Ira Glass

If there are any screen printers out there, I would pay good money for a nice I :heart: Ira Glass tee shirt. Just FYI.

Yes, I am aware that I have posted like 20,000 times today. I am trying to stay up until midnight. It doesn't look good, kids. We are on the last This American Life in our ITunes. Maybe I'll take a shower. But if I stay up until midnight I'll actually be staying up until 1-2 doing the list and sending out emails and whatnot. Eh. I'll do my best. At least since tomorrow is Saturday I won't have to go to work at 7am...

My friend Liz sent me the link to this shirt. I think that Henry needs one.

Tonight's Midnight Craziness...

I just now remembered that tonight is the night for midnight craziness! I'm going to post the gist one more time in case we have any late comers to the party:

I open for custom orders via email (info[at]crankypantshome[dot]com) on the first of each month. All you have to do is email me on the first letting me know that you would like to place a custom order. I take as many orders as I can for the month (usually I sell out at midnight EST-my computer is set to the US Time Clock, you can find it here) and everyone else goes on a waiting list. It starts all over again each month. I know it is crazy, but it is the only way that works for the time being. Crankypants longies run from $68-85 and shorties from $48-65 depending on measurements and design. I do my very best to complete all custom orders the month the order is taken so, depending where you fall on the list, turnaround time is anywhere between 1-5 weeks. If you have any other questions please feel free to email.

I know some of you have people who are planning on sending emails on your behalf. If you do this, can you please ask them to put your name in the subject line? I know this is kind of late to ask, but I thought I'd put it out there. It would just make it easier for me so I can start deleting emails once I've gotten to you. I really don't want to have to open and read 73 emails all asking for a slot for the same person, kwim? And nope, you can't get more than one slot by having someone help you. Sorry guys!

Good luck to everyone!

Jessie's Princess CrazyLegs

I have to admit- this is one my favorite pairs of Crankypants I've done. I had permission to go totally crazy with the stripes, so I took advantage of it. I made the two legs a little different, but not enough where it looks completely nuts. I just inversed the colors in the stripe pattern on the second leg. I think I might have gone a little crazy with the picture taking too...






I can't wait to see pictures of what they look like on!

Whhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I am absolutely over the moon to be included in the Autumn issue of Small Magazine! I think that Small is one of the best kids' design mags out there, so a I am so flattered and excited to be in among all those amazing pictures and such cool kids' gear. Yay!

WIPs

Well, with all this talk about how to order Crankypants and assembling a wait list for Crankypants and stocking the Hyena Cart for Crankypants, I haven't had too much time to actually knit Crankypants.

I do, however, have a couple of WIPs to post pictures of...

Some crazy legs:


And for the literary FEAST stocking coming up in September...

Gryffindor Power!!!

And inspired by Pippi in the South Seas:

...I'll be offering a super duper girly semi-custom Jolly Roger slot using this amazingly soft, amazingly cool organic Blue Faced Leicester hand dyed by Kelly of New Wool Order:

I can't wait to get my needles into that stuff!

Also- I need to ask you to please be patient with the wait list business. I have missed a few emails from people and I am not getting notification of my comments on the other blog. This means I had to go back and stick some names in where they should have been in the first place, which bumped a few people down. Now that the initial email barrage is over and I know to manually check comments I hope that won't happen again.

The Brown Sheep

I almost forgot! Super duper thanks to Parikha over at The Brown Sheep for the kind words! Her blog is absolutely gorgeous, and if you want to drool over amazing pictures of yarn and/or food, go check her out.

Proud mama...

I have been missing Henry since he's at school all day now, so in the evening we have been taking "picture walks" together. He takes the camera, strap around his neck (and me holding the strap-that camera ain't chap, lol) and we walk around the block. He takes pictures of whatever interests him. Then we come home and look at them together. I have loooooved this time with him, especially since bedtime has been a nightmare for us lately. I am so excited that he is excited about photography, and documenting the world around him. He is such a cool kid. And here are some of his photographs:

Rockin' mama

big red rocker

the gigantic tree in the front yard

fire hydrant

Tommy's prayer flags

the sky

rainy bike seat

door knobs



And here he is showing me his hand boo boo:



And his knee boo boos (check out those awesome undies from Sublime Threads-Sonya rocks!):



I finally told him he had to wear sneakers to school because I think the Crocs have been tripping him up when he runs. He's fallen 3 times on the black top this week! Not usual for him. We'll see if he made it through today without wiping out again.

