Christmas 2018

   Another Christmas has come and gone.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner and good company.  Gifts
were exchanged this year.   Sherry got everyone...among other things... LED pocket flashlight/spotlights (mine went in my knitting bag and Jeff took a trip down cellar with his to try out the light right away!!),  I gave her a pair of knee high compression socks that she wanted but in pink and white,  my cousin Ed gave me a pair of crystal candle sticks to add to my glass collection on the piano, and I finally finished another pair of wool socks for him! Jeff's socks aren't quite finished but he's use to that...I think.  Dinner was ham and scalloped potatoes and there was very little leftover after a couple of 'care' packages were made for our guests.  Zoey and Fanny made out like bandits with rawhide chewies!  They have enough to last till Valentine's Day!  (Zoey stole one of Fanny's rawhides and tried to hide it under my bed.  After sitting next to the bed crying for while, Fanny just took a deep breath and crawled under the bed and retrieved it herself!  No dog fight!!)  Jeff had the DVD of 'Logan' running in the TV room on the dvd Sherry gave us while Sherry and I kept running into the parlor to watch parts of 'White Christmas' on my PC.  Family and friends who are no longer with us were remembered, too.  And the fire in the woodstove kept the 3 rooms nice and warm as long as I kept telling Jeff to put wood on it!  Even Zoey was good and there were no 'accidents' on the floors...until after everyone went home!  Now I've got a sink full of dirty dishes and enough desserts left over to have a tea party tomorrow...and the day after. But I've had it and the dishes can wait till tomorrow so...Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night!  

It's December Already?

    November seems to have flown by.  I kept busy knitting for the shop...things finally started to sell so maybe all those cold, wet days weren't so bad after all.  The shop held our annual Open House on Black Friday weekend and it went over quite well.   Sales for the weekend were quite good and November ended up being our best sales month ever.  I even got an order for a toddler sweater!  Sales have slowed down in December but it's still early and who knows, they might pick up again. In the mean time, I'm trying to keep my display full...took 2 sweaters (a size 4 Black Sheep cardigan and a size 2 Flowers and Lace cardigan) down with me yesterday.  It still looks sparse but at least there are a few sweaters there!  My favorite Holiday sweater...a size 4 Polar Express hoodie...was still there (I finished that one for the Open House). I was told that a customer was asking if I'd do that hoodie in a larger size.  Of course, she was told but not now.  It's too late for this year...sorry.  Next season we're going to put a sign in the sweater display explaining how to order something in a different size/color.  Maybe that will help generate some more sales??
   In the meantime, I made 5 men's beanies for my cousin's granddaughter in Colorado.  Michaela and her husband Chris front a charity that provides Christmas breakfast and small presents for homeless men.  Carol, Michaela's grandmother, was my favorite cousin and a good friend.  I miss her as much as I miss my own mom so I made and donated the hats in her memory.
   I even  finished a pair of socks that kept getting buried in my project bag that my cousin Jim had ordered last spring. They were just about finished...just needed the loose ends worked in, but every time they surfaced they were pushed back to the bottom of the bag!!  I think Jim will really be surprised when he found them in his mailbox yesterday or today (according to the Herkimer Post Office). That leaves me with that toddler sweater that was ordered on Black Friday which is just about finished.  I may have to do some hats and leg warmers to take to fill in the empty spaces when I go down to work my last day of the season on Dec. 16th.  Hopefully, a lot of last minute shoppers will see them and....  You see, this year the shop's got 2 video commercials.   One is 'Christmas in Cooperstown' on WKTV Channel 2 out of Utica and the other is 'PixieQuest', an online contest out of Oneonta.  It's nice to keep up with the times and have more than just 'print' ads.  The shop looks very good in both videos.  (That's Judy in the 'PixieQuest' and no, she's not for sale!) If you get a chance to see either of them, let me know what you think.
  Right now, it's time to start supper and warm up this house.  I want to finish that sweater tonight and I've got socks to work on for Christmas presents, too.  As long as it doesn't snow hard...or stay on the ground for long, I'll be ready for Christmas when it gets here!!