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!!

Keeping Busy

 I tried to stay busy this past weekend doing various projects.  There was this crocheted puppy.  It's suppose to be a yellow lab...does it look like one?  Anyway, I think it's cute and I like it.  In fact, I think I'll do more...
I started a red one (remember Clifford??) this morning and will probably do a brown one if I can find a shade of brown I can handle.

    The 2nd project this weekend was this 
tree ornament.  It's for the shop's entry in the annual Adorn-a-Door Wreath raffle.  I usually knit something mini but this year I decided it was time to go back to the lace angels.  This one is less than 4" tall so it should fit nicely on our wreath. (The angels I made years ago were 7-9" tall and very fancy but too big for a wreath.)  I had thought of getting some beads and making her a halo but this silver cord was a simpler and cheaper way to go...and I think it looks fine, too.

     In between my crocheting, I've been knitting winter hats.  It's finally been difficult to keep my hat display full!  Both of these are with self-patterning yarn.  The one in front with the green trim is with Robin Paintbox, a dk weight yarn from Great Britian that I
got in a Yarn Pal package. (I've got another Paintbox color combo that just needs the pompom.  And, hey, the neat pompom makers came in a Yarn Pal package, too!)The other hat in the photo is done with Red Heart worsted in a self-patterning called 'Derby Fair Isle.'  I think of it more as a 'cut and paste' pattern because to make the pattern work out even in the row with the number of stitches you have you must cut and a add yarn as you go.  It leaves a lot of ends but the results are worth it.  Today I got a skein Red Heart 'Calm Fair Isle'...also a self-patterning worsted that I'll use for another hat.  (And I'm pretty sure it will end up being a 'cut and paste' job, too.)
   And I even found time to knit an adult beanie to send to my cousins in Colorado.  They're collecting hats, gloves and socks for the homeless and will deliver them with breakfast on Christmas Day.  I told Michaela I'd so some hats and mail them to her.  I've got 1 done!  I'd like to finish 3 or 4 more.  Michaela's grandmother was my cousin and one of my greatest friends.  I miss her so much.  She meant so much to my mom and me.
   And on that somber note, it's time to get back to work!!  It's suppose to snow tonight and tomorrow and I've got the clean the woodstove's firebox so I can have a decent fire!!
   This hat's going to the shop, too. 

It will fit a 1-3yr old and is knit with Mary Maxim Baby Blankie, an acrylic self-patterning yarn.  I 'cut and paste'  the results a little to get the Fair Isle pattern more to my liking.  I think all the ends that have to be worked in are worth it!

Hello November!

October ended up being a very good month for me in Cooperstown. Sweaters and hats sold...like pumpkins! I could barely keep up and other things got pushed aside. Zoey the Beagle was due for a rabies booster but we never seemed to find the time to go to the vet's. And then the ladies at Olivia's Happy Tails (where the girls get their nails and ears done) suggested a Public Health Rabies Clinic. The last one of the season was scheduled for this morning at the E Herkimer Fire House and we decided to go there.   They suggested we get there a little early and we managed to make it there by 9:45 for the 10am start.  Of course, it was raining and the parking lot was starting to fill up but we stood outside talking to some nice people (and getting soaked) while we waited for the door to open...but we made it in close to the front of the line!  In fact, we were back in the car by 10:15!  And it only cost Jeff $5.  (Now that was a nice difference from what it would have costed at the vet's!)  Our next stop was suppose to be Lowe's but I was headed the wrong way on the Main Rd and couldn't make a left turn when we got to Rte 5 so Jeff suggested going to the Greek Diner on N Main St in Herkimer before heading back to Lowe's and then home.  Disappointment...it was closed!  But I noticed Gus in the restaurant next door so I went there and asked where Teddy was...and got directions to new place of business!!  Teddy has bought Cavarina's on Rte 5 in Schuyler. I remember when that building was renovated but don't remember it opening. Seems it did during the summer but only for a short time. I often wonder what it looked like inside and today I found out...it's beautiful! The walls in the dining room have original murals of Venice! The bathrooms are beautiful!! The ladies room is bigger than the bathroom in my house!! We enjoyed our lunch and plan on going back for dinner. Both Jeff and I hope Teddy and his partner...his waitress...are successful with this restaurant. I spent the afternoon working on a Black Sheep Sweater. It's a size 4 and I've got it almost finished. Just the ribbing at the bottom and the buttons are left to do. Earlier this week I finished another size 4 Polar Express Hoodie...also a size 4. The ones I had finished in October both sold just before Halloween. I replaced them with a size 6

