Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving weekend. I'm really looking forward to having three days off. I don't have much planned for the weekend but that's okay, more knitting time. I finally finished the alpaca hat for work. It might be a bit on the small side but I can always write a larger size. Chris is taking all the samples to the photographer this weekend. I'll have to get all the patterns out and go through them to make sure there aren't any errors. There's a bit of pressure being a pseudo technical editor but it has to be done. I made the suggestion a while back that after we have something designed for us, we have it test knit by someone else. It's what all designers do to make sure their patterns are understandable and error free. I have test knit for Fiona Ellis for both of her books. I the ladies summer top with the lace border in Inspired Cable Knits and the halter top and pleated sleeve cardigan in Inspired Fair Isle Knits. It helps to have someone that isn't really close to the pattern take a look at it.

I've been working on my Cascade 220 cardigan. I'll keep working on it this weekend. I've been wandering the warehouse looking at bags of yarn trying to decide what my next project will be. I should probably go into my fairly extensive stash but that's not going to happen.

My neighbour's father passed away yesterday at the age of 92. He's been very ill with Alzheimer's for the past several years so it is probably a blessing. Her son is in Egypt having the time of his life. He's been exploring the pyramids this week and next week they're going camping in the desert. The professor in charge of this has invited him and a few others to his home for dinner with some of his friends. I can't tell you who one of the friends is but he's a very famous actor. I can tell you once the TV show airs next year. Derek, being young, hadn't heard of him but when Christine told me it was OMG you're kidding!

Have wonderful Thanksgiving! and Happy Knitting.
Susan

Bronze Medal!

My next door neighbour's oldest son is currently in Beirut participating in the Francophone Games. She just called me to say that he won the bronze medal in the 1500 meters. How fantastic is that??? He may also be running the 5K tomorrow. He comes home on Wednesday.

Her other son Derek (I mentioned him several weeks ago) is going to Egypt. He has to be in Cairo on Monday. He's in England at the moment so he'll be go straight there. He's participating in a reality show on the History network. It's a group of archaeologist and I believe the show is called Chasing Mummies. He doesn't come home until the end of February. What an amazing experience for him. There's never a dull moment around their house that's for sure.

We received another shipment from Peru this afternoon. Each one of those bales holds 90 kilos of yarn. Skippy in the warehouse is going to be a busy boy next week. We're expecting a couple of other shipments next week also.

It's pouring rain outside and I think it's supposed to rain for most of the weekend. Which is a drag because I can't get outside and walk. I think I've got my father convinced to buy a treadmill. He quite enjoys the treadmill when he's at physio. It would be good for him to keep active throughout the winter. My ankle is quite sore today. I wore a shoe with a slightly higher heel yesterday, maybe that's part of the problem. I think the rain isn't helping either.

I bought two pair of shoes after work last week, both fairly flat, black, one is suede, the other leather trimmed with patent. I have the latter on right now and they are very comfortable. I always say, you can't have too many pair of black shoes.

I finished both scarves and Chris is going to have them photographed. We'll have a free pattern on the website in the very near future.

Have a good weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a new yarn from Lana Grossa. It looks like a whole lot of Gnocchis strung together. The pompoms are like chenille. I started to make myself a scarf out of the black luxe last Friday night. It looks pretty good if I do say so myself. Then I started another one out of one of multi colours. The black one is 8 stitches, the multi is 6. Here's what they look like.

I'm putting fringe on the black one but think I'll leave the multi as is. I bought a new winter coat last week (to those who know me well, yes I am a coat slut. I love coats.) It is a deep amethyst colour with a black over collar so the colours in this will go very nicely with it.

I've been working on a cardigan for myself using Cascade 220 Heather colour 9336. It's an asymmetrical cardigan, fairly short, with a deep ribbing. I really like the pattern. I think I'll do another one out of our Organic Cloud Cotton.

I've almost finished the baby sweater for Dan's secretary. It's so cute. I made both hat sizes also. I finished the larger one and thought it was too large so I made the smaller one also. It looks more baby head sized. Anyway, I'll give her both. I'm sure the baby will grow into the larger one.

I'm only going for physio once a week now. My range of motion is good as is my gait. I still have some pain on the inside of the joint. I guess it's something I'll just have to live with. I'm wearing shoes today that have elastic across the instep. I can really feel pressure on the right one to the point that it is uncomfortable. Which is a total drag. Two of my favorite pair of shoes have elastic across the instep. Oh well, I'll just have to buy a new pair of shoes (and yes, I am a shoe slut also. My friends at Bell used to call me Imelda).

