Archive for January, 2007
C.H.A
Monday, January 29th, 2007
Hello from Anaheim.
I got here last night at about 7, and the computers at the Hilton were not working, so didn’t actually get IN the room until about 10. My booth time wasn’t till 9:30 this morning, so it was ok. But you know how it is when you travel…all day is focused on just getting to the hotel. At frist, it was just a bunch of people in line. Then, they brought out drinks. Then a buffet. Then CHAIRS. When they brought out the chairs, everyone sort of gave up hope. I’m glad I had a book to read!
I’m reading “Running with Scissors.” If you need a book that isn’t stupid, but still makes you laugh…give it a try. I forgot my booK (”Women in Love” D.H. Lawrence) at home on the nightstand, so bought this in the airport. I was so relieved to see it among the Stephen Kings and all the Romances. It’s really compelling.
This is the view from my hotel room. That’s Disneyland…or Disneyworld…(I’m not a fan)…at night.
CHA is a lot bigger than TNNA. Walking around the show floor, it looks like all of the little displays at Michaels or Hobby Lobby blew up to jumbo size. This is where the craft shops come to order stuff to stock their shelves.
It’s interesting, as a crafy gal, because I get to see all this stuff and watch demos…but I’m not really into very many of these crafts. There’s a whole lot of scrap-booking stuff. Probably more than any other craft. I mean, I make books, and keep tickets to shows and art exhibitions, and put photos in there…but I don’t have a bunch of pre-made gear for it…I guess I’m pretty low-fi.
I’m sitting in the F&W booth for an hour and half every day, talking to passersby about my book.
After my ‘demo’ today, I stopped by the booth of a particular company that makes knitting needles and other fibery equipment. I specifically told the guy who came over to talk to me that I’m not a buyer, I’m just gawking at new stuff while I’m in between book-promo stints at the booth. (I don’t want anyone to waste time going through their whole spiel when I’m definitely NOT going to place the $1000 minimum order.) He asked me for my card, and asked me about me book, and then gave me a catalog and told me to contact them for samples to use, etc.. Then…as I was walking away, I heard his colleague say, “If she’s a designer, she’s not even supposed to BE at this show!” Huh. News to ME. I’m not walking around trying to get free stuff…just killing time, looking at pretty things. Oh well. Some people are just natural ‘enforcers.’
I *did* see/touch the new Organic Cotton yarn from Lion Brand. It’s really nice! They had a few garments knit up, and it really looks good and has a nice hand. The new Lion Cotton Ease colors are nice, too.
Posted in Trips | No Comments »
Tech Editor: Job Ad.
Friday, January 26th, 2007
I need a tech editor for patterns published on the site. The TestLab is awesome, and I appreciate them a TON…but there are some things we need a regular math genius to solve.
Any interested parties should email me describing experience.
(Thanks!)
Posted in Backend, just chit chat | No Comments »
RAINING!
Friday, January 26th, 2007
It’s Friday (TGIF, Mo’Fos!!) I know, I try to reign it in, but am not always successful. Today is one of those Fridays that, after creeeeping and crrrrrrrawling along aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall weeeeeeeeeeeek, I wake up and almost can’t believe it’s Fiiiiiiiiiinally Frrrrrrrriday.
SO: WOOOOOOO!!
I’m not sure what made this week seem so long. Was it the presentation I gave on Wednesday? Is is the impending trip to Anaheim on Saturday for CHA? Is it my growing To Do list? I swear, walking away from that To Do list is like walking away from a bunny cage. I come back and it’s multiplied and there are at least double the To Dos! WTF? Where did number 54 come from?
Most dreaded To Do item: Learn QuickBooks. Most dreaded follow-up: Organize receipts.
I was just reading Streets and YOs, and followed a link to these Built By Wendy sewing patterns. And then, of course, my mind goes…”Hey! I haven’t sewn more than a purse lining or curtain hem in YEARS! Maybe it’d be fun to try one of these shirts! (The long one on the far right).” Am I crazy? I don’t have time to SEW. I think someone at TNNA was wearing one of those shirts in the JCA booth…and it looks CUTE on real people, too. How long could it take to make? Three or four hours? Anyone made one already? Convince me that I need to do this.