months yellow cardigan & hat set and a size 6 months white hoodie. Those size 6months sweaters are a lot easier and quicker to knit than the size 4's.

I'm also doing some children's legwarmers. More photos when they're finished.

Cooperfest, 2018

   Yesterday I spent  the day in the shop
because it was Cooperfest, an Octoberfest celebration sponsored by the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce and Brewery Ommegang.  There was a 'family-friendly' street fair on Main Street with craft booths, food trucks, bouncy houses, games, etc for the entire family.  Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side...it did rain a couple of times, and the planning left something to be desired.
   While I was putting up the usual display on the outside wall of our shop, I wonder what the frame that was being assembled in the lower parking lot next to our patio would hold.  I noticed they were very close to the stairs to our level and mentioned it but was told by a rather rude woman that 
'they were the Brewery and had permission to block the stairs.'  Now I didn't think that was right so I went next door to Diastole and told Phil.  He agreed and told his boss while I tried to get ahold of Judy who was setting up our booth for the craft fair on Main St.  We ended up spending the day with this 
blocking our view of the entrance to Doubleday Parking lot and the view of our patio display from the entrance to Doubleday Parking.

The manager of Doubleday Batting Range joined us in protesting the 'blimp' parked next to our patio and also included the line of 'rent-a-john' portapotties that ran across the parking lot blocking access to the batting range entrance.  He went off in search of Matt, the director of the Chamber, who Judy was also trying to track down.  In the meantime I opened the shop and while sales were OK they were not fantastic.  Raising the tent did not improve the view from Main Street, as you can see in this next photo.

If you didn't know what was behind the tent you would never have found us! The batting range's manager returned 'still
breathing fire and 
with smoke coming out of his ears'. I think he walked over Matt, leaving footprints on both sides!  Anyway, Judy never got ahold of Matt until the end of the day when he finally answered her calls and promised to get back to her on Monday or Tuesday.
   Around 3pm there was more commotion by the tent as a gate was added to block our access to the lower parking lot.  Now customers had to walk around the

garden and climb up to our level there or go back to Main St and walk up to the corner and down  Chestnut St to where Doubleday Court meets it across from the fire department and walk a block back to where the shops are.     Eventually,  a fence was put around the
rent-a-johns, too, dividing the parking lot and limiting access to us and the batting range.

   The tent was used to house the night's entertainment and as a beer booth.  The night's
entertainment started it's sound check around 3:30
successfully drowning out any music we had playing in the shop.  By 4pm they were serenading us with their repertoire of Golden Oldies...wither we liked
it or not.  (And their Girl Singer was flat a couple of times in her first few numbers.)
   I ended up having a very good day and the girls in the booth on Main St did, too, but it probably would have been better if people on Main St could have seen the display on the side of our building and come over to check it out.  