I still haven't been to check out the new McNally Robinson store here in Toronto. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow. I did order a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking from them to be sent to my sister for her 50th birthday. I was very impressed with the service. I received a personal email from their customer service thanking me for my order.

I can't believe my little sister is turning 50 this weekend. 50 isn't so bad, it's kind of liberating. Her husband and daughter are planning a surprise party for her. Don't think she'll be impressed but you never know.

Well, I'd better go. Have a great weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

It Bloomed!!!

The night blooming cereus bloomed on Saturday night. We took Christine, Steve and Derek up to the golf club for dinner and got home a little after 9:00. We went into their house and sure enough the two blooms were starting to open. This is what they looked like at 9:15. That's Derek standing behind them. It took just over an hour for them to come into full bloom. The outside is covered with thin pink tendrils. As they opened, you could actually see the tendrils move. Here they are partially open.

And here they are fully opened.The flower only blooms one night. Christine said she was up around 1:30 and it still looked the same but in the morning, this is what it looked like.

The fragrance it emits filled the entire house. It was pretty amazing to watch. I wonder when or if it will bloom again. I'm going to prune mine back on the weekend and maybe start a few cuttings.

The plant growing in our courtyard is a grain of some sort. It's getting bigger and frothier.

I decided to make a baby outfit our of our Cloud Cotton last weekend. I'm almost finished the second sleeve. I'm making the wrap sweater that Lynn Cullen designed for us last year. Last weekend was the fourth anniversary of my brother's death. I don't know why but I just felt like making something for a new life coming into the world. I'm going to give this to Dan's receptionist Lindsay. She's have a little boy in January.

Speaking of Dan, I only saw him once this week. I'm back again on Monday. He says structurally I'm fine, it's the sensitivity on the bone at the joint that he worries about. I have to keep doing my exercises and friction it with my fingers. That hurts so I probably don't use enough pressure. I'll keep walking on the weekend.

I'm debating about going to the KW Knitter's Fair tomorrow. I'll give my friend Susan a call tonight and see if she wants to go.

I'm off to get my hair cut after work. I had an appointment for next Friday but I can't wait that long. My hair is changing as I get older. Now when it gets a little longer, it starts to curl. For someone who has had poker straight hair all her life it's really hard to get used to. Oh well.

Have a good weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

It's not corn!

Well, the mystery plant growing in our courtyard is definitely not corn. I don't know if you can tell from the photo but it looks more like a grain of some sort. We'll see how it progresses over the weekend and I'll post another picture next week. The night blooming cereus next door still hasn't bloomed. We're thinking it will be one night over the weekend.

The warehouse has been hopping this week. We had 5 skids come from Lana Grossa and 3 skids from King Cole. We've also had several huge shipments go out. It's pretty crowded back there. This is a small portion of some of the Lana Grossa yarns on the back table in the warehouse. It was twice a high a few days ago.
When I first started working here I found the amount of yarn we have overwhelming. Now I hardly notice. But I do get excited when the new yarns start to arrive.


We had pizza lunch yesterday for the first time since March. Normally we have it once a month when we meet our targets. I'm pretty sure we've been meeting our targets so I don't know what's up with that.

It's Labour Day weekend. I don't have too much planned. We're going out for dinner tomorrow night and I think a friend and I might check out the Don Mills Centre. The weather is supposed to be fantastic so I'll be walking everyday. I'm going to try going a longer distance, maybe over to Birchmount and back. I'm back to walking my 3 km in my pre ankle break time, mostly without any discomfort. I sense my time with Dan is coming to an end.


I'm not sure what I'm going to knit this weekend. I might start a baby sweater out of our Cloud Cotton but I'm not sure. Not like I don't have enough already started.

Have a great weekend and Happy Knitting!
Susan

Corn in the Courtyard?

This is a picture of one of the planters in our courtyard at the front of the house. Notice the strange looking plant growing up to it's right. We think it might be corn. We have a bird feeder directly behind where I'm standing and think that the seeds might have come from it. There are actually two stalks. I tried to take a closer shot so maybe you can see them.