What I really need to do today is get my calendar out and write every little thing in there. I’ve GOT to stop thinking I can just remember things. This’ll help me get over the sudden urge to take up sewing again, I’m sure.
Oh yeah! It’s raining again today. I almost don’t recognize the town that I live in! It’s grey, cold, slick, wet, and there’s snow on the mountains. I’m sure this contributes to my general malaise. NM is supposed to be SUNNY! But, ok, we need the moisture. Growing up in the Midwest, we always heard that when complaining about the weather. “We NEED rain for the crops to grow. We don’t want (insert relative, family friend, or whole town name here) to go bankrupt!” No, even I’m not THAT selfish.
OH! You know what I AM looking forward to?? The Tucson Gem and Mineral Show!! I have a feeling that you just went, “what the ??” But this show is so cool. Meteorites, fossils, gems, minerals, beads, there are all sorts of side events, too. Like an African village that comes to sell beads and artwork. There are pow-wows and parties in the hotels, it’s really fun.
If you’re into rocks.
Which I am.
SHOW GOAL: find a meteorite that contains the stuff I studied during my PhD.
ARGH! Just realized: scheduling conflict!! Can’t go!!
One other thing I have to do that I’m dreading: Headshots. I have the hardest time with this. I have to take like 50 photos and then go back through and throw out the badhair ones and the fatface ones, and all of the crazyeye ones…it’s so hard. I hate it. Especially since I haven’t been exercising since my surgery, and have gained hmm-hmm (bignumber) pounds.
Posted in just chit chat | No Comments »
Dream in Color swatch
Thursday, January 25th, 2007
OK! So, I’ve got photos, finally, of the Dream in Color swatch:
I really like the fact that it doesn’t pool, and the colors are like ripples on water…there, but shifting. Pretty. AND…it matches my new site! This is going to make a nice, cozy sweater!
Here’s Harvery with the ball and swatch. Doesn’t our back yard look wild and overgrown? The “grass” (Bermuda grass that we thought was weeds when we first moved in) stayed green and kept growing well into December. Then, other winter weeds came in (those green tufts.) That dead-looking stick, right in front of the window, is a branch of a bush that IS still alive. Just not so green right now. Just before I took this picture, a wild grey and white Tom cat was stalking around outside. Harvey HATES it when other cats come into the yard. There’s one cat that’ll come up to the screen door and torment him at night. We wake every few nights to an awful howling, growling through-the-glass-door catfight. They even slap each other through the glass. 
Laura and I have been talking, and soon we’ll have the RSS going, so you’ll see glampyre updates in your blogroll. We also want to get the comments figured out, it’s hard to naviagte and figure out where to sign up for the password, and then how to use it. Thanks for continuing to be patient as we get everything worked out!
Posted in yarn reviews | No Comments »
I’m in the Spring IK Preview!
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
HEY! Look what Yahaira just showed me!! The Interweave Knits Spring 07 preview is up (click on the photos to go there.) If you scroll down-down-down-down you can see my pattern.
Posted in Patterns | 2 Comments »
Knitters’ and Crocheters’ (etc.) Travel Guide
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
My TNNA booth was “in the nosebleed section” right next to Michelle and Bruce of Direction Press. Michelle is the mastermind behind “The Knitters’, Crocheters’ [etc.] Travel Guide.” (And Bruce is the smiling, friendly guy you’ll find wherever you find Michelle.) We had a LOT of time to talk there on the show floor, and I’m fully convinced that this book is a must-have for me.
Aside from the fact that I do travel a lot (it seems like I’m gone almost as much as I’m home) this book will be great when it’s time to organize book signings. I’ve got the contact info of every shop in the country in this one book!
If you have a book, or are a yarn dyer, knitting bag manufacturer, or whatEVER…this is a great resource! They do list all of the shops that are in the book on their website, but how often when you’re on vacation do you have unlimited free internet? Not if you camp, or stay in MO-tels, rather than HO-tels!
