christmas, y'all!

I'm over the hat thing. The one photo I managed to get of three of the four 'first hats' is on my phone, and it's not great. However, they mostly looked like this one on Miss Amanda Croucher's head. She's a new knitter, taught in the local pub. A hat on dpns was her first project, and she did a bang-up job.

So, what does the adorable and intrepid new knitter gift her knitting sensei with for the holidays?

Oh, hell's yeah.
That Croucher might just be the teacher's pet. Fabulous whiskey and fun company made yesterday one of the most pleasant knit-ins ever... well, and the 'Red Velvet Elvis' cupcake from The Flying Cupcake. That may have played a part...yum!

In the paranormal romance corner, the latest from our favorite local author was dropped by yesterday for a thorough going-over. Post-It flags at the ready. I'm looking forward to my holiday edit.
Now, to get back to my quiet Christmas Eve day here at Clementine's.
And, yeah, the Black Bush is at hand, for knitting emergencies, you understand.
Have a happy ho ho ho, y'all!

dirty, sexy knitting

Another day, another bout of knitting ennui. Four hats in three days nearly did me in, but I don't get to stop. This train to knitting hell has a few more stops to make before I work the button tab hat out of my system. To change things up, I'm doing a 'turn a square' hat as well. No charming button tab to lure me to the big finish, but I do love me some raglan decreases. Monday/Tuesday Mandi has decreed that Mr. Hottie UPS Man needs a Christmas cap as well... *sigh*
My bloodied and broken fingers need to get back to work.

A shipment of Opal sock yarn arrived today. It was all "ooohs" and "aaaahs" as I unpacked it. Gorgeous stuff. I confess I look forward to new Opal far more than any other yarn in the shop.

I was fine till I noticed the accordion with huge bosoms splayed above it, then the Snow White-style corset...the baby-doll nightie, and then (so good I just HAD to show you here), the pink Tyrolean rig... really? Sex on a yarn label? Come on.
Then I thought about it a while. Sex sells. Of course it does. And isn't that your first thought when you look at a ball of sock yarn?
Apparently, it should be.

lil' miss saturday night

So, there was a new shipment of needles what arrived at Clementine's yesterday. Everytime a reorder was placed, I cringed a little inside, because I knew this day had to come.
The day of reckoning with the inventory lists.
It is upon me.

I spent a small portion of the workday swapping out titles of things, because as obvious as I thought I was being, not everyone looks at a package of Crystal Palace bamboo double point needles and thinks "BAM NDL" when ringing up a sale. Now they are all listed as CP and the 'whatever it is', like 8" dpn sz7.

Perfectly reasonable. And prolly a damned sight easier than trying to explain why other brands of bamboo needles weren't BAM NDL.

And to think I thought this would be simple. Go on. Go be crafty. I haz more typen to do...

Dear Clementine...

As some of you know, Thursdays are my cut-loose night. Eshewing a proper 'knit-night', I have instead taken up belly dancing and whiskey. A fair trade, one leaving me both more flexible and relaxed where concerns of commerce are concerned. In my stead, and again addressing issues of commerce in this era of a democratically elected(?) recession, Clementine's hours have been extended to 8 p.m. on Thursday evenings. The addition of Robin L., crafty chica extraordinaire, has made this possible.
Some evenings she has a stack of stuff to stay occupied with. There's always fat qwattahs waiting cutting, and her eye for detail and color is a much appreciated jewel in Clem's tiara. Last night, as I dashed from the building, I dumped the four-patch doll quilt blocks in her lap. Hey. Back off. She asked what I needed help with, and this is a pressing matter of some import. I came in this morning to find this letter laying atop the cutting table, along with a partially assembled quilt:

It is now 10:15 p.m. and Robin is preparing to leave the building. Her religion left about 90 minutes ago.
Having discovered that she did not have her reading glasses, she felt sure her major difficulty in piecing a doll quilt would be her inability to see clearly while sewing. That was not the case. Apparently, Robin was dropped on her head as a baby and the damage done has been very slowly taking away her ability to put together colors in a random fashion, for, try as she might, she cannot produce a pleasing composition without having two of the same fabrics next to one another. Not normally a quitter, she is throwing in the towel on this one. Perhaps after consuming a sufficient amount of gingerbread lattes from Starbucks (or rum from her own cupboard)-possibly, nay, likely, both, she will recover her dignity along with the ability to construct a sentence with more skill than an ESL student. She holds hope in her heart that she will cease referring to herself in the third person, too. She hopes you have a lovely day. Feel free to leave the quilt top to be finished next week. Robin feels that consuming the Bacardi before she begins sewing may well do the trick. Thank you and goodnight.
p.s. there's water in the iron.

So there you have it. I have driven another soul to the demon liquor. Of course, I cannot in good conscience leave the quilt top to her ministrations now, without appearing both callous and spiteful...
unless...
unless I leave a fresh bottle of rum next to it.

busy, busy

Up and coming project at Clementine's... Miss Deb has made the shop sample and come February, we're running with it. Fast, easy, and fun. "Child labor in third-world countries" easy. Practice sewing your straight seams, 'cuz you're gonna wanna play with us. Workshop date to be announced. Start collecting your fat qwattahs now...

For the last-minute-lucys out there... the gift of socks is always a good idea. I made it simple, with yarn, pattern, and needles all in a bag. Fits easily into most stockings. I know the idea of shoving sock yarn into another sock should be appalling, but I just can't seem to work up a good rile against it, so I'm coming out to say I'm all for it, and irony be damned. As these are 'some assembly required' (okay, all assembly required, geesh!), they are so much more than the temporary thrill that comes from stripping off the wrapping paper. Give the gift of craft to someone you love this year. It'll last a lifetime.

It seems there was a little mix-up at the Michael Miller warehouse this past week, and a wee bit of the Paula Prass I ordered back in the summer finally shipped out. The 'feature' fabrics aren't here, but what did arrive is so darned fabulous, I'm not even caring about those birds. Aprons, pajama pants, bright and bold quilt blocks... this stuff is so much fun I'll prolly have to bust out the sewing machine this week...

especially for some lime green and aqua Eiffel Tower lounge pants. (above, fourth from left. drool.) This sewing, of course, will come after I finish the wee dolly quilt for stuntknittahredrhonda's daughter.

Perhaps I'll come up for air again before Christmas hits.
If you don't hear from me, send cookies. Lots and lots of cookies.
It's my holiday coping mechanism.