Girl from the North Country

Whenever I return to the cold, cold North, I realize that I’ve forgotten how much effort I need to spend staying warm here. I almost always fail to bring a hat, since I never seem to need one in Philadelphia (I wrap a scarf around most my head) and my mom clucks over the fact that I wear sneakers instead of snow boots.

I always tell my friends and coworkers in Philly that I can’t complain about the weather in Rochester, NY, or my mom will call me a “Southern Belle.” They laugh. They don’t believe me.

I told her that when she called me a Southern Belle this weekend, about 20 minutes after I got off the plane. She thought it was pretty funny too.

But seriously… My family decided today was such a “warm” 37 degrees, they would go out for ice cream. And they think I’m the one with a problem? (To be fair, I had the ice cream, too. But I kept my coat on.)

Anyways, that may be why I was immediately taken with Rawfish’s cozy handspun yarns when I spotted one on the front page of Etsy this evening. Don’t you want to wrap it up around you and curl into a ball? I know I do.

Well, it’s about time for bed. Three wool blankets and a heater, here I come….

Happy Turkey Day!

Well, things went more or less according to schedule, minus a little late breaking news and about 40 minutes spent on the tarmac at PHL. But I’m home now in chilly Upstate New York, and there’s some fresh pie on the counter (yum! I should start making pottery pie pans!).

I’m going to take the day off tomorrow (today?), so hope you all have a wonderful holiday. I know I personally have lots to be thankful for this year. And some of it starts with “p” ends with “e” and has an “i” in the middle!

Have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Allllll according to schedule….

19 hours from now: Seeing my family!

18 hours from now: Getting on a plane.

16 hours from now: Arriving at the airport early to survive pre-Thanksgiving airport security check-thorugh marathon.

15 hours from now: Meeting boyfriend for quick dinner, a peck on the cheek and a ride to to PHL (have you heard how much our airport sucks? It does.)

14:30 hours from now: Finishing every last-minute assignment editor throws at me in a desperate attempt to fill copy during the holiday.

13 hours from now: Rush to the post office to ship off pottery. Hurray!

12 hours from now: Writing faster!

10 hours from now: Writing.

9 hours from now: Sitting through a city council budget meeting. Yawn!

8 hours from now: Remember I promised editor I’d come in early. Oh no, traffic!

7 hours from now: Realize I didn’t return that stack of videos, take out the garbage, go to the bank or do my laundry like I said I was going to.

6 hours from now: Wake up!!

~~~~~~~~~

Now, what could possibly go wrong?

On Buying Handmade

I know we are just upon the time of year when everybody starts thinking, “Holy s#@t! I need to buy so-and-so a really great gift for [insert favorite holiday here]!!!”

And I know a lot of us are looking in the bank account and thinking maybe the grinch played a trick on us this year. But even if you’re short on dough, consider taking the handmade pledge. I think a heartfelt, small gift can still mean so much more when it’s handmade. And so many of the things I’ve bought from fellow artists and crafters (on Etsy and off) have had the added value of a story, and a person, behind them.

Plus there’s the satisfaction of knowing that your hard earned cash isn’t going wallow away in some rich person’s bank account. Chances are, it’ll go straight into someone else’s holiday funds!

I’ve featured a lot of talented folk over the past year on this blog, and you can bet I’ll be browsing through the archive this weekend, with a couple of special friends in mind.

I’ll also be cooking up a new writing critique over Thanksgiving, and hopefully planning a fun way to celebrate the upcoming 20K visitor benchmark (that one seemed to come a lot faster then the first 10K!).

If you’ve got some top handmade holiday picks, feel free to leave suggestions in the comments section. Maybe I can put together a little “gift guides” kind of package, starting next week.

Happy handmade holidays!

Silk and the City

Fuzzy and high fashion meet again, this time with a distinctly New York feel.

I love this cozy cashmere collar from Joyella Designs; it looks so warm and sophisticated. The silk ribbon is the perfect chic addition – I can just imagine the girls wearing this down on 5th Avenue.

Wrap it up

In keeping with this week’s winter knits series, I’d like to share this gorgeous blue shawl from Crochet Gal. I love the different textures, types of yarns and stitches. Makes me feel cozy just looking at it!

Surprise!

A man! In a hand-knit beanie!

…Is quite possibly what you thought to yourself when you opened up my blog this morning.

Well, it’s true, and it’s thanks to Kindred Knits, who has some great knit items for both men and women. Definitely some good present giving material here…I wish I had a beach to run around in wearing her cute Mermaid Shawl!

Everybody needs a sweater

I’ll be the first to tell you that I’m not a huge dog person…I’m a devoted cat lover, and that’s all there is to it. I’ve also been chased by one or two pretty mean dogs, which makes me a little twitchy around the big ones.

But a dog in a sweater. Really, how couldn’t you love him?

I especially like the way Crafty For You jazzes up his outfit with a little celtic knot button. And look at how nicely he posed for the shot! This is one canine who deserves his treats.

Winter in Paris?

Who says you can’t look good in a winter hat? I love the sophisticated style to this hand-knit beret, and especially the fuzzy, snowy-white yarn. Creator Eluneth is actually from Jersey, but I’m just going to go ahead and pretend this is coming straight from the Reine, instead…

Brrrrrrrrr!

Holy $@#%!!! It’s cold out!

I mean, seriously degree-dropping, toe-numbing cold, all of a sudden. I even saw snow flakes today in my headlights on the way home, and just about crashed my car again in excitement (No, mom, that’s not true. I drove safe!).

But in celebration of these winter times, I’ve decided to spend a week featuring yarns, knits, crochet and other fuzzy finds. We can all revel in the changing season, and maybe warm ourselves through sheer force of will.

So the first pick are these adorable arm-warmers from the very stylish Black Mustard. I totally wish I had a pair of these right now, because I can pretty much update my blog with every part of my body under the bed covers besides my fingers, which kind of feel like they’re about to fall off. Oh well…. just the price I pay to bring these lovely artists to you!