Speaking of which, I shoudl get some work done before he gets home...

Orders of busyness...

1. I edited the list, so if you were worried that you didn't see your name, you should see it now. I can only spend a limited amount of time on this thing, as I am currently 4 orders behind for August and am looking at Friday with a wee bit of dread, knowing that it is going to start all over again. If you DON'T see your name and you sent me an email, let me know. There were 2 people who sent emails that didn't go through, so I had to get their timestamps and add them in. I am happy to do that for anyone who was left off. In the deluge, it was only fair to expect a few to slip through the cybercracks.

2. I added a new rule on the wait list rules post. I know it is going to cause some eyes to roll but whatever, here it is: Lastly, and I know I can't enforce this, I ask that you please not buy these from me and then turn around and auction them off for a bajillion dollars. I know it is a free market, supply and demand, yay Capitalism! and all that. I just don't think it's fair to me or to the people who are waiting patiently for their turn to come up so they can have something they really want for their own little beastie. Nope, there's nothing I can do about it, but I can ask nicely and hope that people listen. I also ask you to think hard about if you want to bid on one of those auctions, because if people make money this way it will encourage others to do the same thing. I know it is difficult to look at yourself in #54680 on the list and not bid, that's fine. No hard feelings. I just ask you to give it a good think first.

3. I finished up Ms. Laura's boy monster longies:




4. I am going to start auctions on Thursday at Hyena Cart, so be on the lookout for them.

5. People have started emailing me about the customs list process, so here it is. I think I'm going to put it on the wait list page, too...

I open for custom orders via email on the first of each month. All you have to do is email me on the first letting me know that you would like to place a custom order. I take as many orders as I can for the month (usually I sell out at midnight EST) and everyone else goes on a waiting list. It starts all over again each month. I know it is crazy, but it is the only way that works for the time being. I am working on an ethical expansion, but it is slow going. Crankypants longies run from $68-85 and shorties from $48-65 depending on measurements and design. I do my very best to complete all custom orders the month the order is taken so, depending where you fall on the list, turnaround time is anywhere between 1-5 weeks. If you have any other questions please feel free to email.

I am adding to that for you folks who have had contact with me in the past- I don't mind if you use my personal email for the midnight email slots, both addresses go to the same inbox. BUT...I'd appreciate it if you don't post my personal email address online. If someone asks on the boards where to order, please only post the info@... address. Thanks guys!

Ta DAAAAA!

My wonderful sister in law and love gave me the great suggestion of just giving the wait list a blog of its very own. It is here:
Classic Crankypants Wait List.

I also reposted the rules over there, so I hope that people will read them and not be confuzzled as to what the list is all about. I also put a link to the list/blog over there in the sidebar, underneath the other Crankypants links. That way you don't have to keep track of yet another blog address, you can just come here and click the link. I will keep editing that same blog post as I go down the list, so there should always just be "The Rules" and "The List". It isn't a blog I will actually write on.

Please note:::: I have a few pairs of Classic Crankypants here right now! They just need to be finished. So if you see someone who is behind you on the list initially get theirs first it is because I happened to have what they need right now. There are only a few and once they are gone it will be straight down the list.

"Zeee Leeeeest, Master!"

Or, more correctly, The Master List. I am trying to figure out the best way to do this and am coming up blank so I'm just going to wing it.

The Rules

1. The wait list is only for the three classic Crankypants designs in their classic colors.





They come in 4 standard sizes:

3-6 months, 15-17" waist, 15-16" rise, 6.5" inseam
6-12 months, 16-18" waist, 16-17" rise, 8" inseam
12-18 months, 17-19" waist, 17-18" rise, 9" inseam
18-24 months, 18-20" waist, 18-19" rise, 10" inseam

I have had a lot of requests for "girly" colors in the classic designs. I'm thinking it over. I don't see why it won't work, but I'm not sure I want to commit to it quite yet. Shorties won't be a problem, use 1/3 of the longies inseam as a shorties inseam. This is stuff we can figure out when your turn gets closer so don't stress about it too much.

