30 April 2015

It's A Barbie Wedding!

Working at The Frolic this year meant I had no time to shop at all. This is a good thing for my wallet but it also meant I could not spend my traditional half hour looking through all the donated second hand pamphlets they sell for charity. There is always at least one good find and lots of entertainment in the search. Having a total of about 4 free minutes this year meant I had to grab what was close and on top so I chose this doll pattern booklet on impulse. Now that I have it at home, I kind of love it. Check out those bridesmaid dresses! There are even instructions for making that doggie.

My favourite part is the actual dolls. This is the Barbie I remember from the seventies with the round face and those open, lightly made up eyes. I think she is so much prettier than the harsh looking ones sold today.

27 April 2015

And So We Frolicked


Late in the afternoon there was a quiet moment to take a silly photo.
Oxford defines Frolic as "To play or move about in a cheerful way". Well, yes, amid all the crazy busy, there was some cheerful playing. 

This was my first Frolic on the other side. I've been working casual part-time at my LYS when they are busy, and boy were they busy this past Saturday at the annual fair known as The Knitter"s Frolic. What a new experience. I've always worked customer service but haven't done much direct retail style selling. What fun to promote the products I know well and believe in, and to discover that I am actually good at it. When I was unsure, my lovely co-worker Caroline always helped me cheerfully. She's just wonderful.

Now, even though it is knitting related, it is still event work. Just like theatre festivals and sporting weekends, there is a fast frantic set up followed by a long day on your feet talking to people. Then comes the even faster tear down. The resulting tiredness and sore legs today is something I know well!
Hard to believe we went from this to our booth in four hours.

15 April 2015

Not Socks

Well, I thought I would have finished socks to post. I worked away at the them last night and this morning only to discover that I had misread my own notes and that all my worked needed ripping back to fix a sizing issue.

So, I am sharing a more pleasurable knitting experience. This is the Yarn Indulgence wool/silk blend being worked up with beads. It's such a pleasure to work with this shimmery loveliness. This project is either a fat scarf or a short stole. I intend to just keep going until the yarn runs out and then we'll see.

09 April 2015

Truly

                                for Anna Akhmatova

To one who's never been stunned by a word,
and I say to you all.
Who only knows how to help himself
and only with words -

he cannot be helped.
Not over the short term
and not over the long.

To create a single lasting sentence,
to persevere in the ding-dong of words.

No one writes this sentence 
who does not sign her name.

                                         Ingeborg Bachmann 
                                         1965