Wait a minute...

This is a super-special version of the 'apron-along' apron because it's mine, all mine... and because Melly sewed it right here, in the shop, so I know, firsthand and personal, that she possesses 'mad skilz' on the sewing machine. Can you see how great the pocket placement is? No? Look closer. See. A perfectly positioned patch pocket. Adorable. And polka-dotted on top, to boot. Here's a close-up view of some of the fabrics Gaylen may end up sewing samples from. This is some of 'Freshcut' by Heather Bailey.

And more Heather Bailey, in coral-pinks, cream, and gold...

and down here we have AnaMaria Horner's "Chocolate Lollipop" collection... well, some of it. I have the entire range, they've just decided not to co-operate, leaving me to decide who made it into the photo-op. Pink and brown win every time...

and here is a 'future skirt' that I hope will win the stunt-stitcher's heart. The fabric in the middle is a peony print, ivory and a cinnamon-brown on a pale pink background. Of course, I love the entire Amy Butler lines, so the other two are in the running as samples, as well.

Down here are some other Amy Butler fabrics in pinks, orange, and 'duck egg'. Fabrics 1,2,3,and 5 from the left just arrived a week ago, which made fabric 4 make a lot more sense.

This color range is gorgeous. I think I'm going to kit up (yes, you heard me... I like my crow roasted, please) these fabrics into a "brick path" quilt, along with some of the greens. Going into autumn and winter as we are, I think a bright, sunny garden quilt may save one's sanity from the 'seasonal affective disorder' which so many people suffer from in the dreary months. Okay, I could be the only nut-job with such an affliction, but humor me anyway... the quilt kits will be available very soon... like tomorrow, perhaps. If you need one, just e-mail me and your fabric desires will be met.

Here we come to one of my new customers. Her name is Deb, and she is an over-achiever in the sample-block Olympics. This is a quilt she made (not from Clementine's fabrics, as we only just met) and brought in to show me. She machine stipple quilted it herself, and I love the pink/chocolate scheme... it reminds me of those yummy 'Roman nougats' in the chocolate box. I was thrilled she stopped by, and she's well on her way to being a regular here, as she left with a wee bit of stash-enhancement. That's all I'm sayin'...

I'd like to thank everyone for their comments regarding Missy. She was the oddest little thing we'd ever met, more like a tiny little dog than a cat, and Bill took a shine to her immediately. He wrote a bit about her over on his blog. I didn't realize at the time how I was traumatizing him by having him load her into her pet taxi, but he thanked me for being the one to stay with her till she was over. The vet's office sent a condolence card, which arrived yesterday. I'll keep it around for awhile, at least till I stop thinking I see her waiting for me on the steps. I appreciate seeing lurkers come out of the woodwork over a furry, heart-stealing creature. If you are so inclined, take a bag of dry food to your local shelter. We were 'adopted' by Missy, but other animals are behind bars and can't get out to find new families of their own.

I hope everyone has a fun and productive day. My thoughts are taken up with playing 'catch up' and trying to keep Eli alive today. Already he has dumped toilet bowl cleaner all over the bathroom floor, and somehow gotten down a iron and had it plugged in behind a chair in the 'knit pit'... little dude's tring to kill me, I tell you... so, till later, keep your sticks in the yarn, and your needles in the yardage. Cami

Intervention

Today was the Longest. Day. Ever. I was forced to go into big box construction store for more bead board (not just a wee bit... twenty packages of it) and grout and other fiddly bits so that Kenny W. can be completely done when he goes off on his lovely island vay-cay with Lurker Christie next week. Leaving me with, we assume, a finished storefront to fill with fiber goodness. Did I mention the seven huge boxes of fabric that came the other day? Let me assure you that the contents are drool-worthy. I've decided I'm not going to show you what a mini-disaster the perle cotton was, because on closer examination, I'm friggen' brilliant. All the colors coordinate with the Amy Butler and Heather Bailey fabrics, but also all the Kaffes. It's too perfect to have planned... it's more like 'divine intervention'. And I ain't gonna mess with His color choices.

Tomorrow a yarn rep is coming here, to the house... at nine a.m. I'm heading out to the kitchen to make banana bread and get some muffin batter stirred up for the morning. What I'm really worried about is what I'll end up ordering at nine in the morning. I'm so ill-prepared to be up, showered, dressed, and coherent at that time of day, it's a total crap-shoot as to what will get purchased. I have made some outlines to keep myself from getting sidetracked, but if she dangles brightly colored string in my general direction, the gypsy in me will escape. Y'all, she can forge my signature. This could prove problematic... we'll see. Maybe I can distract her with a slice of banana bread.

Now, if you'll excuse me and this paltry, photo-less post, I have baking to do, and another disc of Rosemary & Thyme murder mysteries to watch after I toss the kids into bed. Knit on, if you're knitting. If not, you have my deepest sympathies. Cami

Disheveled...the unraveling of Camilla

This was a busy day. Five and a half hours sleep, up at the crack, and (cue coffee...) I'm out the door by 9-ish to meet Destructo-Kenny at the shop for final decisions about trim, how far up the bead board would go (8 ft.,btw), and where he was building the point-of-sale. "General contractor" items discussed, we then went to address an electrical "issue" which he felt would require someone with more finesse (which I took to mean "someone who can handle getting the hell zapped out of themselves").



While in that third room back, we talked about possibly only bringing the wood four foot up the walls. As he tried to convince me it'd look just fine, I was running my hand over the wall paper border (ugly, btw) and snagged a corner to peel away. Lord love a duck, wouldn't you know the wall was rotted. The only thing holding it up was the damn wall paper... and perhaps the paint. I called the 'landlady' and her husband came downstairs immediately and began searching for a cause to the now-obvious, er, problem. The problem called "Cami has put her hand through a moldy, rotting mess of wallboard, and , lookie, the brick back here ain't doin' so hot, neither". THAT problem.

Well, there was a lot more we needed to accomplish, and with all the chaos I'd just caused, you know, uncovering a major "structural defect" and all , off we trot to the big box construction store. I'm still borrowing Lurker Christie's spouse at this point. Ha! You did not know that? Yes. I frequently borrow Other People's Husbands to do my bidding (and I am not a bit ashamed... it's all in the interest of keeping Bill/'Boris' alive). Dashing through the store, a little short on time, over to trim we go, spending lots of dimes. Okay. Enough. I apologize for that little outburst, but stay with me... the ride gets cooler at the end.

So, list of crap, er, 'construction materials' to have delivered... check. Release friend's husband back into the wild... check. Go home to find the love of my life done homeschooling four of five kids and sit down to his cooking (pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and Greek-style green beans)... check. Whoa. Back up...did you see that? *omg*theupsmanhasbeentomyhouse*AND he brought fabric. Eleven boxes full. All stacked semi-neatly in the entryway. It was better than Christmas... it was Amy Butler and Heather Bailey. I shut up for over a minute... okay, I stopped running my lips for a GOOD thirty five seconds. When the Fed-Ex truck pulled up later this afternoon I nearly passed out from the shock of it all. The Louet order came in, or at least 40 of the 46 colors I ordered.

It was a strange, complicated, mess of a day, but it got better. Now I'm gonna rock this sweet-smelling toddler to sleep and work on the kal. I named it 'Vapes', short for Vapor, short for "invisibility shawl". Pretty much out of sheer laziness. I'm out, muh knittas... let's do it again tomorrow. (except the gross wall thing... no more, please.) C-Knitty