2. I have no clue what the wait time is going to be. My partner in crime and I are going to just work through them as quickly as possible. I am working on a way to keep the list posted so you can check your progress, but that is as close as I am going to be able to get to a turnaround time. If you are at the end somewhere, don't worry! I am going to use this list as a master, so the first shipment from Nepal (assuming that is going to work out-positive thinking, right?) will go towards filling this list.

3. I have gone back and forth about ordering more than one pair at a time. I think I am going to hold you to one pair. After your order for the first pair is filled I'll be happy to put you right back on the end of the list. I think that is only fair.

4. Folks are concerned that the size they need will change by the time their turn comes. I will email you when it is getting close to confirm all of the details you gave me in your original request. If you need to change sizing or want to change design at that point, that is totally cool with me. I just wanted to get a basic idea of what sizes are in the highest demand.

5. THIS IS NOT A LIST FOR CUSTOMS! It is also not replacing my current customs system. The customs system is the same as always, except that I won't be offering any BIN customs on Hyena Cart anymore.

6. The list is currently 86 people long. I don't want to type it all out until I have a way to manage it that you guys can keep up with. It will be up by the time I go to bed tonight, I promise! I just have to figure out how to make it public without you guys having to always come back to a certain blog post. I am trying to see if I can put it on the sidebar in a different way. Hang in there, I know you guys are curious!

I think that's it for now. Let me know if I missed anything!

Holy Kamolies!

That's Henry's new phrase.

Wow, but I got a lot of emails tonight! I have gotten a few concerned emails that I have responded to some emails but not others so folks are afraid I didn't get their emails and whatnot (wow, could I use the word 'emails' a few more times? Did that even make sense?). I'm only responding to folks who left off information or who asked a questions, so don't worry if I didn't email you back. There are too many of you to email back individually, I'm sorry! I tried posting the list as it came together on the sidebar of this blog but it is a weird list making thingie and it went from bottom to top and only showed the most recent 8 additions to the list. No good to anyone and quite confusing. Tomorrow I will figure out a way to post the list so you guys can keep track of your progress to the top. It seems long, but I am hoping that once I have help it will go quickly and everyone will be Crankified this longies season. Those of you who are my faithful readers know that I have to be up at the crack of dawn to go wrangle 65 3rd graders, so I am off to bed. I'll answer any and all questions and get the list up tomorrow. If you see folks who don't read the blog voicing concern over issues I've talked about here or looking for sizes or whatever, could you point them in the right direction? I'll have a more making sense type post tomorrow, I promise. Now, I must sleep.

Sweet dreams.

A Buncha Stuff...

First off, April's Rainbow Striped Monster Longies:



To continue with business stuff before I lose you all, I have kind of a big change to the Crankypants system. Starting now, I am going to keep a master wait list for people who are interested in purchasing the 3 classic Crankypants designs: Monster Booty, Sock Monkey and Jolly Roger in their classic colors and standard sizes.

This means:

3-6 months, 15-17" waist, 15-16" rise, 6.5" inseam
6-12 months, 16-18" waist, 16-17" rise, 8" inseam
12-18 months, 17-19" waist, 17-18" rise, 9" inseam
18-24 months, 18-20" waist, 18-19" rise, 10" inseam

I had no idea there was such demand for those until I saw the recent auction that went for more than 3 times the original sale price. I do occasionally have extras of these standard sizes (right now I have 3-4) and I think we'll all be happier if I can have a wait list for them as opposed to just randomly putting them up at Etsy or Hyena Cart. Soooo...email me at info@crankypantshome.com or comment here if you'd like to be on the wait list. Include the design and size you would like to wait for. I'll just go right down the list as the become available. This will also serve as a wait list I can use once this fair trade deal gets worked out. Those on the list will get first crack at the first shipment. THIS IS NOT A LIST FOR CUSTOM ORDERS! I know that Mahar has a similar list, so hopefully between the two of us you will all be swimming in Crankypants soon. I will be making this list public (first name, last initial) so you can see where you are. If you do not want your name to appear on the public list, please let me know when you sign up.

