KIP your WIP

 KIP day is Saturday, June 13th at the Kimball Museum. I wish I could be there. BTW, for the non-yarnies out there, WIP stands for Work in Progress and KIP is Knit In Public!

Monica is already in her all-day class with Lily Chin, a goddess in the knit and crochet world. Lily has beatuiful patterns published and is an awesome instructor. She is also one of the world's fastest crocheters! I have a class with her on Monday - I'm so excited!

Today, Monica and I will go to the Retailer's Luncheon and speech, then she'll head back to class. I'm taking my knitting with me, too. Then we will meet up and go to Sample IT! That's where we get to purchase samples from the exhibitors. We don't actually get to shop at the exhibits when they open. They aren't cash and carry, but I get to put in purchase orders with the companies. I don't mind that, but I just don't like exorbitant minimum purchases. After all, we're starting on a shoestring.  A little, bitty shoestring.....

In case you were wondering, Monica is not my partner. She's my consultant and one of the shop's contract teachers. We will be working up a schedule of classes to be held in the shop after we open, so I'm also looking for other teachers - not just of knitting, either. Crochet, spinning, weaving, and dying classes are on the list, but I'm also looking for specific projects that can be taught and whose supplies I'll be carrying.

It is odd - shifting from the SCA mentality where knowledge can be obtained free of charge from experts in their respective fields, to a for-profit business where the same knowledge is both valued *and* valuable. I'm so glad I decided to attend TNNA.

TNNA

It's official!

I made the first sale this weekend at Warlord.

We set up a booth at Steppes Warlord (that's an SCA event in Canton, TX) and I was able to make the first sales. Thank you to all who shopped at the booth! I had a good selection of Brown Sheep, Knit One Crochet Too, and O-Wool. I also had some of my personal stash that I put out for test marketing. The Madelinetosh Tosh socks and The Unique Sheep Eros and Tinsel Toes were a definite hit, so I need to make up my shopping list for those two.

Today is a work day at the shop, with the whole family lending their time and energy. I couldn't do this without them and my friends.

Speaking of friends, my childhood friend Becky and her husband are on their way to the shop right now, so I have to go! Remember the fallen and those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom today.

Update on the shop

So, we have pretty much finished the painting. I just have a little touch-up to do around the outlet covers.

I purchased insurance from Nationwide. Interesting thing - the underwriter checked out this blog. It's okay. I don't have anything to hide and have shared all the pertinent information with the agent before that anyway. I have a very strong belief in personal integrity and honesty and have always believed that it must also apply to your business standards and operations. When it comes to dealing with insurance companies, I believe in total honesty. I worked in insurance for 14 years, my father sold life insurance with Prudential, and my mother was an insurance secretary for several independent agents, so I totally believe in quality insurance coverage.

I was able to buy some ceiling tiles from Craigslist, so the DH and DS put up about half of them before calling it quits. Hopefully, the rest will be up before long. We've had the sinus/coughing/aching crud going through the family. It actually hit the hubby first and he's normally the healthiest. No swine flu, no type A or type B. Then, the son came down with it. No strep. That night, I came down with it. Ickkk.

Anyway, when I haven't been sleeping or coughing, I knitted a toque. It's red. I'm going to felt it up, but first, I have to make a hat form out of cardboard and duct tape. I madea toque last year for my BIL, Kevin / Maelgwyn in dark green. It was for his birthday and I made it in one night of non-stop knitting. Crazy, I know. Then together the next day, we felted it. He said it was really nice to have at Gulf War and that it really makes the whole outfit look Romano/Byzantine.

I might make up some more to sell at my booth. I have a space inside the Civic Center reserved already, so I'm looking forward to setting up and getting going. I wish I could go to Coronation, but I just don't think I should push my health reserves after missing work for 2 days. Have fun to all attending. Hug your friends and be tolerant of others.

Oh, and Maria / Christine - check out www.whirledfibers.com That's the business website and has the address on it. Planned Grand Opening Day - 1st of July.

Currently Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World By Vicki Myron, Bret Witter see related

Paint, paint, paint

Almost every weekend since we got the shop, we've been priming the walls. So far, we've gone through 5 gallons of primer and we're just shy of finishing the front rooms.

I say "We", not in the royal sense, but because it always ends up being me and at least one family member - my DH, DS, Arabella, or friends of the son. It's been nice that all my helpers volunteer on their own.

Friday was my 52nd birthday. The best presents I got were time and affection from my family. I don't need anything else. I got to spend several hours uninterrupted knitting, tinking (that's undoing what I messed up for the non-knitters out there) and re-knitting on a lace shawl that I'm working on. It's made of ultra-fine alpaca. Imagine knitting with fuzzy sewing thread, and you have a pretty good idea how challenging it is.

Yesterday, the husband and I painted and primed walls until I thought my arms would fall off. Now, just to finish about 10 feet of priming and then we start the real painting.

Today is Easter Sunday and I need to run upstairs and get dressed for church. The son wants to go, too, so I need to awaken him and we will attend as a family.

We are blessed.

I hope all of you are blessed also, this Passover and Easter season.