Two Hours and Counting...

...until the midnight craziness. I have to warn everyone- I have to be up and out (and have Henry ready and fed and off to school) by 7:30 tomorrow morning so I might not be able to send out May Custom Spot notifications until after I get home at about 12:30pm. I will TRY to send out notices to those who got slots before I leave, but I'm not pinky swearing on it.

I just added another pair of monkey shorties and a couple of colorway shorties to the HC stocking tomorrow. Here are pictures of the 2 colorways:





I love that crazy varigated yarn. It is technically "heavy worsted" weight but it feels very light and breathable. I took the shot of it on the skein so you could see how mysterious it was. I had no idea how it was going to knit up. I'm really happy with it.

I always start getting nervous about now on the night before the first. I wish I could stay up with y'all and see how the midnight thing shakes out but if I did that my third graders would eat me alive tomorrow in my sleep deprived state. They sense weakness and pounce. I've seen it before. Not pretty.

Off to bed for me. Good luck mamas!!!

Oh What a Crafty Day!

I stayed up waaaaaaay too late working last night. I watched the movie The Last Kiss with Zach Braff (who I love) and Jacinda Barett (who I can only think of as the Real World girl) and Rachel Bilson from The OC (which I probably shouldn't admit that I also love). Aside from really enjoying Zach Braff's performance it was... eh. Micheal Penn did the music, which was awesome and included one of my favorites (and his wife) Aimee Mann. I think that might have been my favorite part of the movie, which isn't a great sign for the movie itself. I have a thing for movie music. The most perfect movie music ever in life (in my humble opinion) was Harold and Maude with Moonlight Mile and Jesus' Son coming up there in the top ten. Okay, fine, I'll stop talking about movies and get to the wool.

Jen's monter, which I worked on at Ariel Gore:


Lindy's bright yellow monster, which is slightly stiff because of the dye job, but will soften right up after you lanolize them:


We have a crafty day planned. Kyle was supposed to take Henry to Lowe's to a Build a Birdhouse workshop this morning, but something came up so I am going to take him instead. Another mama friend of mine is bringing her son as well, so hopefully we won't get testosterone poisoning or anything. I've never been to one of these workshops, so I'm not sure how "manly father and son activity" they are. After that we are going to drag the kids downtown to participate in another crafty activity that I can't disclose here because certain recipients of said craftiness might see it and then not be suitably surprised and awed when crafty works of genius arrive at their doorstep. But it will be fun. Hopefully.

Hip Mamas

Last night I went to see Ariel Gore do a reading at a bookstore downtown. For those of you not familiar, she has written a slew of mothering books and has put together a zine called Hip Mama for years and years. After reading countless books on parenting while I was pregnant it was clear that I was going to be a terrible mother. If I circumcised I was a mutilating beast, if I didn't my kid would be a freak. If I nursed my kid would be spoiled, if I didn't he'd be emotionally crippled. If I worked I would be neglectful but if I stayed home I would be setting feminism back 50 years. Any way I looked at it I was not going to be the recipient of the Most Perfect Mommy in the Whole Wide World Award. Then I somehow stumbled upon the Hip Mama Survival Guide and my view of motherhood was wrenched wide open. She gave me the confidence to find my own parenting style- not mainstream, not Mothering, just ME doing what I thought was best for MY family. And I ultimately decided to be broke and stay home with Henry, then to use my skills to try to work at home and be every so slightly less broke. It wasn't like she drew me a map, it was like she handed me a pen and paper and told me to do it myself. It was crazy to see her in person. When it was time to get my book signed I just kind of stared at her and shoved the book into her hands. She probably thought I was the biggest freak. I finally managed to thank her for writing it, but that was about it. I'm such a dork. She is pregnant and due in August, so I think I am going to try to send her a pair of longies somehow. She has shared so much of what she does with me, I'd love to share a little piece of what I do with her. There were two other mama writers with her reading excerpts from their new books. Both were awesome. China Martins read from her zine compilation Future Generation: The Zine-Book For Subculture Parents, Kids, Friends And Others
and Annie Downey read from her new novel Hot and Bothered which I will be buying as soon as I have the time to read a book, which is unforseeable at this point. ANYWAY. All three women were fabulous and if you get a chance to go see them read, you should.