This is one of a few changes I anticipate at Crankypants World HQ. A few things have happened this month that have made me sit down and really evaluate what I want from this business. From now on I'll only be using Hyena Cart for auctions. People have obviously responded to the auction method of buying, so I am going to increase the number to 4 in September. I am hoping that with 4 auctions they will give those who like the auctions a chance to bid and not get priced out in the first 5 minutes. There will be 2 auctions before the first and 2 after. All other custom orders will be taken through the midnight crazy email thing. Since I have to also prepare for the FEAST stocking on Sept. 3 and my guest spot at the Venus Vanguard stocking on Sept. 11, I'll only be taking 5 slots via email in September.

If you have any questions about any of this stuff, please feel free to send me an email. I am taking a break from all of the posting boards, so if you see anyone asking questions, I'd appreciate it if you Crankypants experts help them out or send them my way.

I'm Awesome!

I got almost down to the bottom of the leg I was knitting in 4 color stripe when I noticed it. About 7 stripes up I had made a mistake. I knit into the ladder below the stitch I was trying to knit, creating an uneven looking stripe. I showed Kyle, who of course told me I should forget about it because no one would notice. And of course I couldn't leave it alone.



If you count the rows in that blue stripe, they all have 5 rows per, except for my wonky column which has 4. I pointed to it just in case Kyle was right. All marvel at my mad PhotoShop skillz...



I dropped the stitch all the way down through 7 stripes.



And picked it all back up creating a perfect blue stripe, as it should have been in the first place.

Kyle claims that no one will be impressed because no one will be able to see the mistake anyway (and it really isn't that difficult of a fix), but I had to post pictures anyway. I'm a dork.

Awesomely Cute Customer Pics!

I love these kinds of posts...

Drama, mama!

When I saw the thread at DS this morning, I looked like this:



Oh, I'm just kidding. I think I'm going to try not to talk about board business here anymore. That picture is from the LEAF rock star party benefit last night. I was Robert Smith.







I know, right? I think we might have been separated at birth. I was trying to look forlorn. Henry took that last one. The benefit was great. Unfortunately, Kyle and Henry were both tired and grumpy so they stayed home and it was about 7000 degrees in there, so I got my free drink and my gold record (an award for my "outstanding contribution"-go me!) and headed home to sit on the couch, eat a fudgeicle and watch Damages. I don't know how people wear make up every day. I scrubbed for a half hour when I got home and it still wouldn't come off completely. People at work today were like "Are you wearing make up?" and ran away, fearing that the end of the world was upon us.

My New Boyfriend.

I would like to introduce you all to my new boyfriend. I love him so very much. He came straight to me from the monster crazed and amazingly talented Voz of Fishcakes, who did all of the other members of my loverly monster family as well.



World, meet Sir Grumpypants. Sir Grumpypants, meet world.

MIchelle and Finnegan's Navy Monster, etc.

Michelle and Finnegan's navy monster booty longies are done! I absolutely love this color combination! You guys are always coming up with great color choices that I might never have thought of myself. I love it.





I did another batch of record bowls today and if I do one more batch tomorrow, I should have plenty for the LEAF party. I hope they like them.





Well, back to the 7 million things I have to do before picking Henry up from his very first day at school! I meant to take a first day of school picture this morning but things were so crazy I didn't get a chance. A year ago...



*sniff sniff*

Rock Fumes...

Ugh! I told the folks over at LEAF that I would make them about 20 record bowls to use at the LEAF in Schools and Streets fund raiser on Wednesday night. Kyle and Henry are in bed and the house has cooled off from another incredibly hot day so I thought it would be a good idea to crank some out. For those of you who have never done it, you can make a bowl out of a record by placing it over a bowl and putting it in the oven for a few minutes. It softens enough from the heat that you can shape it. Anyway. 8 bowls later I am kind of buzzed and kind of ill from vinyl fumes and had to call it quits. I got distracted and left the last one in too long so it got too hot. Not good. I'll have to finish the others over the next couple of days. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Wool Porn.

