~Double Pointed Needle Storage: The Dilemma~

I'm not a super crafty person, but I really wanted a way to store my double pointed needles without spending a fortune on fancy storage cases. I tried a couple of different things before I settled on these ~

Simply made out of plastic canvas & leftover yarns. You could fancy them up or leave them plain. I'm working on one now that will actually have the needle size on it. Regardless for less than $1 each (including the elastic) these work great for me.

A splurge! I said I wasn't going to do it. It was my #1 New Year's Resolution, no more yarn until the current icky yarn is all gone, but I couldn't help it!!!! It's Hempathy and it's luscious looking and I'm dying to knit it up, I just don't know what to knit with it. I'm definitely planning something with stripes, but whether it be socks & a scarf to match or a tank top... I just don't know yet, I'm probably going back to LYS this week to purchase another skein of each color in case I decide on a tank.

Today is the first day of the rest of my knitting life....

So, I've been almost obsessed since I found out I can make money FOR REAL online. It's cool, it's fun and guess what? I've decided that by mid summer whatever money I have accumulated will be divided up between paying for 4H camp and YARN!

For months and months and months now, I have lusted after a hank or two of soy silk that lurks on the shelves at the LYS. Problem is, I want to make something fantastic with it and of course, fantastic typically takes a large amount of yarn and soy silk tends to be umm... pricey!

I seldom indulge in really good yarn because I don't like giving my things as gifts (my friends all have plenty of my knitting) and I can't sell the damn things so it has to be for me.

There is this really cool crocheted midi vest pattern that I'm in love with. But, it's crochet and it's written in stupidese. No gauge, no accurate measurements, but hey it's a 70's pattern so what can ya expect, but I have to say this, it's a damn wonder anybody knitted or crocheted anything in the 70's other than the designers themselves because the patterns are nearly impossible to decipher.

In the meantime, I've got 3 sets of sexy slipper socks knitted up and ready to go into the trunk for next year's mad dash for Christmas cash. I'm thinking over the summer I'm going to do a lot of glittens too. I can't live without mine, uberwarm they are.

~Ciao

I wasn't prepared.

The worst phone call I've ever received came last night around 8pm. First of all, when I realized it was coming from Parris Island, I didn't even realize it was actually my daughter! Secondly, she spoke so fast that the only things I understood were: recruit, Parris Island, do not send me anything, I contact you soon with my new address. I think I'm still trying to process it. I didn't get to say ANYTHING!!!! When she stopped speaking I rapidly said,"I love you" but I honestly don't even know if she was still on the line.

When I could finally stop crying long enough to breathe my first thought was I needed to talk to someone. I wanted to call Leah, but I haven't talked to her since before Christmas, so I called Tara instead. Somehow I knew she would help me & of course, she did :0) I felt a lot better after talking to her for a few minutes. Today I think I'm going to call the recruiter and ask him if he knows what the hell Lauren said to me, I figure it hasn't been that long ago that he made that call himself & I'm guessing it's a standardized call.

I know she needs my support. I know I'm going to have to be strong, but honestly, if she calls me & tells me to help her get the hell out of there... I'll cave. I'll fill up the van & drive to Parris Island and snatch her away from the Marines. Ok, I'm lucky, I have a strong support system. Tara's husband is a former Marine & he has tried to prepare both me & Lauren, but there just is not a real way to prepare ANYONE for boot camp.

The first letter goes out today. I know in her call she said not to contact her, but her recruiter said he's writing to her this week, so I'll be damned if I'm not going to write to her. I have the majority of her address. When the twins came in from school I asked them if they had told their friends that their sister had gone. Jamie said no, but that everyone knew. When I asked how he knew he said their teacher had told everyone. Of course, I asked how their teacher knew, and both of them asked me if I had called him. I said no, so they thought maybe Lauren had called him. It dawned on me how he knew, I'm buddies with the teacher's father in law & he must have passed the information along. Anyway, an entire 1st grade class is aware that Alex & Jamie's sister has gone to the Marines.

God this is hard!

I'm distressed so I have not made a post in a while. My daughter leaves tomorrow for boot camp. This morning, in about 10 minutes I have to take her to the recruiting station. Needless to say, I'm not thrilled. The recruiters have lied to her & screwed around with her for months now. She won't be going into the Marines for the job she originally was told she could get into, MP's. They have changed her job description 5 times now. She's not thrilled with the new position, technician or some crap like that. Not to mention that she will be going to 29Palms as opposed to Biloxi. Not like I'll ever get to go visit her there! This sucks.

Somedays it takes very little to amuse me... The Longest....

I just took a look at tackychristmasyards.com, courtesy of a link from Blogger. I had to laugh. Couldn't help it. Next year my yard will be featured there. Right now it's only semi-tacky. I have big plans for next year's additions, although I have no compunction about canning the snowglobes, they SUCK in the South. Those suckers are a big fat waste of money where the humidity is high year round. They fog up, the 'snow' is forever getting stuck to the interior of the globe and they just aren't weighted enough to keep them from blowing over... those stakes & ties they provide are WORTHLESS.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when my good hearted friends constantly tell me that I should sell the things I make. Me, being me, I tend to laugh at them. Sell them??? And just who exactly would ever buy them besides my friends???

As an avid needleworker I've experienced comments from people that range from one end of the spectrum to another when attempting to sell items I've made. They love my items and would love to buy them, but they don't want to pay what I'm asking. Nobody thinks about how many hours go into each item I create. They don't know (or care apparently) that the yarns I use are not cheap, but typically high quality and durable, also, pricey. Forget the time I spent working just on the pattern! Keep in mind, I typically only price the items a dollar or so above what I've paid for the yarn, so I wouldn't ever make any money on my time anyway.

Well, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by what happened a couple of weeks before Christmas. One of my friends asked me to make up some stuff to put in her store (she actually owns a feed & seed store, but hey, it's an outlet right? lol). I made 3 pairs of sleep socks, in Caron Simply Soft of all things! I also made a couple of kids hat/convertible mittens sets and one set of ladybug convertible mittens. All of the sleep socks sold, my friend's son asked for a pair for himself too. I know I shouldn't get over excited by this, but it gave me hope. I'm already working on sleep socks for next Christmas. I have tons of afghan yarn in my stash and it actually makes up extremely warm socks. Not good for wearing with shoes, mind you, but perfect for keeping cold feet cozy.

In the end, I made enough money to pay for the twins Ariat boots! That, to me, was worth it.