Full Service Yarn Shop

Korea Trip-Mu Sang Sa

2008-07-19T12:33:00.024-04:00

Here are the pictures from my visit to Mu Sang Sa temple, only a year after I was actually there. The trip to Mu Sang Sa was the first time I'd really been out of Seoul. I got to ride on one of So. Korea's high speed trains and it was seriously fast! It made a two hour trip in one hour! I love the Korean countryside. It is very lush and mountainous. People grow food in every square foot of free space and take a lot of pride in good land management.

The temple itself is half way up the side of a mountain. This is the view from the parking lot.

Here is my room. I really enjoyed the accomodations. I shared this room with three other women but the best part was that our room had it's own bathroom! No more climbing up and down four flights of stairs in the night! Here are my roommates. From the left, they are Eu Young who lives in the US, Grace from Seoul and Swannie from Hong Kong.The buildings all have these wonderful walkways all around the second floor. This was such a great shady place to hang out and relax.

This is the view from our floor over to the Meditation Hall. In Korea, they have seperate rooms and sometime entire seperate buildings for a lot of the things we all do in one room here. This hall is only used for meditation, no chanting, no ceremonies.

This is my seat in the Meditation Hall. I spent most of my time right here looking out that window you can just see at the top of the picture.One day, I looked out and there sat this bird in the tree. He stayed there all day and I can only assume he is some kind of owl. One way or another, we sat together all one day. It was kind of cool.For chanting and ceremonies, we have the Buddha Hall. We walked up the hill to this building every morning and evening for chanting.

Here is another view from the top of the hill. It is a little bit hard to tell but this building is very ornately carved. My favorite carvings of all were the dragons looking out the front of the building. Why were they my favorite? Because we had dragon heads looking out of the front of the building and dragon butts on the inside!

This whole building has since been painting. I'll have to dig up the link to the pictures. The place looks completely different.

Some other sights around Mu Sang Sa were this baby Buddha peeking out of a stone lantern,

the beautiful hydrangeas,everyone's pal, the big toad under the hydrangea,and, lastly, everyone's shoes by the door. This is an image I will aways associate with my trip to Korea. My shoes are the white sneakers just to the left of center.I have more to post about Mu Sang Sa but I've got to do it tomorrow. My sales slips are not going to enter themselves into the computer and my second quarter sales tax is due on Monday.

Yarn Harlot's Top

2008-07-18T19:19:00.007-04:00

That top that the Yarn Harlot just posted about is Ashland Bay Merino Top in colorway Hollyberry. She got it when she was here a couple of years ago. Stephanie-that came out really nice!
I'll be ordering more early next week which means it will be here about a week after that, if it's in stock at AB. I'll keep you posted.
Here are some pictures of Stephanie actually shopping for the top she just spun.

These are from when she was here promoting either her second or third book (getting old, can't remember). What fun it was to meet her in person!

You think she's funny on her blog. In person, holy crap!

I'm Back

2008-07-16T15:44:00.002-04:00

You know you have the right job when you can't wait to get back to work after your vacation! I actually was ready a few days ago. It may have something to do with the fact that I've done so much every day that I was looking forward to the shop opening just so I could sit down. One way or another, I'm glad to be back talking to my customers about knitting and actually doing some knitting myself!
I'll be posting later this week about my trip up to Maine. I saw all kinds of cousins as well as my dear friend Cordie. Had a great time!
Also, since it is a year later I should probably finish posting my Korea pictures. I never finished doing that for some reason. That situation will be attended to shortly.
Not today, though, shop's been wicked busy.

Beet Thing

2008-07-04T13:46:00.003-04:00

Several people have asked for the recipe for Beet Thing so here goes!

