I have been knitting, I just haven't posted pictures until now. Of the four projects, one was a gift I completed, two were gifts I have yet to complete, and one I started to match a new outfit I bought for myself. I really should make it a point to finish these by Christmas, because by the time Christmas morning arrives, I feel as if all the adrenaline that has kept me going until then has left the night before with Santa's sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. As of now I really have no ambition whatsoever to finish these projects. In fact, two of the projects I've been carrying around in my purse and the only thing they've been good for is the needles to stab me once in a while because they poke out so much. You can tell they've been well-traveled by the nasty almost-knot the yarn for the slippers have. Where I can, I've linked the pattern with the picture.

Twilight Socks by chickenbetty (Ravelry)

One Row Handspun Scarf by Stephanie Pearl McPhee

Drink cozy from the book Knitting With Balls

Aunt Maggie's Slippers by Bev A. Qualheim

Donny wished me a Happy Birthday!

Ok, so it's more like I received an email from Donny and "all of us at Donny.com" but it's his voice and I can pretend, can't I?

Not too much in the way of crafting right now. Too busy getting ready for the 25th. I am attempting to make some socks as a Christmas gift, but it works with three different colors and I am just not a three-color-sock person. I do have all of my cards sent out. Here is a version of one of our Christmas cards.

That's it for now. Once this Christmas rush is over I'll be ready to scrapbook those holiday pix!

Big Box Stores? Your choice, but really.....

This is my real job. I can't call it a nine-to-five job, or my forty-hours-a-week job. This is my part time job. It's one I've had for eleven years. It's a paint store. It is a locally, family owned paint store. In fact, it is my family. We are not Home Depot, nor would we ever, ever strive to be. Our philosophy is simple: We care. We don't have fancy decorations, top of the line sales equipment, no orange aprons for us, but if you've been in the store more than once or twice, we can usually remember you. More than likely I will remember what you painted and what color of paint you got. We've color matched everything from a weed to a pair of underwear.

As more and more big box stores move in, we feel the crunch. In these hard times with the economy being what it is, we feel it even harder. People complain about the bad service they receive at these big box stores, yet they continue to go there. Why? Our prices are competetive, our salespeople are knowledgeable. I have seen so many small stores close recently. At what price? Remember pharmacies that actually remembered you? Remember the butcher at the grocery store who was a real man (or woman) that gave you a piece of bologna when you were a kid? If this trend of the big stores monopolizing the market continues, soon our only option will be the big box stores. We will become just a number to them. You can choose. Take a stand and choose to shop small - at small stores, that is. This holiday season remember the little guys. The locally owned shops are going to get my business this year. Take a stand. Or take a number.

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I've learned to never just pick out a color and mixing up the paint without that customer seeing it first. A customer came in this week asking me to help him pick out a "tan" color. I was thinking of something like these:

He landed up picking this as his tan:

Quite a difference!