Check out the website, leave reviews of your LYS, and update the database of Knitting Guilds.
I’ve been reading blogs the last few days, and it’s so fun to read peoples’ posts about TNNA. I had a great time, met a LOT of bloggers that I hadn’t met before, met people from all the big publications, and got to hang out with some of my favorite crafters…there were just too many…so I won’t go through the whole list with links.
Here’s the general rundown of what happened:
Got into San Diego at about noon on Friday, and turned in my Fashion Show sweater first thing. The time deadline was 3:30, and I had this awful feeling that if I didn’t turn it in RIGHT AWAY, some unforseen event would make me miss the deadline. Then, mom and I unloaded all of the stuff from the car and set up the booth. We just had a tabletop booth, so we brought small stands and those flat half-mannequins to dress. I numbered all the pattern garments and laid those out, and put out business cards, postcards, etc.
After we got the table set up, we went to an early dinner and then met up with my fellow “Yarn Group Membership Committee” members. At 6, there was an appetizer/cash bar party and at 7 was the Fashion Show! I didn’t take many photos, but there are some on Flickr, just search “TNNA.” I didn’t win the fashion show, a wedding dress in Lorna’s Laces won. If there are regular sweaters competing against a full-on wedding dress…with a room full of ladies voting…the wedding dress is *always* going to kick butt. (Not that I’m sour-grapey at ALL…I loved the wedding dress, too.)
THEN, we went to dinner with the Fiber League at the same place Mom and I had our earlier dinner. We went home early, because we were so tired.
Saturday we got up bright and early to sit/stand at the booth. That day was pretty uneventful, except for getting to meet lots of knitters and shop owners and talk about my book and patterns, and new freelance design opportunities. Saturday night was the Interweave party. They have a party every year for their authors/contributors with food and an open bar. It was really nice. Interweave is poised for world domination. In a very GOOD way. Aquiring television shows, publishing TONS of new books and magazines, etc.
After that was the Potter Craft party. I didn’t know anyone at Potter, but Vickie, Jonelle, and Kat smuggled Mom and me in. They had a raffle, open bar, snacks, and gave everyone a gift bag with Erica Knight’s “Casual Knits” and a book on CD, an inspirational notebook…I don’t know what all else…We got home from that evening pretty late.
Sunday, more of the same with the booth sitting/standing….Sunday night we went to dinner with some of the members of the Knit_Design yahoo group. I enjoyed that TOO much. When we got there, there were no tables, so we had drinks waiting for the table. I think a table fiinally opened up for us at around 10:30! So…too much time sitting and drinking. The table was full of Very Cool Women, and we had a blast. Again, got home waaaay too late. Mom woke up that morning, thinking it was 7 am, took her shower, etc., then tried to get me up (GET UP! GET UP! You’re going to be LATE to the BOOTH~!!) She opened the curtains and looked out and it was STILL DARK. Somehow, one of us had mis-set the clock when came home…it was only 5am. So she got back in bed and let me sleep for a few more hours.
Monday was more sitting/standing at the booth, and then we picked everything up and left at about 3:30.
I think this is a great convention. It’s such a great way to meet in person the people that I’ve been working with over the internet. Plans were hatched, decisions made, collaborations decided upon. I highly recommend it. Even without a table, just going to walk around and meet people is worth it. Just to see what’s out there, the new yarns and tools, new publications, meet the editors of your favorite mags, authors of your favorite books, creators of your favorite yarns. SIGH. Six more months till the next one.
Posted in Trips | No Comments »
MONDAY!?
Monday, January 22nd, 2007
Holy Crap, really?! NO!
Actually, it’s good to get the week rolling and make progress on some things that have been languishing away on the Island of Forgotten Toys.