Still with plants, I have a night blooming cereus in the dining room. It came from a cutting off a cutting off a cutting from a plant that was my grandmother's. My aunt still has the original plant. My sister has a plant also. As it's name implies, it blooms only at night. The last time the original plant bloomed was when I was about a year old. Several years ago I gave a cutting to my next door neighbours. Christine called me all excited because they have two blooms growing on theirs. I spoke to my aunt and she said the last time it bloomed, the blooms were about 10" before they opened. They are about 6" right now. It only blooms for one night and the fragrance once the bloom opens is apparently unbelievable and fills the entire house. Christine thinks it might bloom later this week. I'll keep you posted and will take some pictures.

My sister called on Saturday afternoon to tell me the sweater arrived safe and sound and she loves it. Apparently it fits my niece also. I hope they'll share.

I walked both days over the weekend. Sunday morning I did my 3km in the same time I did before I broke my ankle. It is pretty much pain free most of the time except when Dan frictions near the bone bruise and the ligaments. I'm going for physio after work tonight so we'll see what he says. I'm doing better on the wobble board but still don't like it very much.

I've started a sweater for myself out of Cascade 220 Heather. It's a fairly short, asymmetrical cardigan. I'm up to the armhole shaping on the left front. I always start with one of the fronts when I'm doing a cardigan so that if there are any tension issues, I haven't put too much effort into it. I've got to rip out the alpaca had I'm working on. I tried it on our Styrofoam head and it's too tight. Back to the drawing board.

I'd better go. Have a good week.

Happy Knitting!

Susan

It's Finished!

I finished my sister's sweater last week. I'm very pleased with the results. I went up to Mary's Yarns in Unionville to get the buttons. I wanted really fabulous buttons as it is such a simple sweater and I found the perfect ones.

It's been a busy week around here. We've had a couple of major shipments arrive so we've got some extra help in the warehouse. I'm invoicing like crazy. It's sometimes hard for our shipper to keep up.

I've started a new sock (I know I've got at least three others on the go, it's a sickness). It's Lang's Jawoll Aktion Denim. I love the taupe /blue combination. I don't have plans this weekend so I'll work away on it. I'm working on an alpaca hat for work to match a scarf and wrist warmer. It's almost finished.

I went to see Julie and Julia last Saturday. I loved it. Now I want a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I think I'll ask for it for Christmas as it's a little expensive. I might give my sister a copy for her 50th birthday in September. Meryl Streep was fantastic as Julia Child. They showed that Saturday Night Live clip of Dan Ackroyd imitating Julia Child. It was too funny.

We had a terrible storm here last night. North of the city in Vaughn a tornado touched down. Many houses were damaged and 20 will have to be demolished. It was kind of scary. I was at physio (it's on the lower level) and I was surprised at how dark it was when I got out of the elevator. I called back up there after I got home to warn them. They both have long distances to travel and thought they should be forewarned. I think we're supposed to have storms both days on the weekend. Oh well.

Well, I'd better go. Have a great weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

My Lily

This is one of the Stargazer Lilies in the back garden. Three out of the four blooms are out. I think it is absolutely beautiful. I have another one a little to the left of this one that has seven blooms on it. I checked it this morning before I left for work and the first bloom had come out on it. I think it is supposed to rain on Sunday so I hope they don't get battered to badly. This is a picture of it a couple of days ago. Look at the height of the snap dragon in the background. We've always had great success with snap dragons but this one is unbelievable.

I went to Stratford with my friends Joan and Cynthea yesterday. We had a lovely lunch at Pazzo and then saw The Importance of Being Earnest. It was absolutely wonderful. Brian Bedford was fantastic as Lady Bracknell. I drove. It wasn't too bad until we got to about Mississauga and the 401 ground to a halt. I don't understand how an accident in the right lane of the collectors past Bayview can cause all lanes in both the collectors and express to clog up for that distance. Anyway, I didn't get home until almost 8 o'clock.

My next door neighbour's son Derek is an archaeologist. He has applied for a job in Egypt. It is a six month stint. They are filming a series for the History channel and he had to do a video audition and post it on youtube. He started it with an Indiana Jones type move involving our garage door. He was sitting in the garage sketching an artifact (pretend you're in a cave in Egypt) and all of a sudden the garage door starts to close. He jumps up and rolls out under the door just as it closes and loses his hat. It was really well done. Then he took them to Honduras (the woods north of our house) to show them the Mayan dig he'd been on when he was at University of South Florida and then he took them to Turkey (the Scarborough Bluffs) where he'd been on dig when he was at the University of Bristol doing his masters. Anyway, the casting agents thought it was fantastic. Last night he had a phone call from Hollywood. The director thought it was fantastic also and he has a phone interview with the director on Monday. Pretty exciting!

