Okay, it has been a long time since I have posted, but there has been a recent addition to my little family: Oreo! Oreo is a four and a half pound future ruler of my life and joins his big sister Peanut in my heart and home.

Housebreaking is going to be interesting. He already was partially there, but one day of work got us out of sync. Today I could not tell a rampage from a finding a spot from normal puppy exploring of his new domain. Some days you lose the battle, but never the war!

Oreo is teething, too. His new favorite thing to chew seems to be my Kiwi spinning wheel. It is going to have to be put up until this phase is over. Good thing I love to spin on spindles and have a very large house.....

which is now decorated in early puppy. All knitting, books, mags, shoes that I care about, and precious stuff must be removed from his reach.

Pictures tomorrow! While his older sister has retired to bed, Oreo is exploring the dining room behind me and I keep hearing little noises. Wondering what he is up to now......

We were quietly knitting at Barnes and Noble yesterday when a hue and cry went up from a group of ladies: "Look! They're knitting. How cute!" Oh, my! The gush over our cuteness and ability to perform went on for a while. Now, they were very nice visitors from Ohio and they knew we were knitting. For the record, we are neither cute nor quaint: we are knitters - not part of a living history display. If you want to learn, pull up a chair and we'll teach you.

It has been years since I have been called 'cute.' It was surprising.

The Yarn Harlot responded to my comment on her blog and declared that any yarn that makes a small project in one skein or ball is not stash. Yes! Just think what we can take out of the stash category now, especially with the One Skein book. You know, that huge skein of lace weight merino is not stash, either. This could be good....

Senior citizens are amazing. I call them the Little Olds.

This past week I had the honor of working with two Little Olds, both of whom where picking up a craft they had done earlier and wanted to begin again. Both women were very sweet and had wonderful stories to share. Both women wanted to make something with their hands.

The first Little Old lives in the building where I work. She wanted to crochet an afghan, but she felt she needed help to start it. She had the written directions and had started it. We discussed the pattern and worked through it together until we both understood it. It was a marvelous ripple afghan that she had made often. I wish you could have seen this lady at work. She was curled up so comfortably on the yellow couch and had such a lovely smile. She just settled in and worked on her afghan. She stayed with us for several hours. At the end, she asked if she could come back again. I told her anytime.

The second Little Old came in with her friend. They had been friends forever: you could tell. After Stacey helped them pick out the yarn and needles for her project, I had the privilege of casting on for her and getting her started on the shell. The conversation was easy and light, but the wonder of watching her hands remember the needle dance of knitting was extraordinary. She had not knitted in years, but her hands remembered the knit and purl dance like it was yesterday. They left very happy and confident.

Right now, the empathsis is on the young and trendy. We must not lose sight of the dames of our crafts, whoever they may be. They kept the torch burning bright and are passing it on to us now so we can pass it on someday to others.

I salute the Little Olds. They are truly blessed.

I didn't know what to do with myself today. My heart remembered that this time last year we found out that Mom had lung cancer, and I was taking her to treatments every day. We had such hope.

Neither needle nor hook, shuttle nor spindle could console me on such a day. Shopping could be dangerous. Vegging out in front of the TV was an option, but not a satisfying one. I had to do something but what?

I ripped up the carpet in the dining room to expose the hardwood beneath. In the space of one week, all the carpet on the living and dining room floors have been ripped up. The garbage men will be very pleased tomorrow morning with my offering.

The hardwood floors are not perfect. They have their flaws, just like we do. I prefer to say they have character. Mom did not like them, but they suit me fine.

Maybe now I can breathe deep and lose myself in mindless knitting.

Yesterday, Martha reminded me that I had not posted for a long time. Life just has been so nuts.
I have been trying to run away ever since we found out that Mom had lung cancer. Don't get me wrong: I loved her and stood by her to the end. The situation was so terrible that I just wanted to run. You should have seen the lace shawls I knitted during this time. I knitted everywhere we went.
By Christmas I realized that Mom was not coming back. It's funny how your heart holds on to hope when it is not possible. I still wanted to run and run and run, so I decided to move. January and February were spent looking for a new home. Every time I found one, the Lord stopped me. He must want me here.
In the midst of the moving madness, I was an Olympic Knitter. No, I did not get a gold but I am going to finish the sweater. Steph challenged us to stretch our wings, and quite a few of us did. We all won.
Now, it is March and I am proud to announce that I struck hardwood! There are hardwood floors on the first floor of my home. Peanut thinks I am digging and ignores me as more and more hardwood is revealed. Plans are being made to paint the walls down here and take the space as mine.
The time to run is over. As Martha reminded me last Friday, it is time to retake parts of my life.
Thanks, Martha, for the wisdom.

This is the story of a woman experiencing her first spring season in a yarn store. I had worked retail before, but nothing prepared me for this.

There are boxes - boxes - everywhere

and they keep coming and coming!

The boxes are full of yarn and patterns. Yummy yarns in bright spring/summer colors in wonderful fibers like cotton, bamboo, and silk (both soy based and normal). We rip into the boxes to see all the treasures within, all the gorgeous booty and loot, and barely have time to recover from our rhapsody when more boxes come in with more stuff! So far I have been strong in the face of such temptation, but sooner or later, I am going to crack.

It is not going to be the yarn that will cause me to crack. No. It is the fact that we cannot get on top of all the yarn arrivals. We barely get one shipment checked in before another arrives and then another and another. When all of your instincts are geared towards getting it on the shelves as quickly as possible, this is not a good thing. The yarn has to be out there so others can see it and fondle it and caress it and join in the fun. (Okay, they may buy some, but then, so may I.)

Now I know why Luke wanted to 'speed up the harvest and get off the rock.' Or when Han said 'that bad, huh?' when Luke told him they were doing same as always.

Thank God this only happens twice a year.