Random Monday stuff

* I found out, rather by happenstance, that a new yarn shop has opened in Sherman. It's called "A Balanced Skein" (I suspect playing off the idea that they are near the courthouse; there is a scales-of-justice symbol in their logo). They are at Kelley Square, a location I know pretty well (close to the big antique shop I like to go to.

I had *thought* of trying to go there Saturday, but I was tired and also the weather seemed iffy, and being out in "possibility of severe thunderstorms" is never good if you can avoid it. I plan to go either Friday or Saturday of this week though. I need a day out. (I hope they make a go of it. I admit I'm not terribly sanguine given some of the other shops' trajectories I've seen in the area, and the fact that they apparently had a Kickstarter in order to be able to open up). But I want to get to go there and if they have good stuff, I will try to support them. (Who knows? Maybe the "all internet sales can be sales taxed by the state in which they are made" might actually help small brick and mortars, though again, I'm dubious).

(I think Lulu and Hazel's makes a go of it for several reasons: housed in an existing business where I think they own the property; they are the only quilt shop in the area and there are more quilters than any other type of fiber crafter in town, and I think they've not tried to grow too fast)

* I also found out last week - on the most recent trip to JoAnn Fabrics - that they still make Makit and Bakit kits, with the little plastic nubbins that melt in the oven, like when I was a kid. And I frankly wonder now about the fumes from it. I know I've read advice that if you do a lot of work with Sculpey or the shrink-plastic like Shrinky Dinks used (some people use them to make buttons in-scale for doll clothes), that you get an old toaster oven and keep it in your garage and use it there, both to avoid getting the residues from the fumes in food you will eat, and to reduce inhaled exposure to the fumes.

I admit I was tempted by the kits - largely for old times' sake; none of the designs they had were extremely appealing to me (the aesthetics are very different from the nature-loving, crunchy 1970s designs). I suppose if I got one, if the drying oven in my lab here got hot enough, I could do it on a day when no one was around and bake the kit in there, to cut down on fume exposure, I don't know.

Makit and bakits, though - I can't even remember now where we bought them, whether it was at the toy store (Children's Palace) or if there was a crafts shop that had them - I don't think "general crafts" had expanded into the sewing shops (like So-Fro Fabrics, a long-gone company I remember from my childhood) the way they have now.

We had a lot of them. We had a few tiny ones of Christmas motifs that went on the tree, and my brother and I both had ones in our bedroom windows. (I remember having had this mouse, and yes, I guess some of them came without the plastic crystals and you bought the colors you wanted to use separately...

There are similar kits where you just paint the already-plasticed-in sections; I did those a few times with the Youth Group kids (you can get religious-themed ones that say stuff like "Jesus Loves Me" or are doves and crosses) when I used to lead youth group and it always struck me how even the older, "tough," sports-obsessed boys seemed to enjoy doing them.

Interesting how now my brother, as an adult, does actual stained glass work (as in: cutting and making the frames out of metal and soldering and all that). He tries to do it as a side business, though I guess he's not had much success at crafts fairs (despite one of his pieces - a van Gogh inspired floral - being voted something like "people's choice" at one fair, and despite him going to the fairs where "rich folks" (from Georgetown and the like) shop). He's had more success with doing commission work, but that seems to pay less, because I think he lowballs his commissions as they're often for people he knows (one was for an Episcopalian Franciscan religious man - not sure if you'd call him a monk or what, and Jon knew the guy wasn't rich, so I think he lowballed the price)

* I also confess that I'm contemplating a KnitPicks order, again "in B4 internet sales tax!" thing. (I bet we see a flush of online orders before the new taxes become law. Amazon already taxes most of what I buy from them because allegedly they have a distribution center in my state, but many of the other places I buy from do not). My big worry in all of this is the bureaucracy and maybe some small indie shops wind up either closing up or finding they have to sell only through larger retailers, because of the headache involved with the filing and collections. (And it would make me sad if this killed off online small businesses, after many of our brick-and-mortar ones have already left).

* I dunno. I just feel a real need for things that are soft, sweet, and simple right now. (Hence the interest in long-ago crafts I did as a kid). Part of it is that there's just been so much evidence of human ugliness shoved in my face in the past few weeks. Part of it is that it's hot and humid and that always gets me down. And today, even despite 8 hours of sleep and a normal-length workout, I'm still really tired, and also my right hip is griping me for some reason (I wound up wearing shoes I could wear my orthotics in today to see if that helps).

* I have been trying to finish up a few projects despite feeling the temptation to start new things. Over the weekend I sewed some more blocks for the current quilt top (and found a piece of fabric that will make a good backing: I may have to piece it out with another chunk of something else so it's long enough - it's a directional print and it would work if it were turned so the print is horizontal, but I think adding in a piece in the middle and having the print be vertical appeals to me more.)

I also worked on the Paddington's Garden shawl and it's *so close* to being done, but of course the last rows are the longest (it's a semi circular shawl worked up from the base) so it's taking longer. And I have a pair of "simple socks" on the needles, using one of Nancy Bush's "Simple Ribbed Socks" patterns (based on the old Weldon's patterns). I also want to finish Heartthrob some time, and finish the Augusta cardigan.....I also want to pull out the Color-Bar blanket again and work more on that and try to finish it before fall.

But what I want to start - oh, lots of things:

- More quilts; I went back over some of my older issues of quilt magazines and put sticky-note flags on the patterns I want to make, or that will work with some fabric I have saved up. I think I have the next quilt top in mind - it's going to be Cute Animal Fabrics and I even have a piece of fabric for the backing already (good sale at JoAnn's and I bought what was left on the bolt)

- I found my Diatom Shawl Kit (bought some years back from KnitPicks). I was afraid I'd lost some of the balls of yarn out of it but a check of the pattern showed they were all there. But I really do need to finish the Paddington shawl first, and also get back to Celestarium (and maybe even finish that first - I think it is on my long size 6 needle).

- Another sweater, maybe the fingering-weight diamond-lace one I bought some orangey brown yarn recently for (This is one out of the UK Simply Knitting magazine).

- Hats. Somehow again I feel a desire to try to make a few small things to send off to charity, as a way of sort of figuratively spitting back at all the ugliness in the world. (A lot of what I do seems often to be motivated by "I want to flip the bird at all the meanness and ugliness in the world" though I suppose flipping the bird is an ugly gesture in and of itself - at any rate, I want to retaliate in my small quiet way against the meanness.) I have to figure out some kind of good charity to send to and also look up their requirements - some places only want 100% natural fiber, some places want things that can be thrown in a washing machine on hot....of course this is the wrong time of year for it but it would be good to have a stack of things ready to go when winter does come.

* Last week, when I was trying to get my wheelbarrow fixed, I did buy a hanging basket of moss-roses. (I like moss-roses. No, they are not actual roses, they are a type of Portulaca. And they do well in my climate). The basket was $15, but you know? The enjoyment-per-dollar of that for me is very high - already every time I've come and gone from my house it's made me smile. It makes me happy to see the tiny native bees (? Halictids? I think) visiting it....I'm going to get some other kind of hanging basket to go on the other crook of the shepherd's crook; maybe something with flowers that would be good for hummingbirds.

And you know? $15 is kind of a lot, but like I said: the level of enjoyment I'm going to get from it will be very high - more than a single restaurant meal (which might cost as much), more than many other things.