I'm working on another hat for work out of Super Alpaca. It's going to be a simple 2 x 2 rib to match a scarf and wrist warmer set I did a few years ago. I started a sock for myself when I was at physio today.

I'm off to have my hair cut and a mani/pedi. Looking forward to it.

Have a good weekend and Happy Knitting!

Susan

The Long Weekend

Monday is Civic Holiday here in Ontario so we the day off. I don't have anything planned but I'm looking forward to having the time off. It's been really tough getting out of bed the last few mornings. I've hit the snooze button a few times too many. Yesterday and today have been absolutely beautiful. Summer has finally arrive (I hope). The weather certainly has been strange this summer. I was talking to one of our stores in Victoria yesterday. They've been having a terrible heat wave. I think our weather has been reversed.

I finished the knitting on my sister's sweater. It did take just the two skeins to finish it and I have about 50g left over. I pinned it together at lunch yesterday and took it with me to physio last night. I think Dan is quite fascinated by the process so I showed him how to put the pieces together. I told him that finishing is very telling, it can make the difference between home made and hand made. I'll put it together this weekend. It needs two large buttons and I haven't decided if I'll buy some or try and make knitted buttons. Decisions, decisions.

I started another Alpaca hat yesterday. It is the same as the red one I posted awhile back. I went to type up the pattern and couldn't find my notes. I normally write everything in my knitting journal but there was nothing on this project which is odd. So I thought I'd better re-knit it. I am making meticulous notes this time. We were going to have it re-knit in a different colour anyway so it works out well.

Physio is going well. I'm back on the big wobble board and this week Dan has taken my hands off the supports so that I can hold onto him and wobble. It's a bit terrifying but I did it. Last night he had me at a much faster pace on the treadmill. He says my gait is much better and he wants me to go even faster in the future. He wanted to try an experiment so had me do a me hold his hands and do a little jump to see what happened when I landed. Well it hurt so I guess I'll be going for a while yet. He's such a sweetie-pie and he's an excellent physiotherapist to boot. I'm going to miss him when I don't have to go anymore.

We got another big Lang shipment in this week. Tons more sock yarn. The September Jawoll Aktion programmes arrived. I've been eyeing colour 0277 since we first got the samples back in April so I took a ball for myself. Lang is excellent in the support they provide to our reps. For each colour of sock yarn they provide a knit swatch so that store owners can actually see what the yarn will look like when knit. It's so hard to tell with some yarns what sort of pattern you'll end up with. Actually, Lang provide knit swatches of all their new yarns. As I said, an excellent company to work with.

It's time to go. I've got errands to run after work and then I'll go for a walk.

Have a good weekend and happy knitting!

Susan

Summer???

Is summer ever going to arrive? It's been so dismal this year. Today I just decided to wear a nice summery dress and pretend that it is warm outside.

On Monday I drove to Coldwater to see The Purple Sock. She has a very nice store. She also sells loose teas and hand crafted soap.

This is Matilda. Here husband made her for the store. Her arms are made of hinges with holes at the end so Lynn put some knitting in her hands. They move around so it really looks like she's knitting.

I bought some soap while I was there. I always try to help out the local economy.

I've started the back of my sister's sweater. I was working on it at physio last night. My ankle was really bothering me last weekend so I've been taking it easy. I walked on Wednesday and had the brace really tightly on my ankle. It felt pretty good but every so often it really grabs me.

We got four skids in on Tuesday from Lang. It took most of the day to unpack and put it away. Most of the big fall booking orders are being pulled and shipped now so it is getting busier.

Have a good weekend.
Happy knitting!

Susan

Pom

We have a new yarn called Pom. It is made of giant pom poms connected with a binder. You knit into the binder between the pom poms and the pom poms alternate between the back and front.
I have just wound it into a ball and am going to attempt a scarf. When I tested it I used a 20mm needle but it was too loose. The last swatch I did was on a 10mm and that looked much better. The yarn is on the ocean so we want to have something ready to be test knit as soon as it comes in.

I've called my friend Susan to see if she'd test knit a scarf, headband and gauntlet set for us. I originally designed it using our Pearl yarn (sadly discontinued) but it is the same tension as our Super Alpaca so I think it will translate well. It is a quick knit and doesn't take a whole lot of yarn.