Here are the three sample pairs of Crankypants that are currently en route to Nepal. Along with my patterns and graphs, these samples will give the knitters at the co-op there the ability to judge if they can make them for me, how much they will charge per piece and how quickly they can get my first shipment out. I will be biting my nails until I hear back from them.





These are Caroline's long and lean lady monster booty longies. They will go in the mail to be shipped down under tomorrow morning.




And these are random pictures of wool to be shipped this week.

Two Things I Adore.

Since I don't have pictures of anything I've made lately to post, I thought I'd share two things I came across that I just adore.

The first is a little card that I ordered from Bamboo Village Supply on Etsy. I can't wait to frame it and put it somewhere I can look at it all the time:



The second comes from a knitter I borderline idolize, Brooklyn Tweed. The things he creates with two sticks and a string are amazing and wonderful. He is one of those fearless knitters who changes every pattern and can see how everything is going to unfold ahead of time. It also doesn't hurt that he is a professional photographer and can take the most incredible pictures of his work. He just finished this crazy lace work blanket that you need to see to believe. He calls it the Hemlock Ring Blanket. Amazing.

Wow.

This whole working thing stinks! All week I have been working from 8-12 and then going directly to various babysitters to pick up Henry and take him home to hang out. This means zero Crankypants time for me, since Henry has decided that naps are for suckers. I usually work for a few hours after Henry goes to bed at night, but readjusting to spending the first half of my day with 60 new 8 year olds has me wiped out at 9pm. Mr. Man goes back to school Monday, which means I will have the second half of the day to knit, thankfully. I am hoping to start cranking out the longies at that point, since I am seriously behind right now. I have 3 pairs on the needles right now, so hopefully this coming week will be big for the fluff. Hang in there!

Fame! I Wanna Live Forever! I Wanna Learn How to Fly (High!)

When we were up picking blueberries the other day a photographer from a local paper took some pictures of our little group. She said to keep an eye out in case they got published. Of course, 12 seconds later I forgot all about it. Well, today just happened to be one of those days they paper company tried to entice you into subscribing by leaving a free copy on your doorstep. Kyle was thumbing through it and sure enough, there was Henry! They spelled our last name wrong, but it is still pretty cool. I went to the website to see if I could email the link to my folks and found a bunch of other pictures:



Henry taking some berries from Kyle's hand.



Henry eating a "not-quite-ready" berry (this is the one from the print version of the paper).



Kyle and Henry.



Tommy and Lisa pickin'.

There were a few others of our group, but those were the best ones. All of them were credited to Erin Brethauer. I'll have to cut it out and put it in his little box with the other few bits he's been in.

In other exciting news, I shipped out 3 sample pairs of Crankypants and all of my patterns and charts to a knitting co-op in Nepal that is pretty sure they can help me out with production of Crankypants. They should be to Nepal in a week or so and then we can see what happens from there. I am so excited at the prospect of being able to fill more orders and possibly open some wholesale orders and actually start marketing! I am hoping (hopinghopinghoping) that I can have the first batch by the winter holidays, btu I think that might be a stretch. I'm so bad at the "wait and see" thing.

I also just heard that something I was hoping I'd have by the FEAST literary stocking on September 3rd would be here in time! Yay! I can't wait to get it all done. I am such a book geek. And a knitting geek. And a monster geek.

Geek power!

On a Whim...

...I just put a pair of small sock monkey longies up in my Etsy shop.

Here

Oy.

It is only Tuesday and I fear that this week is out to get me.

Yesterday was my first day back at work, which meant that Henry had to go hang out with his friend McKai and my friend Melissa while I went, since his school doesn't start until next Monday. Fine. As quickly as I thought I moved, I was still 5 minutes late. And forgot my keys. So I was 5 minutes late and locked out of the building. With everyone else at a staff meeting. Oops. Finally someone had to pee and saw me wildly gesturing for assistance. I ran into the staff meeting (where everyone turned to look at me, of course) forgetting to punch in, just in time to hear about the new policy on forgetting to punch in. Oops.