Ingredients
One or two bunches of beets, sliced (bonus if they've got the greens attached). If you use small beets, you don't even have to peel them. Just scrub them and cut them up. Big beets need to be peeled.
One large sweet onion, chopped
2-3 T olive oil
1 t cumin seed
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional- 3-4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
Seriously, folks, I never measure anything so all these amounts are estimates at best.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. The skillet needs to have a lid.
Add the cumin seed and toast until brown. This does not take long, a minute at most.
Add the chopped onion and sautee until clear and just starting to brown.
Add the beets (and carrots if you have them). Cover and turn down the heat a bit. Cook them until the beets are tender. This may take 20 minutes or longer depending on how big your beets are. If they are starting to brown too much, add a half cup of water every so often until they are done.
If you have the beet greens, chop the stems and the greens seperately. Be sure to wash the beet greens thoroughly. They can be awful sandy little bastards.
When the beets are almost tender, add the stems, wait 5 minutes and add the greens. Cook just until the greens are wilted. Swiss chard works well if you don't have beet greens.
Add salt and pepper to taste.

So, there you have it. Let me know if you have any questions. If you try the recipe, I'd love to hear how it comes out!

Community

2008-07-02T16:23:00.004-04:00

I got the second coat of polyurethane on the floor. It only took me about an hour and was pretty painless. I'm only one more coat away from glory!
My only other plan for today was to go to the farmer's market with Doria. It is in Davis Square, about a mile from here. This farmer's market goes on every Wednesday, 12-6 throughout the growing months and in eleven years of living here, I've never made down there. So, today was my day! The only hitch was a huge squall that blew through here right after noon. This included thunder, lightning, gale force winds and hail(!!!). We've been having some crazy weather lately but this was the craziest so far. Fortunately, the rain and wind let up after about 20 minutes and we headed over there. I was wondering if there was even going to be anything left after all that wind. Surprisingly, there was! Only one booth had packed up and left. All the others were still there, a little damp and windblow but definitely open for business. I asked one vendor how they kept all the tents from blowing away. She told me that all the customers at the booths grabbed the tent poles and just hung on during the entire storm. The community saved everyone's tents and produce by working together and not letting go. I'm very moved by this. Gives you hope for the world.

And Tomorrow, Coat Number Two

2008-07-01T19:00:00.005-04:00

Thanks for all the nice comments about the floor. If only it took just one coat. I'm girding myself to sand and put on the second coat tomorrow. Wouldn't you know, all the tired from everything I did the last three days caught up with me today. I'm planning to go to bed early and get up late!
BTW, the "Dry" setting on my air conditioner works really well! I don't think it would have dried this fast with the humidity the way it is. And it doesn't seem to be cooling the room so, hopefully, my electric bill won't be through the roof.

Polyurethane or Now My House Stinks

2008-06-30T16:32:00.009-04:00

Today, we got started on the shop floor. First, we got everything out of the front room. Well, almost everything. I left the display case in there. It is heavier than it has any business being and I refuse to move it. I also left the big tall set of cubes in there. I just covered it with a sheet to protect the yarn from the dust.

Here's everything else in the livingroom. I'm very pleased that I can still get to the computer and my chair. The big challenge is not to stub my toe on any of this stuff when I'm stumbling to the bathroom at 2am.

Here's the first coat on the floor. I love how shiny and beautiful my old floor can get. The only drawback is the stench. I'm trying an experiment. I've got the windows closed in the shop (except for one I left cracked) and I'm running the air conditioner on "Dry". I think this means that it doesn't cool the room as much as dehumidify it. I'm worried if I just open all the windows, it will never get dry. We'll see how it works.

Don't worry. I've got the shop closed off and a lot of windows open in the rest of the house. Still stinks, though.

In The Garden

2008-06-29T16:29:00.005-04:00

Another wonderful thing about being on vacation is having the time to garden and the time to take pictures and the time to blog about it!

Here is my new side garden.

Remember what it used to look like?

Now that I've gotten this all planted and weeded, I have to start tackling other parts of the yard. I didn't garden at all last summer because I was away so much and the yard really, really suffered. I'm going to be making up for it this summer.

Gardening will be on hold tomorrow, though. It is time for some new finish on the shop floor and I'm going to be moving furniture and getting that underway with the help of the lovely Doria.

Vacation!