 

Hurting but Knitting

    It looks like we're going to go back to having some Summer-like days for awhile.  After last week's weather...cold (temperatures in the 50-60 range) and wet...it should be a welcome change except as the temperature goes up so does the humidity.  And one thing about the Mohawk Valley it gets hazy, hot and humid very easily!
   This morning I could barely move or roll over in bed...and that was after the dogs had left me to go outside with Jeff!  I ache from my neck to my toes!  Most of it from knitting...ok, maybe not the pain in my knees, ankles and feet but definitely the pain in my neck, arms and back...probably hips, too. When I knit constantly my left hand looks like a Vulcan salute (you remember, Mr. Spock's V?) and my right elbow just hurts.  Washing dishes last night helped my hands but I still had trouble holding on to what I was washing.  I had decided I had enough knitting for one day so I grabbed a book but just holding that open ended up hurting, too.  Gee, it's rough having arthritis but at least my fingers are still straight not like the way my mom's got all bend and swollen. 
   Just laying there in bed I hurt so I decided I might as well get up and make some coffee. By the time it was ready (I dropped the used coffee filter on the floor on the way to the garbage bag and had to sweep the floor before anybody with 4 feet and a wet nose decided to investigate) I was alone...everyone had gone back to sleep.  Walmart didn't have any sliced Italian bread yesterday-I had to get an unsliced loaf, so this morning I sliced two nice, thick 
slices and toasted them, spread on what was left of the butter in the dish (Jeff is not able to unwrap and add a new stick of butter to the butter dish) and topped it with Maggie's homemade strawberry jam. I really enjoyed my toast and coffee...there wasn't a small dog trying to climb up into my lap for her supposed share!
   Now I'm ready to start another hat.  I think today's will be a ladies fedora.  The last one was done in cotton and sold quickly so I'll repeat it just changing the colors. 

It should take most of the day to knit.  The last 2 days I've been knitting baby and toddler hats that took longer than I had planned but I kept screwing up the pattern.  They're ready for the embroidery now.  Tomorrow I'll do more baby and toddler rolled brimmed hats with knit flowers.  I'll be in the shop

on Saturday and those six hats should fill up the display nicely. 
   It's time for my 2nd cup of coffee and to start that hat.  Now where did I put the yarn after the last one?

Reclaiming The Parlor

  

  When Jeff moved in x# of years ago we put his extra furniture in our formal parlor because the room was more of a showpiece than a living room.  Now the 'Parlor' has become more of a 'Storage' room with a corner for my PC as boxes full of stuff have filled in the corners and under the furniture.  Since I will be doing most of my TV viewing on my PC since we cancelled the cable TV part of our Spectrum bundle, I decided to reclaim an area in the parlor.  

   This morning we cleaned off the loveseat (a 70's era tangerine no-wale corduroy piece that my mom had got at a very good price at a local expensive furniture store (Rush's) that is no longer in business.  Unfortunately, no one over 5'5" has ever been able to get up from sitting on it without assistance...it's too low!), covered it with a clean sheet and put an end-table and lamp by it's side. Since it's now sitting in the middle of the room an extension cord will be necessary to make the lamp work!  I reclaimed the wingback chair that the dogs had declared as 'Their Property' when they sit with me while I'm on the PC and convinced Fanny, at least, that the loveseat was better than the chair.   It looks rather cozy.  Now I can knit and watch my favorite British shows on Acorn-TV and Netflix in comfort.  

   The dogs weren't too thrilled when I moved the wingback chair and kept directing them to the loveseat but they'll learn.  I figurer that as long as I'm the Alpha Bitch in this pack I should get my choice of seats.  Right now Fanny is stretched out across the loveseat.  Jeff doesn't think there's enough room for Zoey but since they fit together on the loveseat in the TV room they should fit on this one.  

   I don't think the mouse who was living in the room will be too excited either but it will accept the changes or move on (my hope). I've got to be careful about putting out D-con because Zoey is small enough to go under furniture and I don't want her to get into anything she shouldn't.  I figurer I need another excuse to reclaim more area in the parlor and that should get rid of the rest of the boxes Jeff has accumulated in the room.  

   Oh, Jeff has informed me that I will need new speakers for my PC before I will be able to hear the dialogue from the shows I want to watch if I'm sitting in the wingback chair.  And now that I can get to the windows I think it's time to wash the curtains!   I think I'll wait until I get the curtains done before I take any photos of my little nest...besides the camera needs new batteries and I keep forgetting to get them!! 