I've been working on my sister's sweater. I knit both fronts, a sleeve and part of the second sleeve out of one ball of Ecological Wool. I'm pretty sure I'll get the whole thing out of two balls. Here's one of the sleeves.

I haven't decided if I'll knit one for myself out of the other two or if I'll bring them back and try something different. I've got some charcoal gray Super Alpaca at home. It's the same tension so maybe I'll use that. I wear a lot of gray and black in the winter so that would work well.

I had physio again last night. I took my father with me. He'd been going to Dan for his back a little while ago. This week he tried to do too much and he's pulled a muscle. He thinks he's 60 not 87. He was back up there again this morning. He's got different exercises to do and he's not supposed to lift anything heavy. Dan had me on the big wobble board. I was okay while I was holding onto the supports but then he took my hands off it and held onto them and had me rock side to side and back to front hold them. Not so great. Side to side was better than back to front. I have to work on my balance.

I don't have too much planned for this weekend. Last weekend I went to see The Proposal, Sandra Bullock's new one. I really enjoyed it. She and Ryan Reynolds were great together. I think I'll do a purge through my father's drawers and get rid of some of his older things. He's all for it which helps. He'll be glued to the British Open this weekend. Hopefully the weather will be good so that I can walk both days.

Well, I'd better go and start that scarf. Have a good weekend.

Happy Knitting!

Susan

What I Did On My Vacation

I had a lovely two weeks off. My sister and niece came up from PEI for a few days. We went to Stratford one day and saw Macbeth. It was wonderful, set in mid 20th century Africa. The reason they did that is that in Shakespeare's day the English thought the Scottish were barbaric. Some of the things that have happened in Africa in the past few decades have also seemed barbaric. It shows how relevant the play still is when you look at it from that perspective.

We made chili sauce and red currant jelly one day. We cleaned out the garage for my father. We went shopping at Markville Mall. My niece got a really cute prom dress at H & M. I bought a cute pair of sandals. They went home on July 1 and I just puttered for the last few days. It was really nice having the time off. I felt quite rested when I got back. Although I must admit that I really didn't want to come back, something I've never felt before.

I've been back at work for a week. It's been fairly quiet in the office although not in the warehouse. We got a huge shipment in on Tuesday, a full ocean container. We've had these in the past but this was the biggest one so far. Here's what the container looked like at the receiving door.

After Canada Customs inspects the contents they seal the container with a big lock. The driver of the truck has to cut this off with huge pliers to open the doors. Here he is.

When the doors were opened this is what greeted us. Each of the bales weighs 98 kilos. There were 42 bales and about 28 boxes. That's Lalenie, our shipper, pulling one of the boxes out.

We had four extra people in for the rest of the week unpacking all the yarn and putting it on the shelves. Now they're pulling orders to be shipped.

My sister wanted a brown cardigan so I took home a bag of Cascade's Ecological Wool in colour 8025, a nice, dark heathery brown. I had been at Linda's Craftique a couple of weeks ago and was looking through her patterns while she was helping a customer. I ended up buying three pattern. This is the one I'm doing for my sister .

I've done both fronts and half a sleeve and still haven't finished the first ball. I have a feeling I'll be able to do two sweaters out of one bag. It's like the ball that never ends. I'll have to find some really great buttons to finish it off. I was knitting on it while I was at physio last night. My ankle is feeling pretty good most of the time but every so often it really hurts. Dan got me a brace so when I'm doing my daily walk, I wear it. It really helps keep the ankle stable. Hopefully it will be a nice weekend so that I can continue walking.

I took a ball of our new Super Alpaca Lace home before I went on vacation. I've been playing around with it, testing out a few different stitches. I'll have more to report on that later.

I had a call from our sales rep in Halifax, Judy, yesterday. She was telling me about this local band that has become an overnight sensation on Youtube. They're called Sons of Maxwell. The story goes that they were going to Nebraska to play a gig. They changed planes in Chicago and the singer saw his guitar being thrown off the plane, literally. They broke it and would do nothing to compensate him. So, in retaliation he wrote a song, recorded a video and loaded it on Youtube. He's become an instant sensation, even featured on CNN. The video has had over 1.4 million hits so far. Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo The clip is called United Breaks Guitars. Quite a catchy tune actually.

Well, I'd better go. Have a great weekend.
Happy Knitting!
Susan

Vacation!!!