2008-06-28T17:51:00.011-04:00

Thank you to everyone for your caring comments on my last post. I'm continuing to feel better and get my energy back!
As promised, here are some pictures from dye day.

I tried a few new colors and had a lot of fun!

I'll start listing them on Etsy as soon as I get a decent sunny day to take pictures of individual skeins.

BTW, I'm on vacation! I love it! I'm celebrating by cooking Beet Thing (mmmm, yummy Beet Thing). If you like beets, let me know and I'll put up the recipe. I'm not having my usual luck, cooking this. I got really big beets and didn't slice them thin enough. They are taking FOREVER to cook! I just checked them again, though, and we're in the home stretch.

Another way that I'm celebrating is by knitting something that is (gasp!) not a sock!

One of my customers started this shawl the other day and I was so charmed by it, I started one of my own. It is the Swallow-tail Shawl from Interweave Knits Fall '06. I'm using some of the yarn I bought in Korea.
The label says that it is 100% wool, but I think they lie. There is a strand running through it with a suspicious sheen, possibly rayon. Who knows. I like it and it really works for this pattern so I'm just running with it.
I have this huge list of things I want to do but I'm not hurrying because, hey, I'm on vacation!

Feeling Better

2008-06-24T16:10:00.004-04:00

Well, the beta blocker is working like a charm. Unfortunately, it gives me terrible indigestion for which have to take Zantac. I'm not super excited about taking a medicine that I have to take another medicine to counteract the side effects of. I've talked to my doctor about it and will talk to her more next week. Right now, though, I'm not worrying about it and just revelling in the nice even beating of my heart. I felt so good today that I dyed sixteen pounds of sock yarn! I'll get a picture up when I can hang it outside tomorrow. Today, it keeps raining so it is hanging all around the house.

Bump-dee-bump

2008-06-21T10:20:00.002-04:00

I have a benign heart arrhythmia. I occasionally have episodes where either my heart races or it skips beats, sometimes both at the same time. Any kind of physical or emotional stress can bring it on. Unfortunately, it has been bother me a lot lately. I've been tested up the whazoo and they tell me my heart is healthy but when the skipping and racing starts, I feel anything but. Of course, wouldn't you know, after blogging about how much better I felt on Thursday, didn't have a huge episode that night. To everyone I scared by having to leave dinner that night, I'm oooookaaaaaay. My doctor finally prescribed me a beta blocker that will, hopefully, get this thing under control. She gave me a super low dose. I'm so sensative to medication that I almost need to just wave the bottle of pills over my head once a day to get the desired effect. I'm taking a quarter the dose one usually gives an adult and I hope that clears things up. We'll see.

To Blog or To Do

2008-06-19T14:49:00.002-04:00

I'm sorry I haven't posted in so long. I'm actually quite a lot better since I started eating meat again. Consequently, I've been doing all this gardening and cycling! The problem? No time to blog. I realized that I could blog about gardening or I could actually garden. I didn't have time to do both and the weeds just weren't getting any smaller. I've managed to weed out the worst of the side yard and get a bunch of new plants in. The rest of the yard still needs a lot of attention but it is just going to have to wait until my vacation.
So, here I am trying to get back into at least a little blogging. No pictures, though. I'll try to get some soon. The garden is looking nice and I bought a whole bunch more plants to put in. Plants are like crack to me this time of year!

Latest Developments

2008-05-22T15:24:00.007-04:00

It has been a while since I posted so here's what's been going on.

NHS&W was great! Here is Sarah enjoying one of the donuts Alasdair brought.

I saw lots of friends, and bought lots of fleece. I bought a record 60 lbs. of fleece for the shop then sent it off to Zeilinger to get washed and carded (after paying Zeilinger for all that washing and carding, I definitely needed to lie down).

In other news, those of you who know me know that I've been dragging around something aweful this winter and spring. I am now experimenting with the idea that I may not be cut out to be a vegetarian. It was a sad decision for me but I'm no good to anyone if I can't get out of my own way. I've been eating small amounts of chicken this week and other than my digestion adjusting to it, I'm feeling better. Digestive enzymes have been helping a lot.

