I Despise Retail Shopping

I really want to be able to say hate but that would be wrong and is too strong of a statement so I will edit to say I despise retail shopping with a purple passion. Today I went with my Mom to snag a few presents and to spend a little time together while enjoying some retail therapy, not. Coldwater Creek used to be one of my favorite companies ....... but I get ahead of myself. Mom got a lovely 35% of your purchase coupon from Coldwater Creek good only today and only for in store purchases, she invited me to come along and possibly take advantage of said bargain too. Store as always was stocked well but of course no sales racks, this should have been the first hint that things were not what they used to be. After being greeted and then ignored by every other sales person in the store we slowly descended on an animosity spiral. The merchandise I was interested in was either horrific in quality in other words the catalog pictures could not have been taken from the same item and the sizes no longer included those that Mom and I wear, WTH. The only reason for me shopping in their store was the availability of some cute/attractive clothing in my size. After a rather unpleasant exchange with some of the sales personnel we left I am not sure if I will be back. You would think that with today's business climate and lack of sales companies would try a little harder.
Similar experiences were had at Dillards in the Cosmetic Department and Jo-Anns at the Fabric Counter. For heaven sake I worked in Retail for many years, it is not easy if it is done right and doesn't pay a lot but give me a break it does not take a rocket scientist, it's indoors and when you clock out your done. If you don't want to work with or for people get a warehouse job and stop acting like selling is an imposition on your time it's your job. The lady helping me make a purchase in the Womans department at Dillards did her job and yes she made a sale. Surprisingly a short side trip to the Dollar Tree was also more pleasant than expected, go figure.

Besides blogging about companies that disappoint I will also email every company and let management know why I spent my money somewhere else.

Busy, busy, busy I am pretty sure this is true for everybody this time of year. I should be cleaning and getting ready for Thanksgiving ..... and then I found this picture of my great nephew. I guess the Pirate theme was really big this year no matter the age. We hope to see the whole crew for Christmas but I get ahead of myself. So without any further ado I give you the terror of the Seven Seas, the charmer of women of all ages and all around great kid er pirate Captain Davis Darling

Boo hoo hoo

It's after Halloween and once again we managed to put up decorations in time to hand out Candy to 137 Trick or Treaters. Where has the time gone again ???? I just took a look at how long it has been since I posted anything, yikes. I can't really come up with a good excuse either, except that I have been diligently working on some Christmas presents and trying to expand clean zones in my house. I did finish planting my pansies and getting some of the Azaleas tamed. Friday Dad was with us for Supper which meant some major cleaning, hardly any of it has lasted but at least some of it did. Meanwhile I will give a peek at a couple of little presents that I made with some of my favorite people in mind. So in an effort to be eternally cool and hip and at the same time green ....... I give you Pirate Style Coffee Cozies hehe. And you thought Pirates could not be cool and fuzzy at the same time.

Lessons Learned

Some things are hard even if you have all the skills and patience in the world. Perseverance will generally win out, but you may still not be in love with the process. Sounds like one of those terribly important life lesson journal entries..... it's not. I generally have these brilliant Eureka moments complete with flashes of light, trumpets blaring and the sound of the multitude of adoring fans cheering, when i finally understand something completely that had been escaping my mental grasp. Well I had a flash this afternoon, no not a hot flash but the stark flash of self realization that not all things known are things I enjoy. I was finishing the very last bit of the Cream Galway wool Lucy Bag, all I had left was to kitchener stitch join the handles and sew in a few tails. Kitchener wooped my behind, it took 4 tries for one handle and 6 tries for the second, please note I actually managed to get worse instead of better. The second handle was still not perfect but I also knew the felting process would hide it.

On to felting, unlike most knitsters I felt my bags in the kitchen sink. It's a good work out and I get to control the amount of felting. In this case I could actually feel the magic moment at which the bag gave up resisting. The whole thing started to feel a little bit gummy and the fibers just started to mesh together. It went pretty quick from there of course getting to that point felt like an eternity, at one point Lucien took pity on me and gave it a turn as well. The Galway did felt to a nice thick fabric really surprising for such a light colored yarn. I am really pleased that this project turned out just the way I envisioned, I just added another on of my pins and it is now perfect. I even went ahead and added it to my Ravelry projects and will deliver it to Karen's shop ASAP. So if you are anywhere near The Sassy Knitter in Aiken, SC stop by and see it in person. You can of course sign up for the class too, I promise I will perfect my kitchener technique by the time the class is in session.

For the love of words

I just came to realize that I have become so totally American that I now have difficulty thinking in German and writing in it is near impossible. I never thought I would see the day that I would need a translation service to write a note in my mother tongue. Mother tongue ??? why is it the country of our fathers and mother tongue for our native language ? these are the types of linguistic oddities that get me to wondering where they originated and why. I adore historical reference to language and everyday life rather than the usual dry and droll litany of people, places and dates. Once again I digress, I do love language a well written article or heaven forbid entire work of fiction will fire me up and cause me to read it in one sitting forsaking sleep if necessary. Rarely do I need to reference a word in the English language unless it is of a specific scientific or technical nature and not commonly used. I do not mind learning new words I view it as meeting a new friend or learning to use a new tool, a new word just ads to my collection lying ready to be used at the next opportune moment.

Opportune .... clear and concise, the perfect moment for me to spring another rarely used word on you. I love working these exceptional and precise words into everyday conversation. Everybody knows what these words mean, yet they rarely get used, why? Have we become too lazy to learn different words or just feel it is somewhat ostentatious to use BIG words. I do get the distinct feeling that using certain words gets me funny looks, in the past I put it off on my accent, now I am not so sure. This by no means will make me use less words as I am used to the looks.

Another Day ..... enough said

Had one of those thoroughly mind numbing non-productive days. Emotionally draining and frustrating to say the least. However I made a list of all the lovely things I need to get finished this week and hopefully I will be able to complete at least half.

On the plus side I am halfway on the Lucy bag I am knitting, it is supposed to be the shop sample for a class I have been asked to teach at The Sassy Knitter in Aiken. I hope to have a lot of folks sign up for the class ...... bigger groups tend to be more fun and certainly more profitable. Everybody seemed to really like the bag I knit for myself made out of some lovely Cascade 220 Quatro that I bought from a destash.... the color looked much greener in the picture and it had been lingering in my stash. I bought some complementary yarns at the Close Knit knittery & Press in Gastonia and voila a southwest turquoise inspired bag was created


Initially I thought I would ad stuff to the bag but I like it the way it looks now and the pin I added has been in my collection for years yet I rarely get to wear it as it is quite heavy. I must have been a Magpie or Crow in a previous life I simply cannot resist pretty shiny things, regardless of style I must have some of everything. I will post a picture of the sample bag I am knitting once it is finished and will try my very best to figure out how to ad a list of all my favorite knitting sites

Tip toeing into the 21st Century

...... or at least I am trying. Well tip toeing is maybe the wrong way to describe what I am doing it's more like flailing, stumbling, skipping and tripping of course this accompanied by much wailing and moaning and the occasional teeth gnashing and hair pulling. I know everybody keeps telling me "baby steps" but considering how far I have let my self slide it is going to take some doing to just make it to the end of the first entry.

Of course there is a purpose to all of this. I am finally trying to collect all of my existing web presence into one cohesive forum or in other words trying to integrate all of my different personalities in to one successful human being on the web. I can see that the process is not going to be without danger and pitfalls and there are going to be times where I am just not getting It, but if you hang in there with me you might just find yourself a treasure or two in the Realm of the Queen of Belvedere. More about all of that in the days to come