I'm on holidays for the next two weeks!!! I haven't had two weeks off in a row since I went to Italy in 1995. I'm really looking forward to having the time off. I'm not going anywhere. My sister and niece are coming from PEI on June 25 and going back on July 1. We're going to try to get tickets to Stratford. I had suggested West Side Story but my niece wants to see Shakespeare. I'll see if I can get tickets to Macbeth. Colm Feore is the lead and he's such a fabulous actor. It would be amazing to see him as Macbeth. I saw him a couple of years ago in Coriolanus and he was amazing. I think we're going to attempt making chili sauce and maybe red currant jelly while they're here also. I've made both many times but always with my great aunt Elizabeth. She would tell me what to do and then go have a nap. She'd get up and tell me what to do and when to add this or that. Unfortunately she died last November at the age of 102. I'm hoping I'll remember when to add the sugar, etc.

I have been working off and on on a hat and scarf set out of Arequipa. The hat is finished but I'm going to have to restart the scarf. It's just not working the way I want it to. I chose a heart motif out the third Barbara Walker book. I've written out the instructions from the chart. I'll put both on the website when the pattern is finished. I want the hearts to be facing one way at the beginning and the other way at the end. I would normally have someone else knit this but I need to do it myself. Guess this will be my holiday project.

I've started another chemo cap this time using Cascade Fixation. I've been wanting to work with this yarn for awhile. It's 98.3% Cotton and 1.7% Elastic and it is really stretchy. I thought it would make a good chemo cap because the cotton would breathe and the elastic would keep it from stretching out. I'll take a picture of it when it is done.

Speaking of pictures I was in Lakefield and Lindsay on Wednesday. I took a couple of pictures of Naz's dog Angel at Kawartha Yarns and a movie of her technique for using multi coloured and solid yarns with a cro-hook. It's very effective. Unfortunately, I can't get them downloaded to my computer. I don't understand it. I'll try it on my computer at home.

I was at physio again last night. The adorable Dan had me on the wobble board again. It wasn't too bad. I've managed to loosen the death grip I usually have on the supports and I'm not staring at my feet all the time. At least he didn't have me haning on to him while I'm wobbling. He did that once or twice before the accident. I'm surprised he didn't have bruises on his arms I was holding on so tightly. I have a nasty feeling that he'll have me on the big wobble board in the near future. Now that terrifies me. Dan does the Triathlon. He's trying to lose some weight before the next Ironman in July. He certainly doesn't need to but he says it helps when competing.

Our neighbour's son Matthew ran the mile at the Festival of Excellence a week or so ago. He unfortunately didn't have a great race. He started too fast and didn't have the energy to kick at the end. He still ran a 4 minute mile which isn't too shabby at all.

I'd best start tidying up my desk before I leave. I will be in the office for a bit on Tuesday to pick up the samples. I'm going to see Linda's Craftique in Port Credit Tuesday morning.

Have a great couple of weeks. I'll post again when I'm back.

Happy Knitting!
Susan

Friday

It's Friday again. Thank goodness. It's been a long week. We're short staffed at the moment so I'm doing double duty. Chris has been bugging me to get out on the road. I haven't been able to up until now as I'm not supposed to carry anything too heavy that might put me off balance. I ran it past Dan, my physiotherapist (such a sweetie pie), the other night and he said I should be okay now. So I went to see the Wool Mill yesterday. I was able to park directly in front of the store which was great. I spent a couple of hours with Wendy. Carolyn who works for her came in toward the end and got us all a cup of tea. I got back to the office a little after 2. I'm going to see the Knitting Basket in Bridlewood Mall on Monday morning and to Lakefield and Lindsay next Wednesday. That will be an all day outing. I'll be interested in seeing how the ankle holds up to being in one position for a couple of hours straight. I've got a bundle buggy that I can use to transport the sample cases if I can't get parked close to the store. I ran that idea past Dan and he thought that it was good.

I've been updating our website. I've added most of the new Lang qualities, including all the sock yarns. You can see them here http://www.estelledesigns.ca/images/Lang/LangJawollAktion.htm


Next I'm going to tackle Cascade and Estelle.


While I was laid up with my ankle I knit this hat and scarf set out of our Superfine Alpaca

It's really simple and will be a free pad pattern in the near future. Our new Ecological Super Alpaca arrived shortly before inventory. I think a bag of the natural will be coming home with me soon. I feel a nice cosy cardigan coming out of it. We've got a new lace weight super alpaca in the collection. It is beautiful. When it comes in I thinks some of it will be going home with me also.

