Chickenlips Knitting

First of all, I wanted to show you the BSJ:





The pattern is totally addictive--I want to make more, just so I can buy more of those cute buttons! Yesterday I finally got around to frogging two of my abandoned babies and starting new projects with the yarn. With winter coming, and Hannibal the kitteh (I've become a lolcat addict) sleeping in the garage as he does, I'm trying to put together at least one felted pet bed to help him stay cozy. Another one for the family room would be good too, as we have a gas fireplace that's nice on chilly mornings, and my little hoohah Buster loves to lie down in front of it. I'm eager to knit up at least some of this stash I've amassed in the past year, so I can justify splurging on the beautiful yarns I see every day that I work. I keep them looking nice on the shelves, winding them for customers, and resisting the temptation to squirrel away those "singles" for myself! ;)



Today was the day for meeting PDX KnitBloggers at the shop, too. Tammy and Chrispy came by, and it was great meeting them both. Check out their blogs, as they are both wonderful knitters! Chrispy has a Dachshund which melts my heart every time I see a picture of her, as I am also a dachshund person. Dachsies (or "weens" as I call em) are like Lays' potato chips; you can't have just one!



But none of the above is related to the title of this post. I was thinking about the emotional rollercoaster I've been on with my brother, my family in general, and the kajillion details which need to be seen to before we have Michelle's party on Saturday. Only some of the things on the to-do list are related to the party.



Today, I found out that my mom won't be coming to the party either! She passed out and hit her head on the counter, causing a 5-hour trip to the ER (because they ran every test known to man and decided it was her combination of meds that did it) and eight staples in her head. Holy crap. I didn't even know it happened until this afternoon. My first instinct was to drop everything and rush over to their house, but my dad insisted that she's fine, things are under control and there wasn't anything they needed me to do. I told him he should stay with her Saturday night, as I'm worried about him driving at night--but he's determined to come and bring the special cake that Michelle wanted. Now I feel myself getting PO'd at my brother all over again--why can't he just ditch his stupid plans for once, so our elderly father doesn't have to put himself at risk?



Agggh...just want to get this mess over with!!



But to end on something upbeat, I sold a little doggy sweater in my Etsy shop today! It was the little fuzzy pink chihuahua sweater. I made it more than two years ago, and I'm so glad someone finally bought it. Now if I could just sell my hand dyed yarns! In one of the local free newspapers, Willamette Week, there was an article called "Crafty Bitches" which was about how many women crafters there are in the Portland area. There are over 1000 Etsy shops in this town alone! Man, that's a lot of competition. So I'm thinking maybe I should try to find additional outlets for my hand dyes. There are master dyers out there, creating yarns I am nowhere near capable of turning out, but I think I've learned a lot and done well given I've only been dyeing for a couple of months, and the response has been very positive from everyone who's seen my yarns. Perhaps having my own website, when I'm able to build it, will help.



Lots to think about...that hamster running in the wheel in a remote corner of my brain gets tired, but never stops!



Sorry if I already posted this pic, can't remember if I did or not. It's one of my favorites--feel free to make a lolcat out of it, if you're so inclined! (I don't yet have lolcat technology--nothing on my computer will save files as .jpegs.)