While you were sleeping...

When Will I Learn?

What exactly is it that compels me to buy more yarn than I know what to do with? I guess that's not exactly true -- I know what to do with it, I just don't have the time! I have stacks upon stacks upon bags upon bags of yarns that are waiting, begging to be knit, to be fashioned into something fabulous and unique. Yet I find myself ticking away on the same pair of socks day after day... Maybe I just need to use bigger needles?

I'm trying to understand the part of me that wants to BUY and OWN. It's the same thing with scrapbooking materials, cool shoes, and office supplies... I once told my BFF Heather that I need to shop for the life I have instead of the life I wish I had. Maybe that's the issue here. Maybe I'm buying because I don't have time to knit, scrapbook, go out to awesome clubs and dinners where I would need cool shoes... Hmmm... Worth thinking about.

What about you? Why do you buy yarn? (Or are you one of those weirdos who only shops for the project she's working on? Well? Are you? If so, don't tell me. I don't want to know.)

Update

After reading Jan's very gracious reply to my experiences and posts (in comments below), I felt guilty for forgetting that there are real people behind the store -- and that people actually read my blog and my messages on these boards. I thought, "Oh my gosh, I can never show my face in that store again!" But then I realized that I needed to return Jan's graciousness with my own attempts to handle the situation graciously. So I picked out a bouquet of fall flowers and took them to the store to meet Jan in person and apologize to her for not giving her the chance to respond to my concerns in private.

Unfortunately, she was not there, so I wrote a long note expressing my regrets and hoping that we could "start anew," so to speak. She phoned me later that evening and left a very friendly message.

This taught me a great deal about speaking my mind -- that while I am *free* to do so, my words impact others and may have repercussions I did not intend. I am so thankful to Jan for handling the whole thing as graciously as she did. That lady has class.

Up All Night

When I was in high school, there was this song I was slightly addicted to by the Boomtown Rats called "Up All Night." For some reason, that song starts cycling through my head about 10 in the evening and keeps going. (For some reason, I cannot find a download of this song anywhere, so if anyone can hook me up with one, you will get a special prize of some sort!).

I used to be a morning person. I enjoyed rising before the sun and getting a jump on the day. I would slowly wind down after dinner and I had to be in bed by 9 o'clock at the latest, or I was just wiped the next day. Not so anymore.

Now that I have little rugrats to call my own, I find myself staying up later and later. I finally figured that though my two older kids are in school all day, the only time I have that is totally unscheduled and open-ended is after they've all gone to bed. It's the only time I can disappear upstairs into my office and my craft room and cruise the I-net, scrap, and generally putter about without having to look at my watch every five minutes to see how long I have before I'm supposed to pick Child A up from soccer and deliver Child B to tae kwon do. It's truly my time, and unfortunately I find I need quite a bit of it -- so I find myself staying up until 11 or 12. It's not so bad until I have to get up at 7 the next morning to make lunches, get kids dressed, etc. Then I pay the price.

There's something about those night hours, though, that helps me focus. I tend to be pulled in so many directions at once between kids and work and writing and housework and hubby and school and church and friends... let alone knitting and scrapbooking and cryptic crosswords and playing around online. But at night, many of my distractions are gone (or at least asleep) so I am better able to focus on the task at hand.

I use different times of day for different purposes -- work writing can get done in the midday, but the scrapping seems to flow best at night. What about you? When do you find you're most creative?

Customer Service?

Okay, I'm warning you beforehand... this is somewhat of a rant. I wrote about this on the KR boards, so if you already read it there, feel free to skip...

I have spent a lot (I mean, A LOT) of money at my LYS, otherwise known as The Dirty Needle. For some reason, though, I always get a bad feeling when I go in there. I'm so excited before a trip, I enjoy looking around, the smell, the colors, the textures, everything... everything, that is, except for the staff. With a few exceptions, I have found that the people that work there are the least friendly bunch of retail employees I've ever come across, outside, perhaps, Baby Gap in downtown LG (but we all know about them).

