Heat and Christmas!!

The above is the start of Christmas knitting. Yes I am starting in August with hopes of no last minute crazy panic knitting!!!! The red scarf on the left is a cashmere scarf for mother, and the one on the right is another small object for a small person. In the heat of August, I have cast on the smaller items, and the one larger item will come along as the temps drop and a person living in California can honestly feel fall coming on. Fall is normally my favorite time of the year, but it does come with pressures, when a person is making gifts for the holidays, and a gazillion leaves are falling outside and need constant clean up for a couple of months. Unless I choose to just stare at them in hopes they vanish with out me going out and rounding them up. I love my 2 big trees on the west side of the house, but 3 months of the year, they do cause work.

Knitting life has been slow, as working in a yarn shop tends to slow down needle time at home. I love working there but admit to nights when I get home and the most I do is look at my needles and not touch them. I do love "Fondling the Cashmere", which is my job title at the yarn shop, but like so many I see so much yarn and know there is so little time. The shop I have been working at for past 2 months is Filati Fine Yarns. It is a beautiful shop full of some of the most beautiful yarns a person could ever wish to see and fondle. The staff is experienced with any knitting tips a person could ever wish for or need. AB is wonderful with lace and inspired me to knit the red scarf for mother. The Queen of Swatch, is a total math whiz and stretches my mind to look at options when it comes to knitting. Both have made things, that take your breath away. Then there is the owner, I call her the Real Janice. She is at ease with yarn and needles, as most of us stumbling through the yarn world, wish to be. Her knowledge on her shop is amazing. She knows every yarn and can pull a pattern, from the past published ones and current publications, that amaze you. This week we have a new person joining us, and as excited as I am to have her working with me, the fact is our schedules are opposite each other and I will probably see less of her. Fall goodies are being ordered and their arrival to the shop will be an early Christmas for us to open and stock. The fall colors are breath taking. The new yarns and colors will be a delight to 'fondle' as I help put them out. Publications coming in, will inspire anyone who likes sticks and string.

So if you missing me in my usual knitting groups, you know where to find me. The schedule should be established in next few weeks, and I have great hopes of returning to some of my knitting groups. Patience!!