I've also been dealing with headaches, dizzyness and blurred vision lately (I'm falling apart people, falling apart). I thought it was just allergy related but my doctor strongly suggested I get my eyes checked too. I got that done today and guess who needs bifocals?! Yup, that would be me. Actually, I don't mind because I'll take anything that will improve the situation. I've been reduced to working on the computer for twenty minutes or less at a time and only knitting things that I don't have to look at. Speaking of that, I have to go. I can feel the headache starting.

...But Where Is The Nap?

2008-05-08T11:04:00.005-04:00

This is my favorite quote from my new favorite blog. It is written by Bai Ling.
For those who don't know, Bai Ling is a quirky, eccentric B-movie actress who is best known for her outrageous red carpet outfits. Her writing style cracks me up. It is a kind of stream of conciousness unhindered by punctuation (well, she does like commas a lot) or grammar. She's always cheerful and upbeat and even a bit Zen (she is from China, after all, the land where Zen began). It never fails to put a smile on my face!
But, where is the nap? A question for the ages.

NENA Was Fun!

2008-05-07T12:09:00.003-04:00

Sunday, Guido and I went to the New England Needlework Associaton trade show in Sturbridge. In eleven years of business, this is the first trade show I've ever managed to go to. It was a bit overwhelming but lots of fun! Lots and lots of yarn vendors were there. There were several that I already do business with so I as able to see the new fall yarns and even order some. I also put in some initial orders with a couple of new companies, mostly patterns. I got a lot of patterns!!

There were also many vendors there that I'm interested in doing business with but can't make any commitments to yet. They all were very happy to give me stacks of info about their business. Here is my homework:

One other thing I never knew about trade show is that they have cash and carry! Look what I got for the spinners and felters!

This is multi-colored merino pencil roving. I just couldn't resist!

A Career Path

2008-05-03T13:03:00.002-04:00

Little Nephew told me about his career plans the other day on one of our walks to school.
His plan is to become a scientist then develop a mutant spider. He will then let this spider bite him. When his super powers appear, he plans to quit being a scientist and focus all of his energy on being a super hero. Three guesses which one ;-)

Gore Place

2008-05-02T15:05:00.006-04:00

I'm finally getting around to posting about the Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival! What a great time! I enjoyed seeing so many people there, people I haven't seen in years!

Thank you to everyone who helped me set up and break down. Here is a picture of my mighty, mighty set up crew.Sorry, no picture of the break down crew. I was too exhausted by then to even remember that I had a camera with me. Thanks also to all of you that held down the fort when I had to 'powder my nose'. Jay really went above and beyond. I marooned him with a hasty 'Just tell them I'll be right back!' When I got back there were at least fifteen people in my booth!

My booth was extremely well shopped this year! Here are people taking advantage of the 50% off magazines.

Sorry, no sheep pictures (I never get to see the sheep). This is the view from my booth which is all I got to see except for the fudge guy and the port-a-potties. I almost missed the fudge guy too! My booth was so busy that I almost didn't make it over there!

New Couch Pics

2008-04-23T14:58:00.005-04:00

Here are the pictures of the new (to me) couch. It is a little faded but still soft and comfortable. The knitting group gave it their seal of approval last week. I got a blanket to cover the seat just in case the dog gets up there. I actually got two blankets so that I always have a clean one!

My old couch was never very comfortable so it is a new thing for me to actually have a comfortable couch. If you are in the neighborhood, I recommend coming over to try it out!

Do the Mashed Potato!

2008-04-21T18:30:00.004-04:00

Sorry it took me so long to post. I was sick all last week and lacked motivation.
I finally had the chance today to make mashed potatoes with my nephews. Big Nephew has begun to take an interest in cooking. He asked me sometime around Christmas if I would teach him how to make mashed potatoes. Sadly, it took us until today to get it together to actually do it. Little Nephew helped too!
We took a trip to the grocery store where we talked about the different kinds of potatoes to use. We settled on red potatoes since those were the ones I made at Christmas. We also got Earthbalance Spread and some soy creamer (my mother is lactose intolerant). They both helped peel the potatoes, then came the slow agony of waiting for them to be cooked. It took a WHOLE HOUR. The last half hour consisted of this conversation:

Nephews: Are the done yet?
Me: At least, ten more minutes.