At noon, I raced out the door to go get Henry and try to pick up any leftover things of mine that didn't sell at Wee Trade. Generally I would let them be donated, but I had put our Kelty ROdgeline in the sale and didn't want that going to Goodwill. I got to Henry at 12:30 and pick up (clear across town, of course) ended at 1:30 so we didn't have time to chat. I sped off across town and Henry fell asleep in the car (of course) so I had to make that decision of whether or not it would be okay to leave him in the car for a minute. I hate that. I parked in the shade right outside the door and hauled ass in and out in about 2.5 seconds. And the Kelty had sold after all so I had driven the car all the way across town for nothing. And Henry woke up as soon as I parked the car in front of my house. Of course.

Today I was bound and determined not to be late. Henry was apparently trying to help me achieve this goal as well. He woke me up at 6:00 to ask if he could watch a movie. Wha? By 7:20 we were out the door and I got to work on time! Woo! After I picked Henry up I had 2 appointments to pick up art pieces for the LEAF benefit auction. I got lost and ended up dragging Henry to 3 different studios in about 8 bajillion degrees. He fell asleep on the way to the last studio. When did he wake up and decide to be the crankiest person in all the world? When I parked in front of our house. Say it with me folks... of course. I am currently forcing him to take a nap, even though he insists he doesn't need one. I have yet to discover what is so torturous about napping. 9 days out of 10 I would kill puppies for a nap. Okay, maybe I wouldn't actually kill puppies, but you get the gist.Naps are your friend. Go to sleep, you crazy person!

Pretty Perfect Day...

Well, today was my very last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow it is back to work for me. The kids don't start until Thursday so the beginning of the week will no doubt consist of countless meetings and room organizing. Fun! I am actually looking forward to getting back on a schedule. Unfortunately, Henry doesn't start school until next Monday, so he will be shuffled around this week as Kyle and I settle in at work. I know he can't wait to get back to school and see his friends and indulge in all of the messy art projects that I am too wimpy to attempt at home.

Anyway...

Today we woke up and met our friends Erica, Tommy and Lisa to head on up to Graveyard Fields for some more berry picking and river walking. It was an amazing morning. We hiked in and picked for a while, ate lunch on a rock below the falls, picked more berries, and Henry and I watched while everyone else jumped off the rocks into the swimming hole under the waterfall.



Tommy (and Lisa hiding in the background) in the berry bushes.



The view from our picnic spot on the rocks in the river.



Henry dancing on the rocks.



Tommy, Lisa and Erica swimming in the freezing swimming hole beneath the waterfall. The water was so cold that even Henry wouldn't go in.



My boys.

After we got home Kyle made some blueberry pancakes for dinner with some of the 5lbs. we picked. Yumma! While he was cooking them up I finished up Tanya's Black Monster Booty longies and snapped a couple of quick pictures:




I hope you like them, mama! They'll be in tomorrow's mail.

In other news, I've asked to be a guest crafter at Venus Vanguard's special Talk Like a Pirate Day stocking on September 11 at HC, so look for me over there! I am pretty swamped so I don't think I'll have a ton, but there will be some bits and pieces. Arrrrrgh!

Kayla's Navy Sock Monkey Shorties!

Here you go, mama, I hope you like them!



They will be in the mail first thing Monday morning!

Mahar Mele

Remember last month when there was an accidental oversell at Mahar Dry Goods and I honored the extra sales and made 8 pairs of longies instead of my usual three? Well this month he kept orders open for half the time and took 11 orders! Mahar has not had to have inventory control software before, so the site was not equipped to handle the undeniable force of the hyena shopper! Unfortunately, with all that is going on right now, I am unable to make the extra orders this time. All but the first 3 people who placed orders will be getting a full refund for their purchase and a heartfelt apology from Robert.

To make sure this doesn't happen again Robert is implementing a new system. You will no longer be able to order Crankypants directly from Mahar with a Buy It Now type of system. There will be a running waiting list. The list will start with the folks who received a refund this month. After that it will go to the Request Restock Notice list. If you haven't been getting restock notification emails, go sign up again to make sure you're on the list. There will be no more mass restock emails.