They act like I'm bothering them. They treat my (very well-behaved knitting-capable) children like chocolate-smeared thieves. Even the owner gives off the vibe of "don't bother me." What gives?

You'd think that an establishment that spends so much money on merchandising, advertising, newsletters, etc., would make more of an effort to be nice to the hand that pays them, but 'tis not so. Instead, I find myself feeling like a whipped dog every time I come out of there... and we won't even talk about the time I went in to get help on a project and the two people working could not help me because THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW TO KNIT. Hmmm...

I am tempted to write a letter to the owner to express my frustrations and tell her how she and her staff are coming across to the public (or at least, to this public). But I guess I'm instead hoping she'll somehow come across my blog and then issue me a private apology that includes a large gift certificate. Hahahah.

Keepin' on keepin' on

Some days, it's all that I can do to keep things under control -- no lost kids, no car accidents, no blood. It's been one of those days today, when I spent more hours behind the wheel of my car than anywhere else. I hate that.

John is still in Asia -- Kuala Lumpur now. Who in the heck goes to Kuala Lumpur on a regular basis? Who, that is, except for my darling hubby??? And where exactly is Kuala Lumpur in the first place??? He will be home on Wednesday, so until then I am bachin' it.

With regard to all things knitting, I've been working on a pair of legwarmers for Callie in KP Silk Twist, in prairie, of my own design. I'll post some photos tomorrow. The good news -- they are so small, they're getting knit in a flash!

With regard to all things writing, I hired a sitter to come over tonight to watch the kids while I went to Picture Passion -- no, not to scrapbook, but to work on my book! Terri was there alone, and I figured I'd keep her company and get some work done. Much more fun than sitting at Starbucks by myself and listening to that horrible Carole King album they insist on playing (this album is so bad that the other day when I was hanging out at the local SB, the patrons were ready to riot. I was chosen as spokesperson and approached the cashier to beg her to please please please put ANYTHING on that wasn't Carole King. The rest of the customers cheered when she complied... All this, and I LIKE Carole King. Under normal circumstances, that is. Unfortunately, she sounds downright frantic on this particular album).

Anyway, I finished the revision of my first three chapters and am getting ready to do the synopsis. According to Elizabeth Lyon's Sell Your Novel Toolkit, there are differing opinions as to how long a synopsis should be. I'm erring on the short side. Bahahha. Otherwise this will never get done! My goal is to send it to the agents who requested it by the end of the week.

What else can I tell you? No time for much these days, though I did have lunch with my BFF Heather at Main Street Burgers. I had a salmon burger with teriyaki glaze, and we shared sweet potato fries. Awesome. Like you care, but hey, this is my blog, dammit! I can type what I want.

I am craving candy corn. It must be fall.

I'm Baa--aack

... And I bet you all missed me. Ahahahah.

Maui was awesome. My BFF Heather and I commiserated all day today about how we'd rather be sitting at the Hibiscus Pool than sitting in traffic carting our kids from one place to another. But c'est la vie... at least la vie of a suburban mom with kids!

I did get some knitting done. I finished the swirl scarf with the Noro Silk Garden from Purl Soho, and I got started on a hat with two skeins of Silk Twist in Prairie from KnitPicks. Unfortunately, my estimates were a bit off as I was making up the pattern as I went along, and I think I will have to frog the whole thing. But before I do I will take pictures.

Of course, I came back to several wonderful packages -- more Noro from Purl Soho and a ton of Manos from Flying Fingers (I'll post pictures tomorrow). And I also returned to a HUGE anniversary sale at my favorite LYS, Knitting Arts (henceforth referred to as the Dirty Needle, for no reason other than that's what Heather and I decided to call it).  I bought almost $300 (I gulp to type that) worth of yarn and notions, and this Vera Bradley tote. Tons of stuff, including about eight balls of Touch Me Due for Christmas presents -- all at 25 to 40 percent off!!! So I actually saved a ton of money. Or at least that is what I am telling myself...

I'm tired now so I'm going to bed.