This was repeated about every three minutes, getting up several times to poke the potatoes with a fork, until they were done. Little Nephew almost expired from the suspense. Then there was great fun had with the potato ricer, Earthbalance and creamer added to taste and they were done! Little Nephew even had some! He wouldn't eat any at Christmas, said they tasted weird. Hopefully, he will be a convert to real mashed potatoes. He's used to the box ones, blek!
New couch pictures tomorrow!

There's a Hole in my Livingroom

2008-04-09T14:14:00.005-04:00

where the couch used to be! Finally (FINALLY!), the horrible old couch is gone. My mother had some men in yesterday to remove it. They took away her old washing machine as well. The only problem is that the new couch won't be coming for a week. I think we'll manage, though. I didn't really realize what an eyesore the old couch was until I saw it sitting in the driveway. Yergggh! It served me well for many years and thank goodness it's gone.

Meanwhile, look what Laura brought me! This is her new puppy, Whisper, who came to the shop for a visit. What a cutie!

Check out those paws, though. This is going to be a big dog!

Fish Tank Buddha

2008-04-03T15:29:00.004-04:00

Ever since I got the big fish tank, I've been look for a fish tank Buddha. They are, afterall, Buddhist fish. I even asked for one for Christmas a couple of years ago. My family's reaction? "You want a what? God, you're so weird." I mean, they did look but they never found one.

Well, I was in Petco a few weeks ago and look what I found!

Here he is in the tank with the fish.

They seem to like him!

Lookie! Lookie!

2008-03-27T15:27:00.005-04:00

My bulbs are coming up! Maybe spring really is coming! Oh, yeah, it's supposed to snow tomorrow.

A Little Taste of Spring!

2008-03-26T12:21:00.004-04:00

Well, I'm back and enjoying a fairly nice day. I even went for a bike ride.

You may have guessed a few things already. One, I have a new camera. I got a used version of the exact camera I had from Ebay, only to find, about half an hour later, that the next newest model of this camera was on sale at Office Depot for $50 less than I'd just paid. Arrrggghh! At least I have a new camera that I know how to work. I really flunk the whole shopping around thing.

The other thing you may have guessed is that I dyed yarn yesterday! That was a lot of fun and I wish I'd had more time to do it. I have another dye day planned for Monday. I'm teaching a dye workshop on Sunday (sorry, kids, it's full) so the kitchen will be all set up anyway. I'm stocking up for the Gore Place Sheepshearing Festival on April 26. It should be a great time! I'm really enjoying the fact that I can hang the yarn outside instead of having it draped all of the shop to dry! Sock Clubbers, you can pick up your yarn anytime. If I mail it to you (Hi, Lorena!) I'll get in the mail as soon as it is dry.

It's good to have friends

2008-03-07T10:08:00.002-04:00

Thank you to everyone for your sympathy and help. As I posted yesterday, Doria's going to get me some yarn photos so I can update the Etsy site and another friend has offed to loan me a camera! Now, I just have to talk to my insurance company and get organized to buy a new camera. Needless to say, the new one is not going to be stored in the shop!

%$#@#$$%$%^!

2008-03-06T19:01:00.002-04:00

Well, there won't be any pictures here for a while because someone just stole my camera! Yeah, the nice new one I bought last year. They took it out of my computer cabinet (which is in the shop) while I was in the other room teaching a lesson. I have filed a police report and will be calling my insurance company tomorrow. Doria's going to come over tomorrow and retake pictures of the sock yarn so that I can at least update the Etsy site. I was actually sitting down to download pictures I took earlier to do an update when I noticed it was gone. Aaaargh!