Friday, February 25, 2011

It Could Be Malaria...

I'm sick, again. Everyone around me has someone at home who has recently had bronchitis and or strep throat. I don't know that I necessarily have anything more serious than the crud, but I'm a baby and a hypochondriac. So in my own mind I have the worst case of whatever this is since humans discovered we could suffer from whatever this is. It may be Malaria, you never know. cough cough.

I spent most of this week at Stash seeking project advice, loitering, spreading germs, and I even managed to squeeze in a bit of work. I spend a lot of time there anyway, but this week I was especially unmotivated in my own work it just seemed like the shop was the best place to be. After all, if I'm not going to do my own work the best thing would be to interrupt other people's work right? Crystal talked me through my first intarsia knitting project while I was loitering and underfoot. It's a wonderful argyle cardigan from the new Stitch 'n Bitch book and I only had to rip it out 5 or 6 times (so far). I've finished the back and the left front side and will resume working on the right front side in the event that I don't perish from the evil awful plague from which I currently suffer. cough cough.

As usual I claim that I was unmotivated and unproductive in the studio this week, but that isn't really the case. Last weekend Jeremy's parents were gracious enough to assist us with some projects I wanted to do for this year's market displays. We bought some pretty molding at the hardware store, re-purposed an old mirror and now I have a custom mirror and some sweet frames to hang the earrings from. Next weekend we're going to do some faux painting treatments on a piece of pegboard and dress up my tablecloths with a custom border. My sister Christina gave me a really neat table top display for Christmas and that piece is what spurred on the need to revamp the tent. I'm really excited about the changes we're making and I'm really looking forward to finishing all of these little projects so I can start working on the layout. We usually set up the tables in the living room a few times before a show just to get an idea of how I'm going to set things up the day of, but this time we'll have some things that hang from the tent frame and our shiny sign from Airship Printing  so I think I'll have to work in the garage. Unless I die from Malaria. cough cough.

The displays aren't the only new addition to the studio though. You may have noticed that we recently started a fund raising campaign to help us upgrade our point of sale system. We've been using a duplicate sales book for years, and while it does the job it is cumbersome, slow, and inconvenient to our customers. Our campaign wasn't really progressing the way I'd hoped and we were starting to think that we just weren't going to reach this goal when we had a lovely surprise. We had a private donation very generously provided Siouxsiequeue's with the new POS system. This market season we'll be able to process credit card transactions and provide email or text receipts for our customers. The new process is quick and less wasteful than paper sales books. So thank you, You Know Who, this is one project that wouldn't have happened without you and Jeremy and I are especially grateful.

So as usual it was an eventful week, Malaria, loitering, new equipment, new displays, and a sincere appreciation for the way people can surprise us. I hope your week was just as interesting and full of surprises.

Suzanne

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Alexander's Revenge

We've had a tough week this week, and it's been especially difficult for the kiddo. Alexander's terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day doesn't hold a candle to what Eric's been through this week. Some of the "in crowd" kids took one of his shoes after gym class the other day, he turned in the wrong homework, had a surprise quiz, and was laughed out of a school sponsored Manga club because the other boys didn't like his choices of reading material. Everyone has bad days, and being a middle schooler is always a difficult time, but I feel like he took more than his share of lumps this week. It is especially irritating because the school is in the throws of an anti-bullying campaign.

I also feel like I'm not really helping him. My first reaction is to call the school, but Eric won't give me the names of the boys who are giving him a bad time. I think he is probably worried that they'll bother him even more if they get in trouble. Jeremy and I keep trying to tell him that this is a difficult time for everyone, but I remember feeling so awkward at that age, I don't think that we'll be able to convince him of that until he's 25. I'm also a very over protective mom, so part of me wants to go over to the school and talk to those kids myself, but that would probably be the nail in Eric's social coffin.

