Yarn Porn!

I'm writing this today because I have to. It says it right here in my planner. See?






















Right there. Monday the 8th. Blog. And I really don't mean this in a bad way or in a sense that I don't want to talk to you. Blogging is such a great medium and I love how easy it is for me to express my thoughts and I really do love it. The only issue with it is that it's easily forgotten if you don't make time for it, or if you don't use your planner..

I've let my planner use fall by the wayside while my shop was down. It wasn't because I didn't have anything to put in it or any plans to make. It was more that the planner was a reminder of how far behind I was with everything PenguinSoup, so I simply avoided it. I buried my head in the sand like another flightless bird and pretended it didn't exist. I actually lost my planner for a short time! And if you know me at all, that this is hugely uncharacteristic.

As I've put the effort into getting my shop off the ground again I've found that I cannot live without my planner again. In fact, I might have to go back to one for personal and  my A5 for business again. It's my lifeline and my way of life at the same time. It hold my work schedule (which is random) and I can base my weekly shop duties around that. If I didn't plot out my weeks like this there would never be any updates (not like there have been lately). My planner also holds my long terms o dos, goals, dye inspiration, bills, ect.

Now that everything is working cohesively again, I feel like I'll be able to have something that more resembles a schedule than a chance happening. Here's a quick run down of what to expect. I'm going to try it for February and March and see how it goes.

• Updates bi-weekly. Every 1st and 3rd Friday at 3pm EST.
• A Vlog style video bi-weekly on the Sunday following the Update.
• A Podcast bi-weekly on weeks without an update.
• Blog posts every Wednesday and on Mondays without an update.
• A bi-weekly Monday newsletter on weeks with updates.

FOs:
Crochet beard hat
Grandma's Favourite Dish cloth
Xmas Ornament

WIPs:
Arenaria Tank
Lakeshore Shawl by Glenna C
Hopsalots by Tiny Owl Knits
Jaywalkers
Despicable Spirals by PenguinSoup

Mail Call:
An Endless Spell of Misery
100% Perendale
Countess Ablaze

Pond Scum
62.5% Merino/25% Tussah Silk/ 12.5 Baby Alpaca
Countess Ablaze

Ipsy Bag from January

Cool Stuff:
Between the Buried and Me show and sweater

Groot cup

Stockinette Zombies Knitpocalypse
Vendor show Saturday, June 4
Rochester, Minnisota

Deadpool/Evil Dead Musical./ Walking Dead

Ravelry:
Poll Questions with Prizes
Yarn base renaming with prizes

 Shop:
Club going out with extra goodies
Clubs postponed until I can guarentee I can ship on time. Look for news this summer.
Yarn Porn

Next Update: Friday, February 5th at 3pm est.

FOs:
Miho PPSS
Miho from PenguinSoup
2.5mm

WIPs:
Step Mom Socks
Yarn from Hiwassee Creek
2.5mm

Jay Walkers
Jay Walker pattern from Ravelry
Punk'n from PenguinSoup
2.5mm

Hopsalots
Pattern from Tiny Owl Knits
Cascade 220
Pattern specified needle size

Arenaria Tank
Arenaria pattern
Knit Picks yarn
pattern specified needles

Narcissa Socks
Pattern from Harry Potter Knits
2.5mm

Cool Stuff:
Bought a Car
Going to apply to vend at Knitpocalypse

Shop:

Why yes, I am still alive. I know it was hard to tell from the random, horribly advertised updates and the sporadic podcasts. So yes, this is another update post because I figured it was about time to fill you in on my goings on and sadly there hasn't been a lot of knitting. I've lost the itch and am having a hard time relaxing with knitting because I should/could be working.

First off, I've switched locations at EB and the one I'm at now may have more hours but it's in flux. We're waiting for an employee to become assistant manager and when that happens we can have a standard schedule. If the assistant manager comes from a different store or out of company then it goes back into flux. Hopefully in the next few weeks the schedule can become a bit more standard and we can have regular VKN's again.

I've started seeing someone and that's taken up a bit of time, like new relationships do. But work and yarn are taking over because I have plans for the future and need to save up.

I had an awesome yarn event at True North Yarn Co. in Barrie, Ontario. I was on the news and met a lot of great people and sold some squishy yarn. They'd like me to come back in October for I Love Yarn Day and I can't wait as this event was great exposure and they are an amazing bunch of people to work with. They've officially become the first store to carry my yarns and they will have a mix of colourways and a few exclusive self striping colourways but will carry mostly tonal and some variegated.

I'm just kind of generally stressed and overworked and really cannot wait to have a regular schedule so I can plan weekends and have a rest for myself. I really miss a schedule and could also really use a maid for a weekend... and a pedicure and a massage, maybe a nice bottle of wine and a movie night. Or maybe, just maybe, to be bitten by the knitting bug again. Winter is coming and I should have my summer tank top finished before then, and maybe a sweater too.

