A Salute to A Wonderful Etsy Seller

Her name is Margaret, and she is what Etsy is all about. She is crafty, imaginitive, creative, and knows how to treat her customers.

"Local Gringos" is a "Must See" store for those who knit, crochet, stitch or work with fabric or sewing.

First, there is the hand cream. It is Yummy!!!! In various wonderful flavors and scents, you can get a marvelous selection with the little "sampler" pack, and try one at a time to see which one you will order over and over. My sister picked the lavender & sage, and I picked the citrus and cilantro. This hand cream not only smells wonderful, it keeps your fingers free of all those little cracks that get caught on the thread, yarn or fabric. And,!!! it is all natural. I recommend it highly, expecially if you do any embroidery or cross stictch.

Second, she has these Fabric Care Tags for those of us who knit items for resale. It makes me feel that my items are so very special when I send one out with one of her beautiful "Hand Knit Care Tags". They are beautifully done, and are a special compliment to all the work that goes in to knitting something by hand. She also has postcards, with the knitting theme, stationery, mugs, wall art.......... the list goes on.

It is easy to see that she loves doing this, and upon reading her profile, you get the essence of a person you want to get to know a little better.

From her profile:

I'm an archaeologist-turned-artist, a former resident of Texas and Belize, currently living at 7,000 feet in the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico with hubbie + 4 dogs + 4 cats. Now a Knitter, graphic designer, and confirmed fiber-holic!What got me started with Etsy was the huge collection of vintage photographs, postcards and other Fiber Arts images I have amassed over the years that need to see the light of day. Looking for ways to preserve and share these wonderful pictures, I began creating collages ... which have lately turned into a collection of altered art cards I call "kNotes for kNitters". Then came my "Unfortu-Notes" series, in which very strange things happen to presumably good people ...Stay tuned for more cards, and more collections (cooks? archaeologists!) as I dream them up.

Take a look at her store.........you will love it!!

Well, here I am trying very hard to feel better. Not making a lot of progress in that direction. I seem to have been productive though, as I have almost finished my knitting project. This is something entirely different for me... a pillow cover. I really like it, and for the most part it was mindless knitting, which has been just the ticket while I'm not feeling so well.

I'm not crazy about how the cables turned out. They are supposed to mirror each other, .. one slanting left.. the other slanting right..however, they look like entirely different cables.

I am fond of this though, and already have more patterns in mind to do more of these. I think possibly a bolster size might be nice too.

Meantime, I just keep on knitting whenever I am upright.

Knitting Group

This is my Wednesday Morning Knitting Group. We are a small group, but this is a small senior housing facility. We meet for a few hours every Wednesday morning to share stories, patterns, and camaraderie. We bolster each other up when we are down, and share our happiness as well as our sadness. Mostly, we laugh a lot.

On the left is Kitty. She is from England, and claims to knit "The English Way". Kitty has 6 children and 4 grandchildren. I love her accent, and her enthusiasm for life.

In the middle is Audrey. She is from right here in Saratoga Springs. She knits and crochets faster than anyone I know, and she never looks at what she is doing. ..... Thus, there is the occasional "bleep" word. Audrey has 11 children, and 28 grandchildren. Needless to say, she has a wonderful outlook on life. She had to, in order to survive 11 children.

On the right is Betty. Betty is originally from the area near Watertown, NY - The 1.000 Island area. Betty recently lost her husband of 60+ years, and is trying hard to adjust to life without him. It has been hard for her, but she has 4 children and 14 grandchildren who are seeing to it that she keeps busy. Also, we are all trying to help her through this rough time.

Since I have 2 children and 2 grandchildren........That means that between 4 of us there are 23 children and 48 grandchildren. Needless to say, most of the stories we tell are about our little ones. I didn't even try to count the Great Grandchildren. I just know there are a bunch.

Right now, the group is working on making blankets for the children that go to the "Hole-in-the-Wall" summer camp. This is the camp that was started by Paul Newman for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. 900 blankets are needed just for our region. For more information on this project, or if you would like to donate a blanket please visit http://www.projectlinus.org/

Another Book Review

I'm leaving the book review on the side right where it is becuase I want as many people as possible to see it and read the book. (The Letters)

This is a review of "The Friday Night Knitting Club".
The book is way too long for the type of story and the kind of reader that it would attract. It is a lovely story, and it shows how knitting can draw people of very different backgrounds and stations in life together in a common bond. A bond that is very strong. The characters are wonderful in their diversity, and it is fun to get to know each one seperately. However, the book is still too long for the type of book it is.
Read it if you have nothing else to do.