Oooooooooh, my coffee is done brewing.

Preview is UP!

I just put a preview up at Hyena Cart. There will be some other things stocked throughout the week, but the gist of it is there. HC's photo uploading is being persnickity with me, so I couldn't upload pictures of the monster booty shorts, but I'll give it another try later.

Kristine's Jolly Roger loooooooooongies are done:


That 12" inseam took forever, and weaving in all of those ends set me back a bit, but they are done! Yay! They'll be in the mail tomorrow. I am midway through Jen's black monster booty and they yarn for Lindy's bright yellow monster booty is currently drying in my bathroom. This was a rough month for some reason and I am scrambling at the end here. I still have 4 pairs on my April list, so there is a chance I might have to carry over a bit into May. I am going to take much fewer custom orders in May so I can get ready for my first FEAST stocking, so be quick if you are gunning for a slot next week. The FEAST stocking is going to have a "summer vacation" theme, so I am going to have to sit and think about what I am going to do. I am not really a theme kinda girl, so I might just baaaarely fit in there. I am also starting a collaboration with my good friend Jess from Quilt Baby for my next stocking. Things are in the works, my friends.

Henry had a field trip to a farm yesterday. I asked him if he had a good time and he said "Yeah. It was fun but very stinky". True dat.

Spring Again!

We have thawed out once again, thankfully. Yesterday I cut back all of the hostas along the walk that were liquified by the late frost and the yard looks much less depressing. We spent yesterday painting some old furniture and getting the yard in order. I wish I had taken before pictures but, alas, I didn't think of it until we were already half done.

I finished some shorties:



Now I am finishing up a biiiig pair of longies and getting ready to preview my May stocking. I got these in just in time for Mother's Day:


and they will be up on the first along with some yarn balls using these gorgeous skeins of Malabrigo:


Malabrigo is an amazingly soft single ply merino wool which is hand dyed by a womens' cooperative in Uruguay. It is wonderful to knit with and the colorways and solids both knit up beautifully. The yarn balls will be stuffed full of all sorts of goodies for the knitting mama. I'll also be stocking some fun stitch markers on their own. I should have a preview up in the next couple of days over at HC.

Things I am loving right now:
-the weather!
- the movie Stranger Than Fiction
- the new Apples in Stereo album
- Henry's new interest in the Solar System

I hope everyone is well.

Things A Brewin'

Things are a brewin' over here at Crankypants HQ.

My mom is pretty much the best. She has always been super supportive of me and my various interests. When I declared my major in college as Literature with a concentration in Shakespearian studies, she never discouraged me- even though she was probably thinking about how I would never, ever find a job and would live in her basement until I was 47. When I wanted to quilt, she bought me fancy hardcover quilting books that I couldn't afford. When I dropped that and went to soap, she bought me soap making books and told me to have at it. When I decided to stay home with Henry, even though it meant we'd be flat broke, she reminded me that money isn't important when you stack it up next to getting to see your baby's every milestone. She's never bought Henry a single talking, battery operated toy (thank you!). When I held my first charity auction, she donated a gorgeous hand knit Aran sweater (remember that sweater? It was amazing). And when I told her that I was getting way more business than I could handle and expanding was slow going, she picked up her needles again. I am thrilled beyond belief to tell you guys that Mama Crankypants has joined me in my business and will be helping me have more in-stock choices at HC this coming month. Monsters, monkeys and some new, girly things, too. WooHoo!

I also received word that the group of Russian knitters I am working with have finally gotten their hands on the samples I sent them (mail to Russia is notoriously slow) and they are working on a prototype for me. Keep your fingers crossed that this works out for us. It will be great to have a Crankypants expansion while providing a tiny amount of economic development over there.