Here is a link to Robert's blog post about the whole situation:
Crankypants News at Mahar Dry Goods

I know this is a pain in the (monster) booty but trust me when I say that Robert is working just as hard as I am to make this work for everyone. I have gotten many emails from him in the last 12 hours trying to figure out how to make sure everyone can be handled as fairly as possible, the last one coming at 5:30 this morning. He has been up all night trying to fix this. I know it is super frustrating, but please try to be understanding. I think the waiting list system will work out much better in the long run.

I am not in charge of this list and I can't put you on it. The only way to get on the list is to the product page of the style you want and click the "Request Restock Notice" button. You can email me or comment with questions if you'd like but I might not have the answers. I don't know the ins and outs of how it will work as far as how many pairs you can order at a time or how to keep track of your place on the list. I don't know that stuff.

I'll have an actual wool picture later (imagine that!) and have a couple more pairs in the works. I'm hoping to start finishing them quicker now that I did a few bodies while waiting for colors to come in. We shall see...

Graveyard Fields

Yesterday evening we got the heck out of this hot and sticky town and headed for the hills. Well, mountains, really. We went out to Graveyard Fields, a little spot off the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is an area known for wild blueberries and blackberries and cold streams. By the time we got there the temperature changed from 93 here to 77 there. Ahhhhhh.... Much better. We picked berries, ate a picnic dinner of Daddy made hommus and veggie sandwiches, waded in the stream and watched Kyle leap off of a boulder into a swimming hole.







That last one is the splash that Kyle made when he hit the water and let out an amazing yelp as he realized that mountain streams never get warmer than "slightly freezing".

Tomorrow night is the huge kids' consignment sale, the Wee Trade. I usually get most of Henry's next season of clothes there so it is pretty exciting. We all line up a half an hour before the doors open with a laundry basket to carry our finds and the steely resolve to knock old ladies down to get to the Boys 4T section if need be. Can't wait.

My shipment of navy yarn came in today so all other things go on hold while I work on those first two mamas who requested navy for their gear. Hopefully I'll be able to post pictures soon. It has been slightly painful to sit and knit with wool when it has been so stinking hot. The thought of putting anything wool on my body makes me want to stick my head in the freezer. Remind me of this in a few months when I am whining about how cold it is...

Playdate!

This morning we got up and at 'em and sped off for a playdate with my two most favoritest crafty mamas, Jess from Quilt Baby and Liz from Cozy Blue. We got to gather 'round Jess's nice big kitchen table and work on our various projects while the kids kept each other occupied. It was downright lovely.

 

 

 

 

Running around in the sun all morning sent Henry down for the count. When he wakes up from his "little rest" we are going to pack a picnic dinner and drive up into the mountains in search of wild blueberries and some cold mountain streams. Until then I have to get some work done.

A Walk Down Memory Lane...

*sniff sniff*

 

 

 

 

and now...



He's so biiiiiiiig!

Overheard at My House...

Kyle: Amy, would you mind putting cheese on the stuffed peppers and sticking them in the oven?
Henry: No!
Me: What? Why can't I finish up dinner?
Henry: Because Mommies don't cook.
Me: Really? Who cooks?
Henry: Daddies.

Note to my future daughter in law: You're welcome.

Becka'a Candy Stripe Monster Booty

Hey Becka! Your monster was the first on the list this month since the folks before you either needed yarn to be ordered or dyed. I hope that you like them. I think they are girly and awesome. The black mouth balances out the super candy colored stripes really well.



Last night Kyle and I left the bean with some good friends and went out on a hot date to see The Bourne Ultimatum. So. Good.

Uh oh, Wii induced child meltdown in progress. Must run.

Hot.

It is hot. So very hot. Sticky and gross hot. But still we persevere and refuse to turn on the A/C. Because we are stubborn and insist that we can live without the expense/use of energy. We are idiots. Hot idiots.