I have to take my car in for service tomorrow morning. There is something wrong with my tires. They seem to have a really slow leak. I have to have some other work done also. Hopefully it won't cost me an arm and a leg but I want to have it done before I drive to Lakefield on Wednesday. Other than that, I don't have much else on for the weekend. Maybe I'll get the chemo cap I'm working on finished.

Well, it's time to go. Have a great weekend!

Happy knitting!

Susan

I'm Back!

It's been way too long since my last post. This year has been something of a challenge for me. I got my cast off at the end of February. I started physiotherapy the following week. I'm going to the physiotherapist that my neighbour went to last year for a torn rotator cuff. He's very good. I'm there for a good two hours each visit. The ankle was starting to feel really good and Dan had given me permission to wear a small heel. Then on May 2 I was rear-ended. There was over $3500.00 damage to my car and my ankle was injured again and have a mild case of whiplash. That has put me back about four weeks in my recovery. Bummer. It is feeling much better. I would say it is almost to where it was before the accident. My insurance is now covering the cost of physio which is good. Dealing with the insurance people has been interesting. They sent an occupational therapist out to see if I needed any assistive devices. Then they sent a fellow out to take a statement from me that I had to sign.

On a more positive note, I won a $500.00 gift certificate at the salon where I get my hair cut. They also sell fabulous clothing so I have $300.00 on clothes and $200.00 on hair and services. It's the best thing that has happened to me all year.

A friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy in March so I knit her a knitted knocker out of South Pacific. It is such lovely soft cotton it should feel nice against her skin. She's lost her hair so I'm going to knit her a chemo cap out of Smooth.

I won't be able to start that until after next week. We start inventory on Monday (yippee!). Chris is having four teams this year. Normally we have three but we have a lot more product than we did last year so hopefully this will speed things up.

I'm currently working on a pair of socks for my father out of Arequipa. He loves hand knit socks and he had to do so much more when I was laid up with the ankle that I thought I'd make him a new pair.

We had our Open House a couple of weeks ago. Lang has another strong offering for Autumn. We've added quite a few new qualities from Cascade also. Once inventory is over, I'll put the shade cards on the website. I've put the new Lang Jawoll Aktion on it already. I really like the Denim program that will be out in September. I love the colours.

I must be off, it's closing time. I'll try to post more frequently from now on.

Happy Knitting!
Susan

Happy New Year (I think, sort of...)

Happy New Year to everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and 2009 is starting out well. Unfortunately, I have a nasty feeling that 2009 is not going to be one of my better years. I caught that horrible virus thing that is going around right before New Year's and was out of commission for almost two weeks. I was back to work for a week and then fell on January 13 and fractured my right ankle. This is a new experience for me. No one in our family has every broken anything (touch wood) so having a cast on is really different. I certainly have a much greater appreciation for disabled people. Nothing is simple anymore.

The people here at work have been great. Chris has been helping me up and down the steps outside. Jennifer, Lalenie, Annie Caroline have been great about getting me water or tea and heating up my lunch, bringing me documents from the printer, etc. I feel pretty useless however. I can sit at my desk (with my leg up of course) and can get most of the everyday work done though.

Because I can't drive I've asked my neighbour's son to drive me to and from work. He's been great and helps me in and out of the house. I'm getting better with my walker getting out of the house. The step from our front porch to the courtyard is quite steep so he helps me with that and he also helps getting me into the house. I find it much harder to hop up the steps than down. My father, bless his heart, has been wonderful but I know this has been hard on him. He's not used to so many trips up and down the stairs. I have to do the stairs on my bum. I can't use my walker on them and don't have the upper body strength to use crutches.

I haven't done much knitting over the last week. I was flat on my back with my leg elevated most of the time for the first 72 hours. I did knit myself a toe cosy out of our Superfine Alpaca. I had to, my toes were freezing!

I'm hoping to get some knitting done this weekend. I have a scarf out of Arequipa to work on. I've got both the chart and written instructions done for the first part but am going to have to reverse them for the end of it. The centre section is mostly plain knitting so it shouldn't take me too long to get that done.

Well, that's my tale of woe. Trying to be positive, the year can only get better can't it? I must go. Matthew will be here to pick me up soon.

Happy Knitting!
Susan