Also, starting in May, Mahar Dry Goods will be offering Crankypants shorties for the Spring and Summer months. I am not sure when they will fist be made available, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

Also in May, look for some little Mothers' Day goodies to stock.

And, of course...




All 3 of these were taken while "hunting" for alligators at my in laws' golf course. We saw a bunch- probably 5 big ones and a dozen or so babies. They are pretty used to people, but I still kept Henry pretty far away and kept thinking about running in a "zig zag pattern" (lol) should one get the urge to eat us.


This is a tiny wooden bridge that goes over a lagoon. You can see the ocean in the far distance.


My little mechanic trying to figure out exactly how his bike works.


Parrots at Sea World.


Mahar Longies.


Sarah's super girly, blue eyed monsters.


Jean's monsters.





Flamingos, penguins and "Bookaneer Elmo" at Sea World.

What a day.

After having no internet for a day because of high winds, I finally was able to log on and was greeted to news of the shootings at Virginia Tech. My brother and sister in law are both alumni, they met and fell in love there and they have some serious Hokie pride. I know they must be so upset about it. My heart goes out to anyone who has loved ones who were affected by this madness. Sometimes it hurts to be a parent. It just hurts.

We had a crazy windstorm last night that knocked out a lot of power and gave me visions of a tree falling on Henry's room all night. Just when we think it is gone, the winds kick back up again. We had a 2 hour delay at school, which we only found out about after I dug out our old clock radio and listened to NPR. When I got to school I thought I must have missed something because all of the windows were dark. I was ready to celebrate a called off day (the first day back from Spring Break), but the parking lot was full so I went in. Some genius decided that it would be okay to hold school with no power. No heat. No running water. PB&J for lunch (which is probably 100% better for you than whatever reheated artery bomb they were planning on, I guess). We were freezing and miserable and I would have been irate if I was a parent of one of those kids and wasn't told I was sending my kids into that kind of situation. Bleh. I'm hoping tomorrow is better.

I still have to take pictures of all of the things I have finished and ready to ship and I really don't feel like putting all of my happy vacation pictures into this post, so I'll just catch you later. If you are waiting on an email or something from me, rest assured I am trying to get to everything as soon as I can. Thanks mamas.

There's No Place Like Home...

...even when you are coming from 85 and sunny to 65 and rainy. I am happy to be home. Neither of my two biggest fears were realized: the first being that I mistakenly left something horrid out on the counter and I was going to walk into a stinky house, and the second being hat Henry's fish would be dead. The house (though freezing) smelled just dandy and the fish (though the filter had broken while we were away and the tank was pretty green) were alive and well. They are currently living in Kyle's extra extra large measuring glass thingie until I can get out and get them a new one tomorrow.

Don't think you are getting out of looking at a bajillion vacation pictures. I just haven't uploaded them yet. There will be a couple of wool shots in there, too. Maybe wedged between "flying kites on the beach" and "Shamu". That way you can't sneak past all of the boring family shots and just get your fluff fix. I'm so mean sometimes.

Yaaaaaaawwwwn...

The house I am staying in right now is one of those super hugemongous beach houses on stilts on the edge of the ocean. It is beautiful. During the day we can actually sit on the front porch and watch dolphins jumping in the water. At night we sleep in what the in laws call "the lighthouse room". Not only is it decorated with a lighthouse theme, but one of the two big beds in the room sits on the far ocean side surrounded by windows in a turret-like thingie. That is the bed that henry sleeps in, so he can look up at the stars and listen to the ocean while he falls asleep. This morning at around 4am we had the most fabulous thunderstorm. Thunder and lightning, wind and rain, the whole nine yards. I ran over to Henry's bed and pulled all of the windows closed, then climbed under the covers thinking he was probably a little freaked out by the shaking and flashing. "It's okay", I told him, "It's just a storm". My little boy looked up at me with his big blue eyes, stretched out a tiny arm and replied "No, Mommy. Your bed is over there". So much for needing comfort. Pth.

