Snow again!

We had a little bit of snow last night.

That's the grill, I think.

Only after the snow we've been having this winter could I refer to what happened last night as a "little" snow.  About a foot fell in these parts.  A foot.  Of snow.  Normally around here, that would be a crazy amount of snow.  Not this year.

When it snows I would like to knit something warm all day, but my children had other ideas.  So, we watched cartoons and danced around the living room.  I took some pictures of new items for the shop, and a new finished hat! 

That's The Amanda Hat, designed by Gina House.  I took a class with her last weekend, up at Slater Mill in Pawtucket, RI.  What was Manos from my stash, now is a comfy, warm hat.  Fits pretty nice, too.  I might just make another one.  or two.

Stovepipe

SO the kids didn't sleep very late today but I'm still on my routine.  I've been getting up with hubby so I can shower first thing, and that seems to help a LOT.  Mt Washmore is almost gone, and the dishwasher has been run twice a day (by me) since Tuesday.  This is unusual in this house. 

Alex slept alone for a 40 minute nap, and I got a lot of work done for the Shop.  I am making sure everything is inventoried, photographed, banded, and ready to go for our sale, starting January 22nd.  50% off all supplies for knitting, spinning and felting.  (yeah, that's everything in the shop!)

I am knitting my fourth stovepipe hat.  It is a tube that is pulled closed at one end and secured with a cord lock.  ETA:  When the cord is loosened, the Stovepipe can be worn as a cowl.  So far I have knit 1 child hat, 1 adult hat with a neck flap, 1 adult hat with no flap, and the current one which is an adult hat with little girly cables on it.  They need to be photographed, then the hats will be available in the shop.  Here's an example of a stovepipe hat I knit as a Christmas present for one of my nephews:

That's hand dyed yarn by the Dyenamic Dyestress, people!  I definately need a better model, Kinnearing myself is not gonna cut it. 

Once the stovepipe hat pattern has been test knit, it will be available for available on Ravelry.  (See on the right, there's a place for patterns already?  That will link to the Ravelry store.)  If you happen to download the pattern and have any feedback, please share it!  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Alex wanted to play downstairs yesterday so I took the opportunity to look through some of the HUGE bags of yarn down there for some stuff I could use for the shop - and found quite a bit that fit the "cozy neutrals" theme a la MaryMary.  I bagged each of them up with a note inside of what I wanted to use them for and tossed them in a reuseable shopping bag.  Now when I need to start a new project, I just grab a bag!  No wondering what to knit, etc.  Yay me!  Now if I could only streamline the rest of my life...

Resolute

Happy New Year! We are finally home from all our holiday traveling! Boy am I glad to be home. It is very nice to visit family, but I've gots stuff ta do!

Today I took inventory of all the lovely rovings and yarns in stock. I was very tempted to sneak a skein and start a new project, but decided to be good and leave all the yummies for the customers. For now. Instead, I started getting ready for our big Anniversary sale! It is hard to believe the shop has been open for a whole year. The sale will be just two days, January 22nd and 23rd, and everything will be 50% off, so the inventory needs to be ready to roll!

I sorted out the skeins that need labels, and those that need new photos and started taking pictures. Tonight I'll be printing labels until bedtime. Tomorrow, reskeining and braiding. Cheryl sent me home from New Year's with a BIG box of newly dyed rovings which are GORGEOUS! Would you like to see? Of course you would! Here's a few teaser pics...




Arctic Ice progression dyed in Merino.



Persuasion progression dyed in Merino.

See? You thought I was kidding about the beauteousness! These and more will be in the shop in time for the sale, Sale, SALE!

On a completely different note, I have resolutions!

• Do more feminine-type stuff. (like making sure I brush my hair everyday... )
  
• Get to the gym.
  
• Design a knitting pattern a month. (at least)
• Start gift knitting NOW. (I'm trying to make the holidays less hectic next time around)
• Knit for the shop.
• Learn more about marketing the shop, to start the 2nd year off with a bang!

Do you have resolutions?