Love Me Tender (Clams)

The can says, “Now with more tender clams!” And [irreverent me] I wonder, do they mean it contains more claims, which were historically, and continue to be, tender? Or do they mean that they are putting in clams in the same quantity as before, only now they are tender?

The English, she is such a funny language.

If I were a betting woman, I would bet that Phil is not going to poke his head above ground today, Groundhog Day or no.

So, yesterday was a little expensive. I bought the burgundy (I think burgundy, maybe plum) laceweight tweed that I’ve been coveting for several months. Also a couple of small balls of laceweight silk tweed, one in dusty rose, and another in what may be celadon, or maybe just celery. She warned me that the colors on my monitor were not necessarily accurate. And then I went to another website and bought some ultrafine laceweight (possibly verging on cobweb?) in a silk, a bamboo, and a cashmere.

I had asked some of my DoA friends for feedback on pricing my work, and they were wonderfully helpful. Furthermore, one of them suggested that if I concentrate on things that would fit Chutzpah and her ilk, I could charge top dollar. There is just not a whole lot out there that is of proper scale. And she wondered if I would be willing to knit in acrylic (no!) or cotton (maybe, but probably not) for dolls whose owners ~ like Fourthborn ~ have issues with most animal fibers. Hence some of those very specific choices, above. Cannot wait to get my hands on that stuff.

I also spent some time washing and blocking the hats I’ve completed. Secondborn, we may want/need to reshoot them, plus the new ones I’ve made since I got together with you, because the washing and blocking has really changed the feel and the drape of them.

And I started another hat, to fit larger dolls like Blessing. There’s a lot out there for the mid-sized dolls, but the Super Gem size is seriously under-served. So if I focus on both ends of the spectrum, I have an excellent chance of building up a good clientele.

Work has been delayed until 10:00am, at the earliest, and the weather line should have an update around 7:00. I am hoping for another day at home with my knitting, although I’d have to switch to almond milk before the day is out. If this weather continues into tomorrow, I’ll be ready to chew off a paw. I don’t do stuck very well. I have my Gmail open and my my Yahoo! mail open and my phone turned on. As well as the rest of yesterday’s clam chowder nuking in the microwave, because my feet are cold and I don’t want to put on socks until I’ve showered. What I really want is mac and cheese, but all of my instant is at work, and I don’t have the right kind here at home to make it from scratch.

Sitemeter says 40,853 visits here since July 2006, and 48,384 page views. I remember how excited I was when I hit 10,000. Boggles. The. Mind.

Dallas, Arlington, and Fort Worth ISD’s are closed again today, as are most if not all of the outlying school districts. Our weather line says we will delay opening until 10:00 but that the message will be updated by 8:30, which gives me plenty of time to clean up, dress warmly, and dig out poor Lorelai in case I really do need to make that drive. I hope that everybody who has to drive in today, makes it there safely, and home again in one piece. And I hope that the roads will be in good shape for Friday night, when I have speed dating (ugh!) followed by a dance.

Love my new printer. Adore its scanning function. I just pulled all of my ID’s out of my wallet and scanned them front and back: TXDL, health insurance card, organ donor card, library card, etc. I also have a little folded-up piece of paper that peeks out from behind my TXDL and says “In Case of Emergency”. Now, mail comes in the front door, junk mail goes right to the recycling pile, bills are entered on my Excel spreadsheet (possibly scanned, definitely shredded), and I am steadily whittling down the “deal with this” pile.

Time to stop procrastinating my shower. The water is hot enough, but the bathroom is on the other side of a wall from the fireplace, and it’s colder than a bill collector’s heart in there.