Let's Have a Halloween Sale!

I'm no different from most of us--I get sucked into the holiday "oh I've gotta have this" just as much as the next person. What's different? It's different because I'm supposed to be making things to sell with these cool "gotta haves." Now that I've got them, the holiday for which they were made is fast approaching; and once it's over there is no more demand for these things until next year. Of course by then I'll have found more "oh I've gotta have this" items. SO....let's have a sale! What all is on sale? Well, let's see....

How about some decorations that you can just hand on your door handle for some quick and easy decorating? These are PERFECT for offices--fun but not overdone.

Remember when we used to use paper grocery bags when we went trick or treating? Those fancy containers that kids have nowadays just didn't exist. And if you were really lucky your mother might actually let you use an old pillowcase! Those were our favorites because you didn't have to worry about them tearing from the weight of all the candy the way paper bags did. But of course, the chances of actually being allowed to use one was pretty slim. Today's kids would rather die than be seen tricking or treating with an old pillowcase!

Halloween pillowcases on the other hand are a fun treat to have! Sure, you could use them for trick or treating, but they're even more fun to sleep on! They're 100% cotton, practical, cute, and something totally different. They come in sets of two, and with lots of choices you're sure to find something your little ghost or goblin will shreek in delight over.

I like decorating for holidays in the less "traditional" places. Doorknobs are one of those places of course, but so are bathrooms. This cheerful hand towel and face cloth wouldn't scare anyone, but it sure is cute!

Then of course, there's clothing. I hate to dress up for Halloween in a costume. YUK! I do like to dress for the season and for the occasion! So I love holiday-themed clothes! Shirts are one of my favorites. This is a long-sleeve deep burgundy red T-shirt that has been embroidered with an autumn faerie. This design has close to 90,000 stitches in it, and took nearly 7 hours to complete. My other favorite holiday item is socks! Yes, I DO love socks! These two pairs of socks don't actually have to be confined to Halloween, but since they were knit with Halloween in mind, it's only fair to include them in the sale.

So there you have it. From now until October 20th, everything in the Halloween category is 15% off. Everything! Use the code TRICKORTREAT when you check out to see your 15% discount. After that it's going to my booth at the Oct. 24th craft show. From there, whatever doesn't sell goes to my office-mates, daughter, and the grandkids. Enjoy!!

Knitting as Therapy

People in Texas don't knit. They crochet, and they quilt, and they do lots of other things--but they don't knit. While yes, I also crochet and quilt (and lots of other stuff--like beading), it is knitting that is my first love. But as a Texas knitter, I'm kinda an anomoly.

Knitting is theraputic; it is calming; it is relaxing. Knitting gives you time to sit and think, because unlike fancy crochet-work where you must be constantly counting, all but the most complicated knitting pattern will "fall into place" after a few repeats. You'll know by looking what you need to do next--leaving you free to complemplate on whatever problems or plans you need/want to think about. I'm not wasting time--I'm knitting.

Working with yarn is a soothing, tactile sort of thing. I love the feel of the yarn in a skein, and the feel of it as it slides through my fingers as I knit it into something wonderful. I love all the different colors, textures, and possibilities each skein represents. I'm every bit as bad about yarn sales as I am about fabric and bead sales!!

I've had a pretty rough couple of months lately. Anything that could go wrong, did. Some of the things I could do something about, and others I could not. But how to figure things out, and how to figure out which was which? So I knitted on it.

I knitted and I knitted and I knitted. And as I did so, I had the satisfaction of seeing progress. It was something that I could get right. Best case scenario for me is one sock per day. So essentially each pair of socks represesnts two days of working. Working, knitting, thinking, and figuring things out. Getting things in perspective. Being productive.

Things are better now. Not great, and certainly not perfect--but they ARE better. However, the bright side to all of this is the 18 pairs of socks I got knitted during this time. Two pairs never got listed because they were bought out from under me before they were even finished. NO, I'm NOT complaining!

Knitting is also something I can do when it's the only thing I can do. Cancer seems to have decided to run amok through so many families of my co-workers during the last couple of years. I can't do anything about that. Not a thing. But I can knit. I knitted "chemo-caps" for the partner of our Division's budget co-ordinator. Small things, but they meant a lot to the lady who wore then. I knitted a prayer shawl for a colleague who's husband had cancer and PTSD. And of course socks. Socks went to keep the feet warm of our Public Hunting coordinator last year when she had cancer, and more recently for her father who just succumbed to cancer last week. This morning I gave our program's administrative assistant socks for her mother-in-law who just got diagnosed a few weeks ago with cancer. Knitting says love. For her, and for her mother-in-law.

I can't fix the world; heck, I can't even fix my own life. But I can keep it's feet warm!