Look for some delayed ipsy bag reviews, news on VKNs, and regular updates coming soon!


P.S. I also have blue hair :)

Wips:
Arenaria Tank
Miho PPSS

FOs:
One Miho PPSS

Cool Stuff:
Teal Hair

Shop:
Awesome yarn event at True North Yarn Co
Club sign ups open until Friday, June 26
Shop update June 26

WIPs

• Arenaria Tank

What's Next?

• Don't Cage me in Socks by Heather Kinne
• Fronkenshteek by Lisa Grassman
• Ginny Cardi by Mori Chiba
• Evenstar DRESS

Shop

• No Update 3/20/15
• Shop Changes:
• Price adjustments and flat rate shipping coming in the next week
• Game of Thrones and Outlander theme for April

At what point does something become "not worth it"? How many hours,trials, errors and frustration must be wasted on a thing to make it worth abandoning? I'm not talking about knitting now or even my business, but my photography. I'm not going to stop taking pictures or anything either.

I've been fighting with my light box for about a year and a half now, maybe almost two. For one it's rather large and cumbersome. It does fold down into a kind of briefcase thing but that means the backdrop gets folded as well and it's kind of cheap and creases horribly. I don't particularly enjoy getting out the large ironing board and iron to fix that so I kind of leave it sitting in the corner taking up space and gathering fiber and dust.

And the lights, they're horrible! They keep falling over, casting horrible shadows, the bulbs fall out of the sockets and they burn holes in the light box! My dad and I tried to come up with a solution with different lights, new set ups, ect, but they all seemed more cumbersome than the original light box. We fought with directing the light, different bulbs, and a variety of placements but to no avail.

After so much time and effort, I've deemed the old box insufficient and it's not costing me money because it's so messed up I have been unable to properly photograph my new yarns and Jordana Paige bags I'm looking to sell. I went ahead and bit the bullet and purchased a fancy new light box with three proper lights that come with diffusers so I can also use them for lighting my podcast! Hopefully, for the first time in three years I won't have to complain about bad lighting on my podcast.

It should be here within the next week or so, along with a large shipment of yarn! This week's update might be delayed because of this though, but I'll do my absolute best. If there isn't much new arriving, I'll be sure to have a sale or a surprise for you.

I've been trying to be more active on social media but it's hard to not show favoritism to one medium. I would say it's like picking a favorite child, but it's really not because some are clearly better than others (unlike children.. clearly, because they're all equal, or so my mom tells me.) And it's a problem of finding a balance on what to share on facebook, twitter, instagram, ravelry, this blog, and my podcast. I'm pretty sure you would lose interest if I told you the same thing 5 ways in the same day or even the same week. I want to avoid being a broken record.

So how will I manage this? Well, if you know me at all then you clearly know that Instagram is my favoured media. I'll post a pick of a new yarn, my dog, food, stuff, yarn and things. Whatever tickles my fancy and feels like it's worth sharing. I'll also post announcements on instagram and I'll have that share to twitter, which links to my facebook so all three get the important news for sure. And Sometimes I'll post an article or other things to facebook.

The real challenge is the blog and the podcast. I think I'll try to keep the blog more lifestyle, so things going on with me, Miles, big shop developments, just things I want to write about but don't necessarily fit into the podcast. And the podcast I'll focus non my knitting, announcements, Ravelry group notes and contests, shop info, and shop yarn porn.

Inevitably, there will still be some overlap because I'll be excited about some yarn thing and have to post it here to talk about and really get into the subject or technique or opinions. I try to keep the podcast light and entertaining, but the blog is more my outlet.

Since I haven't podcasted yet and shown this off, I'm going to add it to this post. I've finally picked up my Arenaria tank top and I'm almost done the body of it! After the plain body bit, the tricky bit happens with the binding off, patterned neck, dividing stitches and all of those terrifying things I haven't done before! This is going to be my first real piece of knitted clothing I'll complete and I can feel the anxiety growing with each stitch closer I get to the horrible dividing of the stitches.



I know I have instructions, and I know I'm good at following them and I can handle myself, but it's still daunting! What it I mess up? What if it doesn't fit? I think this tank is so pivotal to me because if I can finish this, then I can knit a sweater. I currently have two sweaters cast on, and a third, the Ginny Cardigan (which will be my second finished clothing item) ready to go and a fourth (the terrifying Vivian) already planned out.

Ginny Cardigan

I'm hoping to finish Arenaria in the next week or so (in time for spring/summer too) and I'll order the Amy Herzog book to go with my class and do my best to have Ginny finished by October so I can have a warm sweater for the winter. I also have plans to knit an Evenstar from my Adelie lace, the baby alpaca/cashmere/silk lovely and then gradient dye the finish shawl, which will probably be more nerve wracking than the finishing of Arenaria.