(For some reason the font size of each paragraph is changing on it's own.  Sorry about that.)

Life Goes On

   This has been a week of appointments for Jeff.  He saw his attending physician, his optometrist, and a diet coach for help with his diabetes.  Seems like every other day we were sitting in a waiting room someplace...oh, we were!  And it will continue next week.  He's got an appointment with a specialist who will run an electric current down his leg to see how badly it's damaged.  Definitely something not to look forward to. 
      Jeff's only been fishing once this season so when he decided to go fishing yesterday, I was glad, and he happily drove off around 4pm. Zoey bayed and howled because she wasn't going with him but eventually calmed down and came in when I called out 'Supper!' We had had steak the night before and there was a hunk left over that I cut up and divided between the dog dishes...then I had to stand guard to keep them to their respective portions or else Zoey would have tried to get Fanny's steak and all hell would have broken loose! After they had cleaned their dishes...and they did...I picked up the book I had been reading ('Song of the Lion' by Anne Hillerman...she's as good a writer as her father was and the Navajo characters are still busy policing the Rez). We had decided to cancel the cable TV part of our Spectrum bundle because of the expense and repetition of channels and yesterday they turned us off AFTER Jeff went fishing so he didn't have a chance to turn on our antenna! Being w/o TV wasn't so bad becoz Jim Chee and the other Navajo characters were with me. When I finished the book and was making a pot of coffee, there was a knock at the door. Fanny hid under the kitchen table (signaling that she wasn't sure who it was) but Zoey ran to greet our guest. It was my cousin, Ed, returning a Corningware dish I had sent home with him filled with leftovers the last time he came to supper. Besides returning my dish he was warning us not to look for him for the next couple of weeks because he was going on vacation to California! We sat at the kitchen table and talked about his coming trip, where he was going, who he'd visit, and drinking coffee until Jeff came home around 10pm. Jeff was excited to report he had found a new fishing hole in Little Falls and explained how he found it. Since Ed and I are both more familiar with the city than Jeff, we recognized where he was taking about quickly. Seems the Rotary has built a rather nice launching site on the river, complete with picnic tables and hibachis, that is easy to get to. Jeff met some other guys there and enjoyed himself fishing. He caught some good size fish but since he is a sport fisherman, he released them. We're planning to take a picnic there before the weather changes. I made another pot of coffee and the 3 of us talked some more. When Ed left it was near midnight! Suddenly Jeff was looking for his car keys and couldn't find them! Since he drove home they have to be here someplace!! We tried to look around and in the car last night but it was too dark (remember, we live in the country and there aren't any street lights). The keys should turn up today!
   I didn't get any knitting done last night so I plan on doing some today. I've got to finish the test knit I'm doing for Stitch Angles(I missed the deadline but I'll still finish it!) and I want to work on the lacey shawl I'm doing for the shop. I was scheduled to work on 9/10 but found an email before I went to bed asking me to switch to 9/15, giving me an extra week to get it done. I promise to post photos of both the test knit and the lacey shawl!! 
  Poor Zoey!  She and Fanny were playing tag coming in from the porch before lunch and Fanny jumped up and knocked an almost full coffee cup out of my hand giving Zoey a shower of hot coffee!!  She let out a squeal and ran back outside.  I grabbed a towel and went after her, eventually getting her back into the house.  Her head was soaked with coffee but she didn't seem to be burnt or hurt.  I finally pinned her to the bed to give her a rubdown...which she didn't like! A dog biscuit with a touch of peanut butter helped ease whatever pain she was in and Fanny came over to help dry her off by licking the coffee off her head.  Zoey liked that better than the rubdown!  And the coffee cleaned the kitchen floor very nicely...there is now a lighter patch in front of the refrigerator and stove.  Ah, country living. 
   Now it's time to go look for those car keys!!
SUCCESS:  KEYS FOUND!!