We had a beautiful day yesterday, so I didn't knit very much. We went to the pool, where Henry jumped into an innertube all by himself. He still isn't the slightest bit interested in going underwater, but he could spend all day in that pool, floating around with the tiny little Strawberry Shortcake innertube he found poolside around his waist. We also went off-island for the first time since we've gotten here to a little local fish place. It is an old post office that has turned into a half museam/ half fish dive. There was a group of 80 somethings up in front playing bluegrass and it felt pretty much like we were back home. Except that the fish was good.

I have finished the Mahar Monster Longies and Sarah's super girly monster shorties. I have another pair of shorts on the needles, but I don't have my list with me, so I can't remember which customer goes with which shorts. They are navy monsters. Today is out last day here so I plan on being out and about and soaking up every ray of sunshine I can before we head out in the morning. I probably won't be updating again until I get back to NC. Cross your fingers that Henry's fish are still alive.

Flooooooooorida!

We made it!

I came home from work on Friday at about 12:30 and we jumped right in the car and got our trip underway. I was so excited to have an excuse to sit still and knit for hours and hours, but I knit for 5 minutes and got carsick. Oops. So much for that plan. After 10 hours of driving and way too much junk food, we decided to stop for the night in Tampa. We slept until about 6 and then got right back to it. We were on the island by 9am. WooHoo! I know I am probably going to jinx myself for the ride home, but I have to say it anyway: Henry is the best. We have a little portable DVD player for long trips, but he barely touched it. He mostly just hung out, looked at books, played with his Eth a Sketch and hung out in his carseat. He went right to sleep in the hotel and woke up happy and ready for the second leg of the trip. I love that kid!! The most difficult part of the whole trip was sitting still and not being able to knit. Torture, I tell you!

Since we got here we have been going non-stop. Yesterday we swam in the pool, played in the ocean, went for golf cart rides, saw a flock of pelicans flying low over the house, saw dophins swimming in the ocean, and met about a bajillion people. This is the busiest week down here and the grandparents are anxious to show the little man off to all of their friends. Everyone has been so nice to him, which I appreciate SO MUCH. He has gotten Easter baskets from people I've never even met before. People have just been so thoughtful. Today we got up and went to a pancake breakfast on the beach, went swimming twice and had 20 people over for dinner. I think we are all going to sleep well tonight.

I have been trying to sneak in knitting here and there. By the pool, for a few minutes in the morning while drinking coffee, etc. I am working on the first leg of a pair of monster longies for my Mahar order. When I finish those, it is on to a custom. I brought a case of yarn and I hope to get work in as much as I can when I have downtime. I am hoping to be able to update every couple of days or so. I know it is a drag when someone goes on vacation and you have to wait a million years to find out where they are on the list and whatnot. I will do my best.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!

Remember that I am supposed to have all of your measurements and design choices by the end of the day today. If we haven't even started talking designs and colors, I need to hear from you asap. I want to get all of my invoices sent out before I go on vacation this Friday, so get that stuff in pretty please.

Henry says: "You better do what my mama says or you'll be in biiiiiiiiiig trouble!".



Thanks mamas!

Order Day!

Whew! 31 midnight emails, an HC custom slot, 5 loads of laundry and a viewing of Meet the Robinsons in 3D later... here we are. One more HC slot to go and April will be nailed down tight. I fear I have bitten off quite a lot this month. I have 3 Mahar longies orders plus 2 shorties samples to knit for Mahar, 8 midnight email orders, 2 HC slots. If I start rambling incoherently towards the end of the month, you will all know why ;)

Pssssst... Erika...




I just finished these and will get them in the mail tomorrow. They are the first pair of 'heavier wetter' pants, knit with Cascade Eco Plus wool. I think they turned out pretty awesome. I hope you like them!

Good luck to anyone going for the 10PM slot tonight.