I wish that there was some way we could convince him that being popular in school doesn't mean anything in the whole rest of your life, that people who are mean are usually insecure about something, and that all of this emotion, angst, and awkwardness will pass but every time I try I just hear my mom's voice trying to tell me the same things, and I remember how I didn't believe her anymore than Eric's going to believe us.

So this morning, as Eric was leaving for school I gave him a hug. I told him that being popular in school doesn't mean anything in the whole rest of your life. I told him that the people who have been mean to him are probably having some kind of situation of their own and lashing out is the way they are trying to deal with it. I told him that being a teenager is a short time in life and it will pass and I told him that we love him, because I  think that's really the only thing we can do right now.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Good Thing I Already Own a Taun Taun

I feel like the extreme cold temperatures we've had the last two weeks have taken away my motivation to work. Every time I look out the window and see the piles of snow or look at the weather app on my phone I just want to get my Taun Taun sleeping bag and put on a movie. I am not overly fond of the cold or all the negative side effects that accompany it. Jeremy, Eric, and I conduct an unreasonable amount of static electricity so the cold dry air has turned the house and the studio into a giant defibrillator. We are walking through the house in such a way that would cause The Ministry of Silly Walks to be proud and every light switch inspires a moment of terror. I gave myself such a shock last night my hand was all tingly for a moment.

There is an upside to all of this static filled lethargy, I've gotten a lot of knitting and knitting related organizing done. I finished a wash cloth and a nifty hanging dish towel from "Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines", and we broke down and bought some shelves to contain the yarn stash.  It's starting to look like Stash at my house with the yarn tucked away in cubbies, the books, and the projects in various states of completion, but at least it's all in one place now and not spread across every horizontal surface in the house and studio.

I did get some actual work done this week. In preparation for the the impending craft fair season we've been really focused on building up the standing inventory. I've been making bracelets, earrings, and pendants as fast as my little hands will go. We've also had a surprising response to the knitting needle tool rolls, so there's also been a lot of sewing in the studio.We're still waiting to hear back from some of the early show applications. We still have two weeks or so before I expect to hear from anyone, but the anticipation is driving me a little batty. Those of you who follow along regularly know how patient I am (read: not at all), so you can guess how much fun I am to be around right now.

So I'm cold, unmotivated, full of static, anxious, and impatient...wanna come hang out with me? Probably not, but stay warm, watch the ice, and I'll see you next week.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Jeremy Says it is Negative Room Temperature Today

It is currently -9 degrees Fahrenheit here. -9 degrees, and that is one of the warmer temperatures we've had today. I used to work for a man who, when it would get really cold outside, would say "Now it's just rude out there". I think though, that we have passed rude, we passed rude a ways back. I don't know what is worse than rude, but that's what is happening right now. Worse than rude. And it's only going to get worse, the news said that they are expecting it to be or feel like -20. It is actually warmer in Antarctica than in Colorado right now, that doesn't happen very often.

It's supposed to be even colder tomorrow, but I'm going to brave the arctic temperatures to head over to Stash tomorrow for the Pillowcase & Anatomy of a Sock classes. There are still a few spaces left for both classes, please call the store at 303-660-YARN to register.

The upside is that it's too cold to go outside, so I've gotten a lot of work done the last few days. As you know We have been working to bump up our inventory for the upcoming craft fair season. We've applied to the Horseshoe Craft and Flea Market again this season. The application deadline isn't until the 14th, so we won't know the outcome for a few weeks, please keep your fingers crossed! There's another *HUGE* event we've applied for last week, but I'm nervous about it and a little bit afraid that talking about it will jinx it, so again, fingers crossed.

I haven't finished any personal project this week, it's been all about the Siouxsiequeue's inventory, blog, Facebook page, and newsletter. I did start a new embroidery project and I'm teaching myself to crochet Granny Squares, because clearly there wasn't enough to do over the weekend.

I hope that you all manage to stay warm, avoid frost bite, and have a fantastic week!

Suzanne