Henry had a pretty scary injury today. He likes to wrestle on our bed, so to distract him after his 753rd request to play Wii, I went in and tustled with him for a while. After I got my butt handed to me by a 4 year old, Kyle took over for a bit. After he was all tired out (approximately 7 seconds) he came into the kitchen to get a drink and left Henry on the bed. Little man must have been tugging on the blinds or something because they all came crashing down on him and the bar that holds them up caught him right on the forehead. He has a little gash, a smaller cut and a huge bruise surrounding the whole thing. And of course we were out of super cool pirate tattoo Band Aids, just to add insult to injury. Poor kid.

I wanted to give a little rave review for Hide and Sheep at Etsy, who made my new dangle free stitch markers. They are awesome. They give my knitting a little sparkle without always getting in the way or splitting the yarn. I wish they would make split ring ones so that I could pop them off, but seeing as that is pretty much physically impossible I guess they are forgiven. They were also shipped amazingly fast and come in a super cute storage tin.

I Almost Forgot!

Thanks to everyone who left comments and entered my little monster bag giveaway thingie! Henry picked randomly.

And the winner is...


Drumroll please....


Stephanie! She said:

"Smartypants loves to beat all his friends and family at trivia games. His sister-in-law, Snootypants, calls him Rainman when he whips her tail at Trivial Pursuit.

Fancypants loves to twirl and dance...not to Tchaikovsky, but to Green Day! Shhh, don't tell anyone."

Leave me a comment and tell me which monster bag you want to come live with you.

I loved them all, but I think my personal favorite is the bit about the Times no longer accepting Smartypants's phone calls. I think that is how Kyle feels about me.

It's Friday!

For those of you who have gotten me your measurements and designs and paid your invoice, thank you!

Those of you who haven't better do it quick or deal with the wrath of Emperor Crankypants:




Yarn has been ordered for those of you who wanted colors I cannot find locally. Hand dyes have begun. I am just past the mouth on this month's first order. I have designed and sent proof for quotes on a new project I'm working on. Yay productivity!

I am ditching the boys tonight and going out on the town with my mama friend, Jess. I'm sure we will just blather on about our businesses just like we do when we get together at her house, but it will be so nice not to have to stop in the middle of every single sentence to remind the little beasties not to throw things into the ceiling fans or leap from the furniture.

Monster World Domination!

I love how every month as the orders come in I get to see my monsters and things travel all over the place. This month I will have Crankypants traveling to:

Maine
Georgia
Connecticut
Massachusetts
Virginia
Queensland, Australia
Oregon
North Carolina
Alabama
Florida

I thought it would be cool to make a little map of the world and plot all the points that I ship to. Maybe I'll actually do it...

Do You Want Some Cheese With That Whine?

The 90000% humidity added to the stress of customs day added to the drama thread over at a diapering board today has me kind of down and icky feeling. Thanks to all the mamas who showed their (overwhelming) love and support over there. I try not to indulge my defensive and overly sensitive side, but a few of those posts stung a bit. It just came at a time where I feel like I have completely overextended myself to make other people happy so it was a bit of a one-two blow. Woe is me. ;)

To lift the spirits I dipped into my customer picture file and pulled out a few to show off. If, by some mistake in communication, I post a picture of a child that a parent didn't want posted, please let me know and it will be immediately removed. I try to be vigilant about that but am always afraid of someone slipping through...

I double dog dare you not to crack a smile.












Yeah. I thought so.

YeeHaw!

Kyle has Henry out at the lake, a second pot of coffee has just been made and I just finished a "Customs Day Playlist"* in ITunes. Life is Good.

August Customs List

After about 90 emails and a hand wringing, swearing about only being able to knit so many pairs a month, here is the August customs list:

Michelle ( and Finn)
Kayla F.
Amanda B.
Jessie L.
Laura C.
Tanya B.
Sara

I don't have the energy to send the Wait List email until the morning as I have to c&p about 50 names into it, but I will do it first thing when I wake up (late, lol). I am truly sorry that I can't magically knit enough for everyone. I promise you I am trying to work it out. I can't believe I had to wait list a mama who wrote me poetry! Ugh! That one hurt.

And now it is time for sleep. Lots of work to do tomorrow...