I finally got the sleeves and trim attached to the long sleeved version of the Fern sweater. It’s knit in Tilli Tomas Aspen and Mogul, with the front and back all in one piece, then the sleeves and trim added later. This really is an easy one, and the only reason it took me so long was, well, being busy. Misocrafty Jo helped a LOT with the body knitting. Nate and I went outside to take some photos of this on ME yesterday…but let’s just say it didn’t work out. I haven’t really been in the mood to have my picture taken, and that’s just not a great recipe for showing a thing off to its best.
I also started swatching with my Dream in Color yarn, and even took a few pics, but they’re on my other computer…I know, I know…but it’s MON day. What else did I do this weekend? I did NOT get my hair trimmed. I went over to Mom and Dad’s with the idea that I’d get the back bobbed a little more, but we forgot. I turned in a few magazine submissions, got my TNNA orders together, swatched, blocked, read, watched a movie (Melinda and Melinda). I finally took the Christmas stuff down!! I’ve been in and out of town with little or no “at home” time for the last month and FINALLY got around to packing up the tree, ornaments, cards, and garland. That’s a big job! Then, we vacuumed, dusted, folded laundry, washed more laundry, cleaned the bathroom, and I organized the closets and then, the final and worst task…went through all the old junk mail!! This was a major cleanup. I hate to admit it, but I’m kind of messy. (Just too busy to care.) I still have TNNA photos to post about, and more schwag to review. (I know it’s spelled ’swag’, but I like to add the extra letters because that’s how I pronounce it.)
Posted in just chit chat | 1 Comment »
Dream in Color Handpaints
Friday, January 19th, 2007
While manning my booth at TNNA, I received a lovely yarn to sample from Dream in Color Handpaints.
The yarn is dyed in a process called “veil dyeing” which produces an even undertone with deeper tones over the top in a veil of color. It’s really pretty in the hank. I love the color selection from this company. They don’t focus only on the cheery bright colors (which I sometimes really do *LOVE,* just am not always in the mood for) but also have some really great deep, mottled, dark colors.
My sample hank is in the colorway “deep sea flower” which is a dark aqua base with deep purples and greens over the top. The color is dark and delicate, verigated without pooling, and will be a dream to work with, I’m sure. (Mom is a big fan of this one, too.) The needles in my mind are clicking just looking at the photo!!
(Yes, I have needles in my mind. They’re constantly knitting while I get stuck doing the more mundane things that the rest of me has to do all day.)
Posted in yarn reviews, Trips | 1 Comment »
We’re Back!
Thursday, January 18th, 2007
The blog is back…and Mom and I are back from TNNA.
We had a great time. We met lots of new people, connected with old friends, and even sold some patterns. This was our first time time having a table, and it was good.
I don’t have a TON of new stuff to review, since we were pretty much static…standing/sitting at the table, showing off the new book, taking orders. But there are a few new yarns to mention over the next few days, and an awesome book that every road-trippin’ knitter and crocheter needs.
OK…More later. For now, I need SLEEP.
Posted in Trips | No Comments »
An Important Message from the Site Developer.
Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
As you may have noticed, Glampyre.com has been down for longer than expected. There were three factors playing into this mess: time, money and life events. Time, or the lack of it, I should say. Money, which forced us to move sooner than expected to another host that cost less yet offered more bang for our buck. Life events meaning, me, the web designer, moving more than halfway across the country, living out of boxes in a spare bedroom and grabbing internet access like a crack addict grabs an errant rock on the dirty sidewalk, all while turning around and making a drastic career change. Then, upon finding a place to live, moving again, [insert tedious moving details here] and all the fun crap that comes with it, including but not limited to life’s important questions like ” wtf’s my ROUTER?!”
So, in answer to your questions:
- No, you have not been blacklisted from Glampyre.com. I apologize sincerely if you took the fugly login prompt as a slap in the face from the internet. It has now been removed.
- Yes, the layout is beta. I am currently, probably as you fire off that email right there, in the midst of fixing it.
- Comments are currently open, but you must register first. This is to prevent comment spam, of course.
- The previous entries cannot be viewed at the moment. They exist, they are backed up, but damn if WP will let me batch import them from said backup. If this has happened to you and you have